Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping!

My mother scolded me when my phone kept blasting the notification ringtone as soon as I switched it on. I had forgotten that I had switched it off the day before to focus on my assignment.

I glanced at the WhatsApp notifications: 400+ unread messages stared back at me.

I was about to check them when Mom snatched the phone away from me and gave me her murderous glare.

I zoomed inside the bathroom and got changed into my work clothes. Mom and I carefully exited our house without disturbing our sleeping family. I yawned and shifted closer to Mom as a cool gust of wind passed through our chawl.

The sun was yet to rise, and Mom kept talking about how we needed to reach the venue on time.

"Who's the client this time?" I asked.

Mom thought for a moment, her eyes darting like ping-pong ball. "I think it is some madam named Viraje or something..."

"Oh... But wasn't the deal cancelled?"

"We also thought so, but you know how these big people are like. If it wasn't for money, I wouldn't have accepted this offer at such a short notice. I even dragged you into this."

I pursed my lips as Mom kept mumbling about how she was affecting my dance practice. I gave her a side hug and told her to chill.

"I am not climbing Mount Everest, Maa. If I am done with my work on time, then I will leave for my dance studio from there only. What say?" I suggested.

Mom scrunched her nose in disapproval as she gave me a once-over. "Will you go in these clothes?"

I checked my attire. Apart from some loose threads falling from the hem of my long -sleeved shirt, a small tear near the right shoulder, faded backside and logo, and a hole the size of a five rupee coin, there was nothing wrong with what I was wearing.

I shrugged when Mom didn't look convinced. "It is either this wardrobe or me coming back home and wasting three hours. If it was possible, I would have carried spare clothes, but we all know the rules, right?"

Mom agreed in the end, even though she was yelling curses at the weird customs and rules we had to follow to work in such events. The agency Mom worked for on freelance basis restricted the workers to carry their belongings except mobile phones to the venue.

Soon, rest of the ladies also arrived, and we left to board our transportation. Our employee briefed us about the event and our work on the way, and as soon as we landed at our destination, my eyes were the shape of saucers.

It wasn't my first time working at a big place, but the house in front of me was colossal. Unlike me, Mom wasn't surprised. She shifted into her professional mode in a second and dragged me along with her.

Since the sky was still painted in night's leftover shades, I took my time to understand my share of work. While Mom was busy with the food preparation, I was a part of the decoration team. Following the plan, I carried the flower baskets and delivered them to the workers preparing the flower arrangements.

Just like that, I kept shifting from one department to another. Since I was the youngest among the workers, everyone kept treating me as an assistant. I didn't mind though - different types of work helped to keep my mind from worrying about other stuff.

As I had completed the task of placing the chairs and various placards titled as V.I.P, V.V.I.P, reserved etc.on the tables, I took a break and was eating a Vada Pav when our employer, Eknath Uncle, arrived in a rush.

"Guys, move faster! The client is going to arrive any time now. Hurry!" Eknath Uncle said.

He left soon after, but I wondered for whom this event was being held for. The name decoration was yet to be put up, so I asked Mom. As expected, she also wasn't aware. According to her, all these details didn't matter - only our payment did.

I nodded and left to do my work. I was happily skipping towards the cutlery when I was yanked away. Eknath Uncle dropped me in front of light technicians and pointed at me.

"I have got you a person to help, so now get the work done asap!" Eknath Uncle stormed off.

I stared cluelessly at the men, and they also returned the gesture.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked.

The light technicians discussed among themselves and told me to come with them. I followed, and they directed me to arrange the light strings as they had planned. It took me some time to get used to their terminologies, but soon, I was able to work with them.

Thankfully, those men were satisfied with my work.

"You are a fast learner," one of the technicians told me. "I am glad I don't have to repeat same stuff hundred times like I usually have to."

I smiled sheepishly. "Thank you."

To reward me, the same uncle gave me a bunch of lights and pointed upwards. I followed his gaze and looked at him in horror as I realised what he wanted me to do.

He patted my back proudly. "Climb up and arrange the lights like this," he showed me a picture, "and wait for my signal."

My jaw was touching the ground. "You want me to climb this 15 feet tree?!"

Technician uncle nodded. "I believe you can do this. Our girls can do anything."

