Jay's POV:
My vision blurred within few seconds. I winked my eyes repeatedly to ooze out the tears that had formed in my eyes. The back of my palm hurts like hell. Yet Amaira didn't have the courtesy to lift her head. She had comfortably rested her head over my hand. Above all when I tried to get up, she pulled me back resulting in my broken nose.
I balanced myself by placing my free hand on the bed, beside her. The beam of light from the flashlight of Amaira's phone was the only thing separating us. Our chests were heaving slowly afraid of making a contact with the other person.
Her lips quivered and her cheeks were flushed. She broke the eye contact and let her eyes roam around the room.
'No.' Her answer to the question I asked yesterday about breaking up with her boyfriend flashed in my mind. I jumped out of the bed immediately in a hurry.
"Aaahhhh." Amaira cried holding her hair.
I looked down to notice a few strands of her hair entwined in my shirt button.
"Sorry." I apologized and rushed out of the room at once. It was better than standing there and experiencing any more awkwardness. I walked a few inches and stopped midway. I realised that we were in my room and if at all anybody has to walk out, it should have been Amaira.
As I was walking back, I saw Amaira coming out of the room. My legs turned left spontaneously and headed towards the kitchen. I staged a scene of feeling thirsty and gulped down a bottle full of water until Amaira was completely gone from my sight.
I should be feeling guilty for playing around with another man's woman. But strangely I wanted to play more even though I felt guilty. Deep in my mind, I wished Arav to not return to India. My face was lit like a New year when Amaira told me she doesn't have anything going on with Arav since our marriage. Nevertheless, when I heard they didn't break up yet, it turned into a Halloween.
Why God? Why? Why did you place a bar of poisoned chocolate wrapped up in glamorous sheets in front of me? I'm tempted to eat knowing I'll die.
That night I didn't get a wink of sleep. I woke up looking dull and lifeless. Knowing I'll look like a ghost in the ad film, I felt like shit. I'm contemplating hard whether my decision to appear in an advertisement, together with her was relevant in our present situation.
As everything was already made ready for the shoot, I no longer had an escape route. It would be my money which would go down the gutter if I cancel it. I lazily took a shower and came out in a white shirt and navy blue pants. Amaira was drying her hair when I stepped out of the bathroom.
She too seemed a little dull compared to other days. However, she still looked beautiful.
"My favourite colour is black." I started a conversation.
"Oh. Ok?" She said baffled.
"Telling just in case if it comes as one of the questions in the game." I explained.
"Oh! Mine is blue." She replied.
"I'm not the one who designed the game so I don't know what all questions will be asked in it. I've never played it before but I know it is just a set of compatibility check questions. So don't worry much."
"Oh ok. I can manage. You please focus enough on not showcasing our impassive marriage life." She instructed.
"So do you." I rolled my eyes.
We went to the studio together in my car. We arrived a little earlier to change into the costume and put on good makeup. We both needed it badly today.
We entered the set and I noticed Vihaan standing there. I took Amaira to him and introduced them to each other. They exchanged some pleasantries and shook hands.
Vihaan took us inside and handed over our costumes. I was given a maroon custom-made suit having a matte finish and Amaira was given a matching maroon saree having a velvety look.
We changed into our costumes and came back within few minutes. The saree hugged Amaira perfectly, flaunting her sand clock curves. She wore a big neckpiece covered in shining stones and cute little studs. I looked into the mirror and I wasn't bad either. The suit exposed my broad, sharp-edged shoulders. The shirt stuck close to my body which narrowed down as it descended. The pant covered my toned legs firmly.
The makeup artist, first took ample time in dolling up Amaira and spent only like five minutes for me. Perhaps I didn't need much as I was naturally handsome.
"Shot ready." A man from the production crew called over.
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Amaira's POV:
I saw myself in the mirror and I was unrecognisable. I was transformed completely into someone else after make up. My original skin tone was not visible anywhere. Jay looked the same but extra handsome than before.
We first had to do a photoshoot for the thumbnail of the video and also to print on the pamphlets they would be issuing for the event. The photographer asked us to give cute and romantic poses and I looked at Jay not knowing what to do. He signalled as if asking me to cope up with all this.
Looking at none of us acting on his words, the photographer himself came up with few poses.
In the first pose, Jay stood facing the camera and I stood in front of him but a little to his left, showing my back to the camera. I was asked to place my hand on his chest as if holding his suit and turn back my head to look at the camera.
"Good. Now next one." The photographer commanded.
A couch was placed in the middle and I was perplexed. He asked Jay to sit on it and he obeyed.
"Now mam, you go and lay down on the couch with your head on his lap."
Eww! How cringey can this get?
