Thinking of You

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Heal. Learn. Grow. Love. 

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Okay, my anxiety begins from here. This is the first chapter.

Also, I'm trying this narration style for the first time. So  I would love if you interact with the character.

Happy reading.

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Ashi's POV:

July 2020

I was just lying on my bed, nervous... hell nervous... dressed in my comfy t-shirt and shorts, my hair messy, and checking my mobile every now and then. I was never this nervous before and this anxiety seemed to literally eat me up right now. It had been three days since the news of me getting on board in the show Aladdin was released by the media. My phone wasn't on a rest mode since then, my Twitter and Instagram notifications were flooded with various messages and I was also getting frequent calls from the closed ones.

I wasn't very sure whether I should take the role of a Princess, a fantasy genre show after doing something as realistic as 'Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai'. I had actually said no to the offer when I learnt that I would be replacing someone who has already portrayed that character for a long time. But when it came to me again, I had thought of various things from an actor's perspective. What had attracted me more were the sword fighting sequences and physical stunts I would need to perform.

Isn't that so exciting to do in the second show itself?

I had taken a good amount of time to think and shot for the audition at my home. When I was called for the look test two days later, I was never in such a dilemma while traveling to the set. But it had been 11 months I hadn't done anything on the professional front, except those two weeks of audition, look test, mock shoot and then the promo shoot in March, for the Star Plus show. The lethargy this pandemic had brought with it was getting into my nerves. I was never accustomed to sitting idle at home, doing nothing. I wanted to go out of my place and breathe the fresh air, I wanted to meet my friends, I wanted to work. And that's why when I received the positive response from the production house, I just chose to go with my intuition. I had prepared myself for the comments coming my way, I knew how the character of Princess Yasmine portrayed by Avneet was loved by all, but then I was aware of what the situation was, on both sides. When the news was released at midnight three days back, I would check my phone for the wishes... I needed that... My fans' love and good wishes were the best motivation for me but some of the comments were affecting me too. And since yesterday, I started checking the messages from only the verified accounts on Instagram, as I didn't want to miss any.

A notification sound from my phone broke my chain of thoughts and I eagerly picked up the phone and checked for it. It was a congratulatory message from someone I had talked to in my struggling days, but it didn't make me smile. Almost everyone from my close circle had wished me, but I was waiting for that one verified account to wish me, to congratulate me. I wanted something to flash in that chat window that had been idle since March. I opened my Instagram DM section and selected the verified account DMs tab I had customized for myself and scrolled down until March.

randeepraii

I stopped scrolling seeing the name. Such a Bollywood movie type name, na!!! I laughed at my thoughts for maybe the ten thousandth time. I always wondered how his name pictures a rich boy stepping out from a luxurious car in a Karan Johar film. But... wasn't he just that!! I opened his chat and read the messages again, this time forgetting the number count.