~Life Behind a Camera - Mini AR~ FINISHED pg 10 - Page 2

Part 2

"Alright! Everyone ready? LIGHTS, CAMERA AND ACTION!"

Jennifer stood next to her patient, holding the stethoscope in her hand, she tried focussing on the file in front of her.

"Dr. Winget? We have a call for you" The nurse came into the room. Jennifer nodded, put the file back, and walked towards the reception. Picking up the receiver, Jennifer held it to her ear, and said , "hello?"

"Babe, I am so sorry about last night. Emergency at the hospital. I am really, very, very sorry. I promise, I'll make it up to you. How about tonight? Candlelight dinner, with some music and amazing food?" Karan said on the other line, as Jennifer held the receiver close to her.

She swallowed hard and said, "Nahin Karan, bohot kaam hain. I can't..."

"Lagta hain abhi bhi gussa ho. Please jaana, I am really sorry" Karan said, on the other line, but Jennifer shook her head.

"I can't Karan. I have to go" Jennifer said as she put the receiver back. If Karan had come yesterday, would she have met him? Jennifer wished that he hadn't come back. Finally she was moving on, and suddenly he came back to have her.

Shaking her head, Jennifer went on with her work.

Walking into the locker room, Jennifer was greeted with flowers surrounding the area, with rose petals on the floor. She was astounded. Who had done this? Karan? Would he have had the flowers ordered just because she was angry with him?

She could feel a smile touching the corner of her lips as she glanced around. She held the card on one of the bouquets and it read, 'I am sorry'

Grinning from ear to ear, Jennifer glanced around, spinning in a circle, taking in the smell of the fragrant roses.

"I am sorry, Jennifer"

Jennifer immediately stopped and turned to face him standing a few feet away from her. Her smile immediately left her face as she looked at him.

"Y-you?" Jennifer choked out as she looked at him in disbelief.

"Ridhima, I am sorry-"

"CUT!"

Both Ridhima and Armaan immediately stopped to see what went wrong.

"Arey baba, you have to say Jennifer. Not Ridhima! Do it again!" Mohit ordered them as surprise flittered across both Ridhima and Armaan's face.

Neither had realised that they had been thinking of each other while doing to role, and neither had noticed that Armaan had said Ridhima, not Jennifer.

********

Ridhima put the strap of her purse on her shoulder, as she fiddled around in it, to find her car keys.

She had sent her driver home early today because Mohit had asked her and Armaan to stay back and do some more scenes. Not being able to find them, Ridhima could feel the frustration building up within her.

Where had she put them?

Rummaging through her handbag, Ridhima was letting out frustrated sighs every now and then. She had assumed everyone had probably gone by now, because she had taken a long time on purpose to get changed into her jeans and t-shirt, so she could avoid Armaan. He had made it a rule to apologise to her using her name while shooting a scene for Dill Mill Gayye, every opportunity he got.

Letting out a loud curse, Ridhima fisted her hair in her hand, while the other came to rest at her hip. Where had she left her keys?

"Looking for these?"

Spinning around, Ridhima saw Armaan standing behind her, a bag slung on his shoulder, keys in his hands as he looked at her with those smoldering eyes. Ridhima immediately averted her gaze as she felt the uneasiness of being close to him again.

"Yeah. Thanks." Ridhima said, as she held out her hand, waiting for him to give her the keys, but he still kept them with himself, twirling them around on his finger.

"I need to talk to you" He stated, still looking at her while Ridhima refused to look at him.

"I don't want to" Ridhima replied, her hand still outstretched, her lips pursing as she glared at his hand to give her the keys.

"Ridhima, please look at me" Armaan said, as he stopped twirling the keys, and just held them in his hand.

"Just give me the keys" Ridhima sneered, as she tried to grab them off him, but he held them away from her.

"Look. Ridhima, I am sorry. Please, just listen to me!" Armaan said, as he tried to hold them away from her. Frustration was mounting up within her and Ridhima knew she was going to snap, if he didn't give her the keys this instant. Trying to reach up and take them once more, Ridhima did not succeed as Armaan stood on his tip-toes as to not let her get them.

