Sidharth
"There was a change of plans." As she brings the refilled champagne glass to her lips, I feel the tension in me start to build, and my back goes straight. "Your parents are going to walk the red carpet with you."
I grind my teeth and almost hiss, "Who changed the plans?"
She shrugs her shoulders, turning to look at my mother. "Rita mam, let's go freshen up our lipstick. It's almost time to go." My mother looks at me with worry in her eyes, and then turns to follow Ila.
"Beta," my father says from the couch where he went to sit down the minute we finished the toast, "I know you don't want to hear this, but . . ."
I shake my head and turn to look out the window, grabbing my phone and texting her.
Me: Where are you?
Did she change the plans, did the studio, or did Ila? I'm not going to say anything until I get confirmation, but if it was Ila, things needed to change and now.
I wait for her to answer, wait for her to see the message, but nothing. "The car is here," Ila says as she comes back into the room, followed by my mother. My father gets up and puts out his arm, and my mother takes her place at his side.
"Let's go," I say, walking in front of them with my phone staying silent in my pocket. Getting off the elevator, I keep my head down. Ila walks beside me, and my parents stay behind me. This night is not starting like I planned or wanted. The black limo is waiting for us, the driver opening the door when he sees me.
"I'll get in first since I have to get out last," I say, getting into the car. Ila follows me, then my mother, and finally, my father gets in last. I sit at the end of the bench in front of them, getting my phone out when it finally buzzes, and I see it's from Shehnaaz.
shehnaaz: I'm where I'm supposed to be on the red carpet, getting ready to interview people.
What the fuck is she talking about? She isn't supposed to be anywhere but by my side. It was discussed and agreed on that she would take Paris.
Me: Why aren't you here?
My anger is past the point of no return. It was past the point of no return when Ila was rude to her and she didn't back down. I see the little gray bubble with three dots, and I know she's typing. I wait for her response, and when I get it, the little sanity I had left snaps.
Shehnaaz: Someone from your camp made a request you walk the carpet with your parents. Gotta go.
My eyes fly up, and I'm not surprised to see that my father has been watching me this whole time instead of looking out of the window at the sights. "You changed the plans?" I ask softly and quietly. Ila stops talking and turns to me.
"What are you talking about?" she asks, looking at me, but I see her swallow.
"I'm talking about Shehnaaz, Ila," I start low, my eyes never leaving her. "I'm talking about her walking the red carpet with me, and my camp making a request that it's changed. A request you know I never put in."
"I think there might have been a miscommunication then," she says. "Maybe they misunderstood me when I said your parents were walking with you." We stare at each other, me knowing she is lying and her knowing I know.
"Look at all those people," my mother says to change the atmosphere in the whole car. "There must be thousands of people."
The car comes to a stop at the bottom of the steps we have to walk up to the red carpet. It's the same steps that are in the final scene of the movie. The car comes to a stop, and the driver gets out and opens the door. My father gets out first, his hand coming into the car to help my mother out.
"Ila," I say when she starts to inch toward the door, and it's just the two of us, "this fucking stops here. Are we clear?"
She rolls her eyes and gets out. Tomorrow, shit is going to be cleared up or else I'm going to lose my fucking mind. I finally get out of the car, turning to the fans on the other side of the street and raising my hand to wave.
I turn back and see my parents standing on the steps together, smiling at me. I walk up the steps to them, and we stop about halfway up to turn and wave at the crowd, and this time, the crowd gets louder and louder. "This is crazy," my mother says, walking between me and my father.
We finally get up to the top step where the carpet starts, and my eyes search for Shehnaaz. Yamini is the first to come up to us with a smile.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome," she says to my parents. "How exciting is this for you?" She talks loudly now since the fans are chanting my name.
My mother leans in and yells, "It's nothing like I've ever seen." Ila walks to them and tells them more or less how this is going to go, and then I spot Yukta.
"Welcome," she says, walking over to me. "We have to wait just a second. Alex and Meghan just got here, and to say the cameras are blinding is an understatement."
"That's fine." I look down the line, but I don't see Shehnaaz.
I just nod at her, and Yamini yells, "Showtime."
Looking forward, I see that my parents have started walking, and Ila waits next to me. "I can walk by myself," I tell her, and she just nods and walks ahead of me. I start at the edge of the red carpet, giving them the smile that is the same in every single picture.
I pose with my hand in my pocket for a couple of shots and then see I'm behind Alex, who is standing with a beautiful woman on his arm.
"Hey, look who showed up." I laugh and go over to greet Alex with a handshake. "I heard that it's your big night, so thanks for taking all the attention off me." I wink at him, so he knows it's a joke.
"This your girl?" I point at the redhead next to him. "How the hell did you manage to get her to like you, let alone date you?"
"It was all my charm," Alex says. "That and she returned a bottle of my wine," he says, and I know Alex only serves wine that comes from his vineyard, so it must have been a hard pill for him to swallow.
I throw my head back and laugh. "I like her already." I look at her, extending my hand. "I'm Sidharth."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Meghan," she says, and I just smile at her. My eyes finally find Shehnaaz in the corner, and I admire how the dress looks perfect on her. Exactly as I planned her to look, except she isn't at my side.
"And she isn't French." I laugh, taking this opportunity to change things up. "This is better than I thought. Let's get a picture." I put Meghan between us, and the three of us pose for pictures that will most likely be on the cover of all the French papers tomorrow.
I shake my head, and I'm finally close enough to Shehnaaz to call her name again. "Shehnaaz." She turns and looks at me, her eyes so dark and angry. When she sees it's me, she just turns back around and ignores me. "That woman," I say to them before I storm toward her, the press no doubt watching every single moment.
She sees me and raises a microphone in her hand and turns to smile at me. "And here he is, the man of the hour." I know I glare at her, and I don't answer. Instead, I grab the microphone and toss it to the camera guy.
Leaning in so only she hears this, I say, "If you fight me on this, you are going to make me do something neither of us is ready for." I watch her eyes, and I know from the look of them she wants to kick me in the balls, tell me to fuck off, and turn and walk away. Not today. "Now get your ass on that red carpet and stand by my side where you're supposed to be."
"You're making a scene," she says, looking over and seeing Yamini and Yukta approaching.
"Sidharth," Yamini says, "we are so sorry. We got your request."
"Wasn't my request," I say to them, and she finally looks up at me. "The studio made a plan, and I'm respecting that plan. I have no idea what happened."
"Ila said you wanted to walk down the carpet with your parents," Yukta says, and I swallow down the rage by putting my hand in my pocket instead of punching something. "It was a simple request."
"It was." Shehnaaz says she must feel the way I've changed and that I'm not okay, that this whole thing was in a way my own fault. "It's not a big deal."
"No," I snap now, grabbing her hand and bringing her with me to where my parents are standing and talking to Ila. "Seems that there was a mix-up."
"Hello, dear," my mother greets her with a smile. "You look so good."