I sat beside him and laid down to place my head over his lap. The pallu of my saree flowed down to the floor. Jay stiffened as soon as I kept my head over his lap.
"Smile lovingly at each other." The photographer ordered.
I faked a smile and flashed my teeth to him. From that angle, I would have looked like a Satan to him. He reciprocated the same plastic smile towards me. From this angle, he looked like a mentally retarded person.
"Free up. Think you are at home." The photographer advised.
'You will get nothing if we were at home.' I told myself.
I closed my eyes and thought of Jay's advertisement videos I watched yesterday. I opened my eyes and laughed uncontrollably closing my mouth. Jay was confused for a second but laughed looking at me laugh.
"Perfect." The photographer cried. "For the next pose, the husband will give the wife a back hug and look at her lovingly from behind." He said.
Isn't one picture enough? How many more do we have to take?
I gasped when a pair of hands circled my waist. He pulled me back, a little, making my back hit hard on his chest. I threw him a surprised look but he looked at me smiling.
"Bravo! You both have an amazing chemistry. Now we can start with the shooting of the ad film" The photographer exclaimed.
Jay let me go but the feeling of his touch still lingered on my waist. I stood in the same place unmoving even after the announcement of the break. I pulled myself together and sat on a chair after taking a coffee cup from the tray.
Jay sat near the director of today's shoot, looking at the computer in front of them. I stared at him examining his face. The light from the computer made his face glow. His beard was neatly trimmed and it was nothing more than a stubble to be exact.
I averted my gaze to his eyes and noticed he was looking directly at me. My breath hitched in my throat when I locked eyes with him. I quickly looked aside casually, before he judges me to be a creep.
The man whom Jay introduced as his best friend, named Vihaan, called us for the shoot.
"You both don't have to do much. Just open the 'Perfect Couple' app and register your name and email ids. A set of questions will be displayed and you need to answer them in two sets. One is your answer and the other is your answer for your partner. For example, if the question was 'What is the favourite colour of your partner?', then you must first type your favourite colour in the first column and your partner's in the second column. Comparing your answers with your partner's personal answers, you will be evaluated. Do you understand?" Vihaan explained about the game.
The only question whose answer I knew was already out as an example. I'm surely going to get a big zero.
We both nodded in response to his question. I took out my phone and downloaded the app. I noticed that Jay already had it on his phone.
"You told me that you never played it before." I whispered in his ears.
"I've downloaded all the games of my company. That too in all the phones and computers I've. It is good if the number of downloads is shown higher in the play store. Many more people will download it then. You too download all my games." He whispered back into mine.
I wondered what would be his phone's storage space. I had to delete an unused app to download this app as I had no more space on my phone. How come he has so many games on his phone?
"Camera rolling. Action." The director yelled.
Jay started speaking looking at the camera. He greeted the viewers and introduced me as his wife. I smiled and murmured a 'hi' to them. He explained about his event and about the game we were about to play. All the while I sat beside him grinning at the camera.
"Are you ready to play the game, my dear wife?" He turned and looked at me with a charming smile. I was bewitched by the handsomeness of his face in close proximity. The number of times he smiled at me today would have already exceeded the total number of times he would have smiled at me since our marriage.
Jay threw his eyebrows upwards expecting an answer.
"Absolutely. My dear hubby." I replied. He threw me a wink and continued speaking to the camera.
We both went inside the app and got us registered. A set of questions were displayed when I pressed 'Next'.
1.What is your partner's wake up time?
Jay would come out of his room by seven thirty every day. Since I wake up before him I know his wake-up time. I don't how he is going to answer for that.
I typed six in the first column and seven-thirty in the second.
2. What is your partner's favourite food?
I could guess this one. Whenever I made biryani at home, he would empty it fully and lick even the remaining masala off the vessel.
So I typed noodles in the first column and biryani in his column.
3. How many past relationships did your partner have before you?
My face changed on reading that question. He knows that about me but I know nothing about his past. I've always doubted if he had someone else he loved. Moreover, I didn't want to be the only one who had an ex.
So I typed '1' in both the columns.
There were many more questions but I didn't know the answers to them. I guessed and typed something which I thought would be apt. Jay conversed with me in the middle so that we didn't bore the audience while we played. We discussed the question without hinting at the answer.
There were fifty questions in total. The last question was a bit absurd.
50. Which is your partner's favourite position?
I read the question thrice to understand what it meant. After thinking for a while I typed in both the columns - 'The first position.'
Jay had told me once that he wanted to make it to the top in the gaming industry. Ultimately everybody wants to have the first position. So I was confident and proud with my answer.
Jay leaned closer and whispered, "Did you answer the last question?"
I answered proudly, "Yeah yeah. That was easy. You better answer the same as me. I'm no joke when it comes to that. I'm quite ambitious too."
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