HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
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Word Count- 2386
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With the skies darkening, the formation of heavy clouds was making it more darker. Some people had smiles clinging on their faces while some of them muttered a few curses making an unpleasant face. With the innumerable number of vehicles, Delhi looked like a total mess accompanied by light fog.
"How dare you cheat me, Abhinav? How dare?" The woman tightened her grip on the man's collar as she pulled the man closer within that hold...
With her nose flaring out, all she could express was her anger which was being injected into her. The fierce look made the man contemplate without breaking the contact. The anger was building in her veins as she looked at him.
"Why did you cheat me when you knew every minute detail of mine? You are just..." She felt her eyes blink, her lips shiver and her mouth stop as something washed her off. Soon, she heard a loud shout of 'CUT IT'.
She removed the grip and the person who stood from the director's chair shouted," Maya, you aren't concentrating. We have many scenes to...! "
"How do you expect me to work when I am shooting continuously? Am I a machine?" Maya snapped at the director and looked at him angrily. She couldn't take it anymore and as a result, she started walking towards her vanity.
As her assistant followed her, Maya walked slowly without turning back. She gestured an open palm behind her asking her to halt.
As she entered the vanity van, she slammed the door shut. She heard the director announcing a 'BREAK'. A few of the cast just flinched while others muttered 'Attitude' and 'Rude' under their breaths outside the van. The director slumped on the chair after he got a message from one of the contacts which were saved as 'Maya Jaisingh'. It read '10 minutes'.
The vanity was almost like a mini-bedroom which had even facilities to sleep if needed.
As she kept the phone on the table, she settled herself on the couch as she soothed her temple with her fingers. It helped her to an extent but she couldn't help herself with that only. Grabbing a cup, she set up a kettle filled with a mug of water. Switching the plug on, she picked up a zip-lock that had coffee powder sachets.
Moving towards her right, she contemplated for a few minutes. Stretching her hand to open the cabinet, her hand remained there for a while until she heard the kettle going off. She pulled the cabinet but it was locked. Rubbing her throat, she looked down and closed her eyes.
With different voices battling inside her mind, she took a small key from the spoon stand and opened the cabinet. Taking a zip-lock of white sachets, she opened it.
Tearing the sachet with her teeth between the soft yet dark-shaded lips, she emptied the contents into the mug which was prepared with water. Stirring it, the translucent liquid turned into a light brown coloured fluid.
As she drank it, she closed her eyes and arched her neck backwards. A small grin appeared on her face. With her lower back resting against the counter, she felt that she was being controlled. As she walked with the cup towards her bag, she settled on the couch. Taking the earphones out, she saw a brown crafty, handmade diary.
Picking it up, she drank the coffee to control her senses when she felt herself getting teary. Opening the diary with one hand, the hold on the coffee cup tightened.
(Simultaneously)
Picking up a brown diary, he opened the diary to find the name of the owner but nothing of that sort happened. Turning the pages, all he saw was a whole lot of Maya Jaisingh's pictures.
Flipping the pages, he understood that the owner of the diary was one of her biggest fans. A smug smile and curiosity engulfed him to meet the fan.
As he bumped into a man, they greeted each other before they apologized. The man in the white and black stripe shirt who held the diary asked the person whom he had bumped into," I am Shashank and I got it from the coffee counter! Whose diary is this?"
Shashank saw the opposite man grinning. Turning his eyes to the list he had, the man checked his name and said," I suppose you have been assigned team 2, so take go straight and go to left. "
"But the owner of this diary..." Shashank repeated his question and the man said," The owner of the diary and your team coordinator is the same guy. You will see his name board on a small cubicle."
Muttering a 'thank you, he walked as per the man's direction. Taking a few more steps, he saw the name of his coordinator on the golden enamel plate ' Rudra Malhotra '.
Letting out a gasp of breath, he just saw that there was a group huddled to his left. Shashank walked towards the group anticipating the best.
"Have you seen her latest Photo on Instagram? It's just so cute. The way she carries her attitude and love towards her audience is so glossy. " He heard a man describing her and he was sure that he was the owner of the diary.
"Rudra, She is such a show-off!" One of the people in the group whined while Rudra retorted, "She isn't like that Aditya! She is one of the best celebrities who rules the industry at her fingertips. She can ace any role perfectly whether it is like an obsessive lover or a girl with the fire. She can ace it PERFECTLY. "
"She is so hot! She handles the intimate scenes in her own way! The beautiful curves and you know if she was just a model, I would have got her next to me on my ...."
Rudra didn't waste a minute more to pick his personal phone and send an audio message looking into the speaker's eyes," Sir, I don't want Dev in my team. "
Rudra informed with a small wink as he left others in shock. He walked forward to Dev and warned using his index finger," Respect Woman! You may leave!"
Dev walked off angrily while he continued," She is hot but admiring someone for their curves with a pair of lust-filled eyes isn't acceptable. This is 2021 and it's high time we not only define beauty with just looks but also with their brains, skills and humanity."
Others sighed in relief as Rudra had stopped his talks on 'Maya'. He announced," The discussion about the project is halfway done. The next meeting is at sharp 5:30."
As he turned around, he saw a man with his 'Personal Diary'. He grabbed it from the man and Shashank confessed being scared," I got it from the cafeteria and I was about to return it to you!"
