Together

08

Sumedh's POV

"What happened? You okay?" Mallika's voice, anxiousness echoing in every bit of it, startles me.

"Yes, I'm fine," I answer without even casting a look at her, the shield of my palms still concealing my pale face.

"I know something is wrong with you. You have never been late for shooting, except today. You have never ignored my calls, except today. You have never been so dull and disturbed during the shoots. Why aren't you talking to me? What have I done, Sumedh? Why the hell are you ignoring me?" The patience intertwined with pain in Mallika's voice makes my heart feel heavier, adding to the pile of apprehensions with which my heart is burdened.

"For God's sake, Mallika," I bring my hands away from my face and look at her, "Will you just stop thinking that? I'm not ignoring you. I just–I just need some time to contemplate certain things, that's it. I want to be alone for some time."

"Are you sure? You want privacy? You want me to leave?" she asks, the moisture in her eyes piercing my heart. I want to tell her how much I need her beside me, but framing perfect words seem to be an arduous task right now, so I decide to tell her through my eyes. Eyes speak volumes, that's the belief of my heart, and the belief of the heart can never be wrong, never ever.

Ajay enters the room in a jiffy, "Sumedh sir, Nitin sir is calling you. You've to do the last sequence of today's shoot. Have you revised the script for the Krishna Vaani?"

"Yeah, you go, I–I'm coming," I stutter. Turning towards Mallika, I look directly into her glistening eyes, and I suppose my eyes are wet too, for as she gazes back into my idiosyncratic coloured orbs, I can see the wave of affliction hitting her face. Right at this moment, my eyes are conveying the feelings of my heart along with all the pain buried deep inside it. I exit the room, having said all I wanted to, hoping that Mallika has been able to fathom the words of my eyes, hoping that she heard all that I've said through the lips of my eyes and voice of my heart.

It has been an hour or two since I've seen Mallika, and I'm badly yearning for her company. The shooting is finally over for today. As soon as I hear the most awaited word – packup, I head towards the make-up room. No, not my make-up room, I'm walking impatiently towards her make-up room. I don't even know why I'm going there. She must have left almost an hour ago, for her shooting was over earlier than mine. Yes, she must have left. Even after knowing that I'll find her make-up room vacant, I don't change my path, maybe because I want to be disappointed right now.

Pushing the door of Mallika's make-up room, I walk in. The heat of Mallika's innocent face as she snores softly melts my heart, my eyes dilating at the unexpected sight. She has fallen asleep on the chair, her legs curled up close to her chest which is rising and falling in a rythm. It is after days of continuous night shoots and rare hours of sleep in the day that Mallika has been finally wrapped in the comfort of profound sleep. The faint, tranquil smile brightening up her face is a reflection of the saccharine nature of the dreams that she might be enjoying in her deep slumber. Leaning on the wall with my arms crossed over my chest, I continue gazing at the statue of beauty, my eyes refusing to blink, my heart refusing to calm down. What Mallika does to my heart is simply inexplicable, it is something which I don't think I'll ever be able to comprehend.

All of a sudden, a sharp sound starts reverberating through the room, causing Mallika to jerk and open her eyes, blinking rapidly. After rubbing the remainder of the sleep away from her eyes, she jumps towards the table to dismiss the alarm and then turns around to find me still staring at her, leaning on the wall.

"What?" she asks, her soft voice breaking me out of the light trance which even the sharp sound of the alarm couldn't disturb.

"Nothing. You're still here? Your shoot got over–"