Blue Tick | Part - 2

Chapter Two : Trending Now

A few days later, Aisha and Rahul had grown closer, although Aisha did not want to be so close. But, desiring a "Blue Tick" on her Instagram account, Aisha began dating Rahul. Rahul introduced Aisha to some "Verified" Instagram content creators, which gave Aisha more confidence in Rahul and his work, and she became even closer to him.

One day, Aisha watched a Reel of Rahul's profile, which was of an Instagram creators' meet-up party in Singapore hosted by Instagram itself. The next day, she received a call from a Singapore number.

Rahul - "Rahul this side."

Aisha - "How are you? When did you go to Singapore?"

"Rahul - Before 2 days ago. I have not so much time to talk with you. Currently I'm with Instagram's Asia head. Convince him for your account verification. I urgently need 5 lakhs. Can you please transfer it right now?"

After a moment of thought, Aisha replied,

"Okay, the amount will be credited within 30 minutes."

"Okay thank you, Miss You Jaan" Rahul said.

Aisha had only 4.5 lakh (earned by doing another profile, gaming apps, and small business promotions) in her bank account, so she took a 50,000 rupee credit from one of her friends who was also an Instagram Reels creator, and sent the entire amount to Rahul.

After 3 days, Rahul returned to India and met with Aisha. Aisha was excited for the unknown future. That night, they went for a dinner date and, as planned, Rahul booked a hotel room on Oyo application. They spent the night in the hotel room with joy and enjoyment. It was the first time Aisha drank whiskey, under pressure from Rahul.

Rahul told Aisha that she would get a verified badge after working with some brands and newspapers publishing articles about her, and that, within a month, her Instagram account would be marked with a "Blue Tick". Aisha was a bit hopeless, but she recovered soon enough.

Two days later, Rahul called Aisha to meet him at his flat. At his flat, Aisha met Mr. Surajit, who claimed to be a band manager of a well-known PR company. After an hour-long conversation, Surajit left the room. After saying goodbye to Surajit, Rahul closed the door. Suddenly, Aisha ran to Rahul, hugged him and started kissing him with excitement.

After a few minutes, when the excitement died down, Aisha released Rahul, but noticed something on his face and body language. He was not as excited as she was.

"What happened?" Aisha asked Rahul.

"Mr. Surajit has two conditions to make the deal happen," (Rahul hesitated for a moment). "How should I say this to you? I can't figure it out. Anyway, please listen to me first and then make your decision after thinking about it for a while."

"Surajit wants you to stay with you for a night and he's asking for 2 lakhs as a bribe."

After hearing Rahul's statement, Aisha started crying silently, standing on the floor. After a few moments, she left the flat without saying anything. Rahul understood the situation, so he kept silent as well. For the entire day, Aisha did not open the Instagram application. She locked herself in her bedroom.

Around 10 PM, she received a call from Rahul.

"Aisha, is everything okay? I'm sorry. I didn't want to force you to do that. Branding and publicity are not more important than you. Forget about it. I'll talk to Surajit tomorrow morning."

That night, Aisha started browsing Instagram. She checked her DMs and one of her followers DM'd her, "Mam, I'm your big fan. When will you get the Blue Tick? Me and some of my friends have created a fan page for you - 'fantastic.aisha' - kindly visit."

Aisha visited the page and was shocked by the number of followers; it was nearly 1 million. Aisha replied to the guy, "Thank you very much for your support!" and kept the mobile beside her pillow.

That night, Aisha could not sleep well. The next morning, she asked her mother for 2.5 lakhs as credit. Aisha's mom was shocked after hearing this, but Aisha managed to convince her and took her mother's gold jewelry to arrange for the amount for Mr. Surajit.

After leaving the bank, Aisha called Rahul to meet him at his flat. Rahul asked her to meet him in a bar. When Aisha entered the bar, the security asked for a selfie with her. At that moment, Aisha felt like a celebrity and started feeling positive about herself. She gave the money to Rahul.

At the time of receiving the money, Rahul asked, "Is that so important to you?" (with a very anointed tone). However, his body language and eyes said something different. Aisha missed this, though.

Rahul said to Aisha, "I will text you the hotel address. By this evening, after getting confirmation from Mr. Surajit."

At that moment, Aisha was in a mixed emotions situation - greed, fear, and hope were all mixed up. She ordered a glass of whiskey and Rahul ordered a bottle of beer for himself. After taking 3-4 pegs, Aisha requested Rahul to stay with him at his flat for the night. Rahul agreed.

They reached the society around 7 PM. While they were entering the room, Rahul received a call from Surajit. After receiving the call, Rahul just said, "All okay. Text me the address," and then dropped the call.

Rahul ordered some food on Zomato . That night, they drank a lot of whiskey and stay at Rahul's flat.

Will Aisha finally become 'VERIFIED'?

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Read Chapter One : Insta Bio - Fashion Model and Actress.

Disclaimer - It's a piece of fiction. In this story, all of the names, characters, settings, and events are either made up or entirely fictitious by me. I have used several well-known brand names in order to give a more realistic scenario. I do not, however, mean to disparage any group, brand, community, or gender. In my story, I don't promote any certain behaviors or products. Please direct message me if you have any requests for changes or removals. Thank you for your patience.

Acknowledgment?-?I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Mrs.?Archana singh Rathore?(Psychologist), Ms.?Monika Ajaya?(Talk Therapist), and Ms.?Shivanee Shah?(Advocate of the Bombay High Court) for their invaluable guidance and support in helping me to understand the psychological and legal aspects of this story writing. Their insight and knowledge have been essential in helping me to develop my skills in this field. I am extremely thankful for their help and support.