The alarm of 4 o'clock rang in the room, and Naina turned it off immediately. She sighed and rested her head on the wall for a minute. She didn't remember exactly when she fell asleep last night. All she remembered was her studying on the mattress with a book in her hand.

She scooted closer to Sameer who was sprawled on his back. He was sleeping peacefully like a baby. Waking him up from sleep wasn't the case today, nor did she want to. She caressed his cheek, feeling the rasp of his stubble with her thumb. Unlike other times, it wasn't prickly, rather it was so smooth.

After a lot of persuasion from her, he had finally purchased a branded beard gel that he wanted to buy for a long time. She chuckled inwardly, thinking how serious he was when he said he would change people's perception about men with beards. But she knew this grown stubble on his jaw would remain only for a few hours.

She dipped down and kissed his forehead, continuing the trail of soft kisses on both his cheeks and stared for a moment at his lips.

Was that prohibited too??

Her gaze fell on her hands that were adorned with mehendi. Preeti had come home yesterday and they had helped each other with their chitrakari. Naina had chosen the simplest design with a madhubani circle in the center of the palm and dots in its periphery. When she had shown it to Sameer at night, he had frowned saying something was missing in it, consequently taking the Mehendi cone and himself drawing SN in the corner, inside a heart.

She looked at SN on her palm adoringly, which was now darkened in the true color of love, and kissed it.

After freshening up, Naina tiptoed to the kitchen, taking care not to disturb her father from his sleep. Taking out a milk vessel and two bowls of cut fruits from the fridge, she started to arrange all the items one by one in a big plate.

She turned scared after feeling a hand on her waist.

"Shshshshsh... " Sameer hushed her and she heaved a sigh. "Mujhe uthaya kyu nahi?" He asked in low whispers.

"Arey tum kyuー"

Her mouth was covered by his palm and Sameer checked on Papa. A glance on the platform confirmed that sargi was ready. Carrying some fruits with himself, he passed the plate to Naina and they both walked back to the bedroom, not forgetting to take the cordless with them.

"Tum yeh wrat nahi kar rahe ho..." Naina uttered the moment Sameer shut the door.

"Naina hamari baat hui thi iske baare me..." he replied within a moment.

"Sameer tumhara shoot hai dinbhar..."

"Haan toh tum bhi office ja hi rahi ho na..." He countered and seeing Naina coming with another point, he hushed her. "Tum baitho, mai fresh hokar aata hu."

Naina stomped her foot with annoyance. Her husband cannot stop being stubborn for one single day. She was so happy for him to have gotten a role in a Zee tv 1hr-weekly show, though he was supposed to feature in only two episodes. He was called for the shoot for five days and today was his fourth day of shoot. But now she got worried for him as to how he will manage without food and water the whole day.

The couple sat on the mattress to feast on the sargi. They talked with Vishakha on the call while she too was having hers in Delhi, seeking her blessings and revising the rituals once again. After the call, they were fully focussed on the plate.

Their sargi consisted of traditional items like doodh-pheni, meethi mathri and a bowl full of almonds; fruits like watermelon, muskmelon and tender coconuts to keep them hydrated; and apples and bananas for energy. Naina had cut the melons into pieces at night itself and kept it ready with other items.

"Tum kab tak wapas aaoge? " Naina asked, sipping the coconut water.

"Darasal maine kal hamare EP* se baat ki thi... unhone kaha tha mere scenes mostly dopahar tak khatm ho jayenge... toh shayad 6 baje tak aa jau..."

Naina smiled and voiced, "mai bhi 6-6:15 baje tak aa jaungi," wiggling like a kid.

****

Sameer reached the film city set on the given call time and entered his make-up room. It was shared by two more men with him. He waited for someone to give him instructions about his scenes, but even after half an hour, no-one came to inform him. So he walked to the main set to look for their creative or EP.

"Ummm....Shilpa..." He found one assistant, who was rushing somewhere, but stopped hearing his voice. "Mere aaj ke scenes?" Sameer asked her in skepticism. Someone should have come to him by this time.