"Dammit Armaan! JUST GIVE ME THE KEYS!" Ridhima shouted as her hand, on its own accord, lifted up to slap him across the face. The sound of the slap echoed in parking area as she glared up at him. He looked sadly up at her, as his hand slowly, limply fell to his side.

Ridhima's chest was heaving up and down at the exertion of finally letting her frustration out, and she could feel the guilt settling in. The guilt turned into tears, and Ridhima felt everything around her break down, as she fell to her knees and started sobbing.

Why did he have to come back and ruin the perfect walls she had managed to build around her?

Why did he have to steal her heart, and then break it into a million pieces?

Why did he have to make her love him?

Why?

Ridhima was sobbing, and she could feel her throat clenching and unclenching as the pain became unbearable. Wrapping her arms around herself, Ridhima got her knees to herself, as she leaned against her car.

Armaan came and sat next to her, his shoulder just touching hers. Ridhima closed her eyes and sobbed harder. She hated him, she hated him so much. Why did he have to leave? Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

"Arma-I...I...W-wh...I" Ridhima stammered, trying to breath and subside her sobs, but they once again overtook her, and Ridhima put her forehead on her knees, her whole body shaking at the intensity of her cries.

"I am sorry Ridhima" Armaan whispered, bring his own knees and resting his forearms on them, his fingers fiddling with each other, which Ridhima had often teased him about as a sign of nervousness.

"I am-"

"DON'T" Ridhima whispered harshly. "Don't you dare say you are sorry, because I know you are not!"

"I am sorry"

"Don't!"

"I love you Ridhima"

"Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP!" Ridhima shouted, her hands coming up to her ears to block him out, but Armaan held them away and looked into her eyes.

"I love you Ridhima Shashank Gupta. And I am sorry for all the pain I have caused you. Please, Ridhima. I am sorry" Armaan pleaded, as tears swam in his own eyes.

"You don't love me. If you did, you wouldn't have left me" Ridhima whispered.

"I love you, I always have and I always will. I had no choice Ridhima, I had to leave!" Armaan said, desperation creeping into his voice.

"That's absolute crap, Armaan. I don't want to see you ever again!" Ridhima said, as she hauled herself up, grabbed the keys from him, sat in her car and drove away.

********

Ridhima lay in her bed, her arm resting on her stomach, and the other on her side, as she stared up at the ceiling going over the previous day's events. Once Ridhima had gotten in the car, Ridhima had tried her best to stop thinking of Armaan and get to her house safely. Once in the confinements of her own bedroom, Ridhima had crawled into her bed and let the tears take over, lulling her to an exhausted sleep.

Now it was 5 am and Ridhima was awake her mind whirring at the speed of light, not letting her rest and get the much-needed sleep. She could feel the sleep behind her eyes, but every time she closed them, his face invaded her mind, and she would feel the tears prickling the corner of her ears again.

Sighing, Ridhima turned on her side and looked at her room. She had always loved being in the sun and letting it soak into her skin as she lay on the grass outside. Which is why when she had bought this house, Ridhima had made sure her room was painted a pale yellow to make sure that she was reminded no matter how tough the going got, there was always some sort of sunshine in her life. But after he left, Ridhima couldn't even stand to see the yellow in her room without being reminded of all the happy times they had shared together. Without being reminded of their midnight chats, his mischievous smiles and his teasing jokes that never failed to make her laugh.

The first thing she had done after he had left her was get her room re-painted, into a deep blue. It was to remind her of the deep ocean she had found her self to be in. With nowhere to go, she had felt like she was in the middle with the currents of the water taking her everywhere, while she struggled to stay afloat and not to be sucked into the deep blues of life.

Ridhima closed her eyes and sighed once more. Opening them, she realised it was 6. Groaning Ridhima turned to her back once again. She wanted to call in sick. She wanted to ignore him, wanted to not be reminded he was back. She wanted to forget the past few days and wished with all her heart that it was just a nightmare from which she wasn't able to get up. She wished she had never met him. Wished she had never signed up for Dil Mil Gaye, and wished that she was still a struggling actor. At least then her life would be free of this heartache.

