Maya

I was surfing the web to gather information about Ajay Sharma when I found loads of news articles about him, but it appears that he seldom speaks about his personal life. It can make it hard for me to contact him and just then, I saw his picture in an advertisement. 

He looked stunning; maybe because of his killer smile or his sharp features. In a nutshell, he was so handsome. Somehow, I found him oddly familiar. Did I see him somewhere before? 

While I was looking at my screen, out of nowhere, Ayushi cried out my name, scaring me to death. " W...what happened?" I asked her, catching my breath. 

She replied with excitement, " I saved your job and also you will get to meet the heartthrob of millions of girls. You are so damn lucky. If I weren't stuck with that programme, I would have taken this opportunity. But I am sure you will take this interview in a much better way. Treat me to lunch later." 

"But I have to research about him and his achievements because I am hearing about him for the first time. Plus it's so difficult to find his contact info."

"What? Don't you know about him? Were you living under a rock? How come you don't know him?" Ayushi said, looking shocked. 

Not knowing how to react, I stayed quiet while Ayushi told me that he is a popular star after the grand success of his second movie. He was not a lead actor there yet made an exceptional mark in the movie. His looks and potential as an actor both are the most attractive traits. People were craving to watch him as the leading actor. 

Ayushi continued, "Yesterday, the trailer of his new movie was released, where he will play the lead role. This is the centre of everyone's attention nowadays." He is the new, popular star and the talk of the town. I realised that it is going to be quite difficult to have an interview with him, forget about 'the exclusive interview'. 

I have no other choice, so I decide to research his achievements a little more and note down the questions, which he would like to answer and which people would like to know because the whole thing fell on my shoulders and it looks like everyone is busy with their own programmes. Finally, I found the contact number of his manager who informed me that he is going to have a press meet tomorrow regarding his new movie. 

I was quite nervous but at the same time, I was excited to see him in person and take his interview. As I stared at his picture on my computer screen, conflicting thoughts and emotions kept running in my mind. Why do I feel so uneasy about this?

What can it be? 

As I was pondering upon my thoughts, my phone started vibrating loudly. It was Pranav. I picked it up when he greeted me playfully, "Hello ma'am. Can I have the pleasure to talk to my monkey? " 

"Hey, don't you dare call me that! " I hated this name, but it is cute whenever he calls me that. 

"Okay, now tell me your problem." 

I was shocked at how he got to know that I was nervous. I decided to tell him the truth, in case he ends up reading my mind. " It's about an interview with the actor, Ajay Sharma. I am hearing about him for the first time and he is such a popular actor. I am feeling quite nervous. " 

" Ajay Sharma?! Wasn't he, our neighbour?" He asked me curiously to which I chuckled and replied, " How can he be the actor, Ajay Sharma? Him sharing the same name doesn't make him the same person." As I said this, I started laughing aloud, thinking about him. 

" Do you remember, he was Mom's favourite?" 

" Yeah, for him I had to suffer a lot! " We talked for a few more minutes before he hung up the call. 

" Knock knock." 

" Ice cream." I slowly whispered the word, my mouth drooling at the thought of ice cream. 

" Ice cream who?" His innocent voice made me giggle out the laugh I had been holding.

" Ice cream cause I want to have it." At my words, he turned to look at me with a serious face and then he laughed out loud, holding his belly.

" Stop it you both, I told you to not utter about food. It makes me hungry," Shreya said to me and Akash. 

" Ice cream, Ice cream. Delicious ice creams." Vishu, the ice cream uncle, was passing by the street outside our house. Our mouths watered at the sight of the ice cream truck.

" No ice cream children. You already had one yesterday. It is not good to have it every day." My mom shouted in an authoritative tone from the balcony of our house. 

After many 'pleases' and finally the request of my bhai, Pranav, we got permission to have it. 

" Yayy!" we shouted in excitement and ran over to Vishu uncle. 

" Baccho, how are you all? What ice cream do you want?" He said in his sing-song tone used for kids.

" Uncle, we are not kids anymore." I told him to find him giggling out. 

" Ok ok, you are not a kid. Now tell me what you are going to have?" 

" My one. " 

Smiling, he took the butterscotch cone out and handed it to me, " Your one. " 

" Thank you uncle." 

" Me too, same." Akash said when asked about which one he wants.

The next second, I heard my mom's voice breaking the utmost pleasure of taking my first bite into my ice cream. " Don't eat it now, kids. Have it after a while. You will get a cold. And come inside. You all have been playing under the sun for a long time, " she said while picking up the clothes from the corridor. 

