Roma Diwan sat busily making notes before her interview with Rockstar Abhi and his new wife, when her phone rang. She looked at the caller id before answering and saw her boss' name appear on screen.

"Hello." "Roma! There's been a slight change in plans."

"What change?" She asked.

"Apparently Mrs. Mehra can't make it, so only Abhi will be joining you for the interview."

What?! After all the trouble she went through to get her boss to send her instead of Saakshi, now this was happening?! She had so badly wanted this meeting with them together, so much that she made her boss and co-workers promise that they wouldn't reveal the truth to Abhi and his team. That Purab Khanna would never let her anywhere near Abhi if he had any inkling!

"Roma, did you hear what I said?" Her boss' voice cut through her thoughts.

"Yeah, I heard." She replied. "That's no problem. I will just have to adjust my notes accordingly."

"Ok. I'll be expecting a call from you as soon as the interview is over." He told her. "I want full details!"

"Yes Sir." She replied in a bored tone, rolling her eyes. "Just as soon as the meeting ends."

"Ok good." He said and then hung up.

"Fool!" She said into the phone after her boss had hung up. Her mind then turned to her interview. Mrs. Rockstar couldn't make it? No problem! She thought evily. Roma Diwan was nothing if not a little flexible. Atleast now she would be getting some one-on-one time with Abhi Mehra....

Abhi sat in the backseat of his vehicle fiddling with the keypad on his phone, wondering if he should try calling Pragya again just to make sure she was safe. He had attempted to reach her earlier today but his call went unanswered. It was so unlike her not to let her family know her whereabouts. Well, technically, she did inform a family member, but what sense did that make when Mitali Babhi couldn't even remember?! 

Abhi knew Pragya could more than take care of herself, but still, he couldn't stop from worrying. Maybe he should just bunk this interview...he wouldn't be able to concentrate on it anyway. Abhi then realised he was just overthinking. Her phone battery probably went out as usual again, he thought, and she most likely couldn't care less to re-charge it. She wasn't a big fan of phones. The less she had to do with them the better. Besides his family would call if there were anything wrong....or Purab definitely would! He turned his attention back to his phone and proceeded to deal with all the missed calls and pending messages that had piled up on him.

Twenty minutes later, he heard his driver, Udit, announce that they had arrived at their destination...which wasn't really necessary. He could see the huge crowd lined up outside the restaurant, most likely awaiting his arrival. Media people could never keep anything a secret! Once one knew, the rest would follow quickly behind.

His door opened and he was escorted out by his bodyguard, Roy. It was only on certain occasions that he needed his driver and bodyguard, but something told him that it would be handy to have them both around tonight...especially Roy. Goodness knew how he would have dealt with all this by himself!

After stopping for a few autographs and pictures, Abhi then made his way inside the restaurant, with the crowd behind yelling for him to return to them. The maitre'd spotted him almost as soon as he entered the door.

"Good evening, Sir." He greeted with a courteous smile and then added, "Everything is already in place and awaiting your arrival. If you'll just follow me..."

Abhi nodded and then turned to Roy, "I think I can take it from here."

Roy nodded, "Sure Boss. Just holler if you need me."

"Cool." He replied and then turned to follow the maitre'd.

I just want this to be over and done with! Abhi thought as he followed the maitre'd to where the meeting would be held. The faster the better! 

Abhi hoped the one conducting the interview was experienced. He was tired and in no mood to answer a series of bland and boring questions from some potentially nervous individual who would most likely be too starstruck to ask the questions anyway, turning the meeting into something awful and awkward. He'd already had a couple of those. Others were really pleasant and fun....and then there were the ones with....

Abhi's phone rang as they made their way upstairs to a private section of the restaurant. "One second." He said to the maitre'd who nodded in understanding. Abhi looked down at the caller id before pressing the answer key.

"Hey Purab. I can't talk long. I'm just about to head into the interview." Abhi said.

"Didn't you get my message?" Purab asked.

"Sorry, I got busy returning calls I didn't get time to check messages. What's up?" Abhi asked. "Is it Fuggi? Is she ok?"

"No it's not, and yeah, she's fine." Purab replied and Abhi breathed a sigh of relief. "I got a call from Ruhi."

"She on her way here?" Abhi asked. "Cuz I told her everything would be fine and she didn't need to be here for this."

"Yeah, she's following your orders."

While Purab continued to talk, Abhi took a quick glance into the room. He saw a girl with a clipboard, a cameraman, and two others.

"But you know she has this need to make sure everything is properly organized." Purab continued on, "I'm getting side-tracked here. Listen the reason I..."

Then his eyes widened as they landed on the orange sofa...

What the hell is Roma Diwan doing here?!! 

He was one hundred and ten percent sure Purab wouldn't sign-off on this. Before he could ask Purab about it, he heard that annoying voice call out to him.