I didn't know uncle was going to play that card on me. He looked more confident in me than I did. There was no way out; we were already short on hands.

I begrudgingly grabbed my equipments and climbed the stairs near the tree. My knees were shaking as the metal stairs squeaked under my weight.

Ganapati Bappa, please don't let me fall.

I sat down on the top of the stairs and prayed before I stared down.

Bhoomi, just focus ahead. Nothing will happen.

I took the lights and started wrapping them around the tree. My fear went away after some time, and I decided to finish my work sooner.

"Oh, fuck!" I screamed when I shook violently out of the blue.

I thought it was a earthquake. I hugged the tree tightly as I feared falling along with the stairs.

"Are you okay?"

I peeked down on hearing someone's voice. Since I was scared shitless, my vision was blurry.

"No, I am not okay!" I yelled, increasing my grip on the tree.

"The stairs are stable now. You can sit back!"

I slowly looked at my stairs and loosened my hold on the tree once I confirmed that I was safe. I looked down when that person yelled again.

"I am sorry for the trouble! I accidentally crashed into the stairs."

I squinted my eyes as the voice started sounding familiar. As I kept staring at the person on the ground, my mind lit up with the realisation.

Hriaan? Is that really him?

The person below waved his hand at me. "Please confirm that you are okay so I can leave!"

I narrowed my eyes more, and bingo! It was none other than Hriaan. I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing there but instantly shut it close when Eknath Uncle ran towards Hriaan at bullet speed.

"Mr. Viraje, please come with me to check the food preparation," Eknath Uncle said to Hriaan in a honey voice.

Mr. Viraje? Hmmm.... Didn't Mom say that the client's name was something like Viraje madam? So... does it mean that Hriaan is...

"Miss Devarkar, do your work! Stop wasting time!" Eknath Uncle yelled at me.

I cursed at him under my breath and reminded myself about the rules of the agency. No contact or mingling with the client on our own was one of those pathetic work conditions.

Hriaan glanced at me and left with Eknath Uncle. My doubts were confirmed when I saw Hriaan with our client, Viraje madam. The Viraje family was holding a birthday party for one of their pets.

As Hriaan was familiar with me, I could have landed in unwanted trouble if he would have recognised me. Going by his personality, he would have surely talked to me, even if he only wanted to ask me about Boomer again.

To avoid any trouble, I joined Mom in the kitchen. The kitchen staff wore a mask for hygiene, so I had no problem hiding myself from Hriaan.

As the event finally shot off, I was really amused and surprised at Hriaan and his family. I didn't know he was that rich to hold such a big-scale party for his pet dog, Roxie.

By the looks of the arrangements and the number of workers employed, I estimated that it must have costed around thirty lakhs. Still, Viraje family looked unbothered and splurged on their precious pet.

If I had that kind of money, what would I have done?

While I was daydreaming about swimming in the pools of money, Mom was running from one place to another to serve the guests. I shook my head and joined her. Apart from Hriaan, I had to hide myself from Kshitij, Suhana, and Mahreen too.

I didn't know they were also coming for Roxie's birthday celebration. Somehow, I managed to stay away from my college-mates and left after doing my work.

I was sweating and panting heavily when I reached Sarthak Pawar's dance studio. Unfortunately, my usual train was cancelled, and I had to change one more train to reach the studio on time.

I slumped down on the floor as soon as I landed in my practice room. I didn't even have strength to drink water. My team members were busy in their phones, and I glanced around for my team leader. There was no sign of him.

Maybe he hasn't returned from Manipur yet.

Finally, I got the time to check my phone. I opened WhatsApp, and more messages poured in. Most of them were from Yukta's WhatsApp group only. I decided to ignore them, but when I read Yukta's latest message, my eyes widened in shock.

Yukta: Guys, I think our ship is finally going to sail! Yay, I am so excited. Our heroine is coming today! 🎉

Girl 1: Who wants to see more ship edits? Comment #Teyzere and I will drop an edit soon 😜

Girl 2: Me! Please send soon. I can't wait! #Teyzere

What's Teyzere? And what ship edits are these girls talking about?

I checked the messages, and my heartbeat seemed to be dropping as I scrolled through the fan edits one by one. Some girls in the group had made ship edits of Tejas and Ayzere Barat - I didn't like any of them.