Ridhima walked into the sets, her head bowed down and the sunglasses covering most of her face. She had her iPod earphones plugged into her ears and the music turned up to block out the noise and the voices of people. But mostly it was done to avoid hearing him, and to have minimum association and contact with him.

Going into her dressing room, Ridhima closed the door behind her and went and sat in front of the mirror, analyzing the face staring back at her. She probably wouldn't have been able to recognize herself if she hadn't seen the exact same face the week after he had left.

Ridhima walked into the set of DMG, and began to fiddle with the strap of her purse to avoid the pity glances she was getting from everyone. She wanted to shout at them to look away, she didn't need their glances, she knew he was going to come back. It was probably some emergency, why weren't they understanding? Why couldn't they understand that Armaan wouldn't just abandon everyone like that if it hadn't been some life-threatening situation.

But even as she thought that, Ridhima knew she was making silly excuses. One phone call Armaan, just one phone call. How long does that take? Ridhima could feel the frustration mounting inside of her as she realised that the strap of her bag had tangled up with all her fiddling, and now she needed to fix it.

Pulling at it, Rihdima tried to loosen it, but it kept getting tighter. Breathing heavily, Ridhima tried to control the tears and the anger that was bubbling in her. She could feel her hair coming out of her hair tie, and she could feel the sweat forming on her forehead from the tension.

Ridhima pulled at it harder, and she could feel everyone staring at her. She knew all the spot boys and all the make-up artists were plainly looking at her, talking amongst themselves at her state and giving her pitiful looks. Ridhima wanted to scream, wanted to hit them all, and she wanted to just sit down and cry for Armaan. Where was he? Why wasn't this knot loosening? What was happening?

Ridhima felt a hand on her shoulder, and she shook it off. Concentrating on the bag, and trying to untie the knot. She hoped that maybe if she could do that, then maybe that would help her figure out the mess with Armaan. Her breathing got heavier as a few tears slipped from her eyes, and she knew that most of her hair had separated from the hair tie, and had formed a curtain around her face. She was sure that she must look like a maniac, but she didn't care. She couldn't care, not when everything was going wrong.

The hand on her shoulder returned, this time it held her with a stronger grip. Ridhima shook it off again, but it wouldn't move. Ridhima opened her mouth to shout at the person, but her words died in her mouth when she saw Sid standing behind her, his mouth set in a thin line, and looking at her with anger. Ridhima frowned as she looked at him. What was he angry about?

Sid, frowning, took Ridhima by the elbow and guided her to her own dressing room. Completely baffled by his actions, Ridhima let herself be guided, staring at his back, trying to figure out what was wrong with him now.

Opening the door to her dressing room, Sid took her inside and made her sit on the stool in front of her dressing table. Facing her, he slowly swiveled the stool around so she was facing the mirror. Ridhima's eyes widened as she took in her appearance. Her hair was in a disarray, either sticking to her face because of the tears, or forming knots. Her eyes were puffy and red from having cried so much, there were dark circles under her eyes and there were frown lines on her forehead. The kajal pencil she had put on to cover some of the pain had disappeared from her eyes and had left streaks of black across her cheeks. She felt, and looked at least 10 years older her age.

Giving a sob of astonishment, Ridhima brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle them, and leaned forward to hold in the pain. What had happened to her? What was she doing to herself?

She felt Sid envelop her in a hug and shushed and rocked her. Holding onto him for her dear life, Ridhima could feel her heart breaking. Why hadn't Armaan called her yet?

"W-wh..What do I do S-Sid?" Ridhima asked helplessly as she leaned into him, sniffling and wiping the tears from her eyes.

Sid sighed and looked into her eyes, "you pull yourself together, Ridhima. You need to move on, and pull yourself together. Take a break for awhile from all this and figure it out in your head. Please Ridzi, you can't do this to yourself anymore"

Ridhima closed her eyes, suddenly exhausted. Nodding, Ridhima decided to have a talk with Mohit regarding her absence and started on the journey of slowly putting the walls around her heart.

