Can I be lazy and not name the chapters? :/

Happy Reading

"Lights. Camera. Action." Ishwari screamed for the third time.

"Bike ride, Take 3"

Sahil (Dev) asked Chahat (Elena) for the last time if she would take his help to reach her home or not. It was eight in the night, the roads were deserted and if Chahat wished to reach home on time, she had no other option but to ride behind Sahil on his bike. The market sported an abandoned look, there was no one to spot them but she felt hesitant in riding behind a boy even if she had started developing a soft corner for him.

"Haa ya Naa?" ("Yes or No?") Dev (Sahil) asked. He had to sound irritated and he perfected the emotion after three takes.

"Ok. Cut" Ishwari screamed.

She got up from her director's chair (a chair with director written behind it, bought just to fuel Ish's ego). She cheered Dev for his performance and turned to Elena to explain her how she had to agree to ride his bike yet look uneasy doing it.

Sonakshi was on the set too. She was looking for Arjun. He had to perform in the next scene but there was a glitch in his copy of the script. She saw Arjun sitting in a corner, learning his lines. She walked upto him and informed him about the correction.

"Kisi spot dada ke saath corrected script bhej deti aap." ("You could have send this script with a spot dada too.") Arjun suggested.

"Galti meri team se hui hai aur mai creative head hu. It's my responsibility." ("As the creative head of the show, it's my responsibility to mend any mistake made by my team.") Sonakshi said while proof reading the script once more.

"All good?" Arjun asked

"Perfect ... Just perfect." Sona smiled and returned him the script. She had started smiling a lot more now.

"What was the glitch by the way?" Arjun tried to read through the dark cuts Sona had made with her black pen on the script but couldn't read through it.

"Ignore it. Everything's set now." Sona left the conversation on an abrupt note.

When she was at a safe distance from Arjun she released a long breath. Subconsciously, she had written Dev instead of Sahil in the final draft of Arjun's script, while taking her team's inputs on it. It wasn't a big mistake & there was nothing to feel embarrassed about it too but there was something about that glitch that made Sona feel like she was letting out a big secret of hers.

Writing Dev on empty pages was common for her now. Specially after she read an inteview in which Dev had said that he is 90% like Sahil.

Sonakshi just sat down smiling, on the road created for their set. No one was looking. She didn't mind sitting on the floor. An old world style lamp post shined over her head and she admired Dev from a distance while Ishwari was explaining his role in the next scene. He was listening with full attention. His brows were constricted, they were almost joined together and she found that cute too. (along with a million other things she found cute in him!)

She looked around at the posters pasted on various shops to recreate the 90s. Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahi, Maine Pyar Kiya, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Afsana Pyar Ka, Aashiqui and many more. Her eyes travelled from the poster of one love story to another. She felt as if they wanted her to start her own romance now, probably she was over thinking, probably she was going nuts, probably she just needed a break from working on a love story of yester years, probably she should look around at other boys and forget about him, probably she should just hold on to the feeling and unleash the little butterflies in her tummy, probably she should just feel what she was feeling and be happy. Yes, that's what she should do.

Dev saw her sitting near the make-shift PCO. She had her eyes closed and was resting her head on her knees. The make up dada was doing his touch up when she slowly opened her eyes and kept smiling at nothing. She saw him looking at her and he waved. Did she blush? What's there to blush in a wave? Dev looked away and concentrated on his scene.

There is nothing to blush. It's just a wave. Sona told herself but she couldn't stop the blood rushing in her cheeks and the goofy smile creeping on her lips. She bit her lower lip to stop her blush and also so that people around her didn't know that she has lost her head.

She got up, dusted her pants and walked back to join her team. She heard a song being played on SaHat as they drove on the streets in the moonlight.

Usne baat ki kuch aise dhang se,
Sapne de gaya wo hazaro rang ke,
Reh jaaun jaise mai har ke,
Aur chume wo mujhe pyar se.
Pehla Nasha,
Pehla Khumar,
Naya pyar hai,
Naya intezaar.
Kar lu mai kya apna haal?
Ae dil-e-beqarar mere dil-e-beqarar

On the other hand,

"All boys meeting ho rahi hai?" Shefali walked into Bijoy's make up room and closed the door behind her.

"Aao aao Shefali beta. Jatin humein apni love life ke baare me bata raha hai." ("Come in Shefali. Jatin has just started telling us about his love story.") Bijoy welcomed her with enthusiasm in his make up room, where a small chat session was happening between him, Jatin and Sameer.

Shefali sat on the couch beside Sameer.

"Haa toh Jatin Bhai continue" Sameer insisted.

"Toh mai audition ke liye roz-roz jaata tha aur ek bus stop par mohtarma khadi rehti thi. Wo humein dekhti thi, hum use dekhte the, wo muskurati, hum bhi muskura dete..." ("So I used to go out for auditions. I used to see a lady on a bus stop. She used to look at me, I used to look at her, She used to smile, I used to smile...") Jatin started his story.

