Chapter 7

*Anitha Pov*

"You can tell us the truth, Anny. Did you really get engaged?" One of the crew members who are right now applying my makeup asked in a whisper.

That question didn't stop from reaching my ears even though it's been like two weeks since I returned from India. I don't know what to even tell them anymore.

"I think it's true. You guys remember her saying she has a crush on someone and is in the process of trying to come out of it? I think it's the same person but she failed to come out of it and ended up being engaged." I smiled listening to that answer from my side by one of my friends with whom I have a shoot for the next week.

"It's him?" she asked after asking me to open my eyes and I nodded opening them to stare at her shocked look.

"You are still young. Is this why you accepted the offer from India by leaving us like this?" she mumbled.

"No! I always wanted to work in India, remember? I didn't decide because of a man." I assured her and she smiled before finishing the touch-ups.

"Are you going to the party they are going to hold the next weekend?" My friend asked as she finished with her makeup too.

"I am not sure." I mumbled still thinking about it.

"Just join us and it will be like a party to send you off. You will be leaving after the weekend shoot, right?" She asked and I slowly nodded.

"I will think about it and will join you guys if I don't feel tired. And it's not like I will never come here. I am still in the contract with this brand, remember?" I pointed out and she smiled.

"I heard her minions are passing rumors that you are pregnant because of which there is news about your engagement." She whispered after looking around.

"They always do that and I don't know what does she want to prove by not stopping them. She gave me a huge headache back home because of which I had to come so far away and now she is doing the same." I mumbled frowning while she patted my shoulder.

"Let her be! After a few months, they will know whether I am pregnant or not." I added and she chuckled nodding.

After finishing the first scheduled shoot, I returned to the van where two of us are sharing and found my phone vibrating.

"Your phone has been ringing from the past hour. I saw the ID is noted as fake and didn't pick it up thinking it must be some prank callers." Keerthi said when I took my phone from the table and passed the juice bottle to my other hand.

Fake? Who is that? I thought and my eyes widened realizing who is it. I remember we both exchanged our numbers when his friend Shrishti forced us to two weeks back and I just used this word to save his contact without thinking much.

What if someone else had seen this and lifted the call? Everything would have doomed for sure.

But why is he calling me when there was no message or call from him all this time? I thought unlocking my phone and found a few messages from him too.

I took a sip from the bottle while opened the messages only to cough and Keerthi immediately rushed to wipe away the drops that fell on my dress.

"What are you doing? What happened?" she asked and somehow managed to not let the juice stain the dress while I stared at her with a guilty look.

"I will hold this for now." Saying that she took the bottle away from my hands and I kind of ignored that part as I want to read the message properly to see whether I have gone mad and seeing things that are not present before my eyes.

'You are the one to like me first.'

How does he know that? I am sure Vikranth or Kanika wouldn't have told them and Keerthi would never even think to contact him. Then how?

I scrolled down to the next message and finally sighed in relief. Why didn't I see that first before having a panic attack like this?

'When they asked me who liked whom first, I told them it's you and you tell others the same thing.'

'Why are you not replying?'

'Are you ignoring my messages?'

Why is he so impatient? I thought messaging him back saying, I just had a shoot and right now taking a break during which I found the messages.

'And I will tell everyone the same thing.' I added at the end before letting out a breath.

I don't want him to know about how I had a crush on him otherwise I wouldn't be able to show my indifferent attitude no matter what and it would feel fake too.

'Are you saying the truth?' he asked after a few seconds and I rolled my eyes at that. Why would I lie to him?

I called him and pressed the video call button while waiting for him to pick up which he did but I heard someone else talking.

"Who is this other woman that is calling you? I will not let you cheat on Anny." I covered my mouth hearing his chef's voice.

"Ugh! Why are you even in the kitchen today when I will be the one to cook?" He shouted pushing him away.

"I am just here to help you. But who is this other woman?" Chef continued.

"I am Anny!" I replied waving at them and he finally stopped trying to take the phone away.

"Oh! How are you, Anny?" He asked smiling and I smiled answering his question before asking the same.

