Layers of Us

Chapter 79: Roses and Ruins

The next morning, the Oberoi's expansive breakfast lounge buzzed with quiet conversation and the soft clatter of cutlery. Sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a golden glow on the long table where the film unit had gathered.

Tripura walked in freshly showered, her damp hair loosely falling over her shoulders, wearing a soft pastel purple kurti and jeans. Sliding into one side of the seat, she was soon flanked by Ravi and Manoj on either side, with all three quickly settling into their coffee and croissant routines.

Ram, who had walked in behind her, instinctively slowed down seeing the seats beside her taken. With the most dignified version of a sulk plastered on his face, he took the opposite seat - diagonal from them. His fingers fidgeted with the edge of his napkin as he watched her lean a little closer to Manoj while laughing at something he said.

Mr. Bansal, seated at the head of the table with his tablet propped against the salt shaker, looked up mid-bite. "Okay, everyone," he said, wiping his mouth, "back to business."

Tripura straightened as Kavya leaned forward beside Bansal, unlocking her iPad.

"So," Mr. Bansal began, looking directly at Tripura, "the first phase of promotions has gone exceptionally well. The pre-release buzz is stronger than we've seen in a long time, especially with the last night's teaser drop."

Ram nodded faintly. "I saw the analytics this morning. We've crossed 63.7 million organic views overnight."

Kavya chimed in, "And the sentiment is overwhelmingly positive. There's a fan thread comparing your chemistry in the film to DDLJ meets Rockstar. It's trending."

Tripura blinked in amused disbelief. "That's... a spectrum," she muttered under her breath, sipping orange juice.

Ravi leaned over and whispered, "You're both going to be shipped like mad now."

Manoj snorted. "Already happening, bro."

Mr. Bansal smiled, enjoying the banter but tapping the table to bring them back. "Okay, listen. Phase Two is crucial. We're talking aggressive tier-1 and tier-2 city coverage. We've locked Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bhopal, Indore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, and Kerala."

Tripura looked up. "Back-to-back cities? What's the timeline?"

Kavya answered, "Thirty days. Night flights, one-day media blitz, fan meetups, and morning talk shows. It's going to be tight, but we need to ride this wave."

Ram leaned forward now, his elbows on the table. "And post that?"

"Post that," Mr. Bansal continued, "we come back to Mumbai for the big pre-release press conference and premiere. We're also negotiating with Netflix and SonyLiv for a pre-theatrical BTS drop - only if we can wrap a few candid promo shoots on the go."