Talk of the Town

23 //

Miraya doesn't know how Shray manages to slip out of his house but he reaches the spot a short while after her. He is in a muddy brown hoodie that says Out of Coverage and Miraya laughs inwardly at how relatable it was to the situation at hand. Shray pairs that with denim shorts which falls upto his knees. His legs are hairless and smooth, glistening under the sunlight. 

"Miraya."

She tears her gaze away quickly. 

"How is the situation at home?" he asks, as he removes his shoes at the door. 

Ranav’s house is double-storied with interiors that don't stick to a strict colour palette. There are paintings of the sea on two walls — blue and white waves pounding the rocks on the one behind the wall-mounted TV and a beach scene on the other. Ranav’s sister is an artist who sells customized paintings so Miraya suspects she might be the creative hands behind the artwork on the wall. 

"It is really bad. You must know. Your Mom must have spoken about it to you."

Shray sits on the pastel-blue couch and Miraya sits right next to him, one of her ankles under her thigh. 

"Yeah. I am sorry. My mother is excited about this idea. To be honest, she has been excited about getting us married from when we were kids," Shray says. 

"I know."

"So… what are you going to do?" he asks, curious but nervous black eyes looking up at her. 

"I honestly don't know. I don't want to get married."

"Right now? Or to me?"

Miraya doesn't say anything. She doesn't know the proper technique to tell him that he was her problem. 

Shray’s eyes look like they've lost a war. Miraya hates this look on him. It doesn't feel right with her. She feels this uncontrollable urge to engulf him in a hug and say it was going to be alright. 

But she had no right to when she was the one hurting him. 

"It's okay. I understand," he says.

"What about the situation on your side?" Miraya quickly changes the topic. 

"Thankfully, people have decided to drop the idea that Ria and I are in a relationship and that I caused her to split with Vinay. They’ve accepted that both of us are dating and have been at it since school." Miraya raises her eyebrows at that. "A lot of our school pictures were shared by an anonymous source," Shray explains. 

"Bet it's some money-digging asshole from our class," Miraya mutters.

Shray smiles. Miraya catches that and for a second she feels happy that she made him smile. 

"You have no idea how fast these people are when it comes to snooping around others' lives. Did you know we are trending on Twitter? They call us Miray."

"You checked?"

"Don't blame me. I root for us too, you know," Shray says, punctuating it with a grin. Miraya wants to rip her shallow heart and throw it out. "But anyway, my PR team thinks the news of us dating is doing me more good because the spotlight on me has become positive. There is also a rumor that you are doing a cameo in Room No 3."

"What?"

"Yeah. Apparently there's a photoshopped picture of us together on set circulating around."

"Can't you or your team make an official statement that the rumors are false?"

Shray shakes his head. The black waves on his head also move along his forehead. "I told you. My team thinks it's a good promotion for the movie. They want us to keep at it."