"What? Really," Trishna exclaimed.
"Yes Deedu, really," Madhu beamed.
Trishna let out a squeal and hugged Madhu. "Oh my gosh, Glycerin, thank you so much! I can't believe it! I'm gonna be in an RK film!!!"
Madhu had broken the news to her sister immediately when she got home; she knew it was something that simply couldn't be waited on! And as expected, her sister was over the moon! Padmini, Roma, and Malik were told as well, Roma also going over the moon when she learned the news.
"Heroine, this could be it! This could lead to your big break," Roma exclaimed.
Trishna gasped and the two got super excited, chirping away about it, unable to believe it was actually going to be happening!
Padmini placed her hand on Madhu's shoulder, bringing her daughter's attention to her.
"You did a good thing Madhu," Padmini smiled.
"I hardly did anything," Madhu said, shaking her head. "Mishra Saab remembered on his own when he saw me and asked me about it. Call it fate."
"Call it destiny," Roma said dramatically.
"Whatever it is," Malik said, "we will most certainly celebrate once the call comes through."
"Absolutely!"
"Until then," Padmini said, "let's all eat dinner. Madhu, remember to keep your phone off before you go to bed, I want you to get some extra sleep. Night shoots are draining so no other work for you, most definitely not housework."
"But Ma-"
"But nothing," Padmini said, cutting Madhu off. "Come on everyone, let's eat!"
Madhu obliged, as did everyone else. Once dinner was complete, as Padmini had said, Madhu wasn't allowed to do anything else. Instead she was sent off to bed.
Trishna laid down besides Madhu. "Glycerin?"
"Hmm?"
"The sets must be really huge, huh?"
"Yeah, some of them are pretty massive."
Trishna let out a sigh. "An RK film set... only the best of the best!"
Madhu didn't say anything.
"I can't believe this is happening. I'm really going to be working on an RK film!"
Madhu couldn't help her smile at her sister's excitement.
"It's like a dream come true-! I mean sure, in my dreams I'm his co-star, but still! I'm going to be in his movie!"
"And we'll be working together."
Trishna turned to her. "It's actually happening!"
Madhu took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze. "It's actually happening."
Trishna beamed then laid flat on her back, looking up at the ceiling as she went into thought. Madhu turned around to her other side, a smile on her face as she shut her eyes.
You'll see, Deedu; one day you will become a star. I just know it!
*~*
As Padmini had wanted, Madhu slept in and woke up way later than usual. Madhu did feel bad that she wasn't able to help her mom in the morning, but there was also no denying how tired she was, hence why it was so easy for her to sleep in.
In the afternoon, a call came from one of Mishra's people, offering Trishna the job as a junior artist, to which she happily agreed. A form would be sent to their home in a few days, which Trishna would have to return asap as the filming was happening in two weeks on a Friday.
"Yes, absolutely! I will have it returned as quick as possible," Trishna promised. "Thank you so much, goodbye."
Trishna hung up then turned to Roma with a squeal, who was squealing in return as well.
"Today is such a good day," Trishna beamed.
"It truly is," Roma agreed.
Madhu smiled at them as she turned her phone back on. When it did, her notifications began to roll over, when one caught her eye. She tapped on it, taking it to her bank account, and when she saw her balance look back at her, she gasped.
Padmini looked at her daughter. "Madhu? What's wrong?"
Madhu shook her head. "M-Ma, I... I got my first paycheck."
Both Trishna and Roma gasped with excitement. "Really," both beamed.
Madhu nodded, then looked at Padmini. She gave her phone to her to look at, Padmini frowning with confusion, when she saw the screen as well.
"Madhu," but Padmini couldn't come up with anything else to say.
"Show us too," Roma said, and both her and Trishna looked over her shoulder and gaped.
None of them had ever seen a paycheck like this before.
Padmini immediately got emotional, as did Madhu. She gave her phone back to her, then gave her daughter a hug.
"I'm so proud of you, Madhu."
"Thanks, Ma," Madhu sniffled. "Just you wait and see, things are going to get better! So much better! We'll finally be able to live under one roof, we'll be a family together! Everyone's dreams will slowly come true, I just know it!"
Padmini nodded, feeling so happy for her daughter.
"Oh my Glycerin," Roma said, taking Madhu into her arms and giving her a tight squeeze, "always crying, even in happy moments!"
"Seriously," Trishna chuckled, hugging them as well.
"I'm so proud of you," Roma said. "You're right; our good times are coming. I just know it!"
Madhu nodded, smiling.
"Now stop crying or you'll have puffy eyes! There's no need to scare anyone when you go for your shift," she joked as she wiped her tears away, making Madhu laugh.