"Ohh Sameer, tumhare scenes postpone ho gaye hai... I'll let you know whenever they're scheduled. Lekin mai scripts bhej deti hu." The girl informed him and disappeared while running even before Sameer could nod.

Dejected and surprised, Sameer walked back to his room. Yesterday, he had casually asked about his schedule to his EP, not divulging much about his Karwachauth wrat today. He was informed that he would have four scenes today and if everything followed properly then it should get over by at most five. On his first day, he was given a pack-up at six in the evening when his part was done. So he was hopeful that today too they could leave him early. But the postponement of his scenes made him worried.

He rested on his bed in his room and his mind took him to thinking about Naina unabashedly. He hoped that she must be sound and fine. Last year Karwachauth was different. She was in front of him for the whole day. And they had indulged in preparing themselves for convincing Chachaji about their Mumbai plan. So he didn't worry about her much. But now, when he had nothing to do, he started worrying unnecessarily.

She must be doing her work, Sameer...

His subconscious mind warned him. He wished he too was busy for the whole day. Because lying on the bed doing nothing made his hunger and thirst soar higher.

A spot-dada came in the room with a knock and kept his scripts on the table. Sameer sighed... finally he got something to do.

He finished learning his script... for all the scenes... he took a nap for a good time... he twisted on his bed after waking up... trying to sleep again... but couldn't... he roamed around the set to see what was going on and he spotted the lead actor and actress's scene going on which was actually a night scene.

He found it weird. They had taken extra efforts to avoid the direct sunlight, making the ambience feel that of a night. Ignoring it, he focussed on the direction, camera angle setup, lights and other things.

The assistant Shilpa met him again and informed him that one of his scenes with the lead actor was scheduled next and Sameer heaved a sigh of relief. He changed into his costume, sat for make-up and rehearsed his lines again.

"Cut!! Okay this is good!!" The director announced after Sameer's first scene of the day was done. "Sameer tumhare close-ups hum baad me lenge okay?" he added.

Sameer found it a bit odd again but he only nodded and left the place.

It was 3:30pm in the afternoon and Sameer still hadn't got the call for the next three scenes. Tired of waiting, he decided to speak to his EP.

"Avinash Sir," Sameer voiced respectfully, gaining his attention.

"Sameer, tell me!" Avinash, the man in his thirties, uttered. He was quite focussed on some sheets in his hand.

"Sir, kal aapse baat hui thi toh aapne kaha tha mere saare scenes sham tak ho jayenge... lekin abhi tak sirf ek hi scene hua hai." Sameer expressed his concern. He was hesitating before coming to EP, but realized that he at least had the right to ask questions.

Avinash peeked from the sheets, taking a moment to comprehend, "oh haan. Schedule thoda change ho gaya kuchh reasons ke wajah se... toh tumhare scenes aur jo kuchh bhi bacha ho, woh 4:30 baje se start honge," he stated.

"4:30 baje se?" Sameer was stunned.

"Haan, kyu?" Avinash chuckled casually.

Sameer closed his open mouth and licked his lips. When would his scenes finish if they would start this late?

"Koi baat hai?" Avinash asked.

"Umm... nahi Sir..." Sameer said hurriedly. "Nahi, actually hai..." he corrected himself after a moment.

"Hai ya nahi hai?" Avinash laughed.

"I mean... Sir, aaj jaldi ghar jana tha." Sameer dared to utter.

Keeping the sheets in his hand on the table across, Avinash shoved his hands in his pockets. "Kyu bhai?" he snorted, "waise toh tum bade sincere aur dedicated lage kaam ke baare mein... aaj kya hua?"

The sarcasm in his voice wasn't missed by Sameer. "Nahi Sir... aaj Karwachauth hai na, toh wife ne wrat rakha hai... toh maine socha... I mean, aapne hi kal bataya na ki scenes jaldi ho jayenge... isliye mujhe laga..." Sameer couldn't find the nicer way to put it in words without sounding demanding.

