The doorbell rang and Ma yelled from Pooja "Aa gayi Sana, Sidharth isko andar bhej de".
"Haan Ma!" he yelled back, and opened the door. She wore a deep magenta suit with white chikankari work. She had straightened her hair and wore very minimal make-up. As he opened the door for her, she wordlessly wrapped her arms tightly around his chest and took a deep breath. Wrapping an arm around her, he rubbed her back.
"Nervous ho rahi hai?" he rubbed her back pressing a kiss on her cheek and then gently rubbing it to ensure that her makeup was not messed up by him. She nodded, playing with the buttons of his shirt - "hmm".
"Jaa, Mom bula rahi hai pooja mein", he told her kissing her head and she nodded and left to see Ma next.
"Ma! "she peeped inside the pooja room and smiled. Ma was chanting something but she gestured her to come inside and sit besides her which she happily did.
"Haath jodke bhagwaan ji se aashirward le le..." Ma told her as she sat down on the floor with closed eyes and folded hands. MA picked up her duptatta and covered her head.
"Meri bacchi aaj itne bade kaam ke liye jaa rahi hai, bhagwaan usko zarur safalta denge" Ma blssed her and applied a pinch of kumkum and roli and kissed her forehead.
"Aapka aashirward hai na, mere liye toh wo hi bohot hai" she whispered.
"Pagli! Chal aaja, nashta ready hai" Ma took her hand to get up and they walked out of the pooja room.
"Haye, aapne mana kia na Ritu ko upar mera breakfast banane se?" she pouted.
"Aur kya, aaj itna important day hai, aur tujhe akele naashta karna tha? Aaja baith, maine tere liye daal ka paratha banaya hai" Ma said, as she sat down on the dining table.
"Ma, bhok nahi hai. Abhi na pet mein gud-gud ho rahi hai, aake khalungi na. Please?" she requested.
"Baby, kha ke jaa. 4 ghante ka time hai, aise khali pet mat jaa. Kha le chup chap" Sidharth came out, buttoning up his collar, but unable to do the right one, he went to his Mom who signalled him to go to Shehnaaz, since she was making a fresh paratha for Sana.
"Us se karwa?" Ma signalled and Sana giggled.
"Aunty mere se sacchi nahi khaya jayega. Exams se pehle bhi na mujhe ulti ho jati thi agar maine kuch khaya toh, Aunty please na, main pakka aake kha lungi" she begged and Ma smiled.
"Chal theek hai!Main dabba rakh rahi hun. Jab bhi bhook lagegi, tu kha lena. Theek hai beta?" Ma asked and she nodded happily.
"Ready hai na tu baaki? Niklein?" he asked and she nodded. She looked very nervous and he tried joking around and maintaining physical touch to comfort her as much as possible and she couldn't be more thankful for that. Ma served him breakfast, but he also refused politely, with a promise to eat the parathas once he was back home.
Ma kissed her head and blessed her wishing her all the best and he teased Ma with his "mere liye toh kabhi aisa nahi kia. Uske saath chooma chaati. Mere ko chaantein. Sahi hai, sahi hai" taunts.
"Belt lagao, shades lagao" he reminded her as she absentmindedly forgot to hook up the seat belt but again forgot the shades. With a sigh, he took out her shades from the pouch on the dashboard and she then wore them with a grin.
It was a big day for her. A few days back she got a call to audition for a movie with Diljit Dosanjh and she was completely taken aback, while Sidharth was not. So, she went for the audition and the top 2 of the four candidates had been called again for the finalization of the role and execution of the contract. Unlike the last round of audition where only the 8 shortlisted actresses had been called, today only two had to act and have a look test with Diljit himself. This was beyond her dreams which she had once seen for herself and the butterflies in her stomach were just not resting anymore.
She did not speak on the entire way and just kept repeating the jap she used to recite before God and Sidharth kept observing her throughout the way. As they reached the venue, he pulled over at the basement parking of the hotel where the final audition was going to take place and gestured the guard to leave as he will handle it himself. She turned the rearview mirror towards herself to check her reflection into the mirror. In the meanwhile his quick eyes had scanned to check if there was anyone around, but there wasn't, he had picked up a good parking spot. There was a black film on the side windows and he had parked right against a wall, ensuring absolutely no visiblity inside. "waah Sidharth, smart hai yaar tu" he mentally lauded himself. It had been long since he had needed a khopcha but his detection skills were still on point.
"Idhar dekh?' he said, cupping her face.
"Touch up karne de, Sidharth!" she whined, but looked at him.