I wanted to exit the group, but my mind kept telling me to check all of the videos. I knew these were all made by hopeless fans, but I couldn't deny the doubt of Tejas and Ayzere actually dating each other.

"Bhoomi!"

I prepared myself as Yukta launched herself at me and planted her face in front of me.

"Where the heck were you, girl? Are you so busy that you can't even reply to my messages?" Yukta complained.

I showed her my phone, and she squealed.

"Aren't both of them so cute?" Yukta said. "Even though I am a bit jealous of Ayzere since she stole our TJ from us, I am also excited. I mean, who can compare to her?"

"Our TJ?" I asked.

Yukta nodded proudly. "Of course, he is ours. We love him!"

We? Yeah, right. I am not the only one who likes Tejas. Just like Yukta, I am also just one of his fans. But, why do I feel like crying right now?

Yukta showed me her self-edited videos, and I tried to drag myself out of my own mind. I was thinking really weird stuff. I pressed my temples and closed the WhatsApp group. I didn't want to get distracted.

I let Yukta be and started practicing. I had finally managed to clear my mind when a certain person's impromptu arrival bombed my progress.

"Ayzere Barat?!" Yukta yelled in shock.

Just like her, everyone screamed in surprise on seeing none other than Ayzere Barat in our dance practice room. No one could believe she was actually here.

"Hello, everyone," Ayzere smiled.

While others greeted Ayzere and clicked selfies with her, I stood frozen on my spot. Ayzere was nothing short of a beautiful dream: round face, doe-shaped blue eyes, golden brown hair, and an innocent smile; I thought I was looking at a painting.

I was taken out of my trance when Yukta grabbed my hand.

"Bhoomi, what the hell are you doing? Let's get a pic clicked with Ayzere," Yukta said.

I shook my head. "I can't."

"Why not?"

I pointed at my attire. "I think I am not properly dressed."

Yukta thought for some time, and I knew she didn't want to offend me by criticising my clothes. We were busy arguing when I noticed Tejas outside our dance room.

"Ayzere, Tejas is here!" one of the dancers yelled.

"I will hide now. Please, help me," Ayzere said.

What is she doing exactly?

Everyone helped Ayzere in hiding, and Yukta shushed me up when Tejas entered the room. He was busy in his phone, and Yukta pulled me in a corner.

"Let's watch from here," Yukta said. "I will record it. The lovebirds are finally going to meet."

"What?!"

Yukta told me to shut up. I held my breath as Tejas placed his bag on the floor and stretched his arms. Did he really go to Manipur?

Tejas was stuck to his phone and didn't notice Ayzere, who had snuck behind him. I didn't want to see what was going to happen but my eyes had a plan of their own.

Ayzere tapped Tejas' shoulder from left, but Tejas didn't react. She did it again, and when Tejas looked to his left, Ayzere moved to his right. She tapped his right shoulder and was about to move away, but TJ caught her hand before she ran away. He didn't look at her though.

"Whoever it is, I am not in the mood of playing around," TJ said and left Ayzere's hand.

Ayzere pouted when TJ went back to his phone and didn't notice her. She ducked her head and waved at Tejas.

TJ looked at her, and after two takes, his eyes widened in surprise. "Ayzere?!"

Ayzere launched herself at TJ and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I am hurt, TJ. You didn't even recognise me."

TJ laughed and squeezed Ayzere. "Sorry, buddy. I can't believe you are here."

Ayzere moved away and narrowed her eyes at Tejas. She pinched his nose and accused him of ignoring her. Before Tejas could say anything in his defence, Ayzere pecked his cheek.

"Oh my, god!" Yukta squealed in joy.

"Guys, no cameras, please!" Tejas said when he heard numerous camera shutters closing.

Ayzere giggled at TJ's reaction, while Tejas shook his head at her; he pushed her forehead with his finger. I wanted to hear what he was saying, but everyone surrounded Tejas and Ayzere and started bombarding them with questions.

"Bhoomi, we should go too," Yukta said.

I dug my heels into the ground. I believed that I had heard only rumours, but the scene in front of me felt like a truck had hit me.

Tejas and Ayzere... Why am I not able to accept this beautiful dream like others?