********

"Ridhima, you alright to do the shot?" Mohit asked her quietly as he took in her appearance.

Ridhima nodded and tried to smile brightly at him, even though her heart felt like two hands had grabbed a hold of it and were squeezing it till she felt light-headed with the pain.

"Alright then, you have about 10 minutes to get ready. I want this shot to be perfect" Mohit said as he switched back into the work-mode, dismissing Ridhima.

Ridhima quickly walked back to the room, and the make-up artist and the hairstylist followed her. Sitting down, Ridhima let them do their work as she tried to read the episode's script.

Jennifer has a talk with Karan about their relationship
Jennifer meets Karan, her ex, again, and tries to ignore him.
Jennifer gets cornered by him..Jennifer and..WAIT, WHAT?

Ridhima's eyes widened as she read her sequences again. Mohit wanted them to do such a close scene? No way, nuh-uh. Not happening.

"Mohit sir ko bulana" Ridhima told one of the girls in a clipped tone as she glared at her reflection.

The girl scurried out of there to look for the director and returned, not even a few moments later with Mohit walking behind her, a knowing look on his face.

"Ridhima, I think I know what this is about" He said, as he sighed and stood beside her.

"Mohit, I thought you of all people would know that..that.." Ridhima couldn't finish the sentence and went back to glaring at her reflection, a thin sheet of tears in her eyes.

"Ridhima I understand if you are uncomfortable doing this. But the TRPs have doubled since the two of you have come back on-screen. Your chemistry is sizzling, and we are trying to take advantage of that!"

"Mohit, I think it's too early for...for..Jennifer to be..to be..kissed by him" Ridhima spat out, as her cheeks went red with frustration.

Truth be told, the episode would probably break the records of all TRPs recorded on DMG, but she still could not gather the courage to be in such close proximity with him. Especially after yesterday.

Mohit sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll try and see what I can do to change it. But Ridhima, there probably won't be much. And you have to know that sooner or later you will be doing a lot of close scenes with him" Mohit explained and stormed out of there.

Ridhima gave a sigh of relief and continued to stare at her reflection, the inner turmoil visible on her face. She knew she was being unreasonable getting Mohit to go through all the trouble of re-writing the scene. She had never thrown a tantrum, but this was one thing that she knew she wouldn't have been able to go through.

******

"LIGHTS, CAMERA AAANNDDD ACTION!"

Jennifer walked into the cafe, fatigue making her weak and tired as she slumped into the chair and dumped her books onto the table. So much reading had to be done, and Jennifer hadn't even started any of it. Ordering a coffee, Jennifer laid her head on the table and closed her eyes for a few minutes.

Someone pulled a chair and sat down opposite her. Opening her eyes, Jennifer saw her boyfriend, Karan sitting there, with a small smile on his face as he looked at her. Jennifer immediately averted her eyes as she felt the guilt weighing her down. Just yesterday she had seen her ex, Karan, and she had hugged him with passion. Yesterday's moments kept replaying in her head, which is why she didn't even notice when he had scooted his chair closer to her, and taken her hand in his, looking at her with concern in his eyes.

Snapping out of her daze, Jennifer looked back at him. She had made up her mind. She had to tell Karan about her past life. She had to tell him about KSG. She had to let him know that she had given her heart to someone else before.

"Karan..mein tum se kuch kehna chahti hun" Jennifer started, looking into his eyes as she tried to find the right words to say to him.

"Haan bolo Jen" Karan said, as he gave her hand a small squeeze to give her the support to finish off whatever she was saying.

Taking in a deep breath, Jennifer opened her mouth to tell him when she was cut off by another voice.

"Hey Dude! There you are!"

Jennifer felt her back stiffening as she recognised that voice. As she felt his presence, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and Jennifer could feel goosebumps on her flesh.

She saw as her boyfriend broke eye-contact with her, and looked past her to the person standing behind her. She saw as a grin stretched across his face, as he looked at the devil in disguise, with compassion and warmth.

