Until I Found You

~Chapter 7~

Disclaimer: All the characters written below are imaginary. This is a work of pure fiction. There is no resemblance to any incidents or situations. A few instances have been taken up from their real lives, as and how they have happened (for which we do have documented proof). Happy Reading!

"Toh chaliye, ab badhte hai hum apni agli performance ki taraf...", announced Karan, but before he could call the next Junior for their performance, Marzi interrupted him.

"Ek minute! Ek minute, Karan. Mujhe kuch kehna hai."

"Kitna bolte ho Marzi Sir aap! Chalo theek hai, batao, kya kehna hai aapko?", asked Karan.

"Neetu Ji, Anil Sir, Varun, Kiara, ab aap logo ki toh movie aa hi rahi hai, Jug Jugg Jeeyo, par kya aap logo ko pata hai, yaha ek jann aur bhi hai, jo bahot betaab hai Jug Jugg Jeene ke liye?", Marzi flashed his mischievous smile & looked at Karan and immediately, everybody else looked at him too.

This part was not in the script, but Karan maintained his calm and thought to himself, "kuch nahi hoga Sunny, tu host hai, impromptu karna padhta hai kaafi kuch, just go with the flow, come on!"

Karan smiled at them all, but that smile did not reach his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could even say a word, Anil Sir asked him, "Kya yaar Karan, main koi bhi Social Media kholta hoon, toh mujhe har jagah sirf tu aur teri Laddoo, mera matlab hai, Tejasswi hi dikhaye dete ho. Kaafi chhaye huye ho dono!"

"Aur jab dekho inse sab ek hi cheez poochte hai Anil Sir, ki yeh dono shaadi kab karenge!", added Varun excitedly.

"Arre wahi dekha maine, par yeh dono jawaab nahi dete, sirf blush karte rehte hai. Toh batao, aaj mauka bhi hai, bula lete hai tumhari Laddoo ko bhi aur ek Pandit ko bhi. Yahi kara de tum dono ki shaadi? Kya kehte ho?", Anil sir teased him.

Karan's mind stopped at the 'Pandit"' and he did not hear the actual question asked by Anil Sir.

"Arre Karan, kaha kho gaye? Ab batao bhi!", added Neetu ma'am and brought Karan back to the present.

"Hanji! Hanji? Kya poocha aapne, sorry, main theek se sunn nahi paaya!", said Karan and gave a small smile.

"Shayad, Laddoo sunke iske mann mein laddoo phoot gaye honge toh aage ka suna hi nahi..", said Marzi and laughed.

They were all having fun and pulling Karan's leg when they heard the director announce, "And....CUT! Lunch time!! Guys, yeh wala segment hum nahi daalenge. Par Karan, jo actual TejRan segment hai, kya uske liye sab ready hai? Karna hai na?"

"Hanji Sir, next wala kar lenge. Main phir bhi aapko thodi der mein confirm kar deta hoon, lunch ke baad.", replied Karan and went off the stage to go to his vanity after receiving a thumbs up from the director.

As soon as he exited the main stage, he saw all the paparazzi hounding Varun & Nora for pictures. It was a good escape for Karan and he was trying to be discreet, when he heard Varun shouting from behind, "Voh dekho Teja ka aadmi bhaag raha hai. Pakdo usse!" and the paps started running behind Karan with all their cameras & phones. He quickly ran into his vanity and closed the door behind him.

Karan was a little disturbed by everything that happened today. He was worried for Tejasswi. This was not the first time that she was having such thoughts. He was out of ideas and felt helpless that he wasn't able to make her feel confident about 'them'. Even though it wasn't his fault, he felt a little guilty. She was believing a Pandit over him! Karan never liked that Pandit, especially because he sowed some seeds of doubts in Tejasswi's mind when they were in the Bigg Boss house. His mind went back to their conversation from the morning.

