𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬

CHAPTER 27

Kiara's parents being happy and in love.

raison d'être

(n.) a reason for existing

Two blissful weeks of romantic dates, mind-blowing sex and secretly dating People magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive' and Kiara was about as close to being in heaven as she could be. Vijay constantly teased her by claiming this was just the honeymoon phase to which she would simply bring up his dating history, effectively shutting him up. To be completely honest, she thought he might've taken to messing with her in an attempt to distract himself from sobriety. As promised, her best friend had maintained his agreement to limit drinking only to social occasions so his grumpier persona could be attributed to the missing pocket flask of bourbon. She was proud of him but knew that it wouldn't be a problem.

One thing about Vijay was that he always liked to stay in control. After growing up with a father like his, most experiences seemed poisoned to him so he made it his mission to learn to relish everything but never give those vices power over you. It was for that reason that Kiara knew he wasn't an addict, just habitual. He had made it a habit to wear this mask of the quintessential Bollywood actor– egotistical, sexually labile, recklessly drunk or drugged up and unintelligent. In reality, he was the complete opposite but only to those who bothered to look beyond his façade.

What had been the start of an amazing day came crashing down the minute Kiara realised today's date. Descending into a well of misery and despair, she curled back under her covers but not for long as Vijay shoved his way into her room. Knowing what today meant to her and already predicting her current mood, he made it his mission to keep her busy before she spiralled into depression. 

While filming remained relatively uneventful today, her despondent mood had not gone unnoticed as Jeffrey, Poorna, Emilia and Milo shot each other concerned looks every time she zoned out. It was midday when shooting ended as Kiara rushed her goodbyes with everyone and immediately got straight in her car to drive away. The remaining cast members were left speechless as they watched her leave and turned to gape at Vijay for and explanation but he simply shook his head, warning them not to press the issue before leaving to meet Nargis.

While Vijay was in no mood to deal with his girlfriend, he knew where Kiara would likely be headed and so needed his own distraction to prevent himself from smothering her. It was while the couple was midway through something rather unsavoury that a call interrupted their nefarious activities. Having been transferred to her voicemail every time he called her, Chris began to worry and in a moment of desperation, stole Vijay's number from Sebastian's phone to check in.

Vijay sighed and answered the phone, "You have two seconds to convince me before I hang up. Why are you calling me?"

On the other end, he could practically hear Chris' anxiety, "I was just checking if Kiara was with you?"

He remained silent for a few seconds before bursting out in fits of uncontrollable laughter as Chris grew increasingly frustrated, "Why are you laughing?"

Wiping away tears of laughter, he responded, "She's not with me but I'd recommend leaving her alone today."

"Why? Is she okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed, looking at his phone as if picturing Chris on the other end and feeling slightly bad for toying with the lovestruck idiot; "check your phone."

Chris frowned, reading the address he texted, "Where is this?"

"That's where she is."

"Thank you! I'm heading over now and sorry for th–"