Maya 

"Congratulations Maya!" Sarah shouted, clapping loudly. We were all sitting together in our house, having a small kind of party to celebrate my decision to sign with the DS agency.

"No doubt, it will be amazing for you, Maya. Even Ajay will also be there," Ayushi said, taking the snacks from the centre. 

"Oh, Maya, did you tell Ajay?" Ishaan asked all of a sudden. His voice felt like he was tense about something. 

I had no idea of what I should say. "No… I couldn't contact him." He must be too busy with his acting workshop. These days, whenever I called him, either his manager would pick up or he would pick up for a second and hang up saying he was busy.

"Don't be upset. He must have a good reason. You can surprise him when he comes back." Ishaan's demeanor changed. His attitude was back to normal. He pushed back and leaned against the wall behind him.

I couldn't help but feel something odd. Something is definitely not right but what is it? 

He chugged down his coke, looking suspicious as ever. I just made a point to ask him later and shrugged this weird feeling off.

"Anyway, it's all going well for everyone. I just hope it stays like this." 

"Right! That reminds me… I heard writer Ishita is going to probably select Ishaan as her choice for the lead. Good for you!" Sarah nudged Ishaan. His face turned dark yet he managed to handle himself.

I opened my mouth wide as my pupil dilated in surprise, getting caught off guard. "Are you talking about Ishita Srinivas who wrote the film 'Sherni'?" Ishita Srinivas, the legendary writer of the film was greatly praised for the plotline. But it almost seemed like no one knew her. She never revealed her identity, at least not to the media. 

"Yeah… it seemed like she wanted Ishaan to play his next hero. I heard from a reliable source," Sarah announced happily. I remembered that she was also the writer of Ajay's new movie, "Not her First." 

"She is writing another film already. She must be pretty fast." 

"Yeah… I found it weird too. Isn't Ajay playing the lead in his recent one? Writing a new film so early is just so… unexpected. I don't know." Sarah shook her head, unaware of what was truly going on.

I was the most confused one but when I thought a little more, I realized that they would not replace Ajay in this same film, would they?

I chugged down the water from the bottle kept aside. For some reason, I couldn't get rid of the suffocating feeling. From the corner of my eyes, I looked at Ishaan. He kept slurping on his drink, avoiding meeting eyes with me. 

He had been doing this for some days now. He would always pick me up on his way to work but recently, it felt like he was avoiding me for some purpose.

Suspicious. So suspicious.

"Ugh, this man! He makes me so sick!" Ayushi gritted her teeth, complaining about someone, looking at her phone. "This guy is too much. He thinks so highly of himself just because he is getting married to the daughter of the boss. Argh!" She fisted her palm, as if ready to throw a punch right into his face. 

"What's wrong? What happened?" I asked as she sighed loudly.

"My team manager. He is not even giving me a break. I am already so done with him." Ayushi stretched her hands, tired of her daily things. 

Even in the morning, as she said earlier, she was running errands for her manager and was busy digging up news on celebrities. "Hey, did you all hear anything spicy going on in the industry? It will be amazing then." She was suddenly energised as she looked forward to some breaking news.

Sarah coughed a little and bit her lips as if trying hard to not spill a secret. "I know something…" Her voice trailed off. She squinted her eyes close and gulped in nervousness.

"You know? Please, please tell me. I will not mention you." Ayushi looked at her intently. 

"Then… listen," she said, coming closer to her. I and Ishaan too came nearer to listen to it. Sarah dropped her chips down as she whispered, "There is a rumour that Vicky Talwar, the actor of 'Blinded' is dating Ishita Srinivas, the writer of 'Sherni'." 

"What?" All of them, except Sarah, shouted together. 

"Such a ridiculous rumour! I was the fool to believe you." Ishaan grimaced and sat back. Vicky Talwar is not a senior actor. He recently made his debut in 'Blinded', as a side character. So, being acquainted with the writer of 'Sherni' was a little too absurd.

"Come on, I heard from my manager. She said she heard Vicky talking to Ishita over the phone during the shoot. Remember, I had a cameo role. She even said that he was even smiling. I never saw him smile during the shoot." Sarah turned towards Ishaan who was now not at all interested in her nonsense talk.

"Shut up." Ishaan gave the shortest reply one could ever think of.

"Whatever. Writer Ishita always talks through emails. No one knows the contact or anything so how does Vicky know? Surely, they are dating." 

Ayushi frowned but soon a smile replaced it. "I think it will be okay. Even if they are not dating, revealing the face of Ishita Srinivas, the famous writer will be an amazing article. If Vicky Talwar truly has the contact of Ishita, then my job will be done. Thank you, Sarah." She smiled at Sarah.

