His Obsession, Her Passion, Part 19, pg 128 - Page 10

Chapter 3: Running from fate

Though she would deny it for years to come, the truth was the first time Madhu met RK's eyes, it felt like her heart had stopped. The intensity in them had drawn her in powerfully, and for a few moments she was rooted to the spot as he advanced towards her. However, drawing from her inner reserve of strength she managed to turn and flee before he completed the journey. Madhu didn't glance back, knowing that if she had done so she would not have found the strength to go.

RK would have given chase to his elusive obsession, but before he could, he was called by the director, breaking the spell.

"RK Sir! There are some promising actresses here! Could you please run some lines with them?"

RK cursed under his breath, but turned around to face the man. "Give me a few moments." He said gruffly. The director nodded and hurried away. RK turned around, hoping in vain to get a glimpse of the woman he had seen. Not noticing her anywhere, he turned back, promising himself that he would find out who she was.

XXX

Madhu slowed down and stopped outside the studio, taking a deep breath and panting lightly. She couldn't believe that it had been RK's set that she had walked in on! Confident that she had escaped RK's wrath for interrupting his shoot, her peace of mind was disturbed as a hand grabbed her shoulder. Letting out a shriek, she turned around, only to be confronted with Trishna and Roma, both of whom raised eyebrows at Madhu's harried demeanor.

"What…" Roma started before being interrupted by Madhu.

"Nothing, nothing, just the studio was so dark…you know how I hate the darkness, na?"

"You walk miles in the dark, but a badly lit studio frightens you? I never understood that." Roma replied.

"Yes, well…those roads are well-lit!" Madhu retorted flustered.

"Aree, what are you guys talking about? Aren't you going to ask me how it went?" Trishna asked, exasperated.

"I was there, Heroine. And I'm telling you- you were amazing!" Roma retorted

"Really?" Trishna asked enthusiastically, "Do you really think I was good Roma?"

"Of course heroine! What do you think Glycerin? Wait you weren't there were you? Where did you go?"

Madhu's mind flashed back to seeing RK at the piano. Before the light had gone into his eyes he had looked so entranced by what he was playing, caressing the piano keys in loving detail. For some reason, a shiver wracked through her body.

"Glycerin?"

How would those hands feel when they were holding someone? Would that someone feel safe? Overwhelmed? What would it feel like to have those hands on her…

"Glycerin!"

"Hmm?" Madhu jerked out of her thoughts. What the hell are you thinking Madhu? Remember Mukund? Your soon to be fianc? Why the heck are you thinking about a superstar you'll never see again?

"Where's your mind Madhu? Dreaming of Mukund?" Trishna teased.

Madhu laughed weakly in reply. If you knew where my mind was, you'd kill me she thought silently.

"Come on lets go. We don't want to be so late that that sour aunty decides to break the engagement." Roma said, ushering the girls to a nearby rickshaw.

"Yeah, definitely don't want to break the engagement." Madhu muttered under her breath, scowling at the thought of spending more time with Aayi, thoughts of RK and their meeting fading away.

XXX

"No, none of these women are good enough!" RK barked at the cowering director. "If you want a fresh face, you need someone who can keep up with me, not someone who can't finish a sentence when I'm in the room! How did you get so far in the industry when you're so clearly incompetent?"

Not bothering to listen to the man's apologies, RK stormed out of the room, making his way to the piano set. The entire time he had been running lines with the hopefuls his mind had been on the women he had seen. As a result, RK had been short with both the director and the actresses. But he had been right-none of them had been good enough.

"You!" He snarled at a stage hand who he remembered being close to the door, "Come here."

The man gulped and made his way towards the irate superstar. "Y-Yes, Sir?"

"There was a girl wandering around the sets here, when I was playing the piano. Do you know who she was?"

"Girl? Sir, we were busy setting up the shot. We didn't see any-urk!" The man squawked as RK gripped his collar and shook him. "Aren't people like you supposed to pay attention to your surroundings? What good are you?!" Disgusted RK let the man go and motioned him away. Bittuji stepped up, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong when RK spotted him and shouted his name.

"Bittuji!"

"Chief?!"

"I want that girl found, and I want her found yesterday!"

"Girl, Chief?" Bittuji queried.

"Yes, I saw a girl here a few hours ago, she interrupted my shot. Find out who she was Bittuji. Now!"

"Yes, Chief!"

XXX

Luckily for Bittuji, the camera's on the set had been in perfect working condition and had been filming the scene. So he saw the woman RK was talking about leaving the set. Printing out her picture and taking it around set, he began asking people if they knew who she was. Finally, the security guard gave him the answer.

"Ah, yes! That's Madhu beta, Sir! She's Padminiji's daughter!" The old man said, smiling.

"What is her name?" Bittuji asked.

"Madhu! Sir!"

"Her full name!" Bittuji barked, wishing the old man wasn't so senile.

"Sorry Sir! Madhubala Shamsheer Mailik! Her sister, Trishna was here today, auditioning. Madhu beta came to help her."

"You seem to know them well." Bittuji replied, fishing for more information.

The security guard laughed. "I was there when she was born, you know! Born on a film set! Great story, huh? Actually, the entire family with the exception of Madhu is in the film industry."

"Huh. Thanks" Bittuji said, turning to hurry to his Chief with the information.

XXX

RK was in his trailer, looking at the video of Madhu running away on camera when Bittuji came in. Seeing the smile on his subordinate's face, he knew Bittuji had found the information he was looking for.

"So who is she?" RK asked casually, as if the answer did not matter at all.
"Her name is Madhubala Shamsheer Malik, Chief."
His eyes closed "Named after a legend huh?" Her beauty made her a worthy successor to that Madhubala. RK wondered what her personality was like. Not like it really mattered. He wanted her. He would have her.

"Maadhubaala. Aahaa." RK whispered, eyes still closed.

"Chief?" Bittuji asked, puzzled.
"Get me all the information you can on her, I want it first thing in the morning." Opening his eyes, RK lifted a hand, gently caressing the image of her frozen on his laptop screen.

"Bring me my junoon."

BIttuji gulped.

"Yes, Chief."