(The house was a chaotic mess as everyone in the house woke up late today..... They all woke up almost around 10 AM.!! But they were meant to wake up by 7 AM.....! Why?? They had an Ad to shoot..... They recently became the brand ambassador of a popular soft drink company and today they were scheduled to shoot for its new ad.! They were meant to be there by 12 PM... Currently it's 11 AM and no one is ready.! Half of them are supposed to be yet done with breakfast.! Everyone was busy doing something or the other where as Avneet was quietly watching the chaos and eating her breakfast that is milk and cereal.!
SN came downstairs while closing the buttons of his shirt in hurry and was about to grab something to eat as he still had to do his breakfast when he saw Avneet enjoying her breakfast peacefully in her PJs....... He raised his eyebrow....
And went towards her....)
SN: What are you doing.?
Avneet: Didn't you wash your eyes.??? I am eating my cereal.... That's what normal people do in the morning.......
SN: Why aren't you ready yet.?
Avneet: What.?? I am not coming today... Bhav is here so I am off...... (she said throwing her hands up in the air as if celebrating....)
Bhavesh: Aah.! Siddharth..... Come on.... Eat breakfast and let's get going.... (he said entering the living room where Avneet and Siddharth were bickering)
SN: Why is Avneet not coming with us.???
Bhavesh: I will be there Sid.! We don't need her there......(Avneet winked at Bhavesh and blew him flying kisses saying.....)
Avneet: Love you Bhav..... you are the best......
(SN just poked his tongue inside his cheek upon witnessing this.... He folded his arms seemingly annoyed and said....)
SN: As the leader of the group..... I want Avneet with us at the location....
(Avneet who was leaning on the couch enjoying the cereal shot up in shock upon hearing this....)
Avneet: Hey now.!! Why are you being mean.??? Can't you see my happiness???(she asked as if complaining)
SN: I saw how you express your happiness..!!!
(Avneet just tilted her head to understand what he was trying to say...)
Avneet: What.??? Subtitles please... half of your talks I barely understand... what do you mean SN..?? (this time SN tilted his head with a raised eyebrow..... But for a change Avneet understood why he did that....)
Avneet: Fine Fine..... Siddharth....! What do you mean "SIDDHARTH"? (She asked emphasizing on his name...)
(SN smiled being satisfied and said)
SN: I meant that you are coming with us.... Simple.!!!
Bhavesh: Since when you started to call him by his name.?(he asked getting surprised to Avneet)
SN: Last night....
Bhavesh: Whatever.! SN..! We discussed it yesterday.... I am sticking to my point....... Avneet stays here..
SN: And I am sticking to my point Bhavesh..... Relax.! Nothing to worry about.! Avneet will come with us...
(Avneet looked at them with a big question mark on her face.... Suddenly she flinched as her name was called by SN as she was lost in her thoughts....)
SN: Avneet........ stop wasting time..... go and get changed..... what will I do if my Assistant Manager won't be with me.???
Avneet: You have your Manager...... Why meeeeee.??????(she asked whining...)
SN: Stop whining like a kid Avneet..... (He went towards her and grabbed the bowl of cereal that she kept on the side table, and put a spoonful in his mouth......)
Avneet: Hey..... That's mine.... Get yourself a different one....
SN: Well..... It tastes much sweeter..! It's mine now..!!! (He winked at her and turned to leave earning a glare from Bhavesh and leaving blushed Avneet behind.....)
(Avneet just shook off her head to brush off the "unwanted" thoughts coming in her head and stood up in dismay...)
Avneet: Guess I have no option left...!!!!
(Bhavesh wanted to say something when he looked at SN who was sitting on the dining table who shook his head so he just let out a sigh and let Avneet go without talking to her..... )
Bhavesh: What are you doing Sid.??? (He asked going to Siddharth...)
SN: What.? Just being friendly with her..! Calm down Bhavesh..... Relax.....
(He shook his head in disbelief and left from there......)
(Avneet changed as quickly as she could and they all left around 11:30 AM.....)
(The location was by the beach...... Media was present but they were not allowed to be near the location of the shoot so they were just by the parking area....
One by one all the members started to come out of the two cars.....
Bhavesh was the manager so he was the first one to get out of the car and go towards the shoot location followed by the members.....
Siddharth went out at the end and then reached his hand out to Avneet.....
