The Comfort Of Her Presence

CHAPTER 11

JAY'S POV

We reach India, and Harsh informs me that they’ve received news about another celebrity arriving at the airport. The twist? This celebrity already tipped off the paparazzi, and now they’re all waiting—not just for him, but for me too. 

Great. Just what I needed—an influx of flashing cameras, all while trying to keep things low-key. This is my life, but what worries me more is Aditi. She hates being in front of cameras like this, and now, I’ve accidentally dragged her into this chaos.

I turn to Aditi and tell her everything. 

"Hmm... That’s the case," she says, her voice calm. 

"You're okay with that?" I ask, surprised by how composed she is.

"Of course not," she replies, but then a smile tugs at her lips. "But I have a plan." 

"What plan?" I ask, my heart skipping a beat, unsure of whether I should be worried or impressed.

"Don’t worry. I’ll handle it. You just go to the exit, okay?" she says, and before I can even reply, she disappears into the crowd. 

"B-but..." I begin, but she’s already gone. I have no idea what she’s up to.

I head to the exit, my stomach in knots. As I step outside, I look around, expecting to be bombarded with cameras, but to my surprise, there’s no one. Not a single paparazzi in sight.

Harsh stares at me, clearly baffled. "But I got the info! There’s no way it was a lie. How could they mess with me like this?" 

"No one was messing with you, Harsh," Aditi says, walking up to us with a self-satisfied grin. 

"Did you do all of this?" I ask, still trying to process the fact that she somehow pulled this off.

"Of course," she says, her voice casual and full of pride. 

"But how?" Harsh manages to ask, his jaw practically on the floor. 

Aditi grins even wider. "I disguised myself as a paparazzi, held my camera, and then pretended to get a secret call that you were arriving with your girlfriend from the back gate. And just like that, they bought it." 

Harsh's eyes widen, stunned by the brilliance of it all. "Ms. Naina was Right you're really crazy" he says...

Aditi laughs. "Enjoy a normal life for now," she says, grabbing her luggage and walking away, waving as she goes.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. "Let me drop you home," I offer, not wanting the moment to end just yet.

"My dad already sent the driver," she says.

"Ah..Okay," I reply. I don’t want to say goodbye, but it looks like the moment’s come. 

"When you come back after visiting your family, you should swing by my place. I’ll introduce my new friend or my only friend to my dad," she says with a playful wink.

"Yeah, sure," I say, grinning.

She waves and walks away. "See you later!"

In my mind, I silently plead, Don't go... stay with me a little longer. I want to keep looking at you, to fill my heart with every second before you're gone.

"Bye," I manage to say, and just like that, she disappears into the distance.

                                   ....

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how crazy do you think you are?"