"Ohh... hame unit me puchhna chahiye tha na sabse? Kis-kiski shadi hui hai... kin-kin logon ke wife ne wrat rakha hai... nahi?"

There was a subtle smile on Avinash's face but Sameer knew it was pure sarcasm. His hands turned to fists behind him.

"Waise tumne bataya tha yeh tumhara teesra show hai, right?" Sameer frowned at the detour taken by Avinash. He only nodded. "Kitne episodes me feature hue ho?"

Sameer lowered his gaze. He had only shot till now, but hadn't featured in anyone yet. "Sir, hopefully five," he responded.

A laughter spurted from Avinash's mouth, and he covered his mouth to hide it. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Sameer, tumhara career abhi shuru bhi nahi hua hai... aur apne career ke pehle padaav par sharte nahi rakhi jati... kaisa bhi kaam ho, koi bhi situation ho... tumhe karna hi padta hai..." Avinash said with a pointed gaze at Sameer.

"Sir, I was just asking a question." Sameer tried not to sound stern.

Avinash snorted and voiced, "agreed. So the answer to your question is... yaha kabhibhi schedule change ho jata hai... so cannot guarantee anything. Waise agar tumhe apne marzi se scenes lagane ho, jaldi pack-up karwana ho... toh thoda naam kamao uske liye... make yourself worth it first... and then throw the tantrums."

Avinash patted Sameer's shoulder, smiling big. "Waise wrat toh tumhare wife ne rakha hai na? Tumhari energy low kyu hai? C'mon man!! Eat something. Scenes mein proper energy honi chahiye."

Sameer nodded with a subtle smile and saw Avinash leaving.

Tantrums?? Asking a question is a tantrum for these people?

He shoved his hands in his pockets, leaving an awkward chuckle. Probably everyone in this industry had some or the other unsolicited lessons for him.

"Hello, mai Naina Maheshwari se baat kar sakta hu?" Sameer called Naina's office from the cordless on his set.

"Ek minute," A man who received the call said. "Naina abhi Sir ke cabin me hai. Any message?"

Sameer shut his eyes in despair, rubbing his temple, "ummm... please usse kahiye mujhe yaha phone kare... set par..."

"Whom should I say is calling?"

"Her husband."

****

"Ashish ka pack-up bhi ho gaya yaar," two co-actors of Sameer, who shared the make-up room, entered talking.

"Abey uske wajah se hi aaj ka schedule hila daala na pura," the other one joked as they sat on their respective beds.

Sameer was sitting in front of the mirror, rehearsing his lines for the next scene. He wasn't interested in their gossip but now his attention was diverted to their conversation.

"Uske wajah se? Really?" The first person asked.

"Aur kya... lead actor hai bhai... demand toh kar hi sakta hai... usi ne EP se baat karke uske saare scenes pehle karwa liye... aaj ke uske saare scenes ho gaye... aur bhaisahab ghar ke liye bhi nikal liye."

The other one sighed dramatically, "hmmm... aur hum gareeb bichare actors ab baki ke scenes karenge... apne-apne close-ups denge."

This caught Sameer's attention again. He fathomed why he was told to do his close-ups later. "Ashish sach me chala gaya? Lekin mere OS shots baki the uske sath." He turned and said.

"Mere bhi baki hai," the other guy said, "lekin yeh saare OS ab body double ke sath honge." He chuckled.

Sameer frowned. He had a bunch of questions in his head, but he preferred not to ask them. Till now he thought body-doubles are only used for action scenes, so this was certainly new information.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror and sighed. The EP's statements echoed in his mind and he could ultimately connect the dots about the way he talked about scheduling scenes as per your own wish.

His eyes fell on the table calendar in front of him, and a thought crossed his mind that it was going to be a year of them here in Mumbai.

A year... woww....

According to Munna and Pandit's calculations, his film with Ananth Mahadevan would have been scheduled for the release by now.