"Just go from here." Saying that Prathap pushed him away again and this time he had to leave with a frown covering his face.

"I will not return tomorrow to help you." Those were his last words and he sighed shaking his head.

"Why is my contact saved as another woman?" I asked him frowning.

"Because you called yourself as that last time when I heard the conversation between you both that day." He replied and I remember when he approached us and we had to stop talking as he just stood there without moving.

"I still don't understand why would you call yourself that if you take this fake thing as real." He added frowning but I didn't reply knowing well we shouldn't go in that direction of conversation for sure.

"Why are you cooking and pushing your chef away like that?" I asked him frowning while changing the topic.

"I cook at the restaurant during weekends like Saturday and Sunday and he gets to take rest." He replied and I stared at him in shock.

"You cook?" I whispered and he nodded.

"I know how to cook." He replied but I shook my head.

"I mean you cook at the restaurant?" I repeated the question and he slowly nodded.

"Okay! Now, why are you accusing me of lying?" I asked staring at him not wishing to talk about the topic of him cooking for sure.

"I don't know! I thought you may get mad after seeing that message where I told some people that you are the one to like me when they asked for the details." He replied shrugging.

"I already told you to just give whatever things you want to say for their question but just let me know which you did. Why would I get angry? And at present, I am really taking a break from a shoot." I added showing around the van and he nodded looking at that.

"Wait! Is that your fiancé?" I heard a loud voice and turned to see my friend returning from her shoot along with the makeup artist as she needs to do a set of touch-ups again.

"Yeah!" I mumbled and they both waved at him with huge smiles before introducing themselves.

"I will talk to you later." I mumbled when they continued to ask what he does and at present what is he doing and how much he likes me.

"Okay!" he said with a grateful look towards me.

"And change the contact name." I whispered so that others can't hear.

"Okay!" he repeated the word before cutting the call and I sighed feeling tired with all the lies already even though at least a part of it was true.

*Prathap Pov*

I climbed the stairs feeling tired as the customers increased today unlike yesterday and sadly not all of them were here for my cooking but because of the article.

At least the gossip reduced and everything is getting back to normal after following Anitha's advice to accept their questions and give answers randomly instead of ignoring them.

I closed my eyes after plopping on the couch because of another reason and that is Shrishti. After last week's resolution from her side, she started contacting me nearly every day but I am not at all happy about it.

"You will be leaving tomorrow? When is the event?" I asked staring at her while she nodded at Deepak who just placed the coffee on my table.

"It's two weeks later but as I accepted to do it in another city, I need to go earlier to find the places where I can buy good stuff that is needed for this meeting. This will go on for two days and one day will be completely official meetings and the next day will be their unofficial meeting like a party." She explained calmly and I know she hates to conduct events in the places other than here as she knows every nook in this city that is needed for her business involving event management.

"By the way, I decided to accept the fact that Vikrant is now a married man and I need to accept that his choice is Kanika even though I don't understand that bit but I will accept it." She added sighing and I stared at her in surprise.

"Don't look at me like that. I am just tired of the fact that I am feeling distant from both of you because of my stubborn thoughts. So, when I return I will return with no feelings for Vikranth and just think him as my friend." She mumbled and I slowly nodded without showing any reaction.

I don't know what to show as I already heard those words long back when Vikranth got married but she just couldn't accept that fact as none of us expected him to do that so suddenly.

"This time I am sure and I will message you every day to show that I am not thinking about him." She added and left the cabin after some time while I completely ignored those words.

However, she kept her promise but doesn't that mean she is just doing this to show that she is forgetting Vikranth but in reality thinking that she should forget.

I am not making a sense at all but all I know is she is thinking about him even now and her messages show that.

She may need some time but she needs to accept the fact that Vikranth can't be hers anymore otherwise she will just feel more hurt.

But then I can't blame her though as we never felt that couple is actually a couple with their actions and also how he got married without telling any of us and just informed he is married.

On the other side, he is married and that's a fact which should be accepted and just move on from that and let him bear the consequences as it's his married life.

Ugh! Why am I hurting my brain while thinking about these people when my own life is a mess right now with a fake fiancé in the fold?

