A month later

"Maya, come fast!" The horn blew loud as Maya rushed towards the lift, carrying her handbag. She almost forgot her phone at the charging point but she took it out on time. 

"Be careful. This is what happens when you get up late." Pranav complained as he gave me the tiffin bag and water bottle which she had forgotten to take like any other day. 

"Don't lecture me. I am leaving now. Bye…" Maya didn't have any time. She stuffed her mouth with the bread and ran like a crazy athlete down the stairs. Her day had to start badly with the lift once again betraying her like any day. She was so done with this piece of junk. 

While running, she almost tripped over the steps yet somehow managed to handle it. "Ugh, I am already having a bad day." She bit her lips before rushing over towards the gate. 

Her eyes caught the green car and the man standing next to it. He quickly opened the door as she dashed into the car. She kept the bags behind and pulled her hair into a high knot. 

After this, she finally heaved a sigh, feeling relieved after that whole Monday morning mess. 

"So, you slept in again?" Ishaan asked, putting off his sunglasses.

Maya chewed on her bread and said, "Well… yeah. I hate Monday mornings for a reason." She yawned, stretching her body, feeling her joints aching. "I could've done with some more sleep." 

"Wake up and take this." He passed her a piece of paper. 

"This is…" Her eyes went wide as she looked at him. Ishaan didn't look back at her, his eyes focused on the road. 

He smiled and replied, "It is the agreement form of DS management. They would like to meet you and personally talk to you." 

"Thank you so much." Maya didn't have words to explain her happiness. She was finally signing into the DS entertainment agency which manages so many stars including Ajay and Ishaan.

"Come on, what did I do? I just recommended you so you will have no problem there. It's good you decided to have a manager now. Make sure to submit this form. Remember to read the guidelines. They are quite professional in fooling people. Once you get stuck in the management issues, it will become a problem." 

Maya nodded vigorously, looking at the agreement form. She was also going to have a manager like any other film actor.

★★★

"We are truly happy to have you with us." The old man gave a kind smile as Maya bowed happily. 

"Thank you so much, sir." She was completely excited about this whole thing. 

Maya bowed once again and shaped hands with him before leaving the room. "Yes!" She uttered, raising her fist in the air, celebrating her new success. 

"Should I call Ajay and tell him?" She thought, taking out her phone. Her eyes flickered and her fingers wriggled over the buttons, hesitant about whether she was going to disturb him or not. 

Nevertheless, she called him. 

"Hello, Ajay?"

She could hear all kinds of sounds and loud music playing on the other side of the phone. "Yes, Maya, can you hear me?" She heard him yell from the other end. 

"Where are you? What is this sound?" 

"What? I can't hear." He yelled again which made her put her phone a little away from her to avoid hurting her ears. 

"I am asking where you are and what is this sound?" This time, she yelled as well, catching the eyes of the people around her in the management agency. 

After completely embarrassing herself, she smiled like a fool and rushed outside. "Oh! I am the workshop centre. Today all the musicians came so they are planning the music. Hey, can you hear me now?" It looked as if he came from a quiet area.

"But why are the musicians there?" 

"My character is a musician so Shruti ma'am wanted me and my co-star to learn the musician's lifestyle and how to make it look on-screen that we are actually singing. You know Shruti ma'am is all about perfection." Maya giggled. She kind of agreed to that. 

She had seen her in interviews, talking about how the process before shooting matters more than anything. Developing the characters inside the actors is what makes the change. 

And that is probably why she is one of the most talented directors with two national awards. 

"Of course, she is great. Do it well, okay? Even though you will end up being a toxic guy in the end." 

"What the— don't spoil it!" Ajay warned her while she laughed out loud. 

"Maya… I miss you so much." He missed her so much that his heart bleeds at times. Even if they call each other often yet at times their schedules overlap and they are not able to contact each other. Long distances are so sad and painful. "Should I come back?" 

Maya felt her eyes moisten. She missed him more than he could think but she always believes that work comes before anything else. He is a star in demand and he should shine the brightest. Love shouldn't be an obstacle in it. 