He huffed, thinking how naive they all were while planning for the Mumbai endeavors. He was nothing close to what they had thought. Mumbai was a lot more than what they knew about.

...so do the people of Mumbai! ...and so does this industry!!

He was learning different aspects of this industry bit by bit. Some good things... and some not so good things... nonetheless... he was learning from everything... Like today, he learnt that there's a bit of a hierarchy system in this industry too. You can get things done according to your position in this hierarchy. Sometimes it comes with the experience of the actor or say the number of years spent in this industry, sometimes it comes with his/her popularity and sometimes it comes with the kind of work he/she is doing. The funny part of it being that none of these things are inter-dependent and there's no guarantee to any of it.

And he was new in all the three areas yet. He had bare minimum in his hand. So it was better to keep doing the work and make a space for himself here.

****

Naina entered the house at the dot of six in the evening. Rakesh rushed to her and cradled her face, "tu thik hai na beta? Kuchh hua toh nahi na office me?" he asked in concern.

"Mai thik hu, Papa." Naina responded with a bright smile, finding it sweet that Papa was worried for her.

"Tum baitho thodi der," Rakesh made her sit. "Aur haan, Sameer ka phone aaya tha kuchh 4 baje... bata raha tha thodi der hogi aane me... maine puchha kitni der toh bola pata nahi." Rakesh informed.

"Haan uska office me bhi phone aaya tha Papa. Lekin tab mai nahi thi. Aur jab maine wapis phone kiya tab woh shoot me tha... toh baat hi nahi ho payi."

"Arey lekin subah jaate samay toh bolke gaya tha na jaldi aayega. Ab achanak se kya ho gaya hoga?"

"Papa woh shoot pe hai... koi zaroori baat hi hogi na... Aa jayega aap fikar mat kijiye."

Naina came back to the living room after she freshened up. She made a small sitting arrangement in front of bhagwanji and prepared for the paath since Preeti had told her she would be doing it in the morning itself.

Finishing her paath, she wrapped up the setting to make space for the couch again and the cordless in the room rang.

She rushed to pick it thinking it must be Sameer.

"Naina, sun na!" Preeti chirped from the other side, "tujhe bataya tha na society ki jitni bhi mahilayein wrat kar rahi hai, sab hamare C wing ke terrace pe aanewali hai. Shayad 8 baje tak aa jayenge sab. Toh tu aur jijaji thoda pehle hi aa jana. Utna hi hame bhi waqt milega sath me aur bhookh bhi thodi kam lagegi." She said all at once.

Naina chuckled, knowing that Preeti must be squeezing her stomach as she spoke. "Haan thik hai," she said.

"Pakka jaldi aa jana behen," Preeti pleaded.

"haan pehle Sameer toh aa jaye..." Naina blurted.

"Kyu? Jijaji nahi aaye ab tak?"

"Haan woh shoot chal raha hai na uska... Lekin jaise hi woh aata hai, hum aa jayenge, thik hai?"

Naina assured Preeti on the phone, but from inside she couldn't bear the wait anymore.

"Arey itna hi hai toh ek baar phone kar lo na usse set par... '' Rakesh appeared from the main door and voiced, "kam se kam pata toh chal jayega woh nikal gaya hai ki nahi."

He kept a small paperbag on the tea-table. "Kuchh dawaiyan kharid li, agar sardard wagera ho raha hoga toh. Aur yeh nariyal paani."

Naina smiled appreciatively at his gesture. He was trying to be a part of this wrat in every possible way. Just like he had assisted her in cutting the big watermelon and muskmelon into pieces, like he made visits to the market to get whatever was missing for pooja whenever Naina asked about it.

"Ji mai Sameer Maheshwari se baat kar sakti hu? Mai unki patni bol rahi hu." Naina called on Sameer's set.

"Ohhh... thik hai... ji nahi rehne dijiye... " her voice lowered.

"Thank you," she said and disconnected the call.

"Kya hua?" came the expected question from Rakesh.

