Road to the Ocean

Chapter 5: Friendship Goals

It was almost the end of the week as next set of the remaining days brought enormous changes on Kaisi Ye Yaarian sets. Parth and Niti gradually became comfortable, but they were not completely satisfied or familiarized with each other's personalities. There were at many times Niti couldn't deliver her scenes properly when Parth was unable to resist himself and grew closeness as Manik towards his Nandini for particular MaNan scenes. But, the duo worked hard to bring out the best in each of the scenes they had to project.

There was an hour break between the shots so Parth and Niti avoided going back to their vans and decided to sit together outside for the first time. There was suppose to be a whole different set up for the next upcoming sequence with everyone as Yaariyan gang, which took a bit longer than its usual time. Parth sat on the red chair and immediately clung to his phone, while Niti sat on the yellow chair next to him. Parth was calling someone over and over again, but the call wasn't approachable due to poor network connection. Then, he started typing something so attentively that he didn't realize Niti was about to take a picture capturing herself with the hulk so involved with his phone. *Clicked* Niti took a picture. "Hahaha, look at yourself" Niti said while she moved her chair closer to his. Parth who was still lost in his phone didn't notice Niti trying to divert his attention over to see the pic she took as their first ever selfie. "Haan" Parth mumbled. Niti wasn't the type who would intrude in anyone's personal space so she gave him few minutes till he finished his important work and was finally able to concentrate on the picture. "Yuck, you need to delete this picture right now!" Parth ordered Niti while he tried to snatch her phone. "Too late" Niti answered and she moved back to her place where she was sitting before which wasn't too far away from him. Parth couldn't have won this time because Niti posted the pic on her social net site the minute she took it. She wrote "#NoFilter with the 'Focused' one" and updated her post. Richa came outside calling everyone including the yaariyan gang to get together as the shooting arrangements were ready.

Parth and Niti got along with everyone on the sets. They weren't costars, but crazy bunch of friends who pulled pranks on each other, thrown anyone in the pool, even if they knew they would drown, and disclosed secrets which could possibly put them into major trouble. They were all careless and irresponsible whenever they got together. On the other hand, Parth and Niti didn't share such extreme, carefree bond. They knew where to draw the line because none of them really forced or necessarily thought the need to enter in each other's personal zone. Having enough trust wasn't something they would have by choice, but it was something they should build over time. There were Ayaaz and Charlie who were known as the extreme pranksters, pulled obnoxious pranks and scared the hell out of many on the sets. Utkarsh who was mostly seen hanging out with Niti, shared the most closest bond with her more than anyone else. Krisan was authentic among all. She was crystal clear about her choice of friends and how much time she can invest on each one of them. Abishak was someone who could care less about his surroundings. His personality seemed aloof throughout the days he spent on the sets. Richa feel drained every time she had to shoot with these devils she had named because being focused while delivering their dialogues were never attainable. "Guys be serious and stay focus" She said in a strict voice. Charlie and Ayaaz couldn't hold on to their brainless jokes and started laughing again. Richa gave up and left the room and thought she doesn't have the energy to deal with them anymore, so she ended up calling Shashank who was hired for MaNan scenes. "He'll wrestle with you people properly" warned Richa as she left them alone. Utkarsh got a little worried as he thought Shashank wouldn't take any of their childish jokes and asked them to leave the shoot for the day. Any of such careless demeanor from anyone was never acceptable in his rule book. He was always pretty straightforward. Niti was a less active participant in this chaotic situation. She was rather enjoying the fun atmosphere for a change. Parth was equally entertaining his bonkers 'friends' and Niti saw the other insane side of Mr. Samthaan for the first time.

"Ok everyone that's enough, get your scripts ready. You all have 15 minutes in hand to go over your lines and I need to see everyone ready to roll" Scolded Shashank as he came to where they were all bullying each other. He couldn't have said more explicitly than that. Anyone who wasn't ready by then, would call it a quit for the day. Everyone calmed down after his threat and focused on their scenes. Shashank wasn't that bad after all. He demonstrated everyone their parts, then politely said "Action". Everyone did their job well. Richa thanked him later that day, after the shoot was done. Everyone dispersed and started packing their belongings in their vanity vans. Ayaaz and Charlie came inside Parth's room and offered him to come along to have an early dinner with them. Parth refused and gave them an excuse as he rushed to go somewhere else. "May we know the place where you desperately wanted to go?" Asked Charlie in a teasing tone. "Hahaha, none of your business" He replied in a friendly gesture knowing she wouldn't mind, if he didn't answer. Then, Ayaaz and Charlie left the sets. Parth was the last one to leave and finally came out of the vanity van. As he walked towards his car, he noticed Niti standing at the corner of the street waiting to stop an Autorikshaw. He placed his red Ferrari handbag in his car and ran towards her. "Niti wait" He shouted. She turned around and saw Parth running towards her. "I thought you wouldn't hear my voice" he said, while catching on his breath. Niti smiled and said "how can I forget your voice after how much I got entertainment from you today?" Laughed Niti. Parth felt a little embarrassed as he looked down for a moment and ran his fingers through his hair. Popped out his veins from his hand as he squeezed his hair behind his neck. He couldn't have done better justice to men's beauty. He looked extra manly wearing a black leather jacket and a black low neck vest under it which ended up revealing his cleavage as he flaunted his assets unintentionally that became noticeable to Niti."I am glad you enjoyed", Parth replied. He offered her a ride home, but Niti wasn't too comfortable as it was just the beginning to their friendship. "Thank you, but I'll be fine" She gave him a huge smile for being considerate again. "I'll take that smile for now" said Parth as he gave away his signature winked.

Parth may not seemed to be a responsible guy when with friends on the sets, but he always made sure Niti was fine. Before she could leave in her Autorishaw, he requested her if she and him could spend extra hours together rehearsing their scenes next week. He also conveyed Richa's message to Niti which she insisted both to do even better for upcoming week. Niti couldn't reject and immediately said yes because MaNan was equally important to her. "Sounds great" Parth said excitedly. "Have a good weekend" he added and smiled. Niti wished him the same and both went to their own ways. As Parth walked away towards the other direction, he stopped for a moment and turned around to see Niti. She wasn't there anymore. He couldn't help, but smiled again and thought how happy she was with everyone today. He turned back around and went towards his car. He got in and drove away.

It was the best day so far for both Parth and Niti as they not only had great amount of time with the whole gang, but they accelerated one step closer to get started off with their newly found friendship. Some unexplained feelings did leave them clueless, but they were far too away from questioning them.