As soon as he entered the room, he was greeted by a sight of Kiara sitting with her arms folded and with a serious look on her face.
He moved in and kept his blazer on a chair and dumped himself into his bed.
"How was your shoot?" Kiara asked.
"Nothing special," Rahul replied.
"The first look of your movie is good. I'm talking about the image that's being circulated on the internet."
"Hmm."
"People are loving it too."
"Hmm."
"I read the comments. Everyone is talking about RD and how good you two look together."
Rahul doesn't reply and gives Kiara the impression that he is asleep. He knew this dialogue could develop, and he was in no mood to talk about it. All he wanted to know was what Diana feels.
Is she falling in love with him too? Or is it only him who is worried about this topic.
He wanted to pick up his phone and chat with Diana to get a hint, but Kiara was awake. Waiting for Kiara to sleep, he dozed off and got up only when his alarm rang.
With a regular stretch, he tried to keep his eyes open, but the light in the room was too much for him. He took a moment but was fine with it soon. He started looking around, and he didn't find Kiara in the room.
He got up and freshened up. The very moment he got out of his washroom, Kiara was standing in front of him.
"Good Morning." He greeted her while looking around and moved away.
"Morning." She followed him.
He turned around and asked, "What happened?"
"I want to talk to you."
"Sure. Tell me."
"It's about Diana."
"Say."
"I think from the time you have started doing this movie, you don't care about me, and it's only Diana in your mind. And..."
"Don't." His smile had a warning sign. "Don't bring up this topic. You know that you were the one who forced me to do this movie. So, don't say this now."
"Listen, I said do the movie with her, not be with her all the time."
"We are together at the shoot, and so, I do spend time with her."
"I'm not talking about the time you spend with her on the sets, but the time she occupies in your mind."
"Kiara, I don't have time for nonsense. I'm getting late." He turns around and moves towards his wardrobe.
"You were talking about her in your sleep."
Rahul froze for a minute.
"Yes, you were talking about her in your sleep."
What the hell! Why did I do that?
He tried to keep himself calm and turned around. "What?"
"Yes. You were saying things like 'I love you. Do your love me?' and 'You make me feel complete' and 'I feel comfortable when we act together, and I do not want to act with anyone else' and what not." She folded her arms and looked away. Rahul could see a possible tear drop falling from down her cheek.
He started thinking and smiled. "Did I say, Diana?"
"What?" She gave him a confused look.
"Yup. I'm asking you. Did I say, Diana?"
"No. But you said that you feel comfortable when we act together, and I do not want to act with anyone else. You are acting with Diana for now."
"So? I was talking to you and about you." He smiled.
"Me?"
See! Even she cannot believe that I'm comfortable around her when we act together.
"Yes, you. Now, if you want to waste time on this topic, you may, but I'm getting late for the shoot."
He turned around and whispered, "Thank you God for saving me. You are the greatest. Thank you, dil se."
Once ready, he moved out of his house, but the sweat on his forehead reappeared at regular intervals.
I have to talk to Diana about it today. No matter what happens, I will talk to her about it.
He started preparing his formal speech before he gets into the detailing of his thoughts.
Time flew, and he was soon on the sets.
Diana was seated around on the chair. Rahul moved out of his car and made an attempt to approach Diana when Sharman stopped him in his tracks and started talking about the scene of the day and unnecessary topics that never interested Rahul. He kept faking a smile, but couldn't do much to get rid of Sharman.
When Sharman let him go, he had a conversation with Diana and while communicating.
Finally, when Rahul got a chance to talk to Diana, Diana said, "I have to talk to you about something. Urgently!"
"Oh okay, tell me."
"Come here."
She dragged him to a corner and started tapping on her smartphone.
"Look at this picture!" She held an image of the first poster of the movie and said, "Don't you think I look fat in this?"
Rahul kept looking at Diana, and he shut his eyes. "So, this is urgent?"
"Oh god! Don't you think so?"
Rahul opened his eyes and said, "See, I have to talk about something that is 'urgent' and important."
"Fine, but tell me first. Don't you think so that I look fat."
"No."
"Come on! Tell the truth."
He glared at her.
"Okay fine. I accept that you were telling the truth."
"Good."