She took his hand and both started to walk towards the location without looking at the media as fast as they can.....
SN was trying his best to make Avneet feel at ease as she was tensed up with cameras continuous clicking sound and flashes and their never ending questions.......
They were finally away from the media and Avneet sighed in relief.....)
Avneet: Phew.!!! What was that.??? Why are they still after #SidNeet thing??? I thought it was just a fluke.!!! And will be forgotten.!!!
SN: Just ignore them Avneet.... You need to learn to ignore them and sometimes pretend that they are not here....
Avneet: Easy said then done.!!!
(They both reached the location and both can feel the cool breeze of the ocean and hearing the waves just put Avneet's mind at ease but as they were still holding hands Avneet was halted back as SN suddenly stopped walking...
Avneet turned to look at him.... His face was turning pale and he was looking at the ocean with a look.... That look confused Avneet...)
Avneet: Hey..... You good.???
(Hearing her voice as if it broke the trance and brought back SN to reality....)
SN: Y..Yeah...! Let's go......
(Avneet could feel his grip on her hand is getting a bit tight and could sense uneasiness in him.....
He was about to go to the rest of the members as they all were doing final touch up..... Avneet asked again...)
Avneet: You sure you okay.???
(SN just hummed in response without looking at her and left to the other members..... Avneet felt this behavior a bit different and was feeling a bit worried for him..... Why.??? She don't know....)
(As the shoot started.... it was at different places in the same location... it started from a cottage to SN and Lucky flexing their flexibility by jumping around and climbing the trees and so on and the last shot was now by the ocean.... Avneet could sense that members were all a bit worried about SN.... They kept on asking him "is he doing okay?"
Does he have Thalassophobia.? Avneet thought...! Though it was not good idea to just jump on conclusions and predict that but the way SN was behaving and worried members for him was just pointing towards that direction..... To her luck Faisu walked towards the place where she was sitting and taking that as a chance she asked him....)
Avneet: Hey..... How's the shoot going.??
Faisu: Pretty good (he said drinking water and letting the staff take care of his makeup.....)
(Avneet was fiddling with her fingers and trying to find out words to put it in a proper way in order to ask him her doubt..... Faisu saw her and asked...)
Faisu: Go on..... What you wanna ask.?
Avneet: Wha....... How do you know.? (She asked been surprised)
Faisu: Confusion is clearly written on your face.... C'mon shoot... what you wanna ask.?
(Avneet saw that the make up artist was still doing final touch up...)
Avneet: May be later...
(Faisu understood and waited for the staff to get done and once done as soon as the make up artist left he asked....)
Faisu: Now tell me... What's bothering you.?
Avneet: Umm.... Look I might be completely wrong..... But why do I feel like SN is behaving a bit different today.??
Faisu: Huh.? (This time he was surprised)
Is it that obvious.?
Avneet: No.... He is not giving me the same vibe as before... As soon as we reached this location he became....... Bit....... How should I put it...... Distanced.???? I guess....... It feels like he is forcing himself to look normal and I have seen him spacing out too..... Now again I might be completely imagining things but that's what I....(cut off by Faisu...)
Faisu: *chuckle* You do observe in detail don't you.?? I can only say Yes.! You are right..... He is not quite fond of oceans.....
Avneet: What.? Why.? I have seen him in swimming pool... He is ok in there.....
(Faisu just raised his eyebrow when she said that and then she realized what she just said....)
Avneet: Hey... don't look at me like that..... I have a habit of sitting in the balcony... Now if my balcony has the swimming pool view and our leader decides to go for a swim at night than it's not my fault......
(Now Faisu was crossing his arms with a teasing smirk on his face...)
Avneet: Get that smirk off your face you idiot..... And Don't you dare say anything to anyone.!!! No but tell me.... Is he scared of deep water.?
(Faisu became serious again)
Faisu: I honestly don't know..... He doesn't want to discuss about this with us and we don't force him either... all we know is Abhi knows it but they chose to keep it to themselves and we respect the personal space.... As far we all know... SN just is not fond of Oceans.!!! I think it's not a big deal so you too don't think about it much.!
Anyways I will get going, shot is ready.... And you too.... As I said.... Don't think too much.... He will be ok once we get out of here.!
