Will I See You Again?

Picture Perfect

They weren't friends. They weren't colleagues. Both destined to become even more successful individuals, Rubina Dilaik and Rahul Krishna Vaidya participated and spent a few months inside the BB14 house, along with other contestants until the finale night came and they went on their separate ways.
RKV left with his girl and moved on with life. Rubina on the other hand, hasn't managed to completely move on... yet.
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3 years after BB14

Rubina was scheduled for an interview and she was running a little late. Winning should not come as a surprise to her anymore but the latest award for her role in her new serial still managed to make her feel like a little kid, who's got her favourite candy.

Giving interviews is usually a cake walk for Rubina but this particular interviewer always make her feel like a newcomer. Last time, her nosy questions about Rubina's married life made her feel so uneasy that she almost left the building. However, this time, Rubina hopes that the woman would have the decency to mind her own business and behave like a professional host.

****

As Rubina reached her destination, the crew surrounded her almost immediately and took her to the vanity room. Make-up, hair, microphone everything was fixed within a few minutes. After they cleared the room, Rubina went and sat near one of the huge glass window and waited for her cue to join the host.

Looking down from the 7th floor, Rubina saw the paparazzi waiting for her outside of the building gate. All those blinding camera flashes are waiting for her to give them the picture perfect smile. Cameras never really made her feel uncomfortable; after all they're an actor's best friend.

Tonight, however, seeing all those cameras made her anxious mind feel even more restless.

Doing BB14 was both a blessing and a curse. Everyday she makes sure to shove the unpleasant memories of that house away from her life and keep all the good memories safe within her heart. It was a boon for her married life but true mental peace? That is still yet to be achieved.

"And who's fault is that?" her mind supplies treacherously.

That one question has no easy answer, or maybe it has.

"But what is the answer?" Before her mind could come up with the obvious answer, one of the crew tapped on her arm and ushered her to the interviewing area.

***

Rubina took her seat and the lights above the camera brought out her perfect smile. Fake. That was easy.

The questions were exactly as expected. Rubina spoke a little about her role and her gratitude for her fans. Also shared a cute story about her sister and confirmed that she's been following the new season of BB. But then there was something that shook her free from her comfortable haze.

"Rahul..."

Blinking a few times, Rubina tried her best to keep the picture perfect smile intact on her face. "Sorry, can you repeat that?" she asked politely.

"Rahul Vaidya is in the city, performing at this grand concert. You two had a great rivalry when you guys were inside the BB house. Any plans on getting together?" The interviewer inquired gleefully.

"What?" Rubina's smile wavered as she shifted her weight in the chair.

Damn him, off all the locations to perform.

"No! I mean, well I didn't know that he was performing here. I'm sure he's very busy with his tours and stuff. It'll be great to see what new project he's been working on. Real good singer."

It seemed like a good enough answer for the host so she moved on. A small clip of her performance was shown and then as soon as the camera was off Rubina was out of her chair and hurried towards the exit.

As Rubina got inside the car, her phone rang. It was her sister.

"You okay sis?" Her sister asked as soon as she picked up the call.

"Who's idea was it?" Rubina asked.

"No one's idea". Her sister soothed. "Just one of those casual questions asked to ex-bb contestants, sis. He's in the city and you're too and you guys were enemies...once".

Rubina rubbed at her forehead "how do you know all this?"- she asked quietly.

"Few parts of the interview was shown on Instagram live. I knew you needed someone to talk to or shout at".
Rubina couldn't help but smile at her sister's words.
She informed her she will be home soon, said her goodbyes and disconnected the call. It's been a long day and she couldn't wait to just go home and sleep. But this restlessness was driving her up like crazy. Too much on her mind and so little time.

As her driver drove slowly, navigating through all the camera flashes, Rubina felt like she was right back in that house. Goosebumps appeared all over her body. Looking outside the window she could see all the fans and paparazzi with their flashy cameras, shouting and screaming to grab her attention just for a second but in the midst of all that chaos, Rubina wasn't really seeing them.

She shivered a little unconsciously as her mind was somewhere else. Some place, where she could only hear one voice in her mind. That single voice taking her back to those memories, surrounding all of her senses. That voice singing her that song, which was meant for her, only.

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Fair warning, you're most likely to be disappointed with this story. Still, I hope y'all like my take on this pairing.