Read Online Secrets & Saris by Shoma Narayanan - Free Book Online
Authors: Shoma Narayanan
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groan of despair. Life suddenly seemed terribly complicated.
* * *
Neil used his key to enter the house he’d rented for his three-month stay in the city. Once inside, he threw himself onto the sofa and buried his head in his hands. What a mess. Sleeping with Shefali had been the farthest thing from his mind when he’d left home the evening before. He’d been attracted to her since the day they’d met, but he’d decided early on to keep things light between them. Well, he’d failed.
Shefali had crept under his defences without his even realising it. Or, no, that was an unfair thing to think—whatever had happened was completely his fault, and he needed to sort it out. And quickly, before Shefali ended up getting hurt.
The realisation that he was the first man she’d ever slept with had made him feel angry, humbled and terribly guilty all at the same time. Angry because if she’d told him earlier he wouldn’t have let things go quite so far. Guilty because he now felt responsible for her, and he knew he couldn’t give her the kind of relationship she deserved. And humbled because she’d trusted him enough, felt safe with him...
A door creaked open, and Neil looked up to see Bela Mashi looking out at him blearily.
‘ Ki khoka? You’re still awake? Did you go to bed at all?’
Neil shook his head.
‘I was working,’ he said. Bela Mashi was used to the weird hours his job entailed—she wouldn’t ask nosy questions.
‘Get some sleep now,’ she instructed, turning to go back inside. ‘I’ll take Nina to school in an auto—you can sleep late.’
It was good advice, but he didn’t take it, going into the kitchen to make himself some coffee instead. He had a tough day ahead of him. They were doing some scenes around the history of the city and were going to be filming at an old fort that had belonged to a warrior queen in the sixteenth century. The idea was to recreate a small part of her battle to defend the kingdom, and they had a couple of professional actors and a whole bunch of locals playing the queen and her soldiers. It would be a long and tiring day, and in his current troubled frame of mind he wasn’t looking forward to it.
‘I won’t be able to pick you up from school today,’ he told Nina as her dropped her off at the school gate.
Shefali, thankfully, was nowhere in sight, and Nina’s class teacher was at the gate, ushering the children in. Nina nodded and scampered in. Her teacher gave Neil a curious look—rumours of the amount of time the new centre manager was spending with him had already begun to circulate.
The shoot was gruelling—there was no other word for it. Neil could even bring himself to feel sorry for the actress who was playing Queen Durgavati as take after take was ruined by the over-enthusiastic local extras, who stopped whatever they were supposed to be doing to wave into the camera eagerly whenever it came near them. Shooting on a budget had its disadvantages.
Taking his phone back from Priti between shots, Neil scrolled through the calls he’d missed. There were none from Shefali—maybe she was waiting for him to call her. He looked up to see Priti regarding him steadily.
‘Do you want to take a break?’ she asked. ‘Rafiq has this bunch under control now, and we don’t need you for the next hour or so while we do the siege scene.’
Rafiq was more than capable of handling the scene. Nodding at Priti, Neil got to his feet. ‘I’ll see you guys in an hour, then,’ he said.
The fort was on top of a hill, and there were steps all the way down to the road below. Halfway down, Neil dialled Shefali’s number. She picked up on the fourth ring.
‘Hi,’ she said cheerfully.
At the sound of her voice Neil felt his pulse begin to race. ‘Hi,’ he said softly. ‘You doing OK?’
At the other end of the line Shefali was sorely tempted to yell that she wasn’t. What did he expect, after walking out on her like that last night? But better sense
* * *
Neil used his key to enter the house he’d rented for his three-month stay in the city. Once inside, he threw himself onto the sofa and buried his head in his hands. What a mess. Sleeping with Shefali had been the farthest thing from his mind when he’d left home the evening before. He’d been attracted to her since the day they’d met, but he’d decided early on to keep things light between them. Well, he’d failed.
Shefali had crept under his defences without his even realising it. Or, no, that was an unfair thing to think—whatever had happened was completely his fault, and he needed to sort it out. And quickly, before Shefali ended up getting hurt.
The realisation that he was the first man she’d ever slept with had made him feel angry, humbled and terribly guilty all at the same time. Angry because if she’d told him earlier he wouldn’t have let things go quite so far. Guilty because he now felt responsible for her, and he knew he couldn’t give her the kind of relationship she deserved. And humbled because she’d trusted him enough, felt safe with him...
A door creaked open, and Neil looked up to see Bela Mashi looking out at him blearily.
‘ Ki khoka? You’re still awake? Did you go to bed at all?’
Neil shook his head.
‘I was working,’ he said. Bela Mashi was used to the weird hours his job entailed—she wouldn’t ask nosy questions.
‘Get some sleep now,’ she instructed, turning to go back inside. ‘I’ll take Nina to school in an auto—you can sleep late.’
It was good advice, but he didn’t take it, going into the kitchen to make himself some coffee instead. He had a tough day ahead of him. They were doing some scenes around the history of the city and were going to be filming at an old fort that had belonged to a warrior queen in the sixteenth century. The idea was to recreate a small part of her battle to defend the kingdom, and they had a couple of professional actors and a whole bunch of locals playing the queen and her soldiers. It would be a long and tiring day, and in his current troubled frame of mind he wasn’t looking forward to it.
‘I won’t be able to pick you up from school today,’ he told Nina as her dropped her off at the school gate.
Shefali, thankfully, was nowhere in sight, and Nina’s class teacher was at the gate, ushering the children in. Nina nodded and scampered in. Her teacher gave Neil a curious look—rumours of the amount of time the new centre manager was spending with him had already begun to circulate.
The shoot was gruelling—there was no other word for it. Neil could even bring himself to feel sorry for the actress who was playing Queen Durgavati as take after take was ruined by the over-enthusiastic local extras, who stopped whatever they were supposed to be doing to wave into the camera eagerly whenever it came near them. Shooting on a budget had its disadvantages.
Taking his phone back from Priti between shots, Neil scrolled through the calls he’d missed. There were none from Shefali—maybe she was waiting for him to call her. He looked up to see Priti regarding him steadily.
‘Do you want to take a break?’ she asked. ‘Rafiq has this bunch under control now, and we don’t need you for the next hour or so while we do the siege scene.’
Rafiq was more than capable of handling the scene. Nodding at Priti, Neil got to his feet. ‘I’ll see you guys in an hour, then,’ he said.
The fort was on top of a hill, and there were steps all the way down to the road below. Halfway down, Neil dialled Shefali’s number. She picked up on the fourth ring.
‘Hi,’ she said cheerfully.
At the sound of her voice Neil felt his pulse begin to race. ‘Hi,’ he said softly. ‘You doing OK?’
At the other end of the line Shefali was sorely tempted to yell that she wasn’t. What did he expect, after walking out on her like that last night? But better sense
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