"Lipstick ka ye wala shade hai na terepe?" he asked, wiping the lipstick at the border of her lips.
"Haan, layi hun, change karun?acchi nahi hai?" she asked doubtfully when he grinned at her.
"Nahi...nervous hai?" he asked and she nodded with a pout and big eyes.
"Aankhein band kar" he whispered and she did obediently. He quickly turned off the ignition and the lights inside the car and pulled her closer. She gasped as his hand was quickly inside of her kurta, the thumb grazing her waist, clutching it tightly.
"Sid..dharth" she gasped, as his lips were at the base of her neck, sucking the skin there with suction deep enough to make her stomach churn in need, but careful enough to not leave a mark.
"Ssh..." he quietened her with a kiss, engulfing her lower lip between his and then, slowly taking over the upper one as well. Caressing them with his tongue as she moaned into his mouth. Her hands were already clutching , crushing and creasing his well-ironed shirt which he did not seem to mind a bit.
"Baby?", he whispered, moving just a centimeters away.
"Ho gayi na distract...", He said with a glint in his eyes and a wicked lopsided smile.
"Haye, kitna kutta hai tu", she exclaimed aloud and pushed him away with a blush.
"Meri baby hai"he pulled her closer and kissed he cheek and then, cupped her face. Her eyes bore into his, while he rubbed a spot of her forehead with his thumb and fixed the tiny dot of a bindi right back to the centre of her eyebrows and sighed to himself.
"Arrey, ye de de. Wapis aake pehenana" he said, taking her ring from her finger.
"Khona nai. Dhang se rakhna" she warned, as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"Main khounga?" he scoffed and she mimicked him.
"Chal ja ab, nervous nahi hona. Tu faadke aayegi. Mereko call kar dena, paas mein hi hun. I'll pick you up ok?"He said, as she picked up her bag.
"Kyun, khud shoot pe nahi jana tujhko? Aaj hi toh tha tera commercial ka shoot? Studio nahi jayega?" she asked, wondering aloud.
"Nahi, cancel kar dia wo maine. Boyfriend duties. Aur phir tereko role mil gaya to paise ghar hi aayenge, phir tu kaam karna, main tera driver ban jaunga ok?" he joked.
"Bakwaas karva lo bas enna nu..." she nodded her head laughing at him, threw a kiss and walked in with a happy grin. He chuckled seeing her walk chin up with spring in her steps.
_________________________________________________________________
He went on to run some errands and was again caught by Pandey in the act. Pandey was sweet, yet being constantly followed or snapped was something he would never get used to. However, he was still cooperative and sweet, despite at times, having wanted to kill the paps invading his personal space because he very well understood that it was their job and they created a celebrity by glorifying them even in their everyday lives. Moreover, it was his sheer luck that they could never catch him with her. He was always on alert when going out with her, but knowing how persistent and calculative his fan-following and the paps nowadays were, he knew they would have to cut their 'joy rides', or rather 'gedis' as Shehnaaz would call them to half.
After getting Mom's watch repaired, he decided to get haircut, which took a total time of fifteen minutes.
"Sir, would you want a hair spa right away?" the stylist tending to him asked politely.
"Umm, just a second, I'll let you know" he told him and texted her. It had been an hour and a half since she had gone for her auditions.
"Done?" He texted her and waited for 2 minutes.
"Haan, aap hair spa kar do" he told the stylist, his leg bouncing continuously since the moment he sat on the chair. He felt nervous and it irritated him all the more because it was not something he could control. It was her audition and he was not a part of the process but at the same time, his stake in this was equal to hers. He wanted her to bag the role as much as she wanted to. They were a team now and he did not know how to lose.
Though the spa was supposed to relax him, his thoughts did not let him relax. Once done, he looked at his phone again and sighed. Thinking of what to do next, since going back home was out of question, he decided to call Kaushal, but was thankfully interrupted by the most awaited call.
"Sun, aaja" she said in a flat tone.
"Okay...?" he asked, inquisitive of the outcome.
"Tu busy toh nahi hai na? Warna main khud...but khud kaise..."she began to wonder.
"Abbey free hun main. Wait hi kar raha tha teri. Chal 5 minute mein aata hun. Tum abhi bataogi ki kya hua? Have they decided?" he asked.
"Tu aaja pehle, phir baat karte hain na?" she spoke and he rolled his eyes but brisked walked towards his car.
"Saala, mujhe lag raha hai jaise mere bacche ka board ka exam tha. Aur abhi result aa raha hai" he mumbled to himself, checking himself out in the rearview mirror as he drove to pick her up.