"Oh, never mind. Hope it will help." 

After all of this, I still wasn't quite sure of the whole deal with writer Ishita. My mind couldn't stop revolving around Ishaan as well. He must know something that he is trying to hide. 

"Ishaan, can we talk a little?" I asked him. 

He looked stunned for a second before following me to the balcony. "What is it?" 

"Congratulations!" I exclaimed, suddenly to break the awkwardness. I didn't know from when we became this uncomfortable with each other.

He looked stunned for a second. "Thank you but is that all? It... just feels as if you have more to say."

I blinked my eyes and took a deep breath in. "Ishaan, I want to ask if the writer Ishita is really going to cast you in her next work or her current work. Please tell me if you know anything." 

"How… how can she cast me in the middle? It is Ajay's film." He looked around everywhere but me. His actions today seemed off like he was hiding something for sure. 

"Hmm… true but it happens, right?"

Ishaan looked at me but suddenly turned away. "Do… you have something to say?" I asked, my heart pounding so loudly.

He didn't look at me. His eyes wavered a bit as he took a deep breath in. "No… nothing."

I was expecting him to say something but he didn't. "It's okay, then." I decided to believe him. He has been a support system for me all this time. He even got me into the DS agency. Can I really doubt him? 

The least I can do is to believe him, right? 

★★★

Ajay 

I looked up at the lady in front of me. She was…  kind of interesting. She had bob cut hair and she flaunted her pink organza saree, her big eyes looking at the piece of paper in front of her intently. But she didn't seem well in mind. 

"How can she not notice me?" I mumbled, staring at her. 

"Did you say something?" The assistant asked to which I just shook my head. 

I bobbed my head to look at her. "Sir, are you ready?" he asked. 

"Yeah." I walked inside the studio and put on the headphone. As the music played, I noticed the lady standing beside me, peeking a glance at me.

Jaane kaha mera jigar gaya Ji…
Abhi Abhi yahi tha kidar gaya Ji…

A smile quickly replaced her frowning face as she sang the next lines. 

Kisi ke adaon pe maar gaya Ji…
Badi badi ankhiyoon se daar gaya Ji…

That is when our eyes meet. Those eyes which had a lot of say. They had so much in them that it would be hard for anyone to read them. Her gaze was cold and sharp as if it had the strength to stab me to death. 

"Wow… That's great!" We both looked at Shruti ma'am, clapping loudly. 

"Fantastic job. I seriously wanted this performance. Wow… Kavita, you did great! Ajay, you too." Kavita, my co-star and I bowed gratefully, before the director as she patted our backs. 

"Ajay, you did well. Arrogance was radiating very well out of you," Kavita said. 

"Really? I will take that as a compliment." I chuckled, shaking my head. We were doing our rehearsals and after all this time of getting into the head of this terrible character, I was feeling like I was losing myself. 

It's nothing new but it was so uncomfortable acting like a creep and narcissist. Nevertheless, I have still got to pull this over. I want to surprise Maya with a beautiful film and this is the kind of film I would want to show her. 

After all the struggle of staying apart, I must do a good piece of work to not feel too bad and be satisfied with my hard work and effort. Anyway, the struggle will be soon over. I was so happy that I would finally go to meet Maya tomorrow, on our film trailer launch day. 

"You seem happy today." Kavita sat on the bench nearby, chugging the water down her throat.

"Yeah. Tomorrow, I will meet Maya," Ajay replied, smiling still.

"Oh, your girlfriend. So, it was a real deal?" When Kavita asked, Ajay looked at her before nodding in yes. His face turned hot as he turned his eyes away, feeling so shy, all of a sudden. "You both must be happy. But Ajay, be careful, okay?" Her voice turned grave.

Ajay, who was busy putting the papers in order, stopped his work and looked at her in confusion. "What? Why?" 

"Don't you know? It looks like Alisha ma'am is going to be the co-producer of this film. She must be having an ulterior plan, don't you think?" The possibility was high that she had the plan to do something but I didn't expect Kavita to hit the right spot. 

"You… how did you know?" 

Kavita sighed and replied, "You know I stay away from the business of the Kapoors but I am not foolish enough to get into their bad books too. That day… I attended the party too. I saw how you suddenly left the party."

She tapped the table next to her, keeping her script aside. "Let me tell you something as a senior, be more careful. They are powerful. As a fellow actor, you must know better. These people hold grudges for a long time." 

Kavita had entered the industry before me. She was more experienced and knew exactly what she was doing. And that's why when she spoke, I could only think that this time it won't be that easy.

Danger might be just dashing through the door before we can lock it out.

~•~