"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"
"See, I'll talk straight to the point. I think this is crazy, but I feel awkward when I go back home."
"Is it about me?"
"Yeah!"
"Don't!" She replied in a serious tone.
"What?"
"God! I hope you are not complicating the scene. Just want to remind you that we are married to our respective partners and..." she looked down and moved away.
Rahul kept looking at her. He was confused.
In the next few minutes, the shoot began, and they were to picturize yet another song today. The mood of the song was light with fun beats.
On one hand, Rahul and Diana were not in the fun mood and, on the other hand, the song's picturization would force them to smile, laugh and enjoy.
**************
"Rahul beta, you look tired. This is the 14th take, and you still don't get it right." Sharman said who had already twisted and turned his cap a number of times in frustration.
"Sir, can we take a small break. 5 minutes." Diana said.
"Sure."
"Thank you."
Diana moved and gestured Rahul to accompany him.
After walking a few steps, she held his left arm tightly and said, "Angry?"
Rahul simply kept walking.
"Very angry?"
"Nop."
"Then why is the best actor not able to focus on something that is so very basic?"
"Frankly, I'm confused."
"Oh God! Okay, listen, we will talk about this after the shoot. Let's not spoil our mood and waste time."
Rahul kept looking at Diana.
"Fine?"
He looked at Diana and gently agreed.
"So, loosen up cutie patootie and get into the mood of the song."
"Hmm... Give me a minute. I'll be back."
Diana narrowed her eyes and said, "Oh... Ohkay." And left.
Rahul kept looking up for a moment and then turned around and started walking towards the sets.
"I'm ready." He flexed up his muscles and got into his position.
******************
"Cut. This was a good session. We will continue tomorrow." Sharman said, and the crew started packing up.
"Is it okay if you accompany me in my car to your house? I want to talk to you." Diana said.
"Sure," Rahul replied.
They wrapped up and got into Diana's car.
Diana pulled a cover that made the back seat soundproof so that the driver doesn't hear their conversation.
"See, I don't know, but I want to make things clear. There is some confusion." Diana said.
"Maybe."
""We are friends, best friends. But I don't think there is anything more to our relationship. Maybe we had something years ago, but there is nothing between us today."
"Hmm... So, we are just friends. Cool." Rahul looked away.
"No! Best friends." She hugged him tight.
"Don't do this. Leave me." Rahul gently tried to move Diana away.
He heard Diana sobbing.
He looked at her and said, "What happened? Is there a reason to cry?"
"I... don't know." She sniffed.
"I know. Please move."
Wiping the crystal drops of tears, she slowly moved away.
Rahul grinned. "So, we are just friends, and you are still crying? Why so?"
Diana kept looking down while a fresh drop of tear started running down her cheek.
"You know what? If a movie is made on our lives, people will hate the end of the story."
He rolled down the cover and said, "Stop the car."
"Why?" Diana asked as fear crossed her face.
"Thank you for the lift. I'll walk my way from here."
The car stopped, and he opened the door of the car.
"Listen.," Diana shouted.
But Rahul moved out of the car and banged the door close.
He paced towards his house which was more than a mile away. It was almost 11 o'clock, and he could see a number of lights flashing in his neighborhood. After all, a celebrity was walking down the streets.
He hardly cared about it. While walking back home, he could recollect the very moment where things actually got complicated.
*FLASHBACK*
5TH December 2015
"Do you love me?" Rahul said.
"I do... don't know..." crying Diana said.
"It is a yes or a no," Rahul stressed on the 'no' with anger in his voice.
Diana fought back tears and simply kept quiet.
"Fine. If you are confused, I don't want to take this anywhere. If you don't know, get lost. I don't want to be in a relationship with someone who is confused and doesn't want to commit."
He rubbed his forehead and shouted, "SAY SOMETHING!"
Diana shivered but kept looking down.
"I get my answer. I'm calling this relationship off. And yes, I'm backing out of every movie in which we are casted together." He turned around and started moving towards the door.
Two crystal like drops of tears started flowing down Diana's cheeks as she said, "Soch le, we look good together."
Rahul paced outside the room and banged the door.
*****************
Diana has the same answer that she had two years ago. There is something that holds her back from expressing her feelings. What could it be?
Did you like or hate this chapter? :P