It is almost lunchtime and we are yet to wrap up the shoot. The sun after a long game of hide and seek is visible now, but the chilly weather hasn't subdued.

We take a break, and I finally rest my legs. Ria asks us what we want to have and gives the order to a small kid who tagged along with us throughout the shoot.

He seems to be around eleven, wearing a sweater twice his size and is in worn-out shoes.

"Chotu, six plates of Maggi, four cups of chai, two coffee and two water bottles."

"Ria, make mine extra spicy please," Adarsh yells from the other side.

"Chotu, one Maggi extra spicy," she says and the little guy with his piece of paper runs towards a stall and gives his order to whom I presume is his boss.

"So why was he with us all the while?"

"Probably his boss told him to ensure he gets our order," Ria says.

Adarsh and Sid join us after their photoshoot, as we sip on our chai.

"So who ordered coffee?" Hitesh asks taking the glasses from Chotu, as I raise my hand.

He comes down to sit beside me, "Oh! Not a fan of tea?"

"Never really tried it."

"Yaar chai is not a drink, it's an emotion," Adarsh says joining us.

"Ufff. Tired of hearing that one," I sigh, happily sipping on my coffee.

"Chai with sutta is life bro!" Sid says, joining us at the table. (sutta is local slang for cigaratte)

"I'm tired of eating this maggi, I want real food!" Naina whimpers beside me.

"This literally is the second time we are eating this on this trip and you are tired already?"Adarsh rolls his eyes.

Nains scoffs, "Whatever," and leans in closer to me.

"So did you check what he wanted?" she whispers, hinting at my brother's message.

I take out my phone slowly, dreading the messages I may have.

Derek: Are you alright?

Derek: I will be busy next week, so I'd not be able to keep you updated. I need to know where you are, so I can make up a proper excuse for Dad.

Derek: Text me once you see these messages.

"Uh, oh!"

"That bad?" She peers in to read the messages.

"Why is he busy? What's he doing?"

"I don't know. But if he is going away, what do I do, if dad calls me. Or suspects something?"

"Why don't you call him?"

I sign and get up. "Umm yeah. Let me try, "

I walk a little further to check if there are any signals here. I keep searching but don't get any signals here.

I go back after a while, to a cold bowl of maggi.

Damn. This has gone cold!

I sigh, trying to eat the now cold noodles.

"Wanna reheat it ?" questions Ria from across me.

"No, it's fine," I answer and we soon finish our lunch.

"Guys! We have to wrap up the shoot soon. We will be visiting another local sightseeing place tomorrow," says Ria looking at the group.

I watch everyone nodding, except Naina who seems to be fidgeting.

"So?" Naina asks, hinting at the phone as everyone gets up.

"No signals," I answer slurping my coffee.

"Call him once you get signals. This is giving me major anxiety," she throws her plastic bowl in the bin.

"Yeah. I'll.. umm...do it,"

"Nesssie. I'm there for you. We are in this together. Don't worry,"

"Yeah and you too. I know you are scared," I hint at the frame which is being set up for her. I see Ria working with Sid to choose cameras, lenses, filters, shot composition, light design and setup.

"Ummm," she fidgets with her fingers and doesn't meet the eye.

"You can do it. Go rock it, girl!" I hug her.

"Thanks, babe. I needed it!" she says hugging me back.

I stay by Sid to observe the techniques he uses to film the whole scene. He hands over the camera to me to help me understand it better.

"A little to the left," he says as he lets me take over the camera.

"Okay, I'm trusting you. Don't ruin the shoot," he says as he walks over to the rest of the camera crew to ensure adequate lighting is there as the sun is now setting.

I handle the camera carefully and add the occasional view of the scenery behind as Naina goes about explaining and showing various details about the place.

"So that's all folks. Hope you catch you soon on our next episode of Xplore India" Naina signs off for the day.

"Good work team! Take a break and we will leave in 5," Ria says and I watch Ria, Sid and Hitesh discussing something about the shoot.

"Ufff," I sigh.

I try calling Derek and finally he answers the call.

"Hey," he says, seemingly out of breath.

"Umm hey? What happened?"

"Nothing my phone wasn't with me, so I didn't answer," he says still out of breath.

"Okay, but I was talking about the messages,"

"Oh yeah, about that. I have some work and will not be in town this weekend."

"What do I say if dad calls?" I panic just thinking about it. My mind goes into overdrive thinking of the worst that could happen.

I take in deep breaths to calm myself.

"So if dad calls you just say you are in college. He won't call you mostly as he is heading off to a meeting in the city,"

"Oh. Okaay. What about you, where are you going? "

"To the city, with my friends. For a weekend getaway, " he says.

