#21Days

Day 20

8.07 am

I'm sitting on the couch in Rohit's cabin, my fingers massaging my temples in a circular motion. It's been more than 24 hours since I've slept a wink. This isn't the first time I've gone without sleep for this long. But this is the first time I've had such an eventful night. I turn my neck to glance at Rohit. Clad in navy blue scrubs, he is busy barking instructions on the phone. I'm guessing he is talking to the lab assistant who will be analyzing the 46 swabs I've carefully brought back to the hospital less than 10 minutes ago.

I look ahead and zone out, Rohit's chatter not registering in my head. My neck feels sore, so I try and move it around in circular motions to relieve the stiffness. I turn it right and left, tilt it up and down. I'm about to have another go at rotating it clockwise and anti-clockwise when I feel strong fingers gently massaging my shoulders. I close my eyes and tilt my head back to enjoy the feeling. The deft fingers cleverly manipulate all the pressure points in my back, and within minutes I not just feeling much more relaxed, but much more energized as well.

"Coffee?"

I smile with my eyes closed. The question seems rhetorical. I still need to make my way back to the apartment. And in order to do that, I need a liberal dose of caffeine in my system. He moves away, and I suddenly feel cold that he isn't near me. I hear a click and then a clipped command that says "two black coffees." Within no time he's by my side, sitting on the couch. I tilt my head and place it in the crook of his shoulder, loop my hands around his arms and sigh. He extends his arm behind me to place it on my other shoulder. We sit like that, drawing strength from each other, till the coffee arrives.

"Sona," his gentle voice wakes me up as I'm almost drifting to sleep. "Coffee's here."

I hmmm. I want to sleep, on his shoulder. He shakes me gently and I make an effort to open my eyes.

"Drink some coffee and then go home and sleep."

Home. I like the sound of that word. I don't remember the last time he used that word in our context.

Another day, another time. On the sets of Kahaani Parvati Ki, where Rohit had become a frequent visitor. This time watching a live scene when I was shooting. Clad in a red chiffon sari, my head smeared with vermillion, I was swearing revenge in front of my entire family. Kunal had just been murdered, or so the police had informed his family. While Parvati was promising her in-laws, she would see to it that Kunal's murderers would die the same way as him, Rohit, standing behind the director was waiting for the tomfoolery to be done with. The moment the director shouted cut, he was by my side, with a box of tissues to help me get rid of the excessive vermillion that was beginning to stain my face.

As the director continued to take close up shots of the other family mourning members, Rohit and I made our way out. Sitting on one of the benches near the ever-bustling production kitchen, while one of the spot boys handed us our glasses of ginger tea, Rohit looked at me and asked: "What if my life was in danger?" I was mad, very mad. How dare he? Why would his life be in danger?

"Sona?" He snapped his fingers in front of me and I tried hard to keep my anger in control. By now, the entire production team knew that Rohit and I were going to tie the knot. I didn't want to insult him in front of strangers by yelling at him. I continued twisting the tea glass between my palms, trying to reign in my all-so-famous temper. Oblivious to this, Rohit continued: "Sometimes I wonder, how much reality is there in all this fantasy you spin on Indian Television."

"Not much," I speak with gritted teeth. "But that should hardly matter to someone like you. After all, you have everything a common man wishes for - a happy doting family, lots of money, education, fame. I need to be the last person to be worried if you're life was in danger. With all their connection and reach, your family will ensure nothing will ever happen to you."