"There you go again. Just do your work well. I am always there for you." 

"Always?" 

"Always." She smiled even though she knew he wouldn't be able to see her. She took a deep breath in to calm her racing heart.  

"Maya, I think I have to go. Bye. Eat and sleep well." Maya hummed, before ending the call. 

This wasn't all bad. She might feel lonely or sometimes depressed but Ajay always lightens up her mood. Just thinking about him made her smile. Although Maya couldn't tell him the good news, she didn't have time to be upset about that. Maybe, she can tell later. 

As she kept walking, a car pulled up near her. It was an unfamiliar car. The grey car looked like a new model car, brand new and all shiny. She noticed a girl in a black dress coming out of the car.

"Wow, who is this? Maya, is it?" Priya came out of the car. Maya couldn't be any more pissed seeing the annoying or the 'mean' girl. She thought she would perfectly fit in the role of mean girl but unfortunately, she would always be the cute, shy girl on-screen, totally opposite to her character. 

"Hi… Priya." She gave her fakest grin to her. She would rather break her skull but she wouldn't want to go to jail for such a girl. 

Priya pulled off her glasses and squinted her eyes to take a look at the company name behind me. "DS Entertainment! Looks like you are trying hard." 

"It's very obvious for me to try hard, unlike someone who got things from stealing." They glared at each other before Priya laughed it off. 

"Stealing is bad," Priya said, shaking her head and sighing relentlessly. 

"What do you want to say? Speak clearly." Maya couldn't take her crap anymore. She looked straight into her eyes, throwing daggers at Priya who refused to budge at any cost.

Priya walked up closer and rubbed the dust off Maya's collar. She whispered in her ear, "Don't try so hard. In any case, I will make sure to steal everything from you. Just like you stole my stage, my performance, my love and all of those which were supposed to be mine from the first. Look forward to it." 

Maya twitched her eyebrows up and looked at Priya who winked at her before putting on her glasses back. 

"Do whatever you want. Let's see who wins." Maya gave up on explaining to her that she never stole anything; that it wasn't a problem she created. She was past all of this.

Priya wasn't like this always. She also was a nice kid, loved by everyone. She was the popular kid and star of her theatre group. She had fallen for Akash when she saw him on stage. 

She changed her group to meet Akash but all her stardom and popularity came crashing down when Maya came on the stage. She was already the star of the group and Priya somewhere lost her shine in front of her. 

From then on, Priya was losing all of what she had. Lack of attention and love made her so restless that she started blaming Maya for her misfortunes. 

"I will also see how long you carry this on." 

★★★

"Aww… you are so sweet. Your sweetness is blinding me," Pranav said over his phone as he typed something on his laptop.

"Oh no… you hang up first." He shook his head vigorously. "First you." He once again chuckled. 

Maya who was staring at their nonsense kept slurping on her strawberry milkshake, cringing hard at their conversation. 

"Baby, you hang up first." He weirdly sang the lines, making Maya almost spill out the milkshake. 

She ran towards him and hung it up for him. Pranav was caught off guard by that sudden action. "What are you doing?" He screamed. 

"I must ask you that. Are you like seven or something? Who talks like that? Eww…" Maya cringed hard. She felt pukey, seeing the total nonsense they were pulling in front of her.

"People do silly things like this in love. That's the fun. My sister, you are no fun." He stood up and pinched her cheeks before running inside his room with his phone. "I must call my baby." Maya grimaced at him. 

"When did he become like this?" She stared blankly at infinity. "Wow! It's scary." She exclaimed, jumping as she felt goosebumps all over her body.

She walked towards her room and soon picked up her phone. "Maybe, I should also call my baby." She giggled and jumped into her bed, covering herself with a blanket. 

★★★

"Do you think you are ready?" 

"Yes… I am." He replied over the call. 

"This is great. I feel bad for her though. She must suffer and end up with nothing just for us to take down Ajay. He dared to criticize me for that girl, huh? I didn't mean to do this but he was just too much."

The woman behind the call smirked like an evil witch. "But I guess it's okay. A small sacrifice is needed for a greater good." 

~•~

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