"Woh abhibhi shoot kar raha hai, Papa." Naina uttered, a bit scared about Rakesh's reaction.

Rakesh only sighed, keeping his hands on his waist and figuring out something to do than indulge in a verbal to and fro with his daughter.

Naina busied herself in preparing dinner. She cooked badam halwa for the sweet dish and tried to keep the rest of the items simple. Mithai and some fruits were already there, so she thought it to be sufficient. Putting the pressure cooker on the gas, she instructed Papa to keep a check on it and walked to the bedroom to get ready for pooja.

It was 7:15pm already.

She changed into a modern design plain red saree, with frills, and its matching blouse. She had washed her hair today, so they were set nicely already. Pinning a hair-clip close to her right temple, she pulled all the hair to her left shoulder and adored herself in front of the mirror. On Sameer's insistence, she was wearing a sleeveless blouse for the first time. She wasn't sure how Papa would take it though but she couldn't refuse Sameer's sweet demands. Moreover, she herself wanted to step out of her comfort zone.

For jewelry, she picked the silver oxidized long necklace, big heavy earrings and a set of silver coloured metal bangles and kadas. A red bindi on her forehead was the last addition.

She turned from side to side to check if she had pinned her saree properly at all the required places.

Was she over-donned for today? She mused to herself.

But she rarely got the chance to get ready like this these days. In this vicious cycle of buses, offices, books, logbooks, calculators, articles, newspapers, magazines... she had forgotten to breathe for a moment... she had forgotten to stand in front of the mirror and just look at herself for a moment. For how she's looking, how she's doing... that she has lost some weight and her chubby cheeks had started losing their charm... that there were slight dark circles below her eyes.

Rushing to the almirah, she searched for a pouch and stood again in front of the wall mirror. She put just a little make-up on her face, using foundation as a base to even-tone her skin first, concealing the dark spots under her eyes and some on her cheeks. She then used compact powder on it, followed by pink blush. She knew about make-up only as much as every middle-class girl coming from a moderate family would know. After applying kajal, eye-liner and light lipstick, she decided to stop there.

She stepped back a little, watching herself in the mirror and grimaced at her reflection.

Uggghh... It looked way too much for her.

She tried to rub it off a bit from her cheeks, finally satisfied with subtle make-up.

Okay... she was finally ready...

(Please imagine Naina with the jewelry and all as mentioned.)

Nooo... not yet... she needed to make their second Karwachauth special.

Their last Karwachauth was mostly spent in preparing the script for their small act in front of Chachaji-chachiji. And she realized that they will be soon completing a year here... in this sapno ka shaher Mumbai...

How much their lives had changed after they came here? She wondered.

There happened so many things that they hadn't even thought of... many of the things were not even in the basic plan. And here they were today... Sameer, Papa and her... definitely on different routes... but still together... together...

She chuckled as she knew how to make this Karwachauth special for them. She got their camera out and inserted a new reel into it. She checked its cells and clicked one random photo of herself in front of the mirror to check if it was working. Then shuffling through the cassettes on the corner table, she picked up the cassette of 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' and laughed again knowing the comments coming from Sameer beforehand.

How can she NOT make it a little filmy when there is a dedicated song for Karwachauth in the film?

They were no less than ShahRukh Khan and Kajol for sure...

For Sameer, she kept an orange colored kurta and white chudidaar ready on the table, so that he can get ready soon, and they click some beautiful couple pictures together.

Forcing Sameer to sleep for some more time after they ate sargi in the morning, Naina had studied for some time. She had decided not to touch her books in the evening and give her complete attention to Sameer. It was their day and she wanted to spend it just like they had been on Watsavitri.

She laughed to herself imagining Sameer's reaction after seeing her in this saree-blouse and all the jewelry. She was hundred percent sure that he would pull herself on his chest and surely pass some witty comments that would make her blush heavily. He may come up with a shayari too. He would also want to kiss her badly but then she would stop him, saying it's the wrat today and he needs to wait for that. She would then laugh at him sulking for it and put forth all his demands after the wrat was over.

