Bikhre moti (Scattered pearls)

23.2 India's sweethearts!

"Welcome, welcome, my hero! We were waiting for you!" a lady cheerfully greeted Arnav as soon as he entered the grand set of TMPK! Dressed in faded jeans, loose tank top, big round earrings, and curly hair she made quite a glam picture! For a moment Arnav wondered if his heroine was replaced too. No offence to the lady in front of him, but he had really signed up for the show for that Gupta girl!

"Arnav, meet our show's director, Ms. Gulshan." Anjali introduced him to the lady and Arnav mentally sighed in relief! It meant Gupta girl was still on-board!

"Yeah, you must have seen my previous show 'Kyunki sautan bhi kabhi behen thi (because the other woman was once a sister)', it was a TRP topper." Gulshan proudly said. But unfortunately for her, Arnav had neither watched the show nor heard of TRPs! He shook his head in denial.

Shyam and Anjali understood his predicament and before the matter became worse and Arnav's lack of knowledge came to the fore, they changed the subject.

"By the way, where is our heroine?"

"Yeah, hasn't she arrived yet?"

"She has reached before time, puttar(son)." Saying so, another elderly lady appeared there. Dressed in a Patiala suit, her hair plaited and pulled on one side, she looked like a sweet neighborhood aunty! She then politely greeted Gulshan, Anjali, and Shyam. And then her curious eyes scanned Arnav for a few seconds before realization dawned in them.

"O puttar, tu Arnav hai(so, you are Arnav)? Haye kinna sona munda hai(what a handsome man)! Mere sare romantic scenes mein jaan aa jani hai (All the romantic scenes I write will come to life now)!" she exclaimed praising him while Arnav looked thoroughly embarrassed! In his defense, he wasn't prepared for people to join his fan club on day #1!

"She is Kiran mam, I mean Kiran Gupta, our show's writer and also our heroine's mother." Shyam introduced this time.

Meanwhile, Kiran called her daughter on her phone, and once again addressed Arnav, "Puttar, my daughter is in her vanity van at the back of the set, why don't you go and meet her there? That way you can introduce yourselves." Her suggestion was wholeheartedly liked by Anjali and Gulshan. This would give them a chance to see the lead couple walking together, which they had missed in the pilot shoot because of their hero's replacement.

Not really minding the thought, Arnav went in search of Gupta-girl's vanity, soon spotted it, and knocked on the door...

.

.

She had finished getting ready quite some time ago. But her mood was off. Ever since she got to know her hero was replaced and she was no longer going to be paired with Neil Khanna but some newcomer, she was sulking. Thank God, she had found an ice cream vendor on the set and had gotten her favorite Choco chips scoop to help her mood.

Just then, she heard faint knocks on the door. Must be her mother, she assumed. Her Maa had just called informing her the hero had arrived and they were waiting for her now.

Stomping her feet in irritation, her ice cream cone securely held in one hand, she opened the door with the other. Only to come to a standstill looking at a very good-looking guy in front of her...

Arnav was taken aback by her appearance when she opened the door. She was dressed to perfection alright, but there was chocolate smeared all around her lips! To make it more dramatic, her honey-toned eyes behind those cute specs had widened in surprise, as if caught in an illicit act! And illicit it was, as some of the ice cream had melted and started running across her hand and being totally oblivious to what her innocent act was going to do to him, tip of her tongue darted out to lick that ice cream trailing on her arm! His eyes followed her every action with bated breath. And then as if suddenly realizing what she was doing, she stopped at once, lowered her hand and slowly looked away. Her cheeks turning slight pink in bashfulness.