Vijay getting riled up as Kiara tries to calm him down above.

qui vive

(n.) heightened awareness or watchfulness

It was the final day of press tours in UK and Kiara couldn't be more relieved. The cast had spent the entire morning at interviews so when they were released for lunch, she was practically clawing at the walls for some fresh air. Sadly, Kabir had almost immediately directed her and Vijay towards their car as they made their way to London for The Graham Norton show. She blew appreciative kisses to her team and made them laugh at her antics, thankful they spent over two hours in the dressing room getting her stage-ready, before proceeding backstage towards the Green Room with Jimmy. Vijay had been uncharacteristically early and was already seated backstage with the other guests so she could only hope he was getting along with them. 

Jimmy recounted his son, Aryan's, most recent kitchen debacle as Kiara listened intently, missing the boy's innocent and vibrant presence. It had been well over a month since she last saw him– the longest they had ever gone without seeing each other, and she found herself clinging to any stories or photos Jimmy would share to satisfy her longing. 

Sometimes he would bring Aryan along with him on set and she would spend the entirety of her breaks with him. But she soon realised how stressful of an ordeal it was for Jimmy to maintain his roles as both a professional employee and attentive father so she refrained from pestering him too much about bringing Aryan around. As a general rule of thumb, she only ever surrounded herself with people she trusted so made it a point to connect with each staff member of her team. They were one big family and she found solace in knowing everyone genuinely cared about one another.

Kiara found Vijay seated on the couch in the Green Room, maintaining a safe distance from the other guests, as his bodyguard, Sanjay, leaned stoically against the wall behind him. She scanned their faces, recognising Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch, before heading straight over to Vijay, pausing to greet Sanjay. The minute she saw Vijay sip heavily from his flask, she knew he'd be in a foul mood and said a silent prayer for him to maintain his composure throughout the interview. The corners of his mouth tilted up as he spotted her and scooted over, making room for her on the couch.

She grabbed the flask out of his hands and screwed the lid back on, tucking it into his pocket, "Nervous?"

He sighed, "What makes you think that?"

"You're day drinking again."

"Can't I just drink to make people around me seem more interesting?"

"Gee thanks."

He raised his hands in surrender, smiling innocently, "Truth hurts, sweetheart."

Kiara shook her head, playfully knocking her shoulder with Vijay's before leaning over to make polite conversation with Benedict and Martin. Vijay made sure to appear firmly uninterested in their conversation, the slight quirk in his lip acting as the only indication of his faint amusement at their jokes. Suddenly his smile fell as he squinted at something behind her. She abruptly stopped mid-sentence to spin around, trying to discern what upset him and frowned upon spotting one of the audio crew members recording them on his phone. Vijay shot up from the couch and stormed over to the man, grabbing the phone and chucking it into the bin.

He barely had enough time to react, exclaiming in shock, "What the hell, mate!"

Vijay gripped the man's shirt, "Don't fucking film me."

"You're an actor! You're always being filmed!"

"Doesn't mean I like it."

The room quietened as Benedict and Martin watched cautiously while Kiara held her breath, hoping a fight wouldn't break out.

The man brushed Vijay off and yelled, "Fuck you, dickhead!"

Vijay pushed the man back hard as they began shoving each other with increasing aggression. Realising the situation had escalated more than necessary, Kiara quickly stood up and inserted herself between the two men, separating them. She held out her arms to uphold their distance as she glared at Vijay, instantly stopping his movements.

Assuming the fight had died down, she relaxed when the man reached out to grab her arm, "The fuck's your problem now?"

Kiara twisted in the man's tight grip as Jimmy, Sanjay and Vijay reacted in unison, stepping forward the minute he grabbed her. The entire room now focused solely on them, watching with bated breaths as Vijay immediately gripped the man's hand and forced him to release her arm.

He took a threatening step closer, gripping the man's face as he growled, "Look at me. Look, Kiara's where I draw the line."

She worried her lip as he grew increasingly angrier, "Go ahead... try and touch her. I'll kill you just for fun."

The man blanched, retreating slightly as Vijay shoved him away.

Kiara held up her hands to reassure everyone that she was fine, "I'm okay so let's all just move on."

She nudged him away, guiding him back towards the couch, when the man called out from behind them, "The bitch really does have you wrapped around her finger, huh?"

She instantly placed herself in front of Vijay, already predicting his violent outburst, and leaned back to face the man, "Really? Did you have to insult me too?"