(Avneet just nodded as Faisu walked towards the members and the shoot resumed again.... This time they were near the beach.... Near water..... A smile appears on Avneet's face as boys were enjoying themselves by water and having fun just being themselves as that was how it was supposed to be..... But she couldn't let go of the feeling that she felt whenever she saw SN..... he was trying his best to look normal and no one can say that he is been uncomfortable but whenever the waves hit them or there was a huge splash Avneet could see a minute change in his expressions which would turn to normal again within fraction of seconds.!!!!)
(The shoot was done.... It's been 4 hours that they were shooting.!!!! Just to get perfect shot with perfect sky and shade..... Well being professionals all the members did their part without complaining and now everyone was done changing as the clothes they wore got wet being in water.....
Everyone started coming towards Avneet who was sitting and waiting for them....)
Bhavesh: Let's go Avneet.....
Avneet: Woah.!!! Just an ad that will be barely a minute or two long..... they made you all shoot for 4 hours in this scorching heat.!!!! That's insane.!!!
Abhi: That's what comes with being endorsing a brand Avneetay.!! It's part of our job.!!!
Rohan: Besides we had fun.!! I mean ya we had to take a lot of retakes just to get a perfect shot but hey.... We had a good time at the beach....
(Avneet could see that they were genuinely happy with their work and not complaining a bit even though their physical condition was saying a different story.... They looked dehydrated.! But as she was talking with the members she noticed one thing....)
Avneet: Where is SN.?
Faisu: He will come later...
Avneet: Later.? What do you mean later.? Why he wants to stay here when you clearly said he is not fond of ocean.... He should be the first one getting out of here.....
Abhi: Let him be Avneetay.... He needs sometime...... (he said looking back at a figure back facing them sitting at a distance from the water looking at the ocean.....)
Avneet: Why are you guys leaving him alone.? One of you guys go to him.... He needs someone....
Bhavesh: He needs to be alone Neet..! That's what he does all the time when we are near ocean..... So let's respect that....
Avneet: Have you guys ever tried to be with him when he sits like this.?
Kartik: Avneet.! I know you are worried.! But trust us..... He will be fine..... He just needs some lone time.....
(He said that and made her turn around and wrapping his hand around her shoulder gently pushed her to walk towards the parking area along with the members as they all were going to their cars....)
(Avneet was walking with the members but her mind was stuck on the discomforted face of SN that she just can't disregard and forget it...... she just slipped back from Kartik's grip when they were almost closed to the parking area and started to walk towards SN while saying...)
Avneet: I am sorry.... I can't just leave him like that.... You guys go ahead..... If he gets mad for invading his personal space.... It's completely on me! But I can't just ignore the fact how discomforting he looked and knowing that just ignore him and leave..... I can't do that...
Just carry on..... I swear I will be back if doesn't want me here... But I have to try.....
(Before anyone else can say anything to her she just turned and ran towards SN....)
Bhavesh: *sigh* I don't like the way this is going.!
Lucky: You crazy.? This is exactly how it should be going.!
Abhi: I believe she will handle him well.... If I think about it..... #SidNeet is actually a thing.!! I can see it clearly.!!!
Bhavesh: NO.!!! This. Should. Stop. Here.!! I need to talk with Neet.!!
Lucky: Hold on right there..! What's the problem? Don't tell me you like Avneet.!!!
Bhavesh: What.? Nooo...!!! But I know Siddharth..!!!
Abhi: Bhavesh.... What are you trying to say.?
Bhavesh: Hey I am not implying anything wrong about him... But we all know why he is still single.!!
(This question made everyone speechless........)
Kartik: Ehem.!!! (He said clearing his throat...) let's just get going.... We will see what to do later.... we can't just presume things.... Come on guys.... Get going.....
(They all left the location in one car leaving the other car..... And watching only 6 members returning back along with manager and not seeing SN and Avneet returning back with them....
This side media got their scoop......
"#SidNeet on a beach date after shooting for the ad..!!")
(Avneet went close to SN who was just sitting there looking into distance without any expressions......)
Avneet: SN.....
SN: ........
(She went a bit closer and spoke a bit louder this time....)
Avneet: SN.....
SN: ........
(Still no response as if he hasn't even realized her presence.... Avneet took a deep breath and said....)
Avneet: Siddharth......
(He blinked and looked to his side where Avneet was standing while bending a bit so he could hear her properly.....
