𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬

CHAPTER 9

Vijay getting riled up as Kiara tries to calm him down above.

qui vive

(n.) heightened awareness or watchfulness

It was the final day of press tours in UK and Kiara couldn't be more relieved. The cast had spent the entire morning at interviews so when they were released for lunch, she was practically clawing at the walls for some fresh air. Sadly, Kabir had almost immediately directed her and Vijay towards their car as they made their way to London for The Graham Norton show. She blew appreciative kisses to her team and made them laugh at her antics, thankful they spent over two hours in the dressing room getting her stage-ready, before proceeding backstage towards the Green Room with Jimmy. Vijay had been uncharacteristically early and was already seated backstage with the other guests so she could only hope he was getting along with them. 

Jimmy recounted his son, Aryan's, most recent kitchen debacle as Kiara listened intently, missing the boy's innocent and vibrant presence. It had been well over a month since she last saw him– the longest they had ever gone without seeing each other, and she found herself clinging to any stories or photos Jimmy would share to satisfy her longing. 

Sometimes he would bring Aryan along with him on set and she would spend the entirety of her breaks with him. But she soon realised how stressful of an ordeal it was for Jimmy to maintain his roles as both a professional employee and attentive father so she refrained from pestering him too much about bringing Aryan around. As a general rule of thumb, she only ever surrounded herself with people she trusted so made it a point to connect with each staff member of her team. They were one big family and she found solace in knowing everyone genuinely cared about one another.

Kiara found Vijay seated on the couch in the Green Room, maintaining a safe distance from the other guests, as his bodyguard, Sanjay, leaned stoically against the wall behind him. She scanned their faces, recognising Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch, before heading straight over to Vijay, pausing to greet Sanjay. The minute she saw Vijay sip heavily from his flask, she knew he'd be in a foul mood and said a silent prayer for him to maintain his composure throughout the interview. The corners of his mouth tilted up as he spotted her and scooted over, making room for her on the couch.

She grabbed the flask out of his hands and screwed the lid back on, tucking it into his pocket, "Nervous?"

He sighed, "What makes you think that?"

"You're day drinking again."

"Can't I just drink to make people around me seem more interesting?"

"Gee thanks."

He raised his hands in surrender, smiling innocently, "Truth hurts, sweetheart."

Kiara shook her head, playfully knocking her shoulder with Vijay's before leaning over to make polite conversation with Benedict and Martin. Vijay made sure to appear firmly uninterested in their conversation, the slight quirk in his lip acting as the only indication of his faint amusement at their jokes. Suddenly his smile fell as he squinted at something behind her. She abruptly stopped mid-sentence to spin around, trying to discern what upset him and frowned upon spotting one of the audio crew members recording them on his phone. Vijay shot up from the couch and stormed over to the man, grabbing the phone and chucking it into the bin.