Character update:

There is a character update guys - Danish full name is - Syed Mohammed Danish

Danish's parents name - Syed Nafees Ahmed and Khatija Anwar, They live in Bangalore.

-------------

India - Bangalore

Author's POV:

After a joyful weekend with Adil and his family, Danish and Afsha were packing their things to go to the Danish's parent house, and from there they will be leaving for Hyderabad. Meanwhile, Saniya in her room was hugging a pillow and sobbing silently so that no one could hear her. She was successful in diverting her mind these three days, but the reality is how much we force a topic to be forgotten. Our brain enforces all its energy to remember each and everything as if picturizing in front of our eyes. Sensing the absence of his sister, Adil marches towards Saniya's room, checking for her.

Hearing the knock, Saniya quickly wipes her tears and opens the door, seeing her worried brother, her tears crash disowning her own will, and in cue, Adil hugs her.

"Saanu, it's ok, things happen; please don't cry. I am here, right, and I will make sure that nothing happens to you. You trust your bhai, right?" Adil was cooing Saniya and comforting her by rubbing her back.

"Bhai, if anything happens, Baba can't handle it, and Chachu will be disappointed in me; I have betrayed his trust." Saniya sobs again.

"No, Bacha, you haven't betrayed anyone, and regarding BadePapa, I will make sure that he will never know about it." Adil convinces and wipes the tears of Saniya.

Adil makes her sit on the bed and holds her hands in both of his hands. "Listen to me, Saniya, you are a strong and confident girl; making boundaries and fighting for them do not make you any weaker. Instead, I am proud of you; you have chosen the field, breaking the stereotypes, stood strong without betraying the faith of anyone, and set an example to all the girls that modeling is beyond exposing, and now, after coming to this stage, why are you feeling demotivated for few bastards?" Adil uplifts Saniya by flashing her own struggles and strengths, which were needed, and who can cheer her other than her big brother, who was there for her in each and every moment like an own sibling, who would say that they are cousins but not siblings? They have been each other's strength and have protected each other since childhood. The same thing happened on that day.

-----------

Flashback starts - 2 days back

The day - Danish arrived to India

Saniya received a call from Set stating the preparation of her shoot and confirming the schedule from the assistant director before she leaves for the shoot.

"Cut," the director shouts, indicating completion of the first ramp walk and shoot in one outfit. Saniya moves to her vanity and changes into her comfortable dress as the next shoot is after the lunch, she offers the namaz and sits to have lunch.

As she starts to eat her first bite, one of the crew ladies arrives and shows her the outfit for the next shoot.

It was a sleek black backless long sleeves bodycon dress with a dangerously high slit till the upper thigh on the right side.

Seeing the outfit, Saniya gets up in shock. "What is this? and who has sent this?"

"Ma'am, this is your outfit for the next scene, and Abhishek (the assistant director) sir has sent it," the lady frightens and answers the question. Frustrated, Saniya takes the dress from the lady's hand and marches out of the van to the AD, Abhishek.

                                                        
"Abhishek, What is this? I have mentioned already that I won't be wearing this type of dress," Saniya burst out to her AD, who was talking with the producer and director of the show.

"Saniya, listen...." Abhishek was responding, but the producer, Ritesh, yelled at Saniya, "Oh lady, I have seen this type of members many times. You want to increase your price, right? It won't be happening, so shut your mouth and wear the dress," which made Saniya double her anger.

"Excuse me, sir, I am not that type of lady. I have already mentioned in my contract that there won't be any type of exposure." Saniya clarifies and quashes out her statement, to which the director and producer smirk evilly.

"Oh really! Now that even models are putting forth their conditions, I don't have much time for your tantrums. Go on, wear the dress