*~*
When the evening came, Madhu got ready for work. They would be filming on location tonight, so Madhu took an auto to the place. Vanity vans were set up, the area having been closed off for the shoot. Madhu headed straight to the van, finding Navisa already there.
"Hey Madhu! Ready for a long night," Navisa asked.
"Sure am! I'm kind of excited, actually. It's my first overnight shoot."
"Oh cool! I did one once as a junior artist. That time it felt like forever for the hours to pass by! But this time, I'm excited!"
Some moments later, the other crew members came. Later, Mr. Mishra came with his assistant, and gave Navisa her script and talked the scene over.
"So your character, Sanaya, has realized her love for Amar, and so she goes after him," Mishra explained. "RK will be walking away from you, and you will go running to him and hug him from behind, putting your arms through his and holding his shoulders. RK will take hold of your hands to remove them, you're going to tighten your grip and deliver your lines. Then RK will release himself, his character will deny ever having loved yours, that you and his older brother are meant to be, sacrificing his love so that his brother can be happy. Sanaya is in shock, doesn't believe him, but Amar convinces her. Sanaya's heartbroken and upset, deliver your lines, then you leave, an anklet being left behind. The rain sequence starts and RK does his solo scene. Got all of that?"
"Yes, Sir," Navisa nodded.
"Good. Go over your lines, we have a few hours till we start filming."
Mishra got up and left, and everyone got right down to work.
"Wow, this red sari is so beautiful," Navisa gushed, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Everyone's going to be wanting to wear something similar to this once they see the film," Neha said.
"Definitely," Madhu agreed, the ladies chuckling together.
"This is going to be quite a scene," Navisa said, going through her script. "I'm also excited to see RK do his part. I bet he's going to kill it!"
While the others agreed, Madhu simply shrugged.
"Oh come on Madhu, he totally will," Navisa said.
"Haven't you seen his film Tere Ishq Mein," Neha asked.
"I've never seen any of his films," Madhu said, causing everyone to pause. "What," she said innocently.
"Seriously," Navisa said. "Not a single one?"
"No- actually, I lied. I forgot; I've seen Hero, but I was forced against my will. Deedu made me go with her."
"That's it?"
"How do you forget that you saw an RK film," Neha gaped.
"Guess it wasn't that great," Madhu said with a playful smirk.
"Stop!"
"It so was a good movie," Navisa defended.
Madhu only shrugged in return with a grin.
"Whatever," Neha said. "My point is in Tere Ishq Mein, there was this emotional scene of him with the heroine and he had me crying! I would never break such a man's heart, ever!"
"Oh my gosh, me too," Navisa said, and the others muttered in agreement.
"The scene after Karan gets his heart broken and he goes crazy in rage and heartache? My gosh, what a performance!"
"Crazy in rage," Madhu said, arching her brow. "In that case, that's not even acting for him; he does that on a daily basis."
The others frowned at her.
"You know I'm right!"
"It was more than just rage Madhu," Navisa said. "There was pain, there was heartache! Oof! Karan deserved so much better," and she placed her hand over her heart.
"And in the end, he did," Neha sighed, and so did everyone else.
Unbelievable, Madhu thought to herself.
"Watch, he's going to knock it out of the park with this scene we're filming," Navisa said. "It'll have everyone in their feels."
We'll see about that.
*~*
When it was time to film, everyone headed over to get rolling. The night was pretty warm, fortunately, so it wasn't too bad being outside, under the moon.
As Madhu touched up on Navisa's hair, RK came onto set. She caught him from the corner of her eyes and they immediately stayed stuck on him.
"Oh my hotness," Navisa sang lowly.
Madhu couldn't deny it; Navisa was right. RK looked absolutely handsome in his all black getup, wearing a button down shirt, waistcoat, dress pants, and leather shoes. The top few buttons of his shirt had been undone, and his sleeves were rolled up.
"I think I'm gonna faint," Navisa whispered, using her script to fan herself.
"We can't have that happening," Neha said. "At least finish the scenes first."
The two giggled amongst themselves, but Madhu was still fixed on RK. RK was seated in his chair, going over his script, when all of a sudden, his eyes met Madhu's. If it were anyone else, they would've flinched away, but not Madhu. She actually didn't care that she had been caught. While yes, she did agree that he looked handsome, that wasn't the reason why she had still been looking at him. The reason why she was, was that despite him looking the part, Madhu simply couldn't believe that he was going to be able to play the part. Given the type of man he was, for him to be emotional was just impossible for Madhu to believe.
It's definitely going to take him many takes to get this done, she thought to herself.
RK gave her a smirk before looking back at his script.
She's truly rather bold, he thought to himself.
