College Romance

Chapter 26

Rohan had woken up about thirty minutes ago. He had gone to take a shower right after I had come out.

I was wearing his hoodie that covered me till my knees. He walked out of the shower only in his grey sweats.

I was hovering over the stove fixing us some breakfast. He hugged me from behind and placed his chin on the top of my head.

"I hate when you're not next to me in the morning" He mumbled. "Ma called" I told him as I filled the eggs.

"Had to get away from you or else she would've sent you away to LA" I simply said. "Fair enough then" He said.

I chuckled lightly as I placed the meal onto our plates. "Come let's go" I grabbed the plates and brought them to the counter.

Rohan took out juice from the fridge and poured it into two glasses. I was excited to tell Rohan about the movie news.

I couldn't wait to see his reaction. "I have to tell you something" I said excitedly. He looked at me worried.

"You're not pregnant are you?" I smacked his arm. "No idiot" He sighed in relief. "Then what?" He asked.

Before I could say anything his worried face came back. "Is my sister pregnant?" He asked. "Why does someone have to be pregnant?" I asked confused.

He just shrugged innocently. "No one is pregnant, at least not that I know off" I assured him. "Now listen" I got his attention.

"Ma called and told me Zoya Akhtar was over at our place last night" He held out his hand. "The writer?" He asked. "Yeah who else?" I told him.

"Anyways so she had mentioned earlier that she wants to do a movie related to the Archies comics" I told him.

"Oh that's cool" Rohan said. "And she had even said I would be pretty good for the movie" Rohan just nodded.

"So I compiled all of my work for her plays, scenes and everything else I've done" I told him. "She was really impressed" Rohan smiled softly.

I thought he'd be more excited but I just ignored it and continued. "She wants me to do an official audition and a screen tes-"

Rohan's chuckle interrupted me. "What?" I asked with a smile. "Official audition?" He asked. "Yeah offi-" He cut me off again with his laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked. "What's the point of an official audition" He asked as he mimicked air quotes when saying 'official audition'.

I just shrugged. "But that's how you get movies" I simply said. "No Sue that's how people like me get movies" He said.

"People like you..." He gestured to me. "Get it through your family" He simply said. I looked at him with a mouth agape.

"You think I'm only getting this because of my family?" I asked. He didn't say anything, just focused on his plate.

"Are you trying to say that I haven't put it in the effort?" I asked him. "I'm asking you a question Rohan" He finally turned to me.

"You did put in the effort just like I did but the reality is that your search for movies is very different from mine" He snapped at me.

"I mean look at this whole Archies project" He said. "You haven't even graduated and you're already getting offers"

I never thought Rohan would be upset over me getting a role. "Rohan...I will never be able to change that" I told him.

"Wherever I go, no matter what industry I'm in, I'll always have this privilege" I told him. "Shouldn't I take full advantage of it?" I asked.

"Yeah absolutely" He said as he walked off. "Rohan!" I tried to stop him. "Rohan look you have a year left" I told him.

"I can get you a good internship with a director" I told him. "Yeah papa helped me get one before" I said.

He paused from walking away and looked at me. I figured maybe he was just worried about his career and I can easily help with that.

"You can make so many connections during the holidays and then come back to complete your degree" I suggested.

"People will know who-" "People will know I'm your boyfriend" He said. "Is that a problem?" I asked.

"People will only know me as your boyfriend" He clarified. "What're talking about?" I asked. "Don't you get it? I'll have no respect of my own" He said.

"I'll only be known because of you not because of me" He told me. "That's not true you'll be known for your acting" I said.

He scoffed and looked away. "Rohan I'm merely giving you a push what's wrong with that?!" I was getting irritated at him.

I didn't understand what his problem was. "I don't need a fucking push from you!" He shouted at me.

"You think you're better than me that you'll give me a push?!" He yelled. "If it weren't for your father you'd be struggling like the rest of us!"

I had it with him. "Ya my father is the reason I'm standing here I'm well aware of that!" I shouted back.

"If it weren't for him we'd both be struggling actors and what would that do?!" I asked him rhetorically.

"Isn't it better that now we BOTH can skip the struggling phase and contribute to the industry?!" I shouted at him.

He looked away and shook his head. He didn't say anything anymore. "Rohan?" I called out to him. "This can't work" He said.

"What?" My voice cracked. "If I'm with you I can never make my own identity" He simply said with his back turned to me.

Tears ran down my cheeks as I realised what he meant. "You're breaking up with me?" I asked with a shaken voice.

"Yes" He replied firmly. "I'm going to crash at my friends' place before going to LA" He told me. He walked into our bedroom to start packing.

I sat on the couch staring at the floor, wondering how everything just fell apart. Before Rohan walked out of the door I stopped him.

"Did you know?" I asked. "Know what?" I looked at him. Eyes still filled with unspilled tears. "You knew all along that my career was going to be easier than yours" I said.

"You knew all along that one day you'll leave me to create your own identity" I stated. "You knew there was an end to us and you still went on with the relationship" I said.

"You knew" I said softly. "Suhana-" "Get the fuck out of my house" My voice finally finding it's stability.

As soon as the sound of the door shutting filled my apartment, I broke down completely.