I hear someone yelling in the background and before I could figure out who it was,

"Gotta go!" he says and cuts the call.

I turn around and catch Naina staring at me, with a concerned look etched on her face.

"So what happened?" she asks coming close.

"Nothing Derek won't be with dad this weekend. So he just wanted me to be careful."

"Oh, let's hope nothing happens while he is gone."

Everyone seems to be walking back to the exit, so I quickly grab my bag and follow them.

Being too distracted by the bomb that just dropped, I don't hear Hitesh calling me.

"Are you all right?" he asks walking up to me.

"Yes, just a little distracted," I say, trying my best to smile.

"Oh, What happened? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, umm--"

A scream from Hitesh effectively cuts me off. I look up to see him covered in snow.

"Oops," comes a voice from behind.

"That was supposed to hit Ness, not you. Sorry," says Naina.

"Oh you are dead!" he says running to her.

I mouth her a thank you and quickly board the bus. After what felt like an eternity I see Hitesh and Naina boarding the bus and she not very subtly pushes him away to sit beside me. I watch his face fall but try not to overthink it.

"That was very subtle," I say laughing at her.

"That's my speciality," she says, flipping her hair.

I feel someone nudging me and squint my eyes open to see Naina all over me.

"Nessie come on, we've reached get up!" Naina softly nudges me.

Oh -- wh --aa, I yawn getting up.

"When did I fall asleep?" I ask yawning.

"Quite some time back," she says, getting up.

"Let's meet back here for dinner. You have the rest of the day to yourself," Ria says as we assemble in the lobby.

"Okay," we say in unison and watch Ria leave.

"So wanna continue your story?" Hitesh asks, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Let me first change and get something to eat. I'm famished,"

"Okay then, let's meet here in an hour and get something to eat?"

"Sure, " I say, walking towards the elevator.

I reach my room to see a missed call from Caleb and I call him back.

"Hey Baby girl. How are you?" he asks, his voice sounding like a symphony to my ears.

"I'm fine, but I wish you were here. It's really amazing here. We'd have had a lot of fun if you were here," I say, wishing he could somehow come here through the phone.

"I wish I could just appear there through this phone, but I can't,"

"Hey, don't read my mind like that," I say smiling.

"Haha, so how is your internship going on?" he asks and I can't help but smile at him.

"Good. Getting a lot of exposure. It will definitely be helpful for my placements,"

"Awesome."

"So how are things with you?" I ask.

"Great I'm back home. The guys are planning a trip for this weekend. I'm planning to take Sam along,"

"Doesn't he have school tho?"

"No, he is done with his exams, and I can't leave him alone here. At least when school was open he could have stayed there until I went to pick him up. Now he is alone, so I think it's better that I take him with me," he says.

"Yeah. How is he doing by the way?"

"He is great. Still persistent on getting a dog," he says laughing.

"Yeah. He sure was fond of them since his childhood. I remember the first time I met him was also when I was going to feed a dog," I say reminiscing about that time.

"Hello, Nessssss . Hiiii!" comes a squeaky voice from the other end.

"Hey cutie pie,"

"HIii. Please tell my bro to get me a puppy. He isn't listening to me," he pleads me and I'm pretty sure he put on his puppy dog eyes.

"Sure sam. Why don't you give him the phone,"

"Yaayy thank you. You are the best!" he yells before handing him the phone.

After an hour-long call with him, I end the call and realise that Naina was throwing dagger eyes at me.

"Okay, what did I do?"

"You didn't even notice I was here," she says scowling

"I was umm-- on the call,"

"Yeah yeah you forgot about me," she says dramatically.

"Shut up Naina, don't pull my leg. What is it?"

"Well, lover boy is waiting downstairs for you," she teases.

"He isn't a lover boy, plus I have a boyfriend," I say getting up.

"Talking about boyfriends. How is yours?"

"Good, he is going on a trip this weekend with his friend. So I'll have no one to inform me about dad's whereabouts," I sulk.

"Strange. Both of them had to go this weekend?" Naina asks referring to the fact that even Derek said he is going on a weekend getaway with his friends.

"Oh, come on. It's summer vacation and a long weekend too. Who wouldn't wanna go on a trip away from the chaos."

"Then again, at the same time!"

"Oh, come on Naina. I'm hungry let's go get something to eat," I say dragging her.

While I was pretending to be fine, something inside me was yelling things aren't fine. Something feels odd. Like I caught the fish in the trap, but I'm yet to reel it in. Yet to figure it out!

A/N

Hey people, hope someone out there is still reading this. If you are, it means a lot to me!

Thank you.

Next update coming soon!

Until then.

Lots of love,
~ Vaishnavi.