Rudra passed a smile and thanked him for returning the diary. His colleagues left him as he dealt with the newbie. After handing him a notepad and a pen, Rudra made him write important points. Rudra finished off with a goofy grin as he turned the pages to see the photos of his favourite star-Maya. Keeping the diary safely, he walked towards the cafeteria fiddling with his phone, one of his best friends, Ritwik accompanied him.
"We have a board meeting at 7 with Iyer Mashti. " Ritwik reminded him while Rudra asked in a silly way," Isn't it the same old man who can't sit at home reading the articles which are being published? He simply steps out and assigns works that may get or not get published! "
"Hey, all your investigative articles during your internship have got published and you are talking behind his back? Seriously, Rudra? What if he gets to know.." Ritwik teased him as he trailed his words while Rudra said,
"Come on, it's the truth! He is over 65 and any man above 65 is considered to be an old man with severe joint pains. The time for his retirement is over and he is still walking merrily. Why can't he sit at home? He even disturbs the time we spend during our breaks! " Rudra complained cutely as he ordered the coffee cups.
Ritwik just chuckled and said, " We are on the same line dude!"
"We were, are and always will be on the same line!" Rudra made a point...
They settled in the cafeteria on the stools as seen in different exotic bars. Rudra ordered a cappuccino while Ritwik ordered the same. Talking about random things, they were distracted as Rudra's phone pinged.
He fished the phone out of his pocket and flashed a toothy grin and exclaimed," Look, how beautiful she is in this picture!"
He handed his phone to Aditya while he merrily sipped the cappuccino. Aditya asked as he was lost in his thoughts, " You love her, don't you?"
Rudra stopped sipping and took his phone back to see that Aditya had caught him red-handed for the different collages he had made.
"It's not Love, it's just a huge crush with a lot of love towards a person who is so passionate about her work. Love is not a crush, it's just...." Rudra's animated explanation with admiration and animation using his hands just trailed off as he couldn't explain it at the moment. Nudging his shoulder, Ritwik asked," Then, How do you define love from the perspective of lovers?"
"Love is a feeling which gives you a feeling of melting and merging when you start to know each other! It is a mixture of respect, compassion and admiration you feel towards each other. It is a feeling which helps you to forget every other mistake or taints of the past and live with the lessons out of it. "
"Woah!" Ritwik exclaimed and asked yet again," So, wedding bells anytime soon?" Ritwik didn't get an answer but he received a slow yet goofy grin from his friend.
***
"Love is just a fake emotion when it comes to between a girl and a boy. Love ends in sheer disappointment which always hurt others. It is just a hypothetical word without any inner meaning and I just hate it! The love between a girl and boy is mostly hypothetical!"
Maya just shouted as she banged on the mahogany table with her clenched fist. There was a blurry vision of a woman standing behind her. She was still writhing in anger and her nose was flaring accompanied by erratic heartbeats.
"And it is a CUT". Maya's trance was broken and she felt a plethora of applause being showered for her in her background. She looked around and smiled at everyone.
"You modified it in your own way, Maya. There was a real kick to it!" The director said as he walked towards her and kept a hand on her shoulder appreciating her. She raised her eyebrows and passed a glare to which he removed his hand.
"So, we may have 2 days shoot left and Maya, do you have any plans for coming Wednesday?" The director asked after he congratulated others and announced a 'Pack up.
"I am not sure. I will let you know the schedule, sir! " She said and he smiled.
"Okay, Cool!" He said and she left the spot near the director and she walked to her bodyguard who was talking to her assistant.
Entering the vanity van, she just cleared the mug and placed the zip-locks back into their places. Locking the cabinets, she arranged everything.
Thrusting the keys into her pocket, she picked her bag and gave a last look at the vanity. As she walked out of the vanity, she locked it before asking the driver to take it to her house.
"I can handle myself for today! Just arrange a cab and go home!" Maya announced as she stretched her hand for the key.
"But Mam...." Her bodyguard protested while she said with an attitude, " I need some time alone." They just nodded and moved out after giving her the key.
Entering the driver's seat after signing a few autographs amidst the whole crowd, she breathed a sigh of relief. Covering her face with both her hands, she just moved the messy tendrils of her hair backwards with a swipe. Buckling herself with the seat belt, she accelerated the car as her bodyguard had made way for her to go.
Driving by herself, she just concentrated on the roads but she couldn't hold any longer! As she parked her car in a parking lot, she closed her eyes but she soon groaned in frustration. Courtesy: Her phone was vibrating inside her bag.
Searching for her phone inside her messy bag, she just took everything out. Picking the phone up from the mess, she sighed as it was the call from Airtel company. Switching her phone off, she shoved the phone into one of the pockets.
In the procedure of keeping everything back, the diary fell and it opened to the recent page since it was in the middle. She saw 'I will stop and Control myself' was crossed off harshly with red ink. Picking the red ink from her bag, she wrote something more,
" Neither can I control nor stop myself from doing it again and again! I just hate Myself!"
-To be Continued-
Question:- What is love according to you in the view of a lover?
A/N: Please do vote and comment if you liked the above chapter. I will be waiting for your comments and opinions... See you soon and Happy New Year.