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Chapter 12

"So you snap this portion out and delete it. And join these two..." Akshay was teaching me how to edit videos. Because I requested him to. He was fine with him just editing the videos forever and me just appearing in the videos. But I did not feel that was fair. We were doing a lot more reaction videos than we were doing before and he was overworking on the editing. So I wanted to help him out.

But without meaning to, I let a yawn out. It was the afternoon, and we had just ordered and eaten a biriyani, sharing one biriyani plate with a large portion. But it was still a heavy meal. And my medicines were making me a lot sleepy anyway these days.

Akshay chuckled at my yawn. "Sleepy?" he asked.

"Sorry," I said, trying not to yawn again.

"You can go down and take a nap if you want." He said. "I can edit the videos."

"No. No. I am okay."

Aksya placed a hand on my head affectionately, "I insist. You don't have to stress so much. Take things slowly. Go sleep. We can shoot the other video after you wake up. Or tomorrow. No hurry."

I did not feel like leaving him alone to do all the work. But I was so sleepy that I could not even bear to go downstairs to my house.

"Then can I just take a nap on your couch?" I asked him.

"On the couch? Won't it be uncomfortable for you?" He asked.

"No. I am too tired to go down." I leaned on his arm.

"Go ahead then," he said.

So I got up and walked to his couch and crashed down on it. I watched Akshay edit the videos sitting at the table until my eyes slowly closed shut and I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, there was a blanket covering me. I sat up. The blanket was one of Akshay's good blanket, and his favourite one. It was more like a quilt and it was so soft and cozy. I held the fabric against my face and felt the softness and I got a whiff of fabric softener and just sun-dried clothes. It was so comforting.

Akshay was not to be seen on the editing/recording table. But the open window showed such a brilliant sunset view. So I got up from the couch and went and stood at the window looking at the vibrant orange and red sky.

There was a flush sound from the toilet and Akshay came out of the bathroom and joined by my side at the window. "Beautiful, right?" He asked me. I nodded. We stood at the window for a second, and then Akshay pulled out his mobile. "Let's take a selfie with the sunset background." He said. So I turned to him and he took a selfie of both of us. "Smile a bit, will you..." He said as the first photo turned out bad since I was not smiling. I forced a smile and he took the photo again. This time it turned out great. Akshay began to post that photo on his Instagram.

"Ah... I can't tag, you right? Since you do not have an account." He said with disappointment. "But should you not start an account since you are not a semi-public figure? Who in the world does not have an Instagram account in this day and age?"

"I do... have an account though," I said. "Milky created an account on my phone three years back."

"You have one? Then why don't I know about it?"

"I rarely use it. And it is private. And I have zero posts. No, one post. Milky posted a selfie of us on the day she created the account."

"I wanted to always ask... Why is Mahira's pet name Milky? What is the backstory behind it?"