She saw with shock as her boyfriend got up and gave Karan a manly hug, chuckling and saying something.

Inhaling sharply, Jennifer's eyes widened, and it took all self-control she had to not let her mouth drop open in surprise. How did they know each other? When had they met each other.

Not looking at Karan, Jennifer kept her eyes trained on the table, her body stiff and uncomfortable as she tried to digest what she had just witnessed.

Swallowing hard, Jennifer pleaded with everything above to save her from this situation, but the Gods were not on her side, and before she knew it, her boyfriend had pulled her up, put an arm across her waist and started the introductions.

Jennifer tried her best, tried her hardest to ignore him, and not make eye-contact, but when her boyfriend was doing the introductions it was hard to stare at the table and not take part.

"Jen! This is Karan Singh Grover, and Karan, this is my girlfriend Jennifer" Karan said, a huge smile on his face as his hand clutched Jennifer's waist.

Swallowing hard, Jennifer finally let her eyes wander up to his face, and suddenly felt herself go breathless. His hardened eyes were trained on her, slowly looking from her face to her waist, and back to her face again. She felt her heart thumping as she saw that his eyes weren't the warm blue eyes she remembered and cherished, they were cold and made her insides feel like ice.

Feeling squirmish under his gaze, Jennifer quickly averted her eyes and looked away. Giving a small smile, she said to her boyfriend,

"Karan woh mein tum se kuch zaroori baat karna chahti thi" Jennifer could still feel his eyes on her, and it took every self-control she had, to not glance his way.

"Er..abhi? Babe, is it that urgent? I am actually about to finish my break...how about later?" Karan said, as he gave her a confused glance.

Giving him a tight smile, Jennifer nodded and said, "Yeah it's a bit urgent. But it's alright, agar tum busy ho, toh we'll talk later"

"Nah, it's cool. I'll meet you at the fire-escape, near the nurse station in five minutes, yeah?" Karan smiled at her warmly.

Jennifer felt her heart clench and twist as he mentioned the fire-escape. Suddenly flashes of her past flooded her mind, and Jennifer swallowed hard to keep the tears at bay. Not trusting her voice, Jennifer nodded and went away from there, not once looking at her ex, and giving him the satisfaction of knowing how deeply he had hurt her.

"AND CUT!"

Ridhima quickly walked towards her room to avoid seeing Armaan. Giving out a huge sigh, Ridhima felt her heart racing in her chest. When Sid had held her in the scene, introducing 'Jennifer' and 'Karan', she had felt her heart stop for a whole second as she had glanced in his eyes.

Suddenly she had found herself wishing that it was Armaan's hand on her waist, not Sid's. Suddenly she had found herself wishing that the last few painful months had never happened, and Armaan was still the person she had found herself deeply in love with. And by some sick sense of humour, she had also found herself wishing that he was jealous and hurting at the fact that he could no longer hold her like that.

Taking in a deep breath, Ridhima went to her dressing table, and started memorising the lines for the next scene.

So here it is! Hope you all like it!

For the next 2 weeks I have exams, so not sure if I'll be able to squeeze out updates as quickly. I'll try my best, however I apologise in advance if that's not able to happen. Thanks for reading everyone! Don't forget to comment and like! It makes my day! :)

~Sweety

Ridhima went over her lines in her head as she looked at the set being prepared in front of her; the fireplace. Taking in a deep breath, Ridhima tried calming her nerves. She was a professional, she could do this. She had been acting since she was a kid, had acted with some renowned actors and had found her calling in this TV show. She could do this. She had to.

"Ridhima, we are ready when you are" Mohit called out as he glanced around at the set, ordering to a few set-designers to add in a few touches.

'Here we go' Ridhima thought, as she took a few steps towards the fireplace. This was the scene. She could do this.

Taking in a deep breath, Ridhima concentrated on her character and the noise around her faded into the background. Releasing the breath slowly, Ridhima opened her eyes and felt the character of Jennifer envelop her.

Her body froze as her eyes met a pair of piercing blue eyes. They were focussed on her, and suddenly Ridhima felt herself warm over. She felt as though he could see through her. She felt as though he knew exactly what was going on in her head, the turmoil within her.