"Abhi!"

Oh Crap! She saw me! Too late to make a run for it!

Of course, Abhi would never do that. He was too much of a professional...but still, it wasn't such a bad idea.

"Purab, I'll talk to you later." He said quickly and hung up, forgetting to ask Purab why he had called.

"But..." Purab tried to say, when he heard the beep on the line indicating that their conversation was over.

"Abhi, good to see you again." Roma greeted him as he walked further into the room. She tried to go in for a kiss on the cheek, but Abhi stuck his hand out for a handshake instead, leaving a disappointed look on her face.

"Mrs. Diwan." He said with a tight smile.

"Actually, it's "Miss" now." She replied. "I'm recently divorced."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Abhi uttered with fake remorse. He was just happy that her poor husband was able to escape.

"Don't be. I'm not." she replied with a throaty chuckle.

Abhi gave her a stiff smile, mainly because he didn't know how to reply or react to that. He had never been through that, but couldn't imagine it being such a happy occasion as Roma was leading him to believe it was. What person would be this ecstatic at getting a divorce?

He had never wished anyone bad in his entire life, but this woman was seriously tempting him. She was the reason for his unflattering reputation in tabloids, linking him to various starlets. What bad had he ever done to her to warrant such distasteful behavior? Guess it came with the shark-like territory of the media world...anything to stay on top.

Atleast his family and friends knew him well enough to disbelieve such theories. Even his loyal fans refused to believe the nonsense printed about him, for which he was extremely thankful. Sometimes they came up to him and expressed their sympathy and frustration at the media who had treated him unfairly. Although Roma's machinations failed to have the desired effect according to him, that didn't mean he would forgive her for trying to scandalize his name and reputation.

"I've noticed that Mrs. Mehra is not here. Is she not joining us?" Her voice broke into his thoughts. "The information given was that both Mr & Mrs. Rockstar were scheduled to be here. Trouble in paradise already?" She asked with a sneaky smile.

Boy, this Roma Diwan really didn't waste any time, did she?

"Far from it. Even the information given to us proved to be misleading as I had no idea you would be conducting this interview." Abhi retorted, and immediately saw the smile disappear from her face. "But to answer your question, there is no such thing as we are very much happily married."

"Bitten hard by the love bug, I see." Roma commented with a tight smile. She sounded a bit disappointed.

Was she already hoping for divorce bells between him and his wife? It hasn't been more than two months yet!

"Actually she really wanted to be here but something came up at the last minute." He said, ignoring her 'love bug' comment.

"I understand." Roma replied. But did she really? Her tone was strange and Abhi couldn't tell if she was happy or disappointed that Pragya couldn't make it.

Roma called the girl with the clipboard over and said something quickly to her, then turned back to him.

"Shall we get started?" She asked, and when Abhi nodded, she gestured for him to have a seat on the sofa.

A waiter stepped in with drinks and quietly served them.

She then turned to the camera man, "All set?"

Abhi remembered a time when magazine media used only a tape recorder or pen and paper for their interviews. Now everything must be on camera, or it wouldn't really be count as a successful interview, he thought giving a mental eye roll.

"This is Roma Diwan and I'm sitting here with the one and only Abhi the Rockstar." She started off, facing the direction of the camera before turning to Abhi. "Nice to have you with us.

Abhi nodded politely, "My pleasure." The less he said around her the better.

"It's been a while since we've seen or heard from you." She said. "What has our resident Rockstar been up to?"

"The usual." Abhi replied.

"Care to elaborate?" She asked, urging him on.

Not really... 

Abhi smiled, trying his best not to let his irritation show. In order for him to do that, he had to pretend he was speaking to someone else, but that bright red hair and extremely packed on make-up were making it just a little tough to do so.

"Um, sure..." He started off. "Got a new album coming out. So maximum time is being spent on that until it's ready for release."

"That's fantastic news. Is the album going to be your usual mix?"

"Actually, this one is a bit different. We're experimenting with a new flavor. It's sounding great so far and the lyrics are awesome, and for the fans who love the usual mix there are a couple of tracks in there for them as well."

"That's great!" Roma said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to hear it and I'm sure your millions of fans are impatiently awaiting for your next album release. Can you give us a date on when it might be out?"

"There's still alot to do before it's ready so I can't really approximate or pinpoint an actual date." "Are you planning video releases?"

"Yes, there will be videos coming out as well. With all the avenues on social media, it's just a better way to get feedback from fans. Whether its praise or criticism, we use the responses to create better music in the future."

"And how has the response rate been thus far?"

"So far the reactions have been really tremendous. It's really a blessing to experience that level of love and support from people all over the world."

"Well, you are an extremely remarkable and talented individual." Roma said with a smile. "You have reached heights in your career that are still a dream for so many.

