#InControl Ft TejRan

Chapter 3 - 'Atypical Break'

(On a rainy evening in Bengaluru around 9 PM)

Asmita had just come back home from a very hectic day at work, colleagues had been giving her a hard time lately and even at home, there was only minimal communication with her parents, especially after the ruckus that was created after she called off her engagement with Ishan. They were trying to be supportive in their own way but the rulebook of what should have handled how was not making it any easier for her. She was glad at least they agreed Ishaan was a jerk so one aspect had clarity in her life. She changed into her favourite pyjamas and opened her Twitter. She was always a Bigg Boss fan, a guilty pleasure but season 15 got her hooked to another level and introduced her to Bigg Boss fandoms and shipper fandom life. She was always on Twitter but never on this side of the Bigg Boss universe until Bigg Boss Season 15 happened. The #TejRan hashtag was just going bonkers on the announcement.

Apparently, an OTT Platform had announced a show called - Takeover Ft Fans and her favourites from the season Karan Kundrra and Tejasswi Prakash were also going to participate. This seems so exciting she thought to herself. She was bored so much with the monotonous life issues that she decided to fill up the form for quizzes on them that would decide the winner. It was a time-bound quiz and who answers fastest. It literally sounded like the fastest fingers first from KBC but she has a photographic memory of things she gets obsessed about. One of the reasons why she can remember which of her colleagues gaslighted her last week and she got into the argument today causing this bad mood and Choco Chip ice cream tub despite not being a cheat day.

She was mindlessly scrolling when the notification came for the timebound quiz, she finished and fell asleep. Of course, she adored them too much and it would be a lifetime opportunity to meet them but she wasn't thinking about getting the opportunity as her life had too much going on and she cannot get so lucky, she just needed some distraction and peace, these two strangers yet familiar celebrities gave her that.

The next morning, she woke up to her parents shouting at each other. She came out and enquired,

"What happened?"

Her mother said that she wants to avoid going to the family function of a cousin. While her father argued that they can't run away so they should show solidarity by showing up and facing people.

"Seriously, guys? It's 9:30 AM in the morning and I was supposed to enjoy the day off! "

"But Asmita it's not important for you to face people right now, I mean well.." her mother began to explain.

"Ma, not now, not today. Just let it be."

She said and left the living area to come back to her room sulking and got a surprising email notification. She laughed and quickly double-checked - Yeah she was selected in a quiz contest she gave for the celebrity show with no enthusiasm, she had to travel to Mumbai but the only silver lining was that the dates were the same as the family function that her parents were arguing about. She smiled and decided to take this as Universe's Omen.

(November 11th, 2022, 2 PM in the afternoon)

Asmita had landed in Mumbai and she was given a location to reach. She had to check in her stay for another 3 weeks and attend the briefing in an office. They would start shooting later and would also meet celebrities later. She was too excited and nervous about this adventure and only her close moots on a group chat on Twitter were able to keep her sane because she could not give out details and handle the fandom drama that would follow.

If she would have posted about her selection or even dropped hints people would have flooded her with requests, couriers and some extremely stupid questions. She was keeping a check with other people who had given hints and trust me the biggest quest people wanted to figure out was Karan Kundrra's perfume brand and Tejasswi Prakash's skin routine. Nobody had shut up talking about these two things and not that Asmita wanted to take away credit or their excitement but sometimes it became a little too much. These questions are too personal to ask anyway and she isn't one of those over-excited fans who will blurt out stuff that would sound a little embarrassing when told out loud.

(5:30 PM the meeting room, Discover Dreams Production House Break time in the briefing)

There were many fans but since there were celebrity schedules that were being shot together they were introduced to their allies or group. Since Karan & Tejasswi's fans were also common so they were given mostly the same schedule.

An excited jumpy girl approached at Asmita and asked,

"Are you a solo or a shipper?"

Asmita smiled and rolled her eyes thinking and it began just as expected.

"I have followed both just little away from the typical fandoms"

She answered trying to avoid mentioning the fandom drama and that she had been aware of all the chaos since the Bigg Boss time.

"Oh, neutral shipper.. I am a Troop, Tejasswi's fan only and a very old one, I am Ketki '' She said.

Ketki had her hair braided and wore a peplum top with blue ripped jeans although she sounded so proud of finally being here but was from nearby city Pune.

"Hey, I am Shipper too" another voice exclaimed, "Hello, I am Mansi" She extended her handshake. She was dressed in a flare dress, straight hair that was up to her waist and was looking badly stuck hence elated to find company. Asmita could understand why as she had seen those arguments and laughed at such kids very hard.

"Hello to both of you! I am not sure of the tags if it fit correctly but it is nice to meet you, I am sure we must have had a Squad around here as well" She said biting her lip to control her laugh thinking what an amusing sight it will be to watch the drama live, not gonna lie she wanted this to happen. She, if bored will pick out those silly points and light the matchstick on the haystack.

"Hi Asmita right? I am Bhavya. I am Karan's fan and have followed his journey since roadies and of course watched Kitni Mohobbat hai as a kid". She completed. Bhavya was a geek and was dressed in her jumpsuit and was a local from Mumbai. She seemed to have an extremely judgemental look at Asmita which was understandable as she took her for a Shipper and she might not have liked Tejasswi much.

Bhavya was 24 and working in a pharmaceutical company, Mansi and Ketki were in college they were of the same age 22. At least till now, Asmita was the eldest 27.

There was a guy sitting with his camera and just amused listening to all of them. Asmita remembered he belonged to their group but she wondered why he was quiet.

"Hey, you seem to be surprised with the discussion. May I ask why?" Asmita asked him turning back as he sat diagonally and behind.

"I had no idea of these tags, I am guessing it's fandom and I've never been part of one" He responded.

"I am Dhruv by the way, hello everyone" He waved hesitantly.

Asmita got up from her seat and moved towards him and as she seated beside him she slowly said, "It's okay even I am not part of any fandom but you are going to learn a lot of fun facts in the coming days about these clubs"

"I am from Chandigarh and was interested to take this up because I needed a break from work. I have watched Bigg Boss and few more shows and yeah they are pretty cool people. I follow their vlogs." He said, completing the introduction.

"Hey, actually same story and I am from Bengaluru and trust me I am excited to see how things unfold when we meet them" Asmita replied smiling.

Dhruv was 26, so officially Asmita was the eldest in the group. It did feel awkward in the beginning and was glad to know someone from the normal world taking this adventure as a break from the monotonous life. 

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Author's Note: I am extremely sorry that I couldn't keep up with regular updates earlier although I planned. If you are reading this I am truly grateful that you are still reading this. I will try my best to give the update sooner. All feedback is appreciated :)