Just Like a Fairy Tale

Part 14

Mallika woke up the next morning with a text message from Sumedh. It said that he was going to pick her up at 6:15 am. Shoot. It's already 5:40. I need to hurry up!!!

With that, Mallika quickly got out of bed and proceeded to finish her morning routine. And at exactly 6:15, the doorbell rang. Sumedh's here. She quickly ran to open the door to see Sumedh standing there with coffee and some dairy milk chocolate.

"Good Morning, sleepyhead."

"Sleepyhead - really Sumedh? Do I look sleepy to you?"

"Ok come inside. I just have to get my purse and then we can leave." They both went inside and Mallika went into the bedroom. When she came out, she found Sumedh eating her chocolate bar on the couch--only half was remaining. She crossed her arms and looked at him with a mad face. Sumedh looked up innocently.

"What...I was kinda hungry!"

She rolled her eyes and turned around to leave. Sumedh grabbed her hand and stood up. He started coming closer while unwrapping all the chocolate. He brought her closer to him and put the chocolate out towards her mouth. He fed her the remaining chocolate.

"Eat up. Or we will be late to shoot like every other time I have ever come to pick you up."

"Oh so I'm the one who always gets us late. And who's the one in the makeup room who's always like '5 more minutes' every time I come there to walk with you to the set???"

"WHAT! You're saying that I take so much time to get ready?! What about you?!?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Mallika grinned.

"Oh really...." Sumedh inched closer.

"Yep."

"Really...." Sumedh got even closer, until there was nearly any gap between.

He suddenly started tickling Mallika. "I always take soooo much time right."

Mallika just couldn't stop laughing."Ahhh. Ok ok stop stop! Nooo. Hahahaha."

But he didn't stop. He kept tickling her everywhere and holding her from escaping.

"NOOO Sumedh!! Let go!! Hahaha!! Please??" And then he let go.

They both smiled at each other.

"I'm leaving before you start the tickling again." Mallika ran.

"Ok fine. I'm coming." Sumedh laughed.

And with that, they both got in the car to go to the set.

*In the car*

As they were driving, Mallika was just on her phone, playing a game. Sumedh saw this and wanted to annoy her so he kept pulling her hand, not allowing her to type.

"Really Sumedh. DRIVE. And stop pulling on my hand."

"Nope."

"C'mon really?"

"Yes, really." With that, he took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. Since Sumedh was driving a manual car, he had to keep switching gears with the stick. Without letting go, he put Mallika's hand on the stick and then his hand on top and continued to drive like that the whole way. Mallika understood what he wanted and so went along with it. They spent the whole car ride like that.

~~

They eventually reached the set and got out of the car.

As they were walking, Sumedh held her hand in front of everyone. Chanda saw this and a type of rage went through her. What happened at the party? IT'S LIKE IN ONE DAY A MIRACLE HAPPENED. UGGHH. I won't spare them. She stomped away.

*Chanda POV*

Kuch to karna padega. Nko ek nahi hone de sakti mein. (I have to do something. I can't let them be together.) Think Chanda think. What can you do to get them apart???

Meanwhile, on set, Mallika and Sumedh were done with the current shot and were on break. It was around 8 pm. Today, it particularly was a long day for them.

"Hey, do you want to sit near the beach?" Sumedh asked her.

"Yeah!" Mallika got excited. They went to the beach, still in costume, which was a short walk. They could hear the sound of birds, the smell of the water, and the feel of peacefulness. They sat down silently, a little away from the water to not get their clothes wet. They sat there for 10 minutes, without talking and absorbing the peaceful atmosphere. Sumedh had his eyes closed. Sumedh has a strong connection to nature. He's always so caught into it. Mallika thought. They continued sitting like that. Finally, Sumedh broke the silence.

"Mallika?"

"Hmm" Mallika turned around to face him.

"How important do you think love is in one's life?"

Mallika was caught off guard from this question. She hadn't expected it at all. She started speaking, attempting to answer his question, "Love is very important in someone's life, Sumedh. I don't know who I would be right now if I didn't have people around me who loved and cared for me. I literally can't imagine my life without love. I would be nobody right now if I didn't have people who loved me."

Sumedh finally opened his eyes and looked at Mallika calmly. "And how important do you think trust is in one's life?"

Mallika wasn't sure where Sumedh was headed with this question, but she went along with it. "Well Sumedh, trust is also very important. If I didn't trust anybody, how would I live peacefully in this world? I would always be scared. I wouldn't know who to share my feelings with or who to walk with or who to laugh with. My life would be in shambles without trust."

"Mallika..." Sumedh smiled gently. "I just asked you about two of the biggest elements in anyone's life. These both elements are very important for any relationship. Trust lays the foundation for any relationship. Trust allows us to love someone with all of our hearts. It allows us to put aside our hesitancies and express our feelings freely with anyone. With trust comes a true bonded love. And the same goes for love. Without love, there would be no trust. If you actually truly love someone with whatever you have, the trust will always be there. There will be no place in that relationship for doubt and hesitancy. There will only be pure and eternal Sakhi prem. Then even if I am far away from you, nothing can stop you from internally being with me. You can then easily rely on your heart to lead your relationship."

Mallika was deeply and emotionally touched by these words. She looked at Sumedh, who was still staring at the ocean water with a smile on his face. He looked down to meet Mallika's eyes. They both smiled at each other knowingly. Mallika put her head on his shoulder and turned to face the ocean. Sumedh also leaned his head a little on Mallika's, and turned back to face the ocean. They sat there for a while in silence, feeling each other's presence beside them. When their shot was called, they quietly got up, and without exchanging a word, made their way back on set- hand in hand....