The man remained unfazed as he continued to provoke him, "Makes sense that you're so protective of her. You know... considering you couldn't do the same for your mother."

The man smirked, waiting for his reaction, as she exhaled heavily, "You know what? I tried to help but now you really deserve what's coming."

With that, Kiara stepped out of the way as Vijay pounced, slamming the man against the ground as he repeatedly pummelled his face. The poor man could only shield his face as he realised Vijay was significantly stronger and faster. She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she couldn't hold him back, then gestured to Sanjay and Jimmy to pull him off the now bloodied and bruised man. After a lengthy struggle, they finally managed to wrangle Vijay away from the man and hauled him out of the room. She assessed the man's injuries, feeling sorry for him, and asked around for a first aid kit as she sat him up to clean his wounds.

Dabbing antiseptic cream onto his split lip, she gently questioned, "Why provoke him?"

"Why be friends with a dick like that?"

She smiled tightly, "I suppose the same reason people are friends with you."

He moved his arms around animatedly, "Are you shitting me? You're trying to say all this is my fault?"

"No but he was walking away."

"Of course you'd take his side."

Satisfied with her work, Kiara helped the man stand up and turned to observe Vijay as he re-entered the room, seeming much calmer.

She faced the man again and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I'm not taking anyone's side."

He scoffed, "I guess it makes sense that you don't know what's right from wrong since you didn't have a mother to teach you."

She froze as Vijay slammed his flask onto the table from the other side of the room and walked over, rolling his sleeves up, "Fuck's sake. Some people just never learn."

She held up a hand, stopping him in his tracks as she inhaled deeply to reign in her anger and smiled politely at the man, "Then it's a good thing one parent clearly taught me more about humanity than both of yours did."

He frowned, thrown by her lack of reaction, as she firmly reprimanded, "Using someone's pain for personal gain? Not something to be proud of. Think about that next time you decide to open your mouth."

Throwing an icy scowl over his shoulder at the man, Vijay worriedly observed Kiara as he gently tugged her away.

They quietly returned to their spot on the couch and she smiled tightly at Benedict and Martin, now gaping at them, "I'm so sorry for all of... that."

Benedict shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Are you feeling alright?"

Kiara nodded and smiled appreciatively at him before conversing quietly with Vijay. Half an hour later, the staff were bustling around backstage as she waited patiently, watching each guest be welcomed on stage.

She listened as the distinctive Irish brogue of Graham's voice to introduce her onto stage, "And last, but certainly not the least, it's Kiara Mathew, everybody!"

The audience erupted in a frenzy of shrieks and applause as Kiara ascended the stairs, waving and folding her hands in Namaste. She hugged Graham then leaned over to greet the other guests on the couch before settling beside Vijay, carefully positioning herself as she sat down.

Graham excitedly clapped, speaking to the audience, "I know, right. It's good, it's a good one."

He spun around to face the couch, joking, "You're very, very welcome. They might just clap for forty-five minutes."

Shifting his focus to the hip flask tucked into Vijay's pocket, he asked, "And now, before I say anything, Vijay, is it fashion, happy hour...?"

Vijay smirked, taking the flask out and holding it up as he humorously quipped, "Let me be dark and mysterious in peace, Graham"

He took a sip from the flask and Graham shuffled his cue cards, expression dripping with sarcasm as he remarked, "Yes, I suppose that's as good an excuse as any."

This elicited an outburst of raucous laughter from the audience. After tucking the flask back into his pocket, Vijay leaned back beside Kiara and stretched his arm out to rest behind her.

Graham began, "Now, Benedict and Martin, you've both been on the show before but Kiara and Vijay, this is your first time on the couch!"

She smiled in agreement as Vijay nodded, "Yeah."

Graham gestured between the guests as they looked at each other, "So have you guys met each other at all?"

She nodded enthusiastically, sitting up to face Benedict as Martin sarcastically interjected, "Oh we had quite the explosive meeting backstage."

She blushed, changing the subject as she gushed, "It's such an honour to meet you both, I'm a massive fan of your work."

Graham nodded in agreement as Benedict leaned over to thank Kiara for the compliment.

She placed a hand over Vijay's chest, "This one can't say much since he's a massive fan of The Office– British version, of course."

He dryly added, "Dark and mysterious, people. Dark and mysterious."

Martin chuckled, seeming pleasantly surprised, as Graham retorted, "That is honestly the last thing I would expect someone to remember Martin Freeman from."

