Love Li(f)e

13.Snap

"I didn't take them," you answered as he waited for you to speak.

You weren't going to jeopardize yourself, probably even Shubman's career, when you have the choice.

Grabbing one of the trash bags hotel rooms kept folded in a smaller pack, you used them to put everything Koel had given you.

"Not sure how she got her hands on this," you said, more so to yourself and stood up from the couch.

You didn't want to fall from one dark pit into another.

It's more prevalent than one might think, and you've seen addiction in several people who struggle to be clean.

Like Alice Miller said, it's a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. A language that tells us about a plight that must be understood.

Shubman didn't seem to react for a few seconds, slight disbelief in his mind.

"I'm going to talk to her," he turned around and left.

Meanwhile~

'Certified sushi lover,' your manager captioned the tweet from one of your 'dates' with Shubman.

There. That should do it.

The latter posted a picture of you from the concert, captioning it as 'Love me like a love song.'

Whatever went in his mind while he chose it, she thought.

And just as she was done tweeting it in your account, the bell rang.

Having not expected anything to jump scare her, she swore loudly before shaking her head at herself, and making her way towards the door.

"No need for room service now-"

She paused when she realized it was Shubman, starting to hope instantly that he didn't know anything.

"Koel, what the hell was that?" He asked, as calm as he could be, upon being let to enter.

"What was what?" She asked back and he looked at her in incredulity.

She turned around, trying to cook up something while her phone, which was still in her hand, dinged with a notification.

"Excuse me," she mumbled without looking and the sound repeated itself.

Before she could even open her phone, she saw the several notifications from your PR team, people who knew you. They had to contact her first to get to you.

Whatever she saw, it overpowered the current situation for her.

Koel stared at Shubman and then internally cursed before leaving the room wordlessly.

"What are you-" He looked at her in utter disbelief once again before following suit.

On the other hand, you'd just placed the trash bag in another cover, thinking about where you were supposed to burn it when your manager stormed in.

"What's wrong?" You asked, not seeing why she would have to return, and Shubman behind.

"You're asking me 'what's wrong?'" Koel repeated, except with more emotion. "You're what's wrong!"

You took a moment to reply, still being a little sensitive and never good in dealing with outbursts, yours or others'.

Koel shoved her phone into your hands and you stared at it.

An article. Nothing new.

About you and Shubman. Again, nothing new.

Well, about you both canoodling in the elevator last night. Now, that is new.

"Do you have any idea what kind of scandal you got yourself into?" She said in your face. "This is not for our audience!"

You pushed the phone towards her and looked away, sighing tiredly. You thought there were no cameras inside.

"We didn't know," you mumbled as her phone was passed on to Shubman.

You knew he was a calm and rational person. Usually.

But stress can make a person's mind go only in either direction, positive or negative.

"We thought there were no cameras," you muttered, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Isn't it PR after all?"

You cared a great deal about the current situation.

But you wanted Koel to stop being your manager and realize what she'd done on her part.

"You set up all this," you added and she threw her hands in the air.

Her breathing was uneven, but she took a moment to calm down, then looked at you and Shubman.

"Why did you hug if you thought there were no cameras?" She asked and neither of you said anything.

She said something about probably suing the hotel, having to deal with it all by herself before leaving to find Sebastian.

"PR after all," Shubman repeated your words from earlier. "You're just about getting back at her right now?"

He felt his comfort zone- which was starting to be partly you too- the place to feel safe and at ease, be fully oneself without feeling threatened, diminishing.

The heart gets defensive when it's conscious about getting hurt.

"That's not how I meant it, Shub," you said as his grip on the phone loosened.

He wasn't mad. Not yet. Only exasperated.

"It'll pass," you held your head in your palms. It was starting to hurt.

"This is not about the video clip, Aditi," Shubman watched you keep your head down. "Just about PR? After everything that's happening between us?"

Heard of reasons why pressure cookers explode?

"There's no us, Shubman," you finally looked up. "That's what we said, right? We only thought it'll be fun."

Loss of seal. A worn or damaged gasket might fail in creating a proper seal between the lid and the pot.

It lets the pressure escape.

"Doesn't matter then," you saw the hurt flash in his eyes as he said that. "It doesn't matter if we break up for the rest of the world to see."

Pressure buildup. A faulty gasket could prevent the pressure from building up inside the cooker.

It releases steam and pressure unexpectedly.

The rest of the world thought you're together.

Anything you both do wasn't going to make any difference, right?

The accusation upset you when Shubman's expression didn't change.

"Maybe it doesn't," you said and he wasn't saying otherwise either.

"So what am I doing here?" He asked and you thought of it as a spectrum.

"Nothing," you answered, your mind leaning against everything that happened today.

I told you before. Secrecy is like a rubber band.

"You're right," you continued with your face not giving any emotion away. "It doesn't matter if we break up for the rest of the world to see."

When stretched beyond its limit.

"We don't have to see each other anymore."

It snaps.