Forever Together (Sequel to Will You Be With Me?)

9. Seen At Last

Aryan flipped through the old albums, revisiting the memories he once cherished so much. How his Papa taught him to ride his first cycle, how he once forgot to pick him up from school. Sighing, he put back the albums. There was no use now. No use of being stuck in the past when his own father had freed himself from it. Aryan had an event in four hours, that was what he was supposed to focus on. This was the first time he would make an appearance after his parents' arrival in Mumbai.

~

"Aryan, you ready?", Nysa called out from their bedroom. "Nysa do I need to remind you that I have been sitting here, all dressed up since the past hour whereas you are taking time?", the door opened in an instant. "No thank you, I have my stylists for that", "oh come on Mrs. Khan, you look beautiful though, no use of sulking with that pretty face". Nysa scoffed and sat down with Aryan. "Well why do you provoke me then?", she said with a smirk. "Am I not your husband?", the staff burst out laughing hearing their banter. 

The crowd surrounded them the moment they stepped out of the car. Fans, media, guards. They somehow made it to the entrance of the hall, safe from the people clamoring to watch their favorite actors and idols. "Do you think they'll be at the premiere?", Aryan whispered in Nysa's ear as they walked down the corridor. "Even if they are, we'll deal with whatever happens together". Giving Aryan a warm smile she squeezed his hand and walked out towards the theater, taking their seats.

Anyone who thought Aryan was absorbed in the movie was a fool or simply did not know him. Fifteen minutes into the movie and Aryan's mind had already wandered off to searching for his parents in the crowd. There was no point at looking for them in complete darkness, but he tried his best to identify them, or their heads, more precisely. Why would they be here anyways?

Maybe because the producer invited them, a voice retorted. "It's all in your head, snap out", Aryan muttered. Nysa must have heard something, because she looked at him to check. They might also be at the dinner after the movie, the voice spoke again. Had the voice been a real person Aryan would have dug him six feet into the ground already. But how could he possibly dig himself into the ground. He paid more attention to the movie instead of his thoughts, even though the movie was the worst he had seen this year. That didn't matter after some time, because eventually, he had to go out and shower praises on the director as his "honest feedback". How very honest.

~

Nysa was the happiest when the premiere ended and they were finally heading off to dinner. She had similar opinions to Aryan when it came to the movie. "Why would the director even want to make such a film? And how the hell did they manage to get sponsors for this?", Aryan couldn't stop ranting about the picture and how it would definitely be a flop. When Aryan said a film wouldn't work, people knew it wouldn't.

Turns out the 'small' dinner they had been invited to was not so small after all. There were at least 50 other people chatting and gossiping. The men had gotten a corner to themselves where they would end up competing on whose wife was closer to Hitler. But of course, Aryan wouldn't participate. His Nysa was an absolute angel.

Aryan was chatting with a couple of his friends when a hand tapped his shoulder. "Shah Rukh, meet Aryan Khan! One if the greatest director in the industry today. Haha, how does it feel to meet your son like that?".

Author's Note :
Not me showing up after several decades :) hi tho