Chapter 13
1
"What the hell! Tum jaise incompetent logo ko kaam pe kaun rakhta hai??"
Swayam could hear Sharon scream at the top of her voice from within the make-up room. They had packed up and it was late evening- almost everyone was leaving. He wondered what the heroine was doing on the sets even after pack up. Usually she's the first person to leave.
The door of the make-up room was ajar. Inside Sharon was venting her infamous temper on the assistant dresser Neelima. Neelima was relatively new in the crew. The chief dresser had already left, perhaps to shift the blame on the new trainee. Workplace politics at its worst, thought Swayam. His teammate Simmi was right outside Sharon's room, busy with her phone. She didn't seem perturbed in the least.
With the authority of a senior, Swayam approached Simmi.
"What's going on?" he asked pointing at the heroine's door.
"No clue dude," replied Simmi without looking up.
"Find out then. Aren't you the one looking after costumes?"
This time Simmi looked at him, sharply.
"It's pack up time. So I'm going home. I'm not gonna go in there and screw my night. And I'd advise you to do the same. Bye." And with that Simmi turned around and walked away.
Swayam wasn't surprised. That's how this industry works. After pack up, people hardly recognize each other, unless there's an afterparty. And knowing Sharon's temperament, going in there would be like provoking an angry lioness in her cavern.
Some more angry outbursts could be heard. Swayam had made up his mind. He was going to intervene. As a fresher, even he was bullied a lot and he won't let the same thing happen to another person working under him. Neelima had a sick father at home, she had told Swayam only this morning. He knocked on the door twice and went inside.
"Any problem?" he queried trying to sound modest.
"Problem! Oh yes! Problem is that you guys have hired a bunch of amateur idiots and I have to put up with them!" Sharon spoke almost as soon as he finished speaking.
Neelima was nearly trembling. She looked at Swayam sheepishly.
"Okay tell me, kya baat hai?" asked Swayam.
"I would like to know where is the dress that I had personally bought for the montage sequence that we shot today. I was given to wear this, this tacky piece of shit!" said Sharon holding up her costume.
"Ohh...kay!" Swayam looked at Neelima questioningly. She was about to say something but before she could say anything Sharon began to speak.
"This pretty young thing here doesn't have a clue, and she's been handling all my dresses. How is this possible please explain to me! How can these people get away without knowing anything about their jobs?"
Neelima tried to mumble: "I... I didn't know anything about another dress. Mujhse jitna kaha gaya maine wohi kiya..."
"Oh shut up! How can you work here without knowing anything! If you're handling my dresses then you must know about the dress I provided to the costumes' department from my personal collection, for this particular sequence!" Sharon fired another round.
The picture was quite clear to Swayam. In all probabilities the chief dresser had misplaced Sharon's costume or gave it away at another shoot by mistake or intentionally and had found the perfect opportunity to pass on the blame. Knowing Sharon, by the next morning she'd forget about this one dress but she would forever harbour a grudge against Neelima as she already had her labelled as incompetent. Sharon RaiPrakash hated people who neglected their work.
"I don't know, I just don't wanna see her again on this set," said Sharon sitting down on the couch.
Neelima was almost on the verge of tears. Swayam was sad. Somewhere he could relate to her. If this was another film, he wouldn't take Sharon's words very seriously. But this was her home production, her father's film. She could very well fire people from their jobs, if she really wanted.
Neelima sobbed quietly. Sharon turned away, it irritated her even more. She had no sympathy for people who couldn't stand up for themselves.
"Hey Neelima, it's okay. We'll figure something out. Tum ghar jao abhi..." said Swayam.
"But... ma'am..." she spoke softly.
"It's okay. Ab se inn baaton ka dhyaan rakha karo... abhi tum jao."
"No. It's not okay," Sharon intervened. "As I said, I don't wanna see her again!"
"Sharon...!" Swayam quickly composed himself as he turned towards her, "Ma'am please... The shoot is over. Jo ho gaya so ho gaya, let it go now. She'll be careful in future."
"Shekhawat," Sharon turned her attention towards Swayam, "here, I'm the boss! Remember?" she smirked, "And it is NOT okay with me!!"
Damn it Sharon! Not again.
The last thing Swayam wanted was to victimise Neelima in their ego issues.
"Look Sharon," Swayam went closer to Sharon and spoke in a hushed voice, "mujhe achhi tarah se pata hai tum kya kar rahi ho. There's no need to drag that poor woman in all of this."
"Delusional much! I'm not dragging her into anything," retorted Sharon. "If anybody is to be blamed here, it is that poor woman' herself, as you call her."
Neelima had stopped weeping. She continued to gape at Sharon and Swayam with big watery eyes full of surprise.
"Aur tum!! Abhi tak yahi pe khadi ho!" Sharon shouted as soon as she noticed Neelima looking at her and Swayam.
Neelima was petrified. Swayam asked her to leave and this time she complied.
"And I'm serious, I don't wanna see her again. Tell the dresser guy," said Sharon after Neelima exited the room.
"Tum pagal ho?" said an extremely irritated Swayam.