Martin made an appalled face as he snapped, "I thought I was quite memorable in The Office."

"Oh! No, I know you were.", Graham scrambled to recover and Vijay threw his head back, clutching his stomach as he laughed.

He quickly moved on, changing the subject, "Anyway... Kiara and Vijay, you two have known each other for quite some time, haven't you?"

She smiled, "Yeah, we're good friends."

Jokingly, Martin quipped, "So who wears the pants in that relationship?"

Vijay snapped his head towards her, raising an eyebrow, "I like to think I wear the pants but she chooses the colour."

The audience erupted in laughter, she rebuked, "Hey if you saw some of the outfit choices he makes... you should be thanking me."

She smugly nodded in satisfaction as Graham commented, "Well you did valiantly defend his honour."

Benedict leaned in, taking a sip of his drink, "Now this, I want to hear."

She covered her face in embarrassment, "Oh my god, that story just won't die."

This triggered another bout of laughter from the audience and Graham snorted, unable to contain his laughter as he encouraged her, "Well go on, it's hilarious."

Vijay readjusted himself to face her as she warned, "Just to be clear, this could've happened to anyone."

Graham motioned for her to continue, "Sure."

Martin and Benedict gave Kiara their undivided attention as she began to narrate the incident.

Kiara craned her neck around to try get a glimpse of Vijay, wrinkling her nose in disgust as the acrid stench of sweat and testosterone permeated her senses. She ignored the curious stares, forcing herself to remain nonchalant and unfazed as she pushed her shoulders back and confidently walked ahead. Finally spotting Vijay, she made her way across the street towards him, confused as to why he was rolling his shoulders as if preparing to fight. It was only once she pushed past the crowd that she saw the man opposite him connect his fist with Vijay's body and watched in horror as he doubled over. 

Releasing an outraged scream upon realising Vijay was being attacked, Kiara pounced onto the man's back and repeatedly hit his head. The poor man spluttered in shock, trying to shake her off as she clung onto his body. Vijay unsteadily got to his feet and wrestled her away, releasing the man from her grasp.

She struggled against his hold, kicking her feet out as he breathlessly tried to clarify, "He's a friend! A friend!"

She paused her movements, relaxing slightly, "What?"

"We were just sparring."

Kiara awkwardly scratched her head and sheepishly smiled at the man as he held his head, desperately sucking in air and shooting her a mean glare.

Benedict keeled over, slapping his knee with laughter as Graham wiped away tears.

Vijay unabashedly recalled, "He never came back after that. And people think I'm the crazy one."

Graham added in between howls of laughter, "Moral of the story– don't mess with Vijay Kapoor or you'll have Kiara Mathew to deal with."

Finally sobering up, he inquired, "Speaking of injuries, wasn't Martin really badly injured on set?"

Benedict nodded, laughing uncontrollably as he recalled the incident, "Oh yeah! Go on, Martin, tell them what happened."

Grimacing as he explained, Martin recounted, "Stop laughing! I ended up going to hospital, for God's sake. Essentially, I slipped on the ice coming out of my trailer with a bowl of porridge and I went down like a ton of bricks and did my wrist in."

The audience laughed at his storytelling as Graham sarcastically retorted, "How very traumatic. We're all praying for a speedy recovery."

He shifted his attention to Kiara and she blanked, blurting out the first thing that came to mind, "Um... oh! Last night I had the worst migraine–"

Before Kiara could finish her sentence, the audience were cracking up with laughter as Graham and Benedict were practically in tears while Martin simply gave an her amused look.

Graham tried to speak through bursts of uncontrollable laughter, "Sorry but I don't think anyone can top that."

Vijay shook his head, "Not even going to try."

She pouted, trying to speak over their laughter, "Hey, it was entirely possible for me to have a subarachnoid haemorrhage or something! That's serious business."

He pointed accusatorially at her, "Yeah and she called me at three in the morning to let me know she might die!"

Graham, Benedict and Martin broke into more laughter as they observed Kiara and Vijay interact.

She argued, "You live three minutes away from me!"

"I was sleeping."

"And I was dying!"

"Correction, you thought you were dying. I need all the sleep I can get. Looking this good takes hard work, sweetheart."

The audience were in splits now as she wondered in genuine confusion, "Sometimes I really don't understand what people see in you."

"That's because you haven't had sex with me."

She grimaced, "Thank God for small miracles."

The audience exploded with laughter as Graham quickly interjected, "Alright, alright. No need to argue."