"Naina... Preeti ka phone hai..." Rakesh hollered from the living room.

"Hello," Naina almost ran to talk to Preeti. She had forgotten about the time having lost in another world.

"Kahaannn hai behen... kitni der lagaoge tum log? Kab tak aa rahe ho?" Preeti was almost losing her cool.

Naina glanced at the wall clock. It was 8pm.

"Lekin Sameer toh abhi tak nahi aaya," her voice and all the excitement fell flat on the floor.

Preeti composed herself too. She thought it would be good not stressing about Sameer's unavailability much. "Achchha tu toh aaja. Baki ki pooja kar lete hai hum... dheere-dheere log bhi aana shuru ho gaye hai... aur tab tak jijaji bhi aa jayenge."

Naina agreed to Preeti's suggestion. She can at least start the pooja since it was showtime for the moon. She turned and found Rakesh gazing at her.

"Kaisi lag rahi hu mai, Papa?" she asked childishly, as if showing her new frock to her father.

Rakesh smiled, "bahot achchhi lag rahi hai," he complimented.

Naina prepared her pooja thali with all the necessary items. Balancing everything with her hands, she instructed Rakesh, "Papa, Sameer aa jaye toh usse kahiye kapde badalkar C wing ki terrace par aa jaye... uske kapde tayyar rakhe hai usse bataiye... yaad se..."

Rakesh nodded, with a little gloom on his face. He checked the time again and could do nothing other than sighing.

****

The C wing terrace was decorated nicely and it was ready to host the Karwachauth pooja celebrated by the ladies of Sea Queen Society. It had 2-3 light stands in the corner to provide lights, chairs for people to sit, a few tables where multiple thaalis took place and a big carpet laid on the floor.

When Naina arrived on the terrace, she found all the ladies decked in red sarees, talking to each other in groups of 2-3, complimenting one another on how beautiful they were looking. Their husbands had occupied the chairs, chatting with one another with folded hands and restrained body language.

Naina directed herself to Preeti and Shubham, where Shubham had held the pooja thali and Preeti was checking whether she'd taken every item in it.

Naina and Preeti squealed in exhilaration looking at one another, complementing through the eyes how beautiful they were looking. Naina jumped on her heels excitedly seeing that Preeti had left her hair open.

"Preeetiiii... kitni pyaari lag rahi hai tu..." She exclaimed.

"Tu bhi Naina... Kya kamaal rahi hai... aur yeh blooouuuseee..." her last line was almost consumed by the extra enthusiasm and energy. She knew this was the first time Naina was wearing something sleeveless.

They were joined by Vanita and Jatin soon and pleasantries were exchanged. After the compliment session of ladies was over, Jatin voiced, "Arey lekin Sameer kaha hai Naina?"

Naina's face dulled upon the question. She had prepared herself for it but it still affected her. "Woh uska shoot chal raha hai na... toh thodi der ho gayi... aata hi hoga..." she answered with a smile, trying hard to sound casual.

"Hmmm... Waise Sameer un patiyon me se nahi hai jo apne biwi ko intezaar karwaye," Jatin commented, "woh toh Watsavitri ke din bhi tumhare sath tha na? maine dekha tha tum dono ko bike par..." He teased her and everyone casually laughed.

"Hum geet shuru karen? Chaand aa gaya hai." Vanita proposed and Naina-Preeti nodded.

All the ladies gathered in the center of the terrace with their thaalis and sat down forming a circle. Belonging to the different geographical regions of India but united together in this big city Mumbai, everyone had their own version of celebrating this day. So they decided to stick to the one most of them followed.

The ladies started singing the geets passing their thaalis in a circle for six pheras, while for the last one, they sang another geet.

Naina saved the thaali in her hand from falling for the second time as she imagined Sameer entering the terrace bedecked in the orange kurta again... probably for the fourth time by now. Her eyes were constantly checking on the entrance, thinking Sameer would come anytime soon and pass a cute smile to her while pinching his ears.

