Is This Love??? ✔

Chapter 12

It's a week out from the New year and Shiviga gets the strangest phone call she can ever recall receiving in her life.

"Shiviga?" the person on the other end of the line doesn't give her an opportunity to respond, "Pradeep, Sanjay's manager."
Shiviga knew of Pradeep. He'd started out as Madhu had, as a handler, but he and Sanjay had gotten close (and she feels like she heard a story once about Pradeep tracking him down when he'd gone missing after filming once? But she really can't remember details). And basically Sanjay had asked to have him onboard continuously, so he signed up to manage all of his contracts, rather than just the one with 2D Studios. Shiviga would be lying if she said he didn't scare the pants off her.

"Hi Pradeep," she starts to say 'why are you calling me', but he beats her to it.
"I'm calling to ask if you're free for lunch."
She cannot think of any fathomable reason why Pradeep would want to take her to lunch. The whole thing is utterly confusing.
"Well actually I-"
"Excellent, there's a car out front. See you in thirty."
The line goes dead and Shiviga hears a car horn outside. She peaks out the window and sees a heavily-tinted car waiting for her.
What the hell was going on?

She didn't like the idea of jumping just because Pradeep demanded she do it, but she liked the idea of getting into Pradeep's bad-books a whole lot less, and Sanjay trusted him with his life, so she headed downstairs to join him for lunch. Siva came with her, just like always, and that was the only reason she felt safe getting into the car.
Pradeep was an enigma, and of everyone she knew in this town, she'd say he was the most likely to have literally killed someone in his time. She did not want to be one of them.

The car pulls up out the front of some very posh looking of buildings, and she's quickly ushered to the top floor. They step out into a large restaurant which is completely empty save for Pradeep who's blasting someone on the phone at a table in the center of the room.
"Sign that contract without me reading it and you can find yourself another agent, idiot!"
Shiviga did not know how Sanjay put up with him on a daily basis.

Shiviga approaches slowly as Pradeep gestures for her to take a seat. He shouts a few more expletives at the phone, threatens the person's life, and then hangs up with a (too-forceful) tap of his finger.
"I miss flip phones," he says, turning to look at her without a greeting at all, "When you slammed a flip phone shut you knew the other person could tell you were mad. But with this touch screen thing you lose the emphasis. I miss the flip phones."
Shiviga has no idea how to respond to that so instead she just nods with a vague smile and thanks the waiter when they pour her a glass of wine she never ordered.
"You're probably wondering why I've asked you to see me," he starts, ripping a bread roll apart with his bare hands like he's a starved man.
"It had crossed my mind," she supplies, eyeing the bread mournfully and choosing her words wisely.
"I want to talk to you about Sanjay," he says lathering on butter to the bread roll before he rips it apart with his teeth. Shiviga will never have to go on a safari – she's seeing a lion in it's habitat right here apparently.
"Ok," she shrugs, "I'm not sure how much help I'll be – I'm sure you're just as informed about Sanjay as I am. More so, I'm betting."
"True," he says as he signals for the waiter to refill his glass, "But this specifically relates to you."

Shiviga's heart skips a beat. She can't help but feel like she's about to be eaten by a shark.
"Here's the thing Shiviga – Sanjay has an addiction."
She almost drops her glass. Pradeep side-eyes her and lets out an annoyed sigh. Right, like it was such an inconvenience for reacting with shock when he tells her, her best friend is an addict. Right, like this is all Shiviga's fault. She glares at him because she knows he's lying. He might know his client, but she knows her best friend. There's no way this is true.

"No," the word comes out with as much conviction as Shiviga has ever spoken with. Pradeep doesn't falter.
"Yes," he takes a swig of what she's sure is top shelf whiskey and continues, "You might not see it but-"
"I don't see it because it's not true," her words come out past gritted teeth, "He's seen what it's done to his dad and he refuses to go near any of that stuff. I've seen him turn people down."