Read Online Secrets & Saris by Shoma Narayanan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Shoma Narayanan
Ads: Link
prevailed, and she said instead, ‘I’m good. How’s the shoot going?’
Neil grimaced. ‘As well as can be expected, I guess. This whole recreating history bit isn’t my kind of thing. Rafiq’s managing it. I’m just standing in front of the camera and saying my lines.’
Shefali had spent the afternoon watching clips of his earlier shows on the internet. She could picture him, standing in front of the fort in his trademark white T-shirt and faded jeans, his hair ruffled by the breeze and the sun glinting off his grey-blue eyes. She shut her eyes for a second. Short fling , she said to herself. That’s all—don’t start getting obsessed with him . Aloud she said, ‘Has your fan club followed you?’ He’d been complaining about a bunch of college girls who’d taken to haunting his shoots, giggling and simpering just out of camera range and making a regular nuisance of themselves.
‘Rafiq offered them roles as handmaidens to the queen,’ Neil said. ‘They’re running around somewhere in ghaghra cholis— I think Rafiq’s their new hero.’
‘Right,’ Shefali said, and there was a pause.
‘We need to talk,’ Neil said abruptly.
Shefali tensed. It didn’t sound as if he was going to tell her he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
‘Over the phone?’ she asked carefully.
She could hear the reluctance in his voice when he replied, ‘No, I guess not. Are you free to meet this evening?’
‘I’ve got to go out to for dinner with some of the teachers,’ Shefali said. ‘What about tomorrow? It’s Saturday, and I don’t have much to do much other than paperwork for the school.’
‘I’m at this shoot all day,’ Neil said. ‘Do you want to meet me here? We can do a picnic lunch somewhere near the fort.’
Shefali made a face. A picnic lunch sounded OK in theory, but—having seen Neil at work on two previous occasions—she knew she’d be kept hanging around like a spare wheel while he dealt with the dozens of problems that cropped up.
‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s too hot for a picnic. Would you like to come over for dinner instead?’ The second she said it, she realised she’d made a false move—he’d assume she wanted to continue where they’d stopped the night before. Her hunch was confirmed a second later.
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ he said. ‘Are you free now? I can take the rest of the day off.’
To say that Rafiq wasn’t pleased was an understatement—he was livid.
‘You can’t just walk off,’ he stormed at Neil. ‘It’s taken me hours to get everything just right, and the light’s perfect, and now you announce you need to go. Where’s the fire?’
‘There’s something I need to take care of,’ Neil said, wishing he’d lied and said he wasn’t feeling well.
‘ What do you need to take care of?’ Rafiq bellowed. ‘Why now? Why can’t it wait?’
‘Leave him alone, Rafiq,’ Priti intervened. ‘We can do the scenes without him today and the rest tomorrow—it’d be easier, actually. He’s looking like hell, anyway—look at the circles under his eyes.’
‘What do you expect if he spends the night seducing village maidens instead of getting his beauty sleep?’ Rafiq muttered sulkily. Neil made a sudden movement, and Rafiq’s eyes widened in alarm. ‘Chill, man...I’m just saying,’ he protested. ‘I’ve no idea what you’ve been doing—though, given the way you’re behaving, I can guess,’ he added under his breath.
As Neil swung away Priti gave Rafiq an affectionate punch on the arm. ‘Come on, let’s get the show going. Oh, and the last time I checked Neil’s still our boss. He doesn’t need our permission if he wants to take the afternoon off.’
‘I’m glad someone remembers that,’ Neil called over his shoulder as he headed down the stairs.
Rafiq yelled back, ‘Yeah, right—pull rank on your old friends.’ He was frowning when he turned back to Priti. ‘It’s that girl who runs Nina’s
Neil grimaced. ‘As well as can be expected, I guess. This whole recreating history bit isn’t my kind of thing. Rafiq’s managing it. I’m just standing in front of the camera and saying my lines.’
Shefali had spent the afternoon watching clips of his earlier shows on the internet. She could picture him, standing in front of the fort in his trademark white T-shirt and faded jeans, his hair ruffled by the breeze and the sun glinting off his grey-blue eyes. She shut her eyes for a second. Short fling , she said to herself. That’s all—don’t start getting obsessed with him . Aloud she said, ‘Has your fan club followed you?’ He’d been complaining about a bunch of college girls who’d taken to haunting his shoots, giggling and simpering just out of camera range and making a regular nuisance of themselves.
‘Rafiq offered them roles as handmaidens to the queen,’ Neil said. ‘They’re running around somewhere in ghaghra cholis— I think Rafiq’s their new hero.’
‘Right,’ Shefali said, and there was a pause.
‘We need to talk,’ Neil said abruptly.
Shefali tensed. It didn’t sound as if he was going to tell her he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
‘Over the phone?’ she asked carefully.
She could hear the reluctance in his voice when he replied, ‘No, I guess not. Are you free to meet this evening?’
‘I’ve got to go out to for dinner with some of the teachers,’ Shefali said. ‘What about tomorrow? It’s Saturday, and I don’t have much to do much other than paperwork for the school.’
‘I’m at this shoot all day,’ Neil said. ‘Do you want to meet me here? We can do a picnic lunch somewhere near the fort.’
Shefali made a face. A picnic lunch sounded OK in theory, but—having seen Neil at work on two previous occasions—she knew she’d be kept hanging around like a spare wheel while he dealt with the dozens of problems that cropped up.
‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s too hot for a picnic. Would you like to come over for dinner instead?’ The second she said it, she realised she’d made a false move—he’d assume she wanted to continue where they’d stopped the night before. Her hunch was confirmed a second later.
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ he said. ‘Are you free now? I can take the rest of the day off.’
To say that Rafiq wasn’t pleased was an understatement—he was livid.
‘You can’t just walk off,’ he stormed at Neil. ‘It’s taken me hours to get everything just right, and the light’s perfect, and now you announce you need to go. Where’s the fire?’
‘There’s something I need to take care of,’ Neil said, wishing he’d lied and said he wasn’t feeling well.
‘ What do you need to take care of?’ Rafiq bellowed. ‘Why now? Why can’t it wait?’
‘Leave him alone, Rafiq,’ Priti intervened. ‘We can do the scenes without him today and the rest tomorrow—it’d be easier, actually. He’s looking like hell, anyway—look at the circles under his eyes.’
‘What do you expect if he spends the night seducing village maidens instead of getting his beauty sleep?’ Rafiq muttered sulkily. Neil made a sudden movement, and Rafiq’s eyes widened in alarm. ‘Chill, man...I’m just saying,’ he protested. ‘I’ve no idea what you’ve been doing—though, given the way you’re behaving, I can guess,’ he added under his breath.
As Neil swung away Priti gave Rafiq an affectionate punch on the arm. ‘Come on, let’s get the show going. Oh, and the last time I checked Neil’s still our boss. He doesn’t need our permission if he wants to take the afternoon off.’
‘I’m glad someone remembers that,’ Neil called over his shoulder as he headed down the stairs.
Rafiq yelled back, ‘Yeah, right—pull rank on your old friends.’ He was frowning when he turned back to Priti. ‘It’s that girl who runs Nina’s
Similar Books
