𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬

CHAPTER 18

Vijay and Kiara eating Panipuris.

nazlanmak

(v.) saying no and meaning yes

Having been nominated at least once every year for the past four years, Kiara was the proud winner of two 'Best Actress' awards and was hoping to make history tonight by winning her third. As expected, she had been nominated tonight for her role as Sehmat Khan in 'Raazi' but had been pitted against worthy rivals– Deepika Padukone, Neena Gupta, Rani Mukerji and Tabu.

After the event, awards were immediately handed to their team and event organisers for processing while the actors were ushered to their cars for the afterparty. Kiara braced the bright lights and camera flashes, craning her neck to look around after losing Vijay during the chaos, and bumped into long-time friend and actress, Sonam Kapoor, as they made their way into the exclusive club. Paparazzi screamed various instructions from all around them as they stood and posed for the cameras. 

A lot of the reporters were more than curious as to why Kiara and Vijay weren't spending as much time as they usually did around each other so it was a struggle to hold her tongue when they hurled hurtful accusations at her, targeting their friendship. Fellow actor, Salman Khan, lingered not too far behind Sonam as he joined before her husband, Anand Ahuja, eventually made an appearance. Anand leaned in to greet Kiara, speaking to each other in low voices to avoid reporters from catching on before romantically whisking his wife off to the dance floor.

Their absence left Kiara alone with Salman as her stomach tightened with unease. He was big and bulky, his presence consuming her like a bad aftertaste. He'd always been subtly inappropriate, fingers just barely grazing places they shouldn't– close enough to make her uncomfortable but not too close to end up with his face smashed in, courtesy of Vijay.

 He leaned in to stroke her waist unnervingly, "You look beautiful, as always."

"Thank you," she mumbled, trying to take a step back, but his hand drifted dangerously low on her lower back to keep her in place.

Having slowly flirted his way through the club, Vijay wore an easy smile as he leaned in and toyed with the woman's hair. The smile faded when he spotted Kiara with a muscular arm wrapped around her waist and though he was glad to have found her, reliving the events that transpired between them over the past few weeks was ruining his playful mood. His relief was short-lived upon noticing the grimace she was trying to hide but after seeing who the arm belonged to, it became apparent as to why she had reacted that way. While he made no move towards her, he did make sure to keep a close eye in case Salman misbehaved– although he doubted even that man would make such a stupid decision.

Salman's fingers tightened on her lower back as he whispered in her ear, "I hear you've been quite the social butterfly since the last time I saw you."

Pulling back to look Kiara in the eye, Salman's hands remained firmly on her body, making her feel as if something was crawling beneath her skin. Her heartbeat drummed as uncertainty clouded her mind. He had always been inappropriate, but politely inappropriate– if that were something that existed. He'd never brought up anything personal or invasive.

His saccharine voice took a cruel edge. "I was very disappointed when I found out, Kiara. But I would love to meet this new boyfriend of yours."

"Of course you would," she breathed, trying her hardest to reign in her repulsion.