1.2 | Under The Hazy Winter Sky | ✓

5 | saina & gaurav

24th december 2013

"MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE, my friend." Saina hugged her friend, dropping all her luggages at once. 

Maya hugged her back, chuckling. "I don't celebrate Christmas."

Saina shrugged and happily skipped into her cabin, leaving Gaurav to pick up all the luggage and place it in.

"Saina told me you met my brother already."

Maya smiled for a moment. "You and him are quite different."

"Mm, we are. I get that a lot. He's more like my dad while I'm more like my mom."

Maya nodded. "You'll be staying with Ved?"

"Yeah, I'll be there next door."

He paused looking at Saina's excited face. "We need to plan more trips. She looks so excited."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Stop your display of affection and keep the luggages there."

Gaurav was forced to get to work.

That evening, the trio padded downhill towards the beach. The plan was to spy on Ved and his filming.

"The actress is supposed to be some pretty girl from this town. How did he find her?" Saina asked Gaurav.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Aren't you his brother?"

Gaurav didn't understand the connection between being his brother and knowing how he managed to cast a girl in his film.

"I saw a movie where this up and coming director spotted a really beautiful girl and begged her night and day to star in his film. Do you think Ved did that?"

Maya and Gaurav both couldn't imagine Ved doing something like that. 

Saina went on about the films she had watched and her hope to see one of the flowerboys acting in a movie. Maya and Gaurav simply listened, amused.

They finally reached the beach where the filming was happening.

They stuck to a corner, hidden by a tall tree and watched the filming. Ved was seated behind the camera, his eyes trained on it.

The girl at a distance from the camera, stood sideways gazing at the lighthouse, with a melancholic look.

She slowly turned backward to the camera, gazing at the waves rushing in.

"Cut!"

The girl turned around after awhile.

"Damn, she really is pretty." Saina whispered. "How in the world did Ved find her?"

Maya gazed at the girl's dress. It was a striking red. Her eyebrows furrowed.

The trio padded towards Ved, who turned around at the sound of footsteps. The girl walked towards the lighthouse and sat near the entrance, drinking water.

"Hey, the three of you are here."

Saina and Gaurav caught up with Ved, while Maya stood behind, her arms crossed, gazing at the girl.

"In love with the girl, Maya?"

Maya rolled her eyes and turned to Saina. "No. Ved, what's the concept of your film?"

Ved tinkered with the camera pod and rewatched the footage he had filmed. "Death and melancholia."

"Why did you go with that red dress then?"

Ved blinked. 

"Try white, instead."

"There is quite a limited number of good dress shops in the town. The only decent dress I could find that fit her well was that red dress."

Maya approached her. With a smile, she said, "Hey, could you stand up for a second?"

The girl stood up, confused. She was slightly older than her but her body type was quite similar to Maya's.

"I have a white dress that would perfectly suit her and the film. I can lend it to you."

Maya's mind didn't register Ved's response. She simply mumbled what alterations she could do on the dress and tried to recollect what stitching materials she had brought with her.

"Give me a day's time and I can give you that dress."

Ved smiled. "Then, thank you."

Saina and Gaurav, who stood to the side watching the proceedings smiled and glanced between themselves.

"Do I sense a ship?"

"We definitely sense a ship here."

That evening as the four of them walked uphill to their cabins, Saina posed the question that was bothering her.

"Why did you want to go with a white dress for the film?"

Maya glanced at her. "I thought white would blend perfectly with the surroundings and still appear melancholic."

"Isn't black usually the colour of mourning and sadness?"

Maya smiled a smile of the soft variety. "I've always considered black dresses as a stylistic statement and white as the colour of mourning."

Saina paused.

According to Maya...brides were mourning and people at the funerals were making stylistic statements?

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