Salman
After a while, Pixie was finally lightening up. I couldn’t see her sad, it hurt me deep inside. She was off for a nice, long shower and I took this opportunity to have a talk with Cassie.
“Hey, is it good time to talk?” I sat next to next on the couch as she was on the phone with someone. Even though I was a little furious over how she behaved in the morning, I couldn’t be rude towards her. Whatever the attitude, but she did everything just for me and my career.
“I’ll get back to you.” She said to the person on the phone and punched the end button on her Nokia phone. Looking at me, she raised her brows as if to cue me to continue. I shifted in my seat and got straight to the point.
“Cassie, I know what you did in the morning was for my PR, but I need to get some things cleared. Please keep my family, especially Arhaan and Alisha out of as much as media as possible and don’t get…rough with them. It’s not them who are the celebrities here, it’s me.”
It sounded awfully self-centered to say that I was the celebrity here, but it was the truth. I was the biggest star in the family, Cassie was my manager and both the kids in our family shouldn’t be dragged into the fame so soon. It was gonna be their decision whether or not to get into the show business, but as for now they were miles away from it.
“I know, but you better know this. Your sister is a Goddamn celeb in herself- you like it or not. Every move of hers, everything she does, says, wears or goes is analyzed all the time. And yes, I know she didn’t choose it but that’s what happens when a superstar like you adopts a girl as his sister.” She completed her rant and I ran a hand through my hair.
Fuck, she was right. My baby sister was a celebrity too. She had over a million twitter followers, paparazzi stalked her for even one single snap and gossip about her was absurd. God alone knew how many people were eerily obsessed with my thirteen year old sister, who wanted nothing but an Olympic gold in gymnastics. Here she was practicing her butt off every day and turning down movie deals which could change her life.
Sometimes I felt like I had made this huge mistake by adopting her. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea for her future. Maybe if I had let the authorities put her up for adoption, she would have a chance at a normal life. She wouldn’t have to go through this grueling life; she wouldn’t have to face anything she was facing today.
What if my sister turned into the next Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton of Hollywood? Another person, blinded by the camera flashes and fame? Another person struggling to stay sane while being treated like a specimen under a microscope? Had I entirely ruined Alisha?
“Just…keep her out as much as possible.” I mumbled almost mechanically and went outside. Getting my jacket, I grabbed the BMW bike keys and ordered the security to stay behind. This time I needed all alone.
Getting out of the back gate wasn’t very difficult, since everyone expected us to be in some luxurious car every time we stepped out. Accelerating towards the Sea link, I drove with no particular destination in mind.
The speed weirdly calmed me down, the air hitting hard against my skin cleared up my thoughts. Slowing down I took a turn and stopped at a local shack. Just on the beach, it was one of the most famous places for locals in Mumbai. Taking a seat well shielded from the crowd around, I placed my head between my hands and tried to just feel normal again.
“I knew you’d be here.” Pixie’s hand caught mine, and I looked up in bewilderment. Nobody knew I was here, then how did she?
“Do you realize that sub-consciously you came to the place where we both first broke the ice?” she half smiled at the table and I looked around. Yes, it was the exact same words when she first called me bhai- the Hindi word for brother. It was the same place when I first saw her as my sister and not some random little girl. It was just this beach, just a few feet away from the bushes where we were sitting eight years ago. That day had changed our lives, but I wasn’t sure if it was for her good or not.
“I looked for you at so many places, and then I remembered this place.” She took my hand in hers, playing with the turquoise bracelet she had gifted me years ago. My lucky charm.
“You came all alone?”
“As if they’d let me.” She pointed at the car in the parking and I smirked. Yeah, she practically had no freedom to go around anywhere, also thanks to me.
“What’s bothering you?” her brows furrowed and concern crossed her face. I tried to act normal, but she could see straight through my act. No matter how many Oscars or Golden Globes I won, she would still be able to tell when I was trying to lie about something serious.
“Just thinking about stuff.” I tried to be vague, but she locked my eyes with her almond ones. There was nothing but pure innocence written in them, and I had to give in. Nobody could win over this kind of love exhibited.
“I was thinking…about you.” I admitted and she was taken a little off-guard. Recovering, she whispered a ‘what’ at me.
“Do you ever feel that you may have been better off without me adopting you?” I asked her directly and she looked away into the ocean. I waited as she recovered from the intensity of my question, and slowly turned to face me.
“You think we both would be here without each other? You think I’d even have a chance at a normal life? Would you have moved out of your parent’s house if it weren’t for me?”
The truth was that I didn’t know. Maybe she would have turned out just fine, maybe I would have still achieved my dream. Maybe, it would all be alright if I hadn’t accepted her as my baby sister. Maybe.
But there was another side to the coin. Maybe she would have ended up hurt and abused in some dark neighborhood. Maybe I would have never chased my goal with the determination I did with her being with me. Maybe it would have turned into a living nightmare into the both of us.
“I wouldn’t have a chance at Olympics without you. I wouldn’t be me without you, and you know that.” She held my bracelet even tighter. Covering her fist with my hands, I nodded at her.
“I wouldn’t have ever become the star I am today. Everything would just suck.” I added and she smiled. It was true- no matter how many problems we faced; it was all worth it in the end. It was alright as long as we were one big, happy family.
“Salman!” a fan girl squealed from distance and pairs of eyes darted towards our direction.
