The beginning

Chapter 9

Deepika's personal assistant Karishma was waiting for her at the door of her van. She arched a teasing brow and Deepika blushed furiously. "Shut up," she muttered. 

"I didn't say anything," Karishma sing-songed. 

Deepika blushed even more. They entered the van and Deepika discussed the next day's agenda with her as she did every night while she took off her jewellery and makeup. She continued to talk about the outfits and accessories planned for the promotional events tomorrow for Race 2 as she entered the little changing room and put on her jeans and top. 

When she came out, Karishma was sitting and looking at her expectantly with her notebook organiser clipped shut and her pen capped. "So?" she asked with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Shall we leave?" 

Deepika knew she was doing it on purpose to make her squirm. "Umm, you go ahead. I have something to - to discuss with Ranveer," she finally managed to stutter. 

"Oh is that what they're calling it these days?" Karishma smirked. "Okay, birthday girl, enjoy your discussion." She made air quotes as she said 'discussion'. Deepika blushed a dark red as she tried to deny what Karishma had insinuated. Her assistant just laughed, picked up her bag, and said, "Make sure Ranveer sees you safely home. I'm going to tell Shanu to drop me off and then go home himself." Deepika nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. 

She sat in her van, silently staring at the mirror trying to steel her resolve for a few minutes after Karishma left. Finally she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and almost marched from her van to his. At the door her courage failed her. She raised a hand to knock but couldn't bring herself to do it. She was about to turn tail and run, hoping that Karishma hadn't left yet, when the door opened. Ranveer stood there with a defeated look in his eyes that changed to incredulous joy when he saw her.

"Hi," he whispered, his face beaming with happiness. "I thought -" he shook his head. "It doesn't matter what I thought. Come in!" he gestured. Deepika climbed the steps and held her breath as she squeezed past him at the narrow door. She went and sat down on the sofa. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then realised that was a bad idea. The van smelled like him, clean and earthy and delicious. Stop it, she mentally chided herself.

Ranveer shut the door and stood there for a moment. She was here! He felt nervous excitement bubbling in his stomach. "Would you like some coffee?" he asked. "I just made some," he added. "Ok," she nodded. He made her a cup and after debating, poured a second one for himself, too. He'd picked a mild blend with hardly any caffeine in it. Sitting there with her at the end of a long day sipping coffee was perfect. He felt the nervousness fade away. 

"Happy birthday, Deepika," he said quietly when they were both done. 

"Thank you," she replied, smiling sweetly. The quiet and the hot drink had soothed her nerves, as well. "And thank you once again for my party. This is the first birthday I've been unable to spend with my family, so this means a lot," she told him. 

"Oh, I didn't think of that," he exclaimed. "It sucks that you couldn't go to them," he said. 

She chuckled. "No, it's okay, they'll be coming here on the weekend," she said. 

"That's good," he said, and smiled. She smiled back and he felt himself losing his grip on everything but her eyes. He forced his mind to behave.

"I got you something," he said. She looked confused and a little dazed. Could he dare to hope she was just as affected by him as he was by her? No, focus, he chided himself again. "A gift, for your birthday," he clarified, and held out the small box to her.