Looking her here when he wants his space..... his eyes suddenly changed into dark expression which Avneet never saw....)
SN: The hell are you doing here.? (He asked clearly not happy with the fact that she was in his personal space...)
Avneet: I....... I.......
SN: YOU WHAT.????
I want to be alone Ms Kaur..... A.L.O.N.E.!!! Just go like other members did and let me be..... leave me alone.!
(Avneet was clearly taken aback by his outburst but she felt as if his these actions actually wanted a complete opposite reaction...... So she did what she felt was right....)
(She just sat next to him and put her right hand on top of his left hand that was laying on the sand.... He tried to free to move away his hand but Avneet got a hold of it....
Then she moved again and sat in the same position as they did in her balcony.! She backfaced him and sat by attaching her back with him......)
Avneet: Stay like this...... Don't look at me..... Now speak..... What's bothering you???
(He just let out a sigh and Avneet could feel he looked down...... Avneet was still holding his hand.... She just rubbed her thumb over his knuckles...... Trying to comfort him....)
SN: *sigh* I hate ocean Avneet...!!
Avneet: Any particular reason.?
SN: I have Thalassophobia.!!! Strange isn't it.?? The strong leader of Knights is such a weakling.!! First Anxiety then Thalassophobia.!!! Who would have guessed that I am such a weakling.!!! Who appears strong but is broken inside.!!!
Avneet: You are not weak Siddharth.! You are the reason why this group is so strong and achieving the such success.!!
But why aren't any members aware of this.??
SN: They can't Avneet.... I can't let them see my vulnerable side.!!! I have to be strong.... For them....
Avneet: So you chose to suffer alone.??
SN: One is better than 7 right.? I got Thalassophobia when I was a kid.....
Avneet: Thalassophobia..!!! Wait.!! But ...... did something happen in past.??? That gave you some trauma.?? Or any tragic incident.???
(She paused realizing she is asking something very personal and mentally slapped herself..!)
I am sorry.!! I shouldn't be asking you these personal questions......
(She loosened her grip on his hand and was trying to stand up when he didn't let her leave his hand and tightened his grip making her drop the idea of standing up.....)
SN: Stay.....(his voice was weak......)
Avneet: Siddharth....... Are you okay.???
SN: Heh..... It's funny how you sensed it from the beginning that I was not okay.!
(Avneet stayed quiet as if letting him take his time to speak again....)
SN: *sigh* I lost my father here Neet.!!! (He said looking down merely as a whisper which thankfully Avneet heard and her eyes widened....)
Avneet: Oh.! I am so sorry.!!!
SN: Don't be..... It's just..... Whenever I am near ocean that whole incident comes flashing in front of my eyes....
(Avneet again stayed silent..... letting him to continue.... She felt weight on her right shoulder and saw that SN was leaning his head on her shoulder and looking up as if remembering something with eyes closed.....)
SN: I was 10 and dada was 12 when we were at a beach similar to this one..... My dad.... The famous Solo Artist whose dream was about to come true.... His song made it to the international music industry and he was going to LA for his first concert.! Before that he wanted to spend some time with his family..... with us.!!
We were having amazing time together.....
Like always we came to the beach and me being swimming freak.... I decided to go in there for a swim.....
Everything was good.... Mom and dad were watching me and dada play and me occasionally going for a swim.....
Suddenly they found out that there was a tide coming up so they called us back to the shore... dada went back immediately but I was swimming and enjoying.... Didn't felt the current of the waves getting stronger.!!! My dad came and pulled me to him as I was going away from the shore and he pushed me towards the shore but the current of the waves was too strong and pulled my dad back in the water...
He was trying his best to get out of there and swim back to us where us both brothers were standing with mom but he couldn't make it.....
He....... He c....couldn't make it Neet....... (His voice cracked)
(He looked down again and Avneet could hear soft sob.!!!)
(She was tearing up already, she wanted to turn around and give him a hug but she was hesitating as she didn't want him to be uncomfortable as he didn't want his face to be seen like this....)
SN: Neet....... Hug me please......... (he said between sobs as if begging to be comforted by her.....)
(She turned around immediately and engulfed him in a warm hug that was much needed at that time......)
Okay....
That's it for this chapter.....
Any thoughts about this chapter.?
If you liked this chapter please like and comment your ideas if you have to make this story better...
Till then...
TC
Aadios Amigos...
-HP