Finally it was time to shoot the sequence, so everyone got in their place, the clapper was clapped, and Mishra yelled action! Madhu watched as the scene was done before them, Mishra yelling cut a few times to get the shot right, adjusting the many cameras as needed. The cues were mostly to Navisa, but when it was to RK, it was only to have his placement corrected so that the shot was picked up better. Hours went by, a break being taken before filming resumed, when finally the scenes with Navisa were done, and she stepped behind the camera and sat in her chair.
"Let's stay for a moment and watch RK do this rain-heartache sequence," she said. "Then we'll go back to the trailer."
Madhu really had no interest, but Navisa and Neha did. Once the crew had their things sorted and the scene was set, the clapper was clapped once more and Mishra yelled out action! Madhu watched as pain and angst took over RK's face, the man clenching his jaw and fists as a tear escaped from his eye. Mishra called out a few cues, and then the fake rain started pouring down onto RK. He bowed his head as he sank to his knees, the man looking down in defeat as he cried, when he spotted the anklet Navisa's character had accidentally left behind, it having slipped off from her foot. Madhu watched as RK held it up and looked at it, his eyes showing so much emotion, when he closed them, his brows furrowing. He clenched the anklet tightly in his fist then let out a loud cry, the strain and angst being so clear in it. He then buried his head in his hands as he cried, his being shaking from grief.
"Cut," Mishra yelled out. "Absolutely fantastic take RK!"
The fake rain was turned off. RK got up and a crew member went to him with a towel, taking the anklet from him.
"Amazing RK," Mishra exclaimed. "Absolutely perfect!"
RK lightly smirked at him as he ran the towel through his hair.
"Did you see that," Navisa gushed.
"He was amazing," Neha sighed dreamily. "Wasn't he Madhu?"
But Madhu didn't answer, her eyes glued to RK. She simply couldn't believe it.
He did that... in just one take. All of it, he just... I mean, how... and he didn't even use glycerin, his tears... the pain in his eyes.... He really did it all in one take.
As Madhu looked away in wonder, trying to comprehend what just happened, RK glanced at her. Strangely enough to him, RK could definitely feel whenever Madhu would look at him, just as he had now and earlier. Seeing the look of confusion and wonder cover her face, RK could only wonder what was going through that head of hers.
"See Madhu," Navisa said, "he totally aced it!"
"I'm holding back tears," Neha said, fanning herself.
"Omg me too!"
The girls chirped amongst themselves while Madhu could only frown at them oddly. They were acting like the girls in her chawl, fangirling away over RK, brainlessly. Just as she was about make a comment, she felt someone's eyes on her, so she looked up to see none other than the arrogant asshole to be looking right at her. His ever-so-present smirk was obvious, and he gestured to the two beside her with his eyes. Madhu glanced at them, who were still fangirling over him, and gave a look of disgust as she looked back at him. She could tell he was teasing, waiting to see her behave the same way as them - especially given the smirk on his face, but that was never going to happen. Instead she rolled her eyes and gave a nauseated look, which she had hoped would get him crank down a notch. Instead his ego inflated, the man smirking at her even more, which only annoyed Madhu.
Madhu turned to the ladies. "If you guys are done, shall we get going?"
The other two agreed and started walking away. Madhu glanced back at RK, still finding him looking at her with pure arrogance, and she twitched her lips and walked away, following after the others, unaware that RK was watching her leave.
"Chief, I-"
Bittuji looked up from one of his phones, only to find his chief smirking away.
"Chief-?"
"Bittuji if you say chief one more time, I'll have you taking shots for each other time you say it."
"But that's what I always call you-"
"Get to the point."
Well he did want to ask why his chief was smirking like that and looking off to the distance, but Bittuji knew that it was better not to. "Uh, your ticket and seat has been confirmed for your flight to Macau. Your hotel suite has been booked as well. We leave the Monday after this one so you'll have enough time to rehearse for your performance at the Guild Awards two Fridays from now. I had already spoken to Khanna and Mishra Saab about it before we started filming but spoke to them about it again so it's all sorted out, and will cause no delays to the filming of Dil Mein."
RK clapped Bittuji's shoulder. "Very good, Bittuji. You can keep calling me chief."
"I wouldn't mind the shot though, chief."
"You spoke my mind."
The two grinned and headed back to his trailer so RK could dry up and change into fresh clothes.
"By the way chief, you're nominated for both best actor critic's and best actor viewer's."
"Then in that case, two shots are necessary."
"Why chief?"
"For two wins."
"Right! Of course chief, how could I not get that?"
"Don't feel bad Bittuji..."
RK looked off to the side, spotting a certain woman with a very filmy name.
"There's several people in the world who are much more clueless."
It was almost as if she had heard his words, Madhu turning her head and spotting him.
"Like who," Bittuji questioned.
Madhu instantly scowled at him, making RK smirk.
"No one for you to worry about," RK said in return, and they went into his trailer.
~
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