“Ok, maybe I could survive without this happening.” Pixie pouted and I chuckled. Getting up, I made sure to give some photos and autographs before getting into the car and heading back home. We decided to spend the day at Arbaaz’s condo itself, since Lizzie had promised Malaika one day at her place. As soon as I came back, Sean gave me a disapproving look. He couldn’t always fight back with me, since I did pay him ultimately. But when it came to security, he made no major compromises.
“Sorry.” I slung my arm over his shoulder and I nodded once. Patting his back, I went straight to Sohail who was talking to Dimitri. Wait, what? What the hell was Dimitri doing here?
“There he is. Lizzie is gonna be here too.” Sohail shifted on the couch to give me some space to sit.
“So, we were talking PR.” Dimitri pointed between himself and Sohail. He was one of the few people I trusted my sister with, and he deserved that honor. He worked all day to get Pixie and Lauren to the Olympics, he left everything behind for that one goal. The least I could give him was trust and respect.
“PR has been haunting me the entire day.” I mumbled and Sohail chuckled.
“I have no idea.” Dimitri shrugged and I was reminded once again about the rare kind of person he was. He didn’t care about our celebrity status, and the last thing that mattered to him was gossip in tinsel-town. It was a pleasure to have him around, someone with no bias or prejudice.
“We were talking gymnastics PR, about Lizzie.” Sohail explained and I understood. I had learnt a long time ago that sports could be a game about PR too. The higher the hype, the fans connect, the higher the chances of being on the national team. It was all about ones image in the public’s mind.
“Majority of the experts claim her career to be over. And we are gonna prove them wrong, very soon.”
That had been the plan since the start. To keep both the girls under wraps, to change and improve their training and bam! Showcase them to the entire world at once, to blow their minds off, to catch them completely off-guard.
“But that’s not very soon. At&t is in February next year.”
“Let me put this simply. Alisha is losing the gymnastics fan base rapidly. They are obsessed with Kay with her performance in France, and now they think that we leaving the Sky was an enormous mistake.”
Shit, this was bad news. Years in fame had taught me one thing for sure- losing the aimed fan base was never good. Yes, Pixie had a lot of fans but they were your celebrity-fans, not gymnastics-fans. The experts were successful in drilling into the minds of the people, they all though Alisha as a gymnast was over and didn’t care anymore. Not caring could be scary, very scary.
“What did I miss?” Pixie strolled in, her phone in her hand.
“Not the good part.” Dimitri assured her and she took a seat on the floor.
“So, to regain that support we need media attention.” Dimitri pointed out. He knew the business of gymnastics way better than anyone around here, but I was skeptical.
“No, I don’t mean red carpet appearances every night. Just e-media. So, the first thing that popped into my mind was a website. Full-fledged website with her blog, photos, everything. Remind the world you exist, not only a star-kid, but also a gymnast. Show the world what you are, without losing much time.” He explained into the depth and it made perfect sense. Every one of us in the family had a website, which proved to be extremely useful for promotions and connecting with fans. Granted, twitter was a good option too but the hard core fans would go to your website but on twitter, many of the followers were just casual ones.
“Just like Kayla and Roo.” Pixie chimed and Dimitri nodded. Thinking about it, it seemed like a great idea which should have occurred to us before. This was all about branding, and nothing worked better than using the internet for ourselves.
“Promise me nothing pink, and I’m cool with website.” Pixie tried to sound normal. Inside she must be jumped with joy ‘cause it was the ultimate thing she wanted. She had a twitter and tumblr, both of them public and a Facebook which was private. She did have a Facebook fan page, but it wasn’t the official one started by any of us.
“Alright, I’ll rope in a website designer and publicist in for you.” I sighed and Pixie hug tackled me.
“Did I mention I love you guys?” she hugged both Sohail and Dimitri, causing them to chuckle.
“It’s gonna come with responsibility, mind you that.” I warned at her as she beamed with sheer joy.
“I know!” she was more excited than bummed about the amount of time it took for regular updates. Most people got their assistants to write blogs or even tweet 140 characters, but I didn’t believe in deceiving my fans. So I took time off to write blogs whenever I could and tweeted almost every day.
“Can I tell?” she took her phone out and I chuckled. Pixie was the most obsessed with twitter in the family, which was good to an extent.
“Yeah.” Sohail shrugged and she logged on to her twitter.
*twitter*
BeingAlisha: *sigh* No, I am not explaining yesterday’s actions…my family knows and they are the only people who should.
BeingAlisha: BUT the good news is…guess who is getting an all new website to herself?! *fan girl squeal*
BeingAlisha: Yeah, I’m way too excited than I should be….but still!!!! xD
BeingSalmanKhan: happy realization…and stop jumping up and down… RT @BeingAlisha: Yeah, I’m way too excited than I should be….but still!!!! xD
Aryanisback: that is sooo damn cool! Me jealous! @BeingAlisha
BiengAlisha: @BeingSalmanKhan you don’t know how much fun jumping is…and @Aryanisback haha, you’ll get one soon too…future national tae-kwon-do champion!
Aryanisback: @BiengAlisha I can only hope! Btw, wanna hangout with Nate and @Sara_T tonight?
BeingAlisha: @Aryanisback @Sara_T sorry, family night tonight… :)
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Another upload tonight! I thought it had been a while since I wrote in one of the brothers' POV, so here it is! Hope you like it!
OH, and I have mojor work coming up soon, but I will try my level best to keep posting as frequently as I can!