"People might forget me as the craze is short lived"
The last few days had been rough on her. She was and would always be thankful to Bigg Boss for giving her a platform to make it big. It gave her opportunities, crazy adulation of fans and most importantly, this person, with whom she shared an unnamed relationship of trust and love. But the lockdown had created a situation she, or rather no one had imagined or could prepare for.
Today, she lay in the bed, with blinds shut and lights off, not because of being stuck indoors. She felt shaken and tired after all these days of being strong and not letting anything bother her.
It was last week when her father had called warning her ans Shehbaaz of the rape charges pressed against him ans within hours, it had become the talk of the town. Not even for a moment had she doubted her father's intentions or actions, but the impact of the news was huge. Her mother cried, cursing the girl who had pressed the charges probably upon instigation from the opposition, to oust him from the impending election candidature. But how 'her father' could be a 'rapist' - the way this sentence was thrown all across the media had shaken her up. For the first time in her lifetime, she wanted all the attention to be taken away from herself.
She wanted to hide somewhere and cry. She hadn't felt this way when Paras had spoken ill of her. She hadn't been affected when Debolina indirectly mocked her. Neither did she mind any of the trolls or memes made out of her pictures. Nothing mattered till things were said about her. This time, her family was on the line of fire and nobody could do anything.
She was here, at Sidharth's place since the last two months, which felt like home now. His mother was an extremely generous lady who was taking care of her as her own child but she felt detached and wanted to run away from everyone at the moment.
"Oye! Shehnaaz....Gill... Din me raat banake kyun baithi hui hai yahan be?", He walked inside the room.
She was curled up under the cover, hiding her face, pretending to sleep.
"Oh hello? Tumse baat kar raha hun...", he repeated. He had noticed her withdrawal from conversations since morning. The girl who loved a hearty breakfast was fiddling with a slice of toast and was too lost to respond in the dining table conversation when his mother asked something. Her constant attention to her phone and an unusual dullness in demeanor did not go unnoticed as well.
"Shehnaaz? Motii....ye 1 kilometre lamba blanket se muh dhak-kar..."he pulled her blanket away. This habit of hers annoyed him to no end. She used to do this when they were on Bigg Boss as well. She would cover up her face and reply from thereunder and he would pull away, whenever he found her covered. But today, when he took the duvet off, he found her face red and tear-stricken.
"Idhar dikha...tu ro rahi hai?... Shehnaaz? Baby? Kya hoga baby?..." He pulled her up in one go.
Like a kid, rubbing her eyes, she sobbed hard and his heart stopped beating for a while.
"Kya ho gaya baby? Aise kyun ro rahi hai?...shhh...", He wrapped his arms around her to protect her from something he first had to know about.
"Kuch nahi...", She placed her chin on his shoulder and let a few tears drop down.
"Kya hua...bata na mujhe...", he asked her again, feeling impatient, but putting on a calm and patient face.
