DAMAGE CONTROL
ANAYA
I knew my life was over the moment the auntie smiled.
Not a normal smile.
Not a friendly smile.
The smile of a woman who had just discovered enough gossip to survive the next six months.
Interesting.
No.
Not interesting.
Catastrophic.
My mother looked between me and Veer.
Then smiled.
His mother did the same.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
RHEA
“Oh this is bad.”
ANAYA
“You’re enjoying this.”
RHEA
“A little.”
ANAYA
God my bestie is an absolutely useless traitor.
VEER
“A lot.”
ANAYA
I turned toward him.
“Whose side are you on?”
VEER
“Mine.”
ANAYA
Fair.
Annoying.
But fair.
——
AUNTIE #1
“We didn’t mean to interrupt.”
ANAYA
“You absolutely did.” I folded my hands while my face looked annoyed.
And with the reply I gave it was obvious that the first aunty
Ignored me.
Naturally.
AUNTIE #2
“So.”
Silence.
AUNTIE #2
“How did he propose?”
Dead silence.
My heart stopped.
Because there was no proposal.
There wasn’t even a relationship.
There was barely a functioning plan.
My brain started searching for answers.
Unfortunately it found one.
ANAYA
“He cried.”
VEER
“What?”
ANAYA
“He was emotional.”
VEER
“No, I wasn’t.”
ANAYA
“You were.” The look on his face was priceless to me.
Oh, I bet he was thinking that if he were a guy he’d beat me up. Thank god there are some perks of being a girl.
VEER
“I absolutely was not.”
RHEA
The sound she made was somewhere between a laugh and a choking incident.
My mother looked delighted.
His mother looked emotional.
The aunties looked obsessed.
I had made a mistake.
Again.
——
VEER
She was lying.
Badly.
The problem was that everyone believed her.
And the annoying part was Anaya was enjoying this. I could feel her smirking inside.
ANAYA
“You’re welcome.”
VEER
“For what?”
ANAYA
“Character development.”
VEER
“I don’t need character development.”
ANAYA
“That’s exactly what someone who needs character development would say.”
For a second—
I almost laughed.
Almost.
——
ANAYA
Escaping took twenty-three minutes.
I counted.
Because every minute felt like a personal attack.
By the time we finally reached a quieter section of the venue, I was exhausted.
VEER
After escaping the aunties, the next step was to do damage control. I grabbed Anaya’s hand and took her to the side.
ANAYA
“What is it, Veer?”
VEER
“We need rules.”
ANAYA
“No, we don’t.”
VEER
“We absolutely do.”
ANAYA
“We’re fake engaged.”
VEER
“Exactly.”
ANAYA
Ugh! Unfortunately he had a point.
I hate when that happens.
——————-
VEER
Rule one.
“No public contradictions.”
ANAYA
“Define contradiction.”
VEER
“You told six people I cried.”
ANAYA
“You did.”
VEER
“No.”
ANAYA
“Emotionally.”
VEER
“Still no.”
ANAYA
I smiled.
VEER
She might be pretty but that smile disturbed me a little.
———————–
ANAYA
I knew he did not like the way I smiled. And frankly it was a little satisfying to know that he knew I could create trouble anytime for him.
VEER
Rule number 2
“No surprises.”
ANAYA
“Define surprise?”
VEER
“You!” I pointed a finger at her looking annoyed.
ANAYA
“What?”
VEER
“You are the definition of surprise.”
ANAYA
Damn! I hate how accurate he was.
————————
VEER
Rule three.
“If something changes, you tell me first.”
ANAYA
“Fine.”
VEER
“Good.”
ANAYA
“Unless it’s funny.”
VEER
“No.”
ANAYA
“That’s restrictive.”
VEER
“That’s survival.”
——
ANAYA
His phone buzzed.
Then mine.
Then his again.
Then mine.
Interesting.
We looked at each other.
Neither of us liked it.
A dangerous sign.
My mother.
His mother.
Rhea.
Three separate messages.
One problem.
The next second Rhea called me. I picked it up.
Big mistake.
RHEA
What’s your favourite flower?
ANAYA
What?
RHEA
His mother is asking.
I frowned.
“What kind of question is that?”
VEER
“A normal one.”
ANAYA
“Nobody has a favourite flower.”
VEER
“People do.”
ANAYA
“That’s ridiculous.”
VEER
I smirked because she was so royally dumb sometimes. Its overrated.
ANAYA
“What?”
VEER
“You don’t like flowers.”
Silence.
I blinked.
“What?”
VEER
“You said they die too quickly.”
My stomach dropped.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Suspiciously.
ANAYA
“When did I say that?”
A pause.
Tiny.
Almost invisible. His gaze was on me for a second longer and the current flowing through my body should not have even existed.
VEER
“I remember.”
ANAYA
That wasn’t an answer.
And somehow—
I knew it.
——
ANAYA
Before I could ask another question, someone approached us.
Older.
Polished.
Corporate.
Dangerous.
BOARD MEMBER
“Ms. Kapoor.”
I smiled politely.
The fake kind.
He smiled back.
The fake kind.
We understood each other immediately.
BOARD MEMBER
“Congratulations.”
ANAYA
“Thank you.”
BOARD MEMBER
“You’re exactly what Veer needed.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
The man smiled.
Interesting.
I suddenly hated that word.
BOARD MEMBER
“The Kapoor deal.”
Silence.
BOARD MEMBER
“We’ve been trying for months.”
I looked toward Veer.
He was talking to someone else.
Unaware.
BOARD MEMBER
“Things have a funny way of working out.”
Then he left.
Just like that.
My stomach tightened.
Not because of the deal.
Because of the timing.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
——
VEER
She’d gone quiet.
Which was unusual.
Anaya usually treated silence like a personal enemy.
Something had happened.
I couldn’t tell what.
That bothered me more than it should have.
ANAYA
“What?”
VEER
“You’re thinking.”
ANAYA
“I always think.”
VEER
“Not this much.”
ANAYA
I narrowed my eyes.
He looked annoyingly pleased with himself. I had questions in my mind. Why did the board member say that Malhotra industries needed me? What is Veer hiding? A different feeling crawled through my stomach.
——
ANAYA
My phone buzzed.
Again.
This time it was Rhea.
A photograph.
I opened it.
Then I froze.
“Oh no.”
I realised before Malhotra industries I needed to tackle my own life situation.
VEER
“What?”
I turned the screen toward him.
Silence.
The terrace photograph.
Not posed.
Not planned.
Not edited.
Just us.
Talking.
Looking at each other.
Completely unaware.
The city lights behind us.
The ballroom glowing through the glass.
And somehow—
It looked real.
Far too real.
VEER
Silence.
ANAYA
“Say something.”
VEER
“…”
ANAYA
“Veer.”
VEER
“We look convincing.”
That was not the correct response.
END.
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