Prem Kahaniyaan

7.

The tension between Zara and Arjun had dissipated after their breakthrough conversation, but that didn’t mean things were easy. If anything, their dynamic became even more charged—an electric current running beneath their interactions, sparking with every word and glance. Today, Zara arrived on set with a renewed sense of determination. She’d felt something shift in Arjun yesterday, and she wanted to see how far she could push it. He had opened the door, and now it was time to walk through.

Arjun was already on set, talking to the makeup artist, his laughter carrying through the room. Zara’s gaze lingered on him for a moment longer than she intended. There was something about seeing him like this—unguarded, laughing, completely at ease—that made her realize how much of the real Arjun he kept hidden from the world.

She approached him, clearing her throat to get his attention. “Ready to dive in?”

Arjun turned, a playful smile on his lips. “If you insist. But no more hard-hitting questions this early in the morning, okay?”

Zara arched an eyebrow. “Since when do I go easy on you?”

“Never,” he said with a grin. “But I can dream, can’t I?”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help smiling. “We’re going to talk about your relationships today.”

The smile faded slightly from Arjun’s face, and he stood up straighter, crossing his arms. “That’s a broad topic.”

“Broad, yes, but also personal,” Zara replied, matching his intensity. “People want to know who you are outside the films, Arjun. Who you are with the people you care about.”

He was silent for a moment, then nodded, his expression growing serious. “Fine. Let’s do this.”

They sat down in the interview room, the cameras rolling, and Zara leaned forward, her voice soft but firm. “Let’s start with your family. You’ve mentioned them briefly in interviews before, but never in much detail. What’s your relationship like with your parents?”

Arjun shifted in his chair, his eyes flicking away from her before settling back on Zara’s. “My parents are... complicated. My father was always the traditional one, the one who pushed me to become something respectable. He didn’t understand why I wanted to act. In fact, he hated it.”

Zara’s eyes narrowed, sensing the underlying pain in his voice. “That must’ve been hard. How did you deal with that?”

Arjun shrugged, his jaw tightening. “I didn’t deal with it for a long time. I just... pushed it aside. I was young and stupid. All I wanted was to prove him wrong, to show him I could succeed in this industry. But in doing that, I distanced myself from him.”

Zara leaned forward, her voice gentle. “Do you regret that?”

Arjun was silent for a long moment before nodding slowly. “Yeah, I do. By the time I started making a name for myself, he wasn’t around anymore to see it.”

Zara felt a pang in her chest. “He passed away?”

“Yeah,” Arjun said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Heart attack. It was sudden.”

Zara’s throat tightened. She hadn’t expected this level of vulnerability from him. “I’m sorry, Arjun. That must’ve been devastating.”

Arjun nodded, his expression hardening as if trying to push away the emotions that threatened to surface. “It was. And the worst part is, I didn’t get to fix things with him. We were never close. He didn’t understand my choices, and I didn’t understand his expectations.”

Zara paused, letting his words hang in the air for a moment. “Do you think he would’ve been proud of you? Of everything you’ve accomplished?”

Arjun looked down at his hands, his voice quiet. “I don’t know. I’d like to think so. But part of me wonders if he would’ve just seen this as a distraction, a waste of time.”