Page 232 - Half Girlfriend

manager’s office. Ojha loved to do favours so he could ask for one in

return later. He asked the Patna city MLA to give Roshan a call.
Five minutes later, I had Riya’s accounts.
'Sorry, I didn’t know you knew our MLA, sir...’ Roshan said.

I scanned her statements. On 14 April, Riya had withdrawn the

entire balance of three-and-a-half lakhs. The transaction had ‘FX’
written next to it.

‘What is FX?’ I said.
Roshan looked at the account statement.

‘It’s foreign exchange conversion. She has withdrawn the funds in
another currency.’

‘Which currency?’
‘US dollars.’

‘To travel to the US?’ I said.The lamp of hope flickered in me.
‘We don’t know. Indians often take US dollars to whichever

country they are visiting, and change it there.’

‘She has travelled abroad. Right?’
‘That’s likely.’
I left the bank and called Ajay at East India Travels.

‘Ajay, Madhav Jha here. I need to book a flight to Delhi, please.’

*
‘Ah, lucky, lucky girl,’ Samantha said.

‘Is she?’ I said.‘Married at nineteen. Divorced at twenty’
Samantha and I sat in the American Diner at the India Habitat

Centre in Delhi. She swirled the straw in her orange juice as I told her
Riya’s story.

‘That is indeed tragic,’ she said.‘However, she is lucky to have you
love her so much.’

I smiled.
‘Madhav, most girls would kill for a lover like you. I would,’

Samantha said.
‘Thanks,’ I said.

She took a deep breath. The waiter came with out food—a chicken