Perfect Mismatch

Ch 21 - Defence

The next few days were a rollercoaster for Shehnaaz which were meant to take her to dizzying heights and feel thrilled, scared and happy all at once. Meeting Darshan, starring in his song, with Sidharth was the best 'first' thing out of Bigg Boss that could happen to her! Their fans were going bonkers at the anticipation of the release of the song which would take another ten days and the frenzy of it, of this kind all was unimaginable for her.

The first time experience of shooting something for the Hindi-speaking audience which would have such large international audience was nerve wrecking but she had Sidharth with her.

While Sidharth the co-star would be very reserved, busy with his own shots and in his own world when it came ro his scenes, the moment his solos were done, her  Sidharth, would come to fore, helping her perfect the scenes, suggesting changes to her expressions and getting the shot right. The most difficult was the underwater scene wherein, they had to shoot an underwater romantic sequence in a pool and while Sidharth Shukla - the actor was terrific and consumed in his own performance and its review, her Sidharth did not leave her hand for even a single second. With constant assurances, handholding and bear hugs from him, things fell in place smoothly.

Before they could even think of anything else, they had offers lined up for hosting dance shows, participating in a dance reality show as a couple, a web series and a plethora of individual opportunities as well. But along with the heights of success came the mud-splattering which was continuing in a full fledged manner by the ex-contestants. 

__________________________________________

Shehnaaz had dozed off after arranging her wardrobe. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and thanks to the post COVID life - everyone preferred spending the weekends in. Sidharth's younger sister, fondly called 'Preeti Di' was supposed to be coming to Mumbai today with her daughter for two weeks. Her flat was in the same society and the Shukla household was bustling with excitement. When she visited Aunty in the morning, Aunty was practically glowing while preparing  Preeti Di's favorite Rajma Rice for lunch and narrating stories of her fights with Sidharth. These morning meetings and chats over chai had become a daily ritual for the two ladies wherein they discussed their daily agendas, Sidharth's mom would scold her for skipping meals or other household habits which she will get to know through Ritu and Shehnaaz would just generally win her over with her cute, silly yet heartwarming antics and conversations.

On the other hand, Sidharth would act as if he was weary of these conversations - at times jealous of Sana for taking away a fine share of his mother's affections and attentions and at others of his mother for all the warm hugs, her mother would be receiving without having to worry about privacy. 

"Oye...Shehnaaz...uth..dekh ye Parth ne apne live me kya bola..."Shehbaaz barged in, shaking a peacefully sleeping Shehnaaz. 

"Kutte...sone bhi mat de tu...kya bola pe us Parth se ab...", she got up, with one eye still closed, hoping that once she saw what Parth had said, Shehbaaz will go back, letting her sleep in peace. 

"I am over and done with her kyunki aap usko thodi der jhel sakte ho not more than that...", she read out the entire statement while Shehbaaz watched her closely to gauge her reactions. Once she had seen the entire video, she gave the phone back to Shehbaaz and settled down on the bed again. 

"Abbey...kuch bol...?", Shehbaaz asked, puzzled.

"Abbey...ye uski soch hai...Main kya bolu. Usko main irritating lagti hu, mujhko wo gadha lagta hai...ab kya kar sakte hain isme...", she said it very casually. 

"Tujhko bilkul bhi bura nahi lagra?" Shehbaaz asked her, still unable to disgest her reaction.

"Kutte...mujhe accha nahi laga sunke...par mai itni pagal nahi hun ki bura lagalun kisi bhi airey gairey ki baat ka...theek hai wo dost tha...emotional attachment thi...par iska toh mujhe Bigg Boss ke ghar me hi pata tha....abbey mereko is se koi lena dena nahi hai...Chhod na...", she dismissed the entire topic and got up to make a snack for them.