"Thank You." Abhi replied. "I have a wonderful support system both at home and across the world."

"Indeed." She said. "There's a new headline coming out of the rumor mills saying that you are making a crossover into movies. How true is this?"

"I have never been interested in acting as a career, or even as part-time venture. Music has always been my focus and will continue to be. The only little acting I do are for my videos or as favor to my friends in the film industry."

"What about advertisements?" Roma asked.

"Although I've done numerous ads at the start, now I'm a bit cautious about the products that I am endorsing. People are trusting my words and spending their hard-earned money on an item that I have ensured them is worth the trouble. Now before I do an ad, I have to be sure that the product is reliable otherwise I won't be a part of it."

"Which product would you absolutely refuse to endorse." "Weight-loss pills, or any quick diet regimes." He responded. "Those pills do more harm than good, yet people will do anything to lose weight without having to do what is really needed, which is to develop healthy eating habits and exercise. These type of companies are setting a bad example, especially for young girls out there who would do anything to remain "in shape", thereby creating negative self image."

"I must admit that even I have tried one or two of them with little or no results." Roma said of her own accord and Abhi absolutely refused to respond to that. 

Roma cleared her throat and continued, "So let's move on to these charity causes you've been working on. It's two charities...one that works for children in need, providing them with a better standard of living and the other one is...?"

"Mental Health." Abhi replied.

"Mental Health?" She asked curiously. "You mean like crazy people?"

That comment brought out Abhi's defensive side. Did she always have to be this insensitive? He was tempted to tell her off when belatedly he remembered that he was a role model for kids and young adults and his actions were being recorded for the world to see. He took a breath and calmly proceeded to respond.

"There are various factions of mental health, none of which, I assure you, uses the term "crazy people" to identify its patients." Abhi retorted. "That was a bit insensitive by the way." He added with a grim smile. He was sorry if that seemed a bit rude, but she had to be told.

"My apologies." She said, seemingly taken aback that he would say something like that to her... and on camera no less! Feeling a tad embarrassed, she quickly moved on to another question. "So tell us more about what this charity entails." She asked.

"It's a foundation which addresses the issues of depression, anxiety and all concerns related to mental heath."

"Do you target a specific age group?" She asked.

"Our main focus is helping kids and teenagers, but we do cater for all ages." He responded and then went on to give her some slight information about the inner workings of the foundation: The trained professionals, procedures of the institution and ways you can get in contact with them if help is needed or for people who would like to support.

"Wow that's very admirable work." She commented and Abhi just nodded his head, giving her a tight smile.

Even her praise sounded like an insult, Abhi thought.

"So let's move on to the part we've all been dying to know about!" She said excitedly.

Uh-Oh! Abhi thought. Here it comes...

"Your wedding!" Roma finished.

And there it is...

"....or should I say your secret marriage." She added quickly.

Abhi scrambled for words to reply.

"W-we just wanted it to be a private affair. Close family and friends." Abhi responded, hoping she wouldn't press further.

"You are a huge superstar, how much of a secret did you think this would be?" Roma commented. "So tell me, why have we never heard of or seen your bride before now? Where have you been hiding her?"

"I'm sure you've seen her around. She's been with me always."She's just good at camouflaging herself...until she gets mad, then everyone knows she's there!  

"I'm sure I would remember her." Roma said.  

Not if she doesn't want you to...

"You've mostly been seen with Supermodel Tanu. Sources revealed that both of you were engaged and were to be married soon...only the wedding happened but the bride was different." She said with a smirk.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear." Abhi replied and watched as that stupid smirk disappeared off her face.

"Well there has to be some truth to it." She said urgently. "Will folks just make up rumors for no reason?"

"Why won't they?" Abhi replied. "They are called rumors for a reason. Haven't you ever made up falsehoods about a celebrity for your own benefit? Or perhaps to create a scandal that would sell?"

Abhi saw all the blood drain from her face. He knew he had hit the target with that remark.

"I...I..um" She started stammering and then cleared her throat. "We are getting off track her." She said quickly. "What I meant was, that, you and Tanu were in love before your marriage."

"Who says that we were?" Abhi replied. "Tanu and I were co-workers and friends."

"Were?" Roma echoed. "Both of you are no longer friends? Or was it because you broke her heart when you decided to marry Pragya?"

What?!

"Or maybe it was because she got cold feet and ran away and then you ended up married to another woman to save face?"

Roma's revelation had hit home.

Bulls-eye! 

***

Hi Cupcakes! How are you all?

Its been so longggg since I last updated!  Episode was kinda rushed. It was already 10 months since I last posted...didn't wanna keep you waiting any longer. Sorry if it was boring :(

Thank you so much for putting up with me! You all are the best!

Love you all!

Till next time.