****

'The event is going to start tomorrow. I am glad they chose the venue as GH hotel otherwise I wouldn't have felt this comfortable anywhere else. There is a sense of familiarity here.' I frowned looking at another message and it's been like two weeks already.

'That's great!' I typed before throwing my phone aside while rubbing my forehead.

"Are you okay?" Deepak asked and I realize he is still standing here so that I can check up with the reviews for this weekend before sending them away as it's already late.

"Everything is fine! Let's make sure there is no complaint the next time about the time factor." I mumbled looking at a few complaints about the waiting they had to do.

"Okay! Was it Ms.Shrishti?" he asked gesturing my phone and I nodded slowly.

"Why didn't you confess your feelings to her and got engaged to Anny?" he continued and I know I shouldn't have told him about my so-called crush a few months back when we just opened the restaurant and I was drunk during the celebration.

"Why do you think I should have confessed to her? I remember you being a fan of Anitha, right?" I asked looking at him.

"I am her fan but that doesn't mean I want you to stay with someone you don't love. We both are good friends and with that lenience, I am saying this." He replied shrugging and I slowly nodded.

"You can go!" I mumbled and he left closing the door behind him while my phone started ringing.

Surprisingly it's not Shrishti as I expected but Anitha. It is again a video call and I don't know why is she using that instead of a normal call.

"What is it?" I asked lifting the call and placed the phone properly to have a good video call.

"See? He is my fiancé. Happy?" I heard her drunken voice and nearly dropped the phone.

"Hi! We were just teasing her that she is lying about the whole engagement and she called you in return." Someone said and I can see so many people are there around her.

"Is it a party?" I asked as the words are not exactly clear.

"Yes, Darling!" She replied in a teasing tone and this time I successfully dropped my phone.

"Uhmm... you are drunk." I stated clearing my throat after taking the phone back from the table.

"Darling! They think I am pregnant. How can I be pregnant, Darling?" she asked before bursting out laughing and this time I was prepared to not drop the phone but I couldn't say a single word.

"Anny! You shouldn't have accepted their drinks just because they challenged you saying you are pregnant and will not drink." Someone scolded her and I frowned at the mess before me.

Do I really need to be a part of this after finishing a huge load of work just now? I stared at her when she continued to laugh while talking to other people but didn't cut the call.

I glanced at the person whom I saw last week while talking to her and called her after which she immediately took the phone away from Anitha's hand.

"Is her manager there?" I asked and she nodded before turning the phone where I found the manager who must be Keerthi along with a man whom I saw at the airport along with them sitting there.

"Take her back to the place where she is staying." I said looking at them and they took the phone into their hands.

"Just a few minutes and the deadline time we gave her will finish. Don't worry about her." Keerthi assured me and I nodded as I found both of them completely sober from their expression.

After that, the screen turned blank and again came back properly, and this time with Anitha before the screen.

"You finished cooking?" she asked smiling at me and I smiled thinking how does she remember that in this drunken state.

"Of course! Everyone just left." I replied and she gave a sad look.

"You must be tired after all that work. It's still evening here but it's already night there." She mumbled.

"And you are drunk in the evening itself." I whispered and she smiled hearing that.

"It's safe to get drunk in the evening. It's not my fault. The party just started and they started daring me into taking three shots." She said and hiccupped.

Three shots? Just those? She must have drunk more than that for sure. Why would she be this drunk with just those things?

I had to stay on call as she continued to complain and she didn't stop talking even when her manager forced her to leave the party while everyone congratulated on her engagement and also for returning to India the next day.

I don't know why but I didn't cut the call as she didn't cut it and I was getting a black screen sometimes and some ceiling frames and then the floor and then her snore.

I laughed realizing I have been just staring at all these things for the past one hour when I was complaining that I am tired just before that and her snore is not loud but it's there.

I shook my head standing up from my chair and made sure everything is locked before reaching my place and took a shower but not before placing the phone under the blanket to cover the camera.

After freshening up, I laid on the bed and took out the phone but the snoring part is still there even after some time passed and I slowly drifted off into sleep finally feeling the tiredness sweep in.