"Fir?Fir?" ("What next?") Shefali was on the edge of her seat.

"Fir kya? Ek din wo humari taraf aai, badh ke muskurayi,palkein jhukai aur ... Aur bana diya humein apna bhai" ("She came near me one day,smiled, lowered her lashes and made me her brother.") Jatin made a sad face.

"Bhai?" Bijoy didn't quite get it.

"Ek bache ko bula ke boli ki dekho beta ye hai tumhare mama ji. Baad me pata chala wo chaar bacho ki amma thi." ("She called a kid and said that see this is your uncle. Later, I got to know through some sources, that she is a mother of 4 children.") Jatin laughed remembering the old anecdote.

"Sameer ab tum batao?" ("You next Sameer?") Shefali punched his shoulder lightly.

"Mai kya batau?" ("What am I supposed to say?") Sameer tried to act innocent.

"Apni prem kahaniya." Shefali replied in a sing song manner.

Sameer could have easily told them about his girl and could have asked for help and advice but he denied about ever being in love.

"Gay ho?" Shefali mocked.

"Chote mote crushes rahe hai. Nothing major." He tried to dismiss her.

"Hmm" Shefali turned to Jatin and Bijoy to extract some more juicy information. The girl should have been a spy or a reporter!

Every person in the room was discussing about failed love stories. Sameer was thinking about his story in limbo.

Naina

It was the only word that came to his head those days. She had grown into a beautiful young lady but he always remembered the Naina in two pigtails, white ribbons and their white-blue PVKM uniform.

He wondered if she was still as innocent as she was earlier or her encounter with him had changed her? He couldn't help think about little details of her day. He always had a hard time in coming back to reality. He was ready to pay any cost to make his way back into Naina's heart.

Udta hi firu in hawaon me kahi
Ya mai jhul jaun in ghataon me kahi
Ek kar du aasman aur zameen
Kaho yaaron kya karun
Kya nahi?
Pehla Nasha,
Pehla Khumar,
Naya pyar hai,
Naya intezaar.
Kar lu mai kya apna haal?
Ae dil-e-beqarar mere dil-e-beqarar

_________

It was 10 already when Sona finished her work. Even the actors had a pack up at the same time. Ele and Shef requested Sona to join her on their ride back home and Sona instantly agreed without having second thoughts about the request but when Elena asked for the permission to drive Sonakshi hesitated for a while but gave her the cars key.

"My driver uncle is trapped in the traffic jam otherwise it was my turn to drop Ele di home." Shefali said as she took her seat in the front forcing Sona to sit alone in the back seat.

Sona smiled, not sure what to say next. There was silence in the car for a while till Shefali decide what her next topic would be.

"So..." Shefali hinted at something which only Elena could get.

"So?" Sonakshi looked up from her phone.

"So, Ms. Sonakshi Bose ... Aaj kal Dixit ke saath bahut time spend kar rahi hai aap. Kabhi canteen me, kabhi breaks me, kabhi set par. Chakkar kya hai?" ("So you're spending a lot of time with Dixit. What's the matter?") Elena questioned Sonakshi. The matter of love affairs always made her eyes sparkle with mischeif. The sudden change in her expressions didn't went unnoticed by Sonakshi.

"Don't look in the mirror Elena. Saamne dekho or you'll get us all admitted in a hospital." Sona said "And even if it is something, it is just a crush ... Maximum se maximum ... It'll go away."

"Ahhaa" Shefali said

"So there is something! ... But it isn't healthy for your job." Elena advised and Sona nodded.

She looked out of the glass window to look disinterested so that the girls could end the conversation but his face didn't leave her eyes for a second. It's just a crush ... She told herself again and again. It's just a crush.

_______

It was late in the night and Sameer couldn't catch any sleep. Munna, Naina's neighbour was actually his cousin. He had tried taking advantage of this. He had visited Manju mausi's place twice in the past one and a half week. He had broken the ice with Munna and his friend Pandit but Naina didn't come out in her balcony like her friends often did. The day Preeti went missing he was with Naina all the time but she didn't talk to him once.

The guilt of letting her down which had subsided in the past few years was eating him again. He didn't realise he loved her till the time she distanced herself from him and being away from her had only made his feelings intense.

MunDit were in the same college as SwaPreeNa and from the day they got to know that PreeDit were together, all the 5 were hanging out as a group.

There was only one plan that was running in his head to win Naina back - He had to hatch a friendship with Munna and Pandit to be near her and it should not be an ordinary friendship, he would have to become their best friend, a part of their little world. He had to be a different version of a friend with benefit.

Was it the only way out?

Precap - SaMunDit bond. Sonakshi acts all stupid in love.

Hey all, thanks for being such lovely readers. Do vote if you liked the chapter. It was more of a filler honestly.

I love inline comments so if you have thoughts in your heads while reading the chapter do drop comments so I can have some fun reading them. ;)

See ya asap.