Across Time

5. a stolen moment (part two)

"With some training you could definitely sing on a track for one of your movies," Sivaangi said before biting into her piping hot pizza. After exiting the stage they had talked all the way back to the lounge, where they settled into a secluded corner. Ashwin had flagged down a waiter to bring them refreshments, and she was beyond happy to see a stacked plate of pizza and pair of ginger sodas. Their conversation was all over the place, but she was most intrigued by how unique his character and story was compared to most actors. He had faced countless struggles trying to break into the industry until he was cast as the lead in the Tamil remake of Arjun Reddy. The film was a huge hit and quickly established him as a household name. He told her he was impossibly shy, but as a celebrity he had to force himself to be open to his co-workers and fans.

"Avlo shy-ah neenga? Aana enkooda nalla thaana pesiturkinga? Or athayum force pandringla?"

"Illanga, ungaloda pesurathu romba easy-ah irruku. Neegalum yenna mathri honest and truthful-ah pesuringa. Ennaku pudichuruku."

She bit her lip. That was kind of him to say, especially since most people ridiculed her lack of filter.

"My husband hates when I'm honest, when I speak without thinking. He says it's childish and rude."

"Well... he's wrong. Too many people are fake these days. Don't take his word to heart, it's good to be truthful."

"I know, I know. And to be fair he hates a lot of things I do," she said with a bitter laugh.

He frowned. "Ellam okay thanna? Unga husband kooda?"

"Yeah, no worries everything is fine. Just the usual husband wife bickering," she lied.

"When you get married you'll understand."

He nodded slowly, like he was unsure if she was being funny or actually hiding something. They continued talking until he started chuckling out of nowhere.

"Yenna aachu?" She asked.
"Yenga, pizza paathu saapdamatingla? Face la oru side full a sauce patturuku."

She lifted her napkin to her face, trying to wipe the stain. He shook his head as she moved it around until he suddenly reached to hold her hand in place. She froze. His eyes were piercing, and reflected some unreadable emotion. "If you don't mind..." he lifted both their hands and the napkin together to dab her cheek slowly. She had never felt so light-headed in her entire life. Sivaangi kept her eyes on the ceiling as he silently moved back. They seemed to have encroached some boundary past professional, friendly small talk.

Was he as affected as she was? This is so so bad of me, she thought. But it had been so long since a person, a man had looked and talked to her like this. It was difficult to do anything but absolutely melt. Just as she went to clear her throat, there was a heavy hand placed on her shoulder.

"Sivu thangam, unna find panna yenga yenga search panna theriyuma?"

She internally rolled her eyes as she looked up to Raghav's figure. Though he was addressing her, his eyes were fully focused on Ashwin. "Hi sir, I'm Raghavan. Sivaangi's my wife." They exchanged pleasantries and Sivaangi already knew what was next. Raghav almost immediately dived into his routine pitch asking to score the bgm or write a song for one of Ashwin's future projects.

"Please sir, oru session, oru paatu kettingna amaze ayudivinga."

"I appreciate your eagerness, Mr. Raghavan, but I have no involvement in the technical or creative decisions of the movie. I wish I could help, but there's not much my recommendation could do."

"Illa sir, neenga just mention panna pothum. Kandipa yenna call panni trial aathu kodupanga."

Sivaangi had seen this play out countless times. He would nag and nag whichever big shot he was talking to until they would reach a breaking point and rudely reject him. Then he would spend the car ride home spewing a self-pity rant about how hard things were for him. Looking at Ashwin's increasing discomfort, Sivaangi couldn't bear the embarrassment of Raghav's begging.

"Yenga, avaru award show enjoy panna udunga. Vera time ithu pathi pesalamla."
"Nee summa irru. Neenga sollunga sir."

Ashwin glanced at Sivaangi's reddened face, and his eyes softened a bit.

"I'll definitely try and mention your name to my contacts. But I really can't promise anything, you know how complex things are."

"Oh thank you sir, thank you so much. I knew I could convince you."

"Yes you really convinced me Raghavan. Just you," Ashwin replied looking straight at Sivaangi with a small smile.

Sivaangi prayed he would leave them to go after some other celebrity, but Raghavan plopped down next to her, quickly grabbing her soda. She, however, quickly forgot about his disturbance. Talking to Ashwin took Sivaangi to another world. She marveled at how much she loved listening to him talk. He was so interesting, she had never met someone with such meaningful opinions.

"I grew up pampered seeing the best of humanity, never being exposed to the ills of the world. Only when I left home I found out how cruel and selfish humans could be. It was shocking."

Sivaangi could not relate more to that statement. Besides having similar outlooks, they also had a easy-going banter between them. They argued about whether cold or hot weather was best for so long that Raghavan had to intervene and change the topic. It was insane, but it honestly felt like her husband was third wheeling Ashwin and her.

Raghav suddenly got up after a glance at his watch. "Wow, 1 am aachu thangam. Veetuku kelumbulama?"

Ashwin and Sivaangi's face fell as they knew the event was wrapping up and it was time to go. Time had flown by when they were together. They had barely interacted with other celebs or even watched more than thirty minutes of the award show.

She sighed. "I guess that's goodbye, then. Hope we met again sometime."

Ashwin nodded. "Hope we do. Really hope we do."

As she walked away with a heavy heart, Raghav nudged her shoulder.

"Yen di, avan kita avlo neram pesuna, aana yenna pathi oru vaartha soniya? Neela oru wife-ah?"

"Why should I do your job for you? It's not my job to fix your collapsed professional life. Grow up one of these days and be a real man."

She looked back at Ashwin, who was speaking to someone on the phone but gave her another small wave goodbye. She smiled sadly. A part of her knew that one moment is all they would ever have.

Maybe in another life, another universe they could have met differently.

Just wanted to try a story where the circumstances of life keep them apart :( Let me know what you thought!