She wasn't expecting any apology from him. She knew he was doing his work. She just wanted him to be with her at this moment.

Maybe just the wrong timing of his shoot day and the festival...

She consoled herself for his delay.

All women stood in a row as if it was a scene from a film, their husbands standing in front of them.

Naina stood near the parapet wall of the terrace. Her eyes were on the main gate.

Forget the kurta... she could call him up here as soon as she spotted him...

A fleeting thought struck her mind.

"Naina... tu chand ki pooja toh kar hi sakti hai... " Preeti murmured, only audible to Naina.

Naina debated for a moment. Should she perform the first part of the ritual with the moon?

"Haan, aur chand ki pooja hone ke baad tum wrat bhi khol sakti ho," Shubham supported her too.

Naina smiled seeing the concern for her in both Preeti and Shubham's voice. "Jijaji, wrat Sameer ne bhi rakha hai... toh hum dono sath me hi wrat kholenge." She got the answer for them and herself too.

She moved away from Preeti and Shubham so that Preeti's attention wasn't diverted to her often.

Standing in the corner, she watched Preeti and the other women giving arghya to the moon with water and then looking at it through the chhalni. Then they performed aarti of their husbands and looked at them through the chhalni too. She saw the husbands then making their wives drink the water from the kalash and feeding them a piece of mithai. She smiled, finding her sister and jijaji so adorable doing all these acts. But a sting of hurt surged through her heart too.

She averted her gaze from them and stared at her thaali. Her diya still waited to be lit and perform the pooja. The water in her kalash was still, unmoved and filled upto the fullest. The two pieces of barfi too laid idle there.

She started feeling thirsty and hungry. A feeling of burning emerged in her chest and an acute ache developed in her head.

A lump formed in her throat but her body couldn't even generate the energy to gulp it down. She was dehydrated for more than twelve hours but that didn't stop the formation of fresh tears in her eyes. She exhaled through her mouth and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes before they found their way on her cheeks and made her look like a ghost spoiling her liner.

The sudden physical responses her body started producing didn't bother her much though. The fact was reinforced to her that being the wife of someone who works in this industry comes with a price too.

Just that... She was missing Sameer by her side... a lot...

****

Sameer had to knock on the door when he realized he had forgotten to take the key with him. Rakesh opened the door for him, still not withdrawing his hand from the door. The father in him was outraged at his son-in-law, who had promised to come home early but showed up almost four hours late... at 10:30 at night. He was fuming from inside seeing for how long Naina had waited for him. But he swallowed all his anger for a moment, since the door was still ajar and Sameer too looked equally exhausted.

Sameer withdrew from the stare competition and lowered his eyes. He knew the person standing in front of him was Naina's father Mr. Rakesh Agarwal, who had all the right to snap at him right now.

"Andar... aau... Papa?" He questioned. His voice was utterly low.

Stepping back, Rakesh made space and allowed him to enter. "Tum toh jaldi aanewale the na? Itni der kaise ho gayi?" Rakesh asked right after he shut the door. He kept his voice normal.

"Hamara poora schedule change ho gaya tha Papa... aur sham se lagatar scenes laga diye mere." Sameer replied, taking his shoes off. "Naina kaha hai?" he asked.

"Andar kamre me aaram kar rahi hai... maine hi bheja usse." Rakesh informed him.

Naina had waited for Sameer till 10. She had hugged her knees and leaned on the couch, but the fatigue of the day took over her and her head kept falling behind on the headrest. Rakesh couldn't see her this way and he coaxed her to take rest in the bedroom.

Sameer made a quick trip to the bathroom and strolled in the bedroom. Naina was sleeping on her side with her knees close to her stomach, covering herself with the pallu of her saree. She was deep asleep. Sameer knelt down and eyed the space on the mattress.

There was a camera lying out of its cover accompanying the cassette of the film 'Dilwali Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' and the red walkman. Next to it was all her jewelryーthe long oxidized necklace, the earrings, the set of banglesーwith some safety pins and hairclips.