She smiled awkwardly, not realising everyone had witnessed their bickering, before amending his wording, "Not arguing... discussing."

Vijay nodded and leaned over to add, "This one graduated from law school. Wordplay is her forte."

Graham gasped in mock-regret as Kiara self-consciously rubbed her nose.

He looked at Vijay expectantly, "And you?"

Vijay sighed deeply and leaned forward, gesturing to him to come closer, "I've got a medical condition."

Graham leaned over, quickly sobering up as Vijay flamboyantly placed the back of his hand against his forehead in the classic 'woe is me' pose, "It's called... a wandering eye."

Instantly, Graham deflated, "Oh. I thought you were going to say lupus or something."

"I didn't know what else to say since I've never really been injured."

She raised a brow as if to say 'really?' as he raised his hands innocently, "What?"

"Never, huh?"

"Hey! Those are my skeletons, stop revealing them!"

Reeling back in confusion, Graham interrupted, "I'm sorry... skeletons?"

Barely paying him any attention, she dismissed his question before returning to communicating with Vijay through comical expressions, "He means skeletons in his closet."

Rolling his eyes, Graham simply decided to move on, addressing Benedict, "Now you caused quite the stir when you got cast."

Benedict furrowed his brows, "Me?"

"Didn't you get like an influx of hate-mail for being in Lord of The Rings?"

He laughed, face-palming himself, "Oh yes! I remember now."

He turned to speak to the guests, "So apparently a lot of fans were upset with the way I portrayed my character."

The audience burst into fits of disbelieving laughter as Benedict scratched his head in mock-confusion and Martin patted his back sympathetically.

Graham wondered, "So how do you react to that kind of hate?"

Benedict shrugged, "Honestly you don't. There's really no other way but to ignore it."

Martin agreed, "Exactly! The problem with responding is that it often just provokes people further so the situation is likely to escalate."

Graham nodded, turning to Vijay as he asked, "What about you, Vijay?"

He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table and leaned back, "Do I look like someone who gives a fuck what others think of me?"

Martin threw his head back and laughed freely for the first time as Graham admitted, "I should've known that would be your answer."

Moving onto Kiara, he sighed, "Let's be honest, you barely get any hate. But when you do, how do you deal with it?"

She shrugged, "I don't let the words of someone who's never lived a day in my life affect me."

The audience roared with applause and encouragement as Kiara smiled, absent-mindedly scanning the many faces in the audience, when suddenly she noticed a familiar one– the adorable little girl she met at the café.

She perked up and excitedly exclaimed, "Sienna!"

Sienna grinned widely and waved as the rest of the couch abruptly stopped in alarm when Kiara excused herself then walked off stage towards her, smiling to acknowledge her mother.

She squatted beside Sienna's seat and leaned in for a hug, "What are you doing here?"

"We came to see you. Is it scary up there?"

"A little but I feel much braver knowing you're here with me."

She noticed the string bracelet she gave still wrapped around Sienna's wrist and gasped, "You kept the bracelet!"

Sienna nodded, kicking her feet happily, "Yep! I even made you one."

Sienna tugged at her mother's sleeve for the bracelet and handed it to Kiara.

She brushed her fingers over the rainbow beads, smiling at the crown pendant attached as tears welled up in her eyes, "I love it."

Sienna reached out to cup her cheek, "Then why are you crying?"

"Because I'm happy."

Martin and Benedict watched Kiara in interest as Vijay couldn't help but smile at the sheer light she exuded. Meanwhile Graham panicked about the show runtime, unsure of how to deal with a situation like this.

She quickly wore the bracelet and turned to face Sienna, "I should probably go back before I get in trouble. Will you give me a lucky hug?"

Sienna nodded and tightly squeezed her in a hug before moving away and sniffing, "That should be enough luck."

Kiara laughed then stood up and returned to the couch as Graham, Benedict and Martin stared at her in amazement while Vijay gave her knee a gentle pat.

She fretfully tucked her hair behind her ears, "Sorry, I'm easily excitable."

Graham tutted, "Nonsense, I think it's admirable to value people over publicity."

Kiara let out a relieved sigh, glad she hadn't offended anyone as Vijay rubbed her arm smiling proudly. Everyone remained in high spirits as the interview progressed and to her amazement, Graham somehow managed to explore all aspects regarding the guests within a mere forty-five minutes.

Ninth chapter done! I'm in a creative mood so writing each chapter has been easier but I feel like I'm really drawing out the two main love interests' meeting.