BEDROOM - MID MORNING
Aadi has guests – Anuj and Sanjana. They sit around, Aadi on the bed, Anuj with half a butt on the table and Sanjana on the couch. They look solemn, thoughtful, as they observe Aadi.
Anuj exchanges a quick glance with Sanjana, then, turns to Aadi.
ANUJ: So... tell me buddy, what have you decided?
AADI: (in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone) I told you. I'm not doing it.
ANUJ: (hissing, looks away) Yaar ---
AADI: (getting irritated) What? Why're you making that face? I said I don't want to do it. How hard is that to understand?
ANUJ: How hard is it for you to understand?
AADI: Dude, why're you forcing me?
ANUJ: (frustrated) Because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's going to be a major motion picture with a big studio backing us up. It's going to be one hell of a feather in our caps. It's going to change our lives. The way the world sees us. Everything!
SANJANA: People have already gone crazy after that particular news article, that you're coming back.
AADI: And who the hell started this rumour?
ANUJ: I did.
AADI: (shocked, angry) What?
It goes quiet. Anuj looks sheepish.
ANUJ: Well, not a rumour exactly. I just expressed interest in having you back. And these guys, the media, well, you know how they are.
AADI: (mumbling, shaking his head) I don't believe it.
Sanjana gets up, goes to Aadi, sits beside him on the bed, places a hand on him.
SANJANA: Aadi ---
AADI: (cuts her off) Don't waste your breath, Sanjana. My decision is final. Nothing's going to change it.
SANJANA: Are you sure?
AADI: Yes.
MEANWHILE, DOWNSTAIRS
Neha emerges from the kitchen, tray with teacups in hand. She takes the stairs to their room.
UPSTAIRS
She reaches their door, turns to enter, when a shocking sight from within makes her stop dead.
INSIDE
NEHA'S POV –
Aadi and Sanjana, sitting on the bed, his back to the door. He's cupping Sanjana's face... and locked in a steaming, passionate kiss.
A whimper escapes Sanjana's lip.
Neha is pale. Her eyes like gooseberries. Her hold on the tray going limp. Thoughts bombard her head like tiny little squirts.
NEHA: (thinking) Kissing --- Friends --- Lovers --- Sex --- Cheating --- How can he --- He lied --- He never loved me --- He was always into her --- I always knew it --- People told me --- I refused to believe --- I trusted him --- How can he do this to me – Why me – Why me --- How can this happen to me ---
Tears glisten in her eyes and her heart races, almost blacking her out.
***
YOU ARE READING
EVERYTHING'S PERFECT!
RomanceAditya Vardhan (Aadi), an aspiring actor, shoots to fame overnight and finds himself struggling to balance his new life: an insecure wife, a big and unbearably traditional, orthodox joint family, overnight stardom and a dangerous rival.