She had adored herself all for him... she was willing to click their pictures together and probably play the Karwachauth part from the song 'ghar aaja pardesi.' He figured from the liner in her eyes and lipstick on her lips that she had applied light make-up too. But it had almost faded by now.

Her one hand had rested on her stomach while the other one rested on his neatly folded kurta she had selected for him. She was waiting for him with all her being.

He too was dying to see her all gorgeous and immensely beautiful in the saree they both had selected and the blouse design he had suggested...

But all his wishes to celebrate this festival together with Naina were crushed beneath merely a schedule sheet of his shoot today. A piece of paper had shattered all his and her dreams of being on each other's side on this day.

He cleared his throat and caressed Naina's cheek lovingly. "Naina..." He called her with all the love.

Her eyeballs moved behind her eyes and a soft whimper left her mouth, as if she was in some kind of pain. He called her again and shook her a little.

Naina opened her eyes with sheer difficulty, she felt as if her eyelids weighed in kilos. Sameer helped her in getting up, holding her shoulders.

"Sorry Naina... bahot der kar di maine..." Guilt was reflecting in Sameer's voice.

"Koi baat nahi..." Naina responded with a sweet smile, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Maine koshisー"

"Pooja karle?" she asked.

Sameer nodded to her sweet voice. Tying her hair in a bow and adjusting her saree, Naina took support of Sameer to get up and he saw her walking out of the room leaving everything behind right there on the mattress.

Apart from the natural moonlight, there wasn't any source of light on the terrace of J wing. Holding hand in hand, Sameer and Naina entered the terrace, with Sameer holding the thaali in his free hand and Naina holding her saree.

Naina offered arghya to the moon and performed its aarti. She prayed for Sameer's health and their togetherness to the moon and bowed down her head. Later she performed aarti of Sameer and they looked at one another adoringly. Sameer made her drink the kalash water, instructing her to drink it slowly, sip by sip. She too then extended it to Sameer's lips and made him drink it slowly. Feeding a piece of barfi to each other, they sighed as their vrat was finally over.

"Tum thik ho na, Naina?" Sameer pulled Naina towards him with her shoulder.

She smiled and nodded. "Tum?" She asked and he too nodded in return.

Rakesh had already heated the food and he instructed them to have it right now. Naina suggested she change into a night dress and Sameer helped Papa in serving their plates. They had their dinner in silence in the living room. Naina preferred to eat only daal-chawal with ghee, passing the rest of the food on her plate to Sameer.

Sameer changed into his night clothes in the bathroom and returned to the bedroom, joining Naina on the mattress. She had folded her knees slightly and leaned back on the wall with her eyes closed. He studied her for a moment and perceived that she was almost on the verge of falling asleep. Her head slipped to his side and he put his palm beneath her cheek for her support. Pushing his arms beneath her neck and knees, he gently lifted her and laid down on the mattress. And as he pulled the duvet over her chest, he saw her fall to sleep within a minute.

He kept sitting next to her with his arms crossed. After long, he sighed and ruffled his hair, exasperated. They hadn't conversed for more than a few lines to each other since he had returned. He wanted to apologize to her properly for his delay, he wanted to share with her what all happened on the set, he wanted to tell her how he performed in the scenes... he really wanted to spend this day with her the way she had planned... by clicking some photos together, by whispering some sweet nothings as they hugged and kissed... by making new promises to each other on this auspicious day...

He was guilty for coming this late... but things were not really in his hands...

He also knew she was over-exhausted today... It might be the extreme fatigue of the day and the fasting... 

Just that... he was missing Naina at this moment... a lot...

He consoled himself that it was because of the wrong timing of the day that they couldn't talk to each other...

but apparently... it wasn't happening for the first time this week...

*********

*EP= Executive Producer

Hey friends, how was this chapter? Do let me know.

The situation Samaina are in right now is definitely not easy. I hope you're able to understand both their povs.

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