Dare Trilogy | Book 3 Editing | ✓

2.26 | Ghost From Past + Mother & Child

"ASR." Felix turned to acknowledge him. "Good, you're here. We can get started then."

Arnav gave a stiff nod. I noticed tension between the two. For now, not wanting to be in the middle of anything, I pulled myself out of the situation, "Um, excuse me." I walked away to where Payal was, talking to Aman in one corner of the studio. "What's up, you two?"

Payal said, "Nothing, just looking at some of the pics from Felix's last shoot." Aman turned the portfolio in my direction so I could see as well.

It was definitely some good material. No wonder Arnav chose to come all the way to Rome and shoot in actual locations instead of using backgrounds and wallpapers in just another studio in Mumbai. Aakash commented, "I know. Impressive, isn't it?"

"Definitely." I answered. There was something about the way that Felix manipulated with the lights and angles that resulted in each snaps being a masterpiece. Seeing his work, his earlier attempt to flirt with me was long forgotten.

Payal nodded behind me, "I'm thinking that is our last model."

I followed her gaze to see a female giving Arnav a hug. The bright grin on his face reminded me of how he used to be in college. In front of others, he wasn't the most open at displaying affection or giving hugs. I wondered who the model was that brought this out of him. Arnav's eyes found mine, and then parting from the hug, he said something to the girl. Right away, she turned.

I stood stunned. "No way." I whispered.

"You know her?" Aman asked when she started to walk in my direction.

I could not believe she was in front of me. I hadn't thought I would be meeting her again any time soon. Standing right in front of me, she looked different in the clothes she was wearing, but her smile was still just as warm, her strawberry blonde hair and her light sand colored eyes, the same color as her hair. "Khushi." She said my name with affection and opened her arms.

I glanced at Arnav, confused, but accepted the hug. "Jennifer."

She whispered, tightening her grasp around my shoulder, "I missed you."

It felt amazing to see her in front of me again. Parting, I expressed. "I missed you too! What... what are you doing here?"

"Long story. Fill you in later." She said and then looked to my side where Payal and Aman were. "Hi, I'm Jennifer."

The two of them introduced themselves to her, and then Payal repeated Aman's question, "How do you two know each other?"

Jennifer casually answered, "Oh, we know each other since college."

"You're seriously one of the models?" I questioned, still finding that hard to believe. It must have been one heck of a journey for her. From the shelter to being a model.

"Yup! Ofcourse, I owe it all to Arnav, but at first, even I couldn't believe it. When he said you guys were coming here for the shoot, I couldn't wait!" The way she was being careful to not give too much information, I assumed Arnav must have talked to her. "Hey, how about we catch up over dinner tonight?"

I nodded, "I'd love that." We definitely had a lot to talk about.

Felix clapped his hands, getting all of our attention, "Alright, listen up people. All my girls, if you could come up to the front and get your schedules. Depending on what month you have, I also have the dresses to the left. Sign the sheet on the table when Sheetal gives you your dress for the shoot. I have divided each day in three shoots so it's not all a rush and we can have this done in four days and give ASR and his team plenty of time to choose a pic and work on the layout. I expect everything to run on schedule, so don't mess up. Now, let's work some magic, people."