—-------------------------------------flashback begins—--------------------------------------

"Dekh Laddoo. Jab se hum Goa se aaye hai, main bahot dhyaan se dekh raha hoon tujhe. Tu ache se jaanti hai ki chaah kar bhi tu kuch chhupa nahi sakti mujhse. Toh ab bina drama kiye, mujhe saaf saaf bata de ki kya chal raha hai? Tu kya soch rahi hai itne dino se?", he was calm but his voice was very low.

"Sunny voh Pandit ji ne kaha tha ki...voh jab Bigg Boss mein aaye thhe na, yaad hai tujhe? Voh bole thhe ki humare relationship mein meri taraf se dikkat hogi? Unhone kaha tha June tak mushkil rahega sab...bas main wahi sochri thi Sunny...ussi wajah se thoda pareshan hoon.", replied Tejasswi and covered her face with her hands to hide her expressions.

Karan held her hands, removed them from her face and said, "Dekh Teja, maine pehle bhi tujhse kaha tha, main firse keh raha hoon, apni qismat hum khud banate hai. Tu kyun aise kisi ki bhi baaton mein aa rahi hai? Aise toh mujhe bhi kaha tha ek Pandit ne, ki March 2022 meri shaadi ho jayegi, par huyi kya? Nahi na. Toh bas, inn sab baaton pe dhyaan mat de. Theek hai?"

Tejasswi did not make eye contact with him, because she knew, that if she did, he will catch her lie. Karan was so good at reading her and it was getting difficult to lie to him, every day. But Tejasswi was adamant. She wanted to do what was best for him.

"Shaadi toh nahi, par Roka toh ho gaya na Sunny...", she said, sheepishly, while looking at their hands, intertwined with each other.

Karan smiled at her words, kissed her forehead, and hugged her. They stayed like that for quite a bit.

—-------------------------------------flashback ends—-—-------------------------------------

A message notification on his phone broke his trance. It was Tejasswi's message. He saw it from the lock screen and it made just made him sad. He touched his heart with his right hand and kept it there for a minute before opening her message to give her a reply.

"Sunny, I know maine promise kia tha ki second half shoot pe main tere saath rahungi set pe, par achanak se Srushti ka call aa gaya hai. Toh mujhe dress ki fitting ke liye jaana padega. Main free hote saath aa jaungi, fir hum dinner karne chalenge okay? Aaj meri treat. Love you :*"

And with that message, Karan's surprise, that he had planned for Tejasswi, went down the drain. He was dejected, but he understood her situation too. It was important to get the fitting of her dress checked before the Pinkvilla Awards which were to happen on the 16th of June.

"I was looking forward to having you here with me. Par koi chakkar nai Laddoo. Tu aaraam se jaa, fitting dekh lena ache se, aur accessories, shoes, sabke saath try karke mujhe photos bhejna. Haan theek hai meri maa, teri treat. Khush ab? Chal main jaata hoon second half shoot karne. Tu apna dhyaan rakhna. Love you too. :*", replied Karan and went out of the Vanity for the next part of the shoot.

After he entered the set, his phone beeped, it was Tejasswi, again, "Sunny, lunch zaroor kar lena, please." He was just typing his reply when he bumped into the director.

"Karan, bataya nahi tumne, next segment confirmed hai? Mujhe Tejasswi kahi nazar nahi aa rahi. Ab uske bina toh next segment ho hi nahi sakta...", asked the Director.

"Sir, voh kya hai na, usse ek urgent kaam aa gaya tha, toh woh nahi aa payegi..", replied Karan, with a sad smile.

"Par Karan, humne itni mushkil se sab tayyar kiya. Voh bhi tumhare kehne pe, ab ek segment aur sochna padega humein, kitna time waste hoga yaar. Ek baar usse bata ke dekho na, ki tum usse yaha kyun bula rahe thhe? Shayad aa jaye voh thoda time nikaal ke...?", asked the Director.

"Sir, fir toh saara surprise hi khatam ho jayega na, agar maine usse bata dia ki main usse Shaadi ke liye...."

A/N - This hasn't been completely proofread, so please ignore the grammatical errors. But do give in your feedback. Thank you :)