Quickly averting her eyes, Ridhima quickly adjusted her dupatta, turned her back to him, and took her place on the steps of the fireplace.

"Where is Sid?!" Mohit shouted as he looked around wildly, the dark circles now more prominent, and the wrinkles on his forehead deepening as he looked around in frustration.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Sid shouted as he came from his dressing room, his hands at his jeans doing up the button and zipper as ran towards the set. Ridhima let out a small laugh as she saw Sid stumbling about, trying to do his zipper.

"Sid! What the hell yaar!" Mohit said as he ran a hand through his hair, making it stick out at odd angles.

"Sorry dude! A guy has to go, when he has to go!" Sid muttered as he took his place outside the door of the fireplace, checking himself in the reflection of the mirror.

Shaking her head in amusement, Ridhima once again slipped into the character of Jennifer, and sat down modestly, staring at her knees as a troubled expression rested upon her features.

"LIGHTS. CAMERA. ACTION!"

Jennifer sat on the steps, the day's events replaying in her head over and over. What would she say to Karan? How could she explain her relationship with him?

Taking in a deep breath, Jennifer clutched her dupatta in her fist as his memories kept replaying in her head. Why did he come back? Why couldn't he leave her alone?

Feeling a warm presence behind her, Jennifer stiffened slightly. As she felt arms wrap around her waist and the person took their place next to her on the steps, Jennifer visibly relaxed as she realised it was Karan who was sitting next to her.

Giving her a wide smile, Karan pecked her cheek and said, "what's up babe? You were acting kinda...weird" Karan said, as he tried to find the appropriate words to express her behaviour.

Jennifer felt her cheeks heating as she thought back to how obvious she was being about her displeasure about the situation. Bowing down her head, Jennifer tucked the strands of hair behind her ear and tried racking her brain to find a way to approach the subject.

"Um Karan..woh..mein.." Jennifer started as she felt the panic seizing her up from the inside. She could feel her stomach tightening into knots and her heart flip-flopping ever second.

"I have something important to tell you" She said, wringing her hands together, and staring at the steps, refusing to look at Karan. She could feel Karan's full attention on her, and her heart contorted painfully as she thought about the amount of hurt he was going to experience once she told him the truth.

That her and KSG had had an affair. That the affair was left unfinished. That KSG and her had gotten engaged, and then he had left her without a word. That she still secretly pined for her first love.

"Jen?" Karan prodded, taking her hands in his, and providing her with some support. She wanted to shout at him, tell him to hate her. She didn't deserve so much love. Especially from someone whom she was going to hurt eventually.

When KSG had left, Jennifer had taken extra precautions to make sure that no one in the hospital uttered a word of it. It helped that Sunaina and Pankaj had helped the whole staff keep their mouth shut, which is why when Karan had joined the Sanjeevani team, he had remained absolutely oblivious to the harrowing events that had taken place before his arrival. And when he had started showering her with attention, it was only after the prodding of her friends that she had stated reciprocating, albeit slowly.

"Karan...woh.." Jennifer tried again, finally looking up into his eyes. She had to do it. He deserved to know.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

At that exact moment, Karan's pager pierced through the silence, and Karan quickly checked it and got up.

"Sorry Jen. I have to go, it's an emergency" Karan said as he raced out of there.

Giving out a huff, Jennifer, dropped her head on her knees and ran her hands through her hair. When was she going to be able to tell Karan? When?

"AND CUT!"

Ridhima gave out a sigh, and rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes. These scenes were taking a toll on her. It almost seemed that the confusion that her character was facing, was an exact mirror to the confusion Ridhima was facing at the moment.

As the make-up people came to do more touch-ups, Ridhima scowled as she thought of the next scene. That was one she was most definitely not looking forward to. And as her stomach once again tightened in nervousness, Ridhima was convinced that by the end of the day she was going to get stomach ulcers, thanks to Armaan Malik.

I know this is really short, but the next one should be coming up soon! Hopefully you liked it! :)

~Sweety