Sighing, I was about to follow Shreya and Akash when I bumped into a boy leading me to collapse on the ground and my ice cream slipped from my hands falling all over his shirt. When I looked at him, I saw he was almost about my age. He was too shocked to react and his small bottle rolled on the ground, coming to rest in front of a bag which might have fallen from his hand (those things don't matter).

" What are you doing? Can't you see?" I shouted in reflex. 

Looking somewhat confused, he widened his eyes. " What? You are blaming me. Look at what you did. My favourite T-shirt." He said the last lines looking at his T-shirt which was completely smeared with the ice cream.

He was looking at me as if I was to blame. "Oh. What about my ice cream? It got wasted because of you." 

Soon our shouts gathered all the people from their houses, not to mention, my parents, my friends, his parents and also those people who had nothing to do with our screams. 

Later, we were standing with heads hung down. 

" I am sorry on his behalf. He should've looked where he steps . We are new in this town. I promise such a thing won't happen again. " His mother apologised. 

" Oh no no no, madam. Don't apologise. It is my daughter's fault as well. She should've seen her steps. I am so sorry for the trouble. Your son's T-shirt got ruined." My mother apologised as well. 

After the apologising session, both the mothers introduced themselves and told us to introduce ourselves too. 

" Ajay. " He said with absolute disinterest. Not that I was interested too. After getting a nudge and a glare from his mother, he said," I am Ajay Sharma." 

" I am Maya Padwal." 

" Hope you both get along well," his mother smiled at me and that rude guy, Ajay. I instantly found his mother lovely but that didn't seem the same with Ajay. 

As our respective mothers made gestures with eyes to shake hands, we reluctantly shook each other's hand. " Now you both are friends," my mother clapped her hands. 

As we kept glaring, I knew already it was not the start of friendship rather it was the start of the war. 

I never met or even heard of him after his father got transferred to Delhi when we were nearly eleven years old. The reason we weren't in touch with them was because my mother discovered something new about phone formatting and ended up deleting everything including the images, video files and all the phone numbers. 

" Coffee?" Ayushi interrupted when I was completely absorbed in my own world of thoughts. I nodded and she handed me the cup before sipping on her coffee.

" Oh God… what is this?" She almost shouted, gaining all the attention of the room. Her eyebrows were twitched and she made cringed expressions as if something was really wrong. 

" What happened?" 

" The coffee—I told him to put 3 cubes of sugar in it. What is this?" 

" 3 cubes?! I told you to consume less sugar." She tended to get attracted towards sugar or sweets.

" But sugar is love" —she looked at her cup, making a frown—," I lost my appetite. You have this if you want." Saying that, she placed her cup on my table.

I laughed at her childish behaviour and took a sip from my cup with a little hesitation whether she asked for 3 cubes of sugar in my one too but gladly, it was good enough without any extra sugar. 

Looking back at my screen, I again started thinking about tomorrow's interview and whether I will even get a chance to take his exclusive interview. 

★★★

The next day, I reached the press meet venue before time. Oh, I know… but I can manage to get up early, now that my job is on the stack. 

I was standing outside recalling the questions, I noted in my notebook. It's been a while and many reporters from other channels have arrived. 

After waiting for a few more minutes, I noticed a black, luxurious car as it stopped at the entrance and from it, stepped a tall man, wearing sunglasses. Almost all the reporters ran towards him, almost knocking over one another. I and Prakash, my colleague, quickly ran towards the crowd and pushed slightly to capture his picture. 

Few guards came forward and led him inside, while we followed him. As we took the available seat in a corner of the hall, my eyes fell on him. He was accompanied by his manager, personal assistant, guards and the director of his upcoming movie. He looked attractive and elegant in the black coat he was wearing. He had sharp features making him look all the more handsome.

Many reporters asked questions to him, while he replied to each of them with calmness. Finally, I got a chance to ask him. I stood up and straightened my dress to make it look proper and asked him, " Hi, I am Maya Padwal from 'Spotlight Horizon'. I was eager to ask about the struggle behind your success. How did you overcome your failures?" 

I felt confident after asking the question but when I noticed all the eyeballs, staring at me, my heart started beating fast. I breathed hard to avoid the nervousness growing inside me. 

After a while, he replied, "There were many obstacles, many failures but in the end, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to establish my career as an actor. I genuinely loved this art of acting and was determined to do anything to achieve it. I couldn't afford to give up on my dreams." 

My eyes were sparkling after hearing the answer he gave, it was so close to my heart.

I was completely impressed, not only by his looks but also by his way of conversing and his dedication towards his work in acting, until the time when...

" Maya, did you not recognise me? " 

~•~

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