Back to You

Calm Before the Storm

"It's really hard for me to trust people but thank you for being patient with me."

"There's no need for that. I'll never let you down."

Karan's POV:

We finish up breakfast and as I'm putting the dishes away, I hear a phone ring in the other room. "Teja your phone's ringing."

I hear her footsteps as she's running into the bedroom and hear the murmurs of a conversation. By the time I walk into the room she's in, she's already dressed in her clothes from the last night. I lean against the doorframe watching as she frantically searches for something flipping over the covers and pillows.

"Looking for your purse? It's in the bathroom."

She looks over her shoulder and smiles. "What would I do without you?" She grabs her purse and comes to stand in front of me, "I just got a call that my shoot time has been moved up so I need to go home, get changed then get to set."

As I follow her towards the door, I tell her "No worries just let me change and then I can drive you back."

She looks at me quickly before averting her eyes. "I called my driver to come pick me up. There's been a few times where the paps are near my house and they'll recognize your car."

I grab her hand and force her to meet my eyes. "It'll take time. Besides my car is right here."

She squeezes my hand while saying, "The driver was near here anyways so it's fine."

Before I can say anything else, her phone starts ringing again. "Look he's already here. Oh before I forget my parent's are going to hold a little pooja next to next Thursday. I want you to come and you can meet my parents officially."

"I'd love to but also I can come sooner."

"No no we'll be busy anyways. This will just be more convenient." She gives me a quick peck on the lips before calling out over her shoulder that she'll see me on set.

I try to not let it irk me the way she still wants to keep this a secret. I force myself to remember that she needs time and is taking little steps. I tell myself to trust her but something within me still stings. The voice inside of me that's always screamed I'm not good enough is shouting again and it's telling me that she's embarrassed of me and knows she can do better. That this is the reason she never confessed anything in the house. That it's only time before she breaks me. Before I can spiral any further my phone dings with a text.

11:23 am Teja- Already missing you

Just like that all the voices in my head are quiet for the time being. It's like she knew I needed to hear something from her and she said the perfect thing. I get ready for the day as I need to shoot a video for a brand deal and meet with my manager. We only have roughly 2 weeks of shooting left then I'll be free to sign anything else I want and my manager wants to discuss some scripts I've received. I spend the rest of the day reading through those scripts but nothing is appealing to me.

"I don't know Omi. Whatever I choose I want it to tell a unique story."

"You know I never understood why you decided to do this show. It's good writing but in the end it's another romantic serial. I always assumed you wanted to branch out."

I think back to the first time I received this script. "I guess part of it was it being Netflix which introduces me to a new audience and opportunities. I wasn't even sure when I took the first meeting but now looking back what sealed the deal was Teja. I probably would've denied it back then but it was the thought of working with her that pushed me to accept. I guess subconsciously I always knew we had unfinished business."