Arranged Divorce

Arjun, the warrior

Arjun woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating. A bright glare from the outside hit him in the eyes and he looked around. The maid had yet again cleaned his room with him still in bed. He got up and quickly put the blinds back in place. He couldn't believe that she continued to disobey clear instructions about not opening any windows.

Once his eyes adjusted to the dark, he hit the shower. After 15 minutes, he went into the kitchen and heated some water for tea. He made himself an omelet and picked up the newspaper. He took a pen and circled news reports about murders and thefts in the nearby area. He gave all of them a good read and went back to bed, hoping no one would call him today.

Within five minutes of having his train of thought go wild, his phone rang. It was a guy he met at a Martial arts class that he had joined last week.

"Hey Arjun, I saw some of your work and man was I impressed!" Steven exclaimed as soon as he answered.

"Thanks bro, I appreciate it," he said, making it sound like he was really flattered. He was no stranger to people acting like they were interested in your work only to take benefit of you in some way or the other.

"I was actually hoping to get some advice from you. In person. Can I come by your apartment today?" he inquired.

Arjun looked around and pretended to consider for a few seconds. All over the walls of his open plan penthouse were evidences of what he was up to. And even without them, his 2000$ in rent money bachelor pad was too elite for anyone whom he wanted to take him seriously. He replied, "I don't think that's a good idea. I am heading out in 15 minutes. How about tomorrow, after class?"

"Tomorrow it is," he replied. And thus he kept someone he knew from thinking that he was a complete rich snob. His father back at home would have been proud.

After he hung up, he opened his chat box.

Close call, the guy from the martial arts class wanted to come over to my apartment. But I stalled. He sent the text to his friend and coworker.

Good, you can't have him find out about it. Came the reply instantly.

I've got an assignment for today. You've to dress up as Darth Vader and attend an event. Meet me at NYU in an hour. Karim sent another text. I'll send you the picture of a guy, keep an eye out for him, he could be useful to us in the coming days.

He threw his phone on the side table and let out a sigh, he hated this part of his life. He had been doing these gigs for the past 7 years, not for the money, obviously. His father saw to that. If he were to know what his son does for a living, he'd have him working at his office.

Arjun considered the bigger picture here; he needed the exposure and could use the extra cash to settle some old debts and pay for the new classes he was taking.

He swallowed his pride and got dressed.

.

"There you are," Karim exclaimed when he saw him, he held out a rather ugly mask that remotely resembled Darth Vader's. "This is all the agency could manage at the last minute," he gave it to him.

Arjun put in on and yanked it out within a second, "it's a size or two small."

"It's your cover, you need to keep an eye on our friend over there," he pointed towards the stage to the extreme left.

Arjun nodded and his friend left him. He positioned himself comfortably and did what he had done a thousand times before, standing still like a statue.

In the next five minutes teenagers started pouring in. It looked like a theatre festival of some sort, many kids came dressed as popular characters, he could see one particularly tall boy who had puffed himself up to play Hagrid.