Forever Yours

Chapter Three

Three weeks had passed since Siddharth and Shehnaaz had met in the restaurant for the first time. They had been constantly in touch with each other for the most part of the month, talking and texting well into the night. They would talk about the most mudane of the things, like the dinner that Siddharth had last night, or the color of the dress that Shehnaaz was wearing for work that day.

Shehnaaz had found a best friend in Siddharth. She'd tell him every single thing about her day, from the second she got out of bed, to the minute she fell asleep while talking to him.

It was childish, but Siddharth found it endearing. Her excited blabbering, her tired whines. It was all something that he had started to look forward to, apart from her hourly texts.

The hourly texting was, well-- small snippets of conversation that they would both snatch minutes from their schedule for. Sometimes, Shehnaaz would call Siddharth at lunch time, just so they could eat together.

Siddharth would smile foolishly, whilst reading her messages, feeling a warmth, so soothing, whenever she called him up, at any given odd moment throughout the day, wash through his whole being, that Siddharth felt anew.

In the last thirteen years of his career in the entertainment industry, Siddharth Shukla had had his fair share of relationships, but none of those past relationships felt quite the way this one did.

With Shehnaaz, everything felt new.

The first text!
The first call!
The first Skype call!!

It was all just as magical and exciting to Siddharth as it was to Shehnaaz, as if it was new to him too.

In the last few weeks, Siddharth and Shehnaaz had been too busy for another proper meeting, like their first one. While he probably had her routine memorized to the dot, Siddharth was still looking forward to a proper meeting with Shehnaaz.

He was sitting in his vanity, fiddling with his mobile phone. He had dropped a text to Shehnaaz as soon as he got the time. Shehnaaz had replied promptly, telling him that she was in the rehearsals for a play that was to run that night.

Obviously, that meant there would be a major scarcity of calls and messages from her side, which Siddharth could completely understand, but he pouted.

"What play is it?" Siddharth had asked over text, not expecting a quick response, but just as a vent of vain curiosity.

About twenty minutes later, Shehnaaz replied. "It's about a girl, Nakusha. How she faces neglect in her family, her father mistreats her, and eventually how she rises above everything and finds herself living a life that she couldn't even imagine living, when she was with her parents. How she finds love and how that person accepts her, supports her and makes her dreams easier for her to fulfill. It'll last for three days. 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Friday-Sunday."

When Siddharth saw this message, a smile formed on his lips. He hurried out of his vanity after checking the time in his wristwatch. 4:30.

He talked to the director about the possibility of an early pack-up as he had to meet a friend, around 6:00.

It was perfect.

Siddharth could watch her perform.

He could meet her after the show, and he could also take her to his favorite restaurant for dinner. The thought made a surge of excitement rush through him.

He had almost texted her the plan, when he stopped short. "No. I'll surprise Shehnaaz. If I tell her, she'll get unnecessarily conscious about her performance and it could also mean that the paparazzi could get the wind of my arrival at the show."

***

Two hours later, Siddharth found himself sitting in a secluded area of the theater hall, watching Shehnaaz perform with a grace that rivalled that of some of the top rated actresses of the country. She was dressed in simple yet beautiful sarees, her hair straight, left loose for the first half of the play while the second half had her wearing more formally styled dresses, her hair styled in high buns or ponytails.

Siddharth couldn't take his eyes off her. He was in awe of her stage presence, her talent, her grace. He couldn't help but smile, feeling proud of the girl.

It was a pleasant surprise for Siddharth to watch Shehnaaz portray the most complex of the emotions with such effortless ease.

As the show came to a close, Siddharth was sure he was clapping like a maniac. Beaming with pride and happiness. Somehow, Shehnaaz's success felt closer than ever to his own. He watched, almost tearfully as the whole theater broke into thunderous applause for the efforts of the whole cast.

He wanted to rush upstage and crush her into the biggest and the tightest of hugs, telling her how amazing she was throughout and how proud and happy he was, seeing her that way but he stopped himself in the nick of time.

Instead, he consoled himself with dropping a message on her phone.

A little bird told me that your play was a tremendous success. Worked well for me. Agar tum itni fantastic nahi hoti, toh mujhe koi na koi pakka spot kr leta! 😁 So, thank you for being an amazing actress, coz I swear to god if anything would have interrupted me from watching this play I would've been very upset.

Once he had sent the message to her, Siddharth went towards his car. Half an hour later, his phone rang to life. He smiled, reading Shehnaaz's name on the screen.

"Hi! Free ho gyi?"

"Aap yaahan pr ho. Aap play dekh rahe the Siddharth?" Shehnaaz asked excitedly.

Siddharth laughed softly at her excitement. "Yeah. You were amazing. Meri toh nazar hi nahi hati tum par se!"
"Sacchi?" Shehnaaz asked innocently.

"Mucchi. Accha ab bahar aaogi? Mein wait kar raha hoon tumhaara, main entrance pe." Siddharth asked.

"Mein definitely ander aa jata but aapke play ke jo Director hain, woh friend hai mere. I was hoping to treat you to my favorite dinner tonight, ander aa gaya toh director sahab rok lenge." He added, as an explanation.

"I understand. Its not a problem. I'm coming out! Mein abhi hi aa rahi hu." Shehnaaz said happily.

"I'm waiting."

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