Tum Hi Ho

Chapter 29

 "Darshan." He was startled when the director called him and shaking his head to clear his thoughts he went to see what he wanted. Paridhi was talking to director about a change in scene. The director had suddenly decided that the new scene would involve Darshan lifting his co-actress Diya and spinning in circle. She watched as the director explained the scene to Darshan and Darshan listened carefully with a serious expression. She was annoyed as she saw Diya practically jump on Darshan as they rehearsed. Diya was so excited and nervous that she misjudged the timing and Darshan was unable to hold her as she jumped. As a result, she slipped and fell down.
Being a gentlemen he was, Darshan helped Diya up, but Paridhi was satisfied when she saw that Diya didn't look much happy. Serves her right, Paridhi thought, who told her to jump on my Darshan? Darshan looked at Paridhi confused as she smiled smugly. It had been actually his fault that Diya had fallen down. He had been thinking of Paridhi, remembering how it had felt to lift her in his arms that day when she had fainted.
"Darshan, Diya pay attention now. Darshan you have to lift Diya when she comes to you twirling and faces your right side. Diya, you have to jump on the count of 4, not before. Understood?" The director explained and both of them nodded, trying to fit the sequence into their heads. Paridhi chuckled as once more they failed to do it properly.
"Ohho, you two don't have any chemistry. Arjun, lift Diya and show Darshan how he should do it." Director instructed the choreographer and Darshan walked out of the way and stood beside Paridhi to watch Arjun and Diya perform the scene. But he got distracted as he saw Paridhi bite her lip to hide a smile. His breath caught as he stared at her lips. How he wished he could kiss... "Darshan, did you see? Come on, rehearse it with Diya now." The director called out and Darshan walked away, blushing. He actually hadn't seen Arjun perform the scene as he was busy staring at Paridhi. He was still distracted as he tried to perform the scene and Director sighed as Diya fell down once again.
"Darshan, dhyan kidhar hai tumhara?" Diya hissed annoyed as she massaged her aching hip. "Oops sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me." Darshan apologized. Diya rolled her eyes and walked to the director.
"Sir, let Arjun perform the scene with someone else, we will both watch it and learn." She said and director nodded. He scanned the room for a girl with whom Arjun could perform and he spotted Paridhi.
"Miss Awasthi. Can you come here?" He asked and Paridhi walked to him. Darshan too, came and stood beside her.
"Paridhi, have you seen the scene properly? Can you please perform it with Arjun? Let these both see their role, how they have to perform it." Paridhi hesitated a bit, but then agreed as the director insisted.
Darshan wasn't particularly happy when the director suggested the idea, but he couldn't say anything when Paridhi agreed. He scowled in annoyance when Paridhi walked over to Arjun and stood close to him. He watched sullenly and with rising anger as Arjun held Paridhi in his arms. He lost his control when Paridhi twirled gracefully and at the beat of 4, jumped up straight into Arjun's arm. Darshan strode over to them and almost pulled Paridhi out of Arjun's arms.
"Yeah, alright I get it. I will practice it with Paridhi once." He told the shocked director and pulled a startled Paridhi close to him. Arjun looked confused for a moment, but he shrugged as Darshan got into position. Paridhi who was confused by his behavior, stared at him as he stood with his arms around her in a protective circle.
"Alright. Paridhi, practice with him once. Let's see if he can do it now. Diya, watch carefully." Director called out and Paridhi took a deep breath.
"Ready?" she asked Darshan. "For you, always." He replied which confused her even more, but she shrugged it off. She knew he talked nonsense sometimes. She pulled away from him, twirled gracefully, then looked into his eyes as she jumped. Darshan stared at her intensely as he caught her perfectly in his arms and spun her around in a circle. They stopped moving, but were lost in each other's eyes for a moment before the director exclaimed, "Perfect, see, Diya, this is the chemistry I want. Good work Darshan. Just repeat this same exact thing with Diya now."
Darshan put a blushing Paridhi down and stared at her as she hurried to the director. Diya was frowning at her, annoyed by the way Paridhi and Darshan had managed to execute the scene perfectly in first try while she couldn't even attempt it properly. The chemistry between them was obvious. Darshan's heart was beating wildly as he had held Paridhi so close to him. The feel of her body against his.... He shook his head to clear his distracted mind as Diya started twirling. Right now he had to focus on the shooting. This time though they performed the scene correctly, the director wasn't satisfied.
"You guys don't have any chemistry. Darshan I want that 'feel', that 'connection' between you and Diya. Just do what you did with Paridhi....Or do this...Imagine Diya as Paridhi and perform." The director said and Darshan's eyes widened.
Was he that obvious? Did everyone know that he liked Paridhi? Did she know it too? He looked at Paridhi who was blushing and grimaced. If she didn't know before, she will now. The director's comment was bound to make her realize that he was being teased by her name. He scowled at the director, who grinned and then mouthed sorry with an apologetic smile. Darshan nodded curtly, there was nothing he could do that moment. He was in the middle of a shoot and he didn't know how much Paridhi had caught on. He decided to think about it later. The director ended up canceling that scene as neither Darshan nor Diya performed it good enough to be shot.