"What!"
"Why are you making her life hell? Kya milega tumhe?"
Even a few weeks ago Swayam could never imagine a situation where he would talk to Sharon in this manner. But today he was angry. He always thought Sharon had a problem with him in particular, but he didn't know that she was a complete sadist who had no sympathy for others. And he hated people who mistreated their employees to feel empowered.
Sharon was mad. She wanted to kill Swayam for talking to her like this.
"Tum... Tum mujhse aise baat nahin kar sakte," she said trying hard to control her temper.
"Aur tum jo kar rahi ho wo thik hai? That woman needs the job, she needs this money. But I bet that doesn't make any sense to you, because you have had it all, easy!"
Sharon paused for a moment and looked at Swayam. Swayam had never spoken to her like this. And on the sets he always addressed to her as maam'.
"Oh my god! What are you, a communist now?" She mocked him. "You're trying to save her job, nice... but would you be able to save your own... She-kha-wat?"
Swayam's jaws hardened. Something came over him as he closed in on Sharon and said, "May be I won't. But I can surely teach you a thing or two about humanity before you fire me."
Sharon pushed him away with her hands and tried to walk off. Swayam suddenly pulled her by her left arm and shut the door.
She was about to shout but he placed his palm on her mouth blocking her shrieks right on time. The lights went out. Either there was a power cut or the light guys disconnected the cables. A faint ray of light came from somewhere. Swayam could see only Sharon's eyes and hear her breath.
Sharon was scared. He could see it in her eyes. As much as he tried to rationalize with the absurdity of the situation, he couldn't help but relish the sight of an apprehensive Sharon. He admired the terror in her eyes. He wanted to see more of this Sharon- scared as hell, and at a loss of words. She wanted to retort and probably mutilate him with her nails, but she couldn't muster enough courage to do it. Because she was afraid of what Swayam was going to do next. She didn't know what he intended to do. Even he didn't know what he would do. It's not like he had a plan. But he was having too much fun to stop right away.
2
The waiter bowed before Rey as he tipped him. He then went away as Rey gestured him to.
"You people, you just get it all... easy, don't you? This fame, wealth, salaam saab, they all come in inheritance for you. Cooo...l!" Kriya laughed, but that didn't reduce the sarcasm in her words.
Rey looked at her for a while. She was drunk for sure. She looked tipsy. Tipsy and cute!
"Kriya, I think you're drunk."
"Damn right I'm drunk," she gulped her drink and kept the glass with a thump.
"So you think life's a cakewalk for us, for me in particular, haan?" Rey chuckled.
"Yeah yeah... I know you guys have to deal with us, it's not easy being under the scanner all the time... but come on, every celeb has to deal with it, not only you star kids. While the truth is that you bask in the reflected glory of your father..."
"Bask in reflected glory... that's a nice way of putting it. You've a way with words..." Rey smiled. He paused for a while, took out a cigarette and lit it, before he began again. "But you know Kriya, the truth is not always what you see... there's truth in what you don't see. And the extent of what is invisible is always greater than what is visible. What you see is only the tip of the iceberg. Truth, is multi-dimensional."
Kriya sharply looked at Rey.
"You're just screwing with me aren't you? Cuz I'm drunk!"
"I swear I'm not." Rey laughed this time.
Kriya bent down and placed her head on the table. Rey was concerned.
"Are you alright Kriya?"
Kriya nodded in affirmative. She looked through the cut glass, turning it round and round.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to look at the truth in 3D," she promptly replied.
Rey was amused.
She then looked at Rey through the glass and said, "Who are you Reyaansh Singhania?"
"Don't you know me Kriya Ghai?" He looked at her intently.
Kriya left the glass and looked at him. "I don't know. Sometimes I think I know you, and sometimes I find you as obscure as the mist. I don't know the real you. Are you the guy sitting in front of me, are you the man from the press conference, or the guy whom I met in my apartment, I don't know..."
"You want to know the real me?"
Kriya nodded again.
Rey looked at the window and sighed. He then looked at Kriya who was still kneeling on the table.
"Alright... you'll see the real me. But right now, let's get you home," he replied.
"Why? Are you embarrassed because I'm drunk?" she questioned.
"What? No. I like drunk women."
"Because they all go to bed with you?"
"Ah! Not really... no. They do, but that's not the point. I just find them so liberated when they are drunk. Women, they are so suppressed otherwise, so many restrictions... It's nice to see them speak their minds, shedding all their inhibitions for once."
"Really?" Kriya spoke in disbelief as she sat up straight. "Noo... You're just saying some dialogue you learnt in some French or Polish film!"
"Why do you say so?" Rey was amused by Kriya's irritation.
"Because you're making sense! You're not supposed to make sense. You're supposed to be this pompous self-important brat too full of himself!" She cried.
"Yeah... I know I'm not living upto my image. Sucks!" said Rey with a fake sadness.
Kriya inattentively looked at one of the lamps.
"I think... I want to go home. Yeah. I wanna go home," she said looking at Rey with big expectant eyes.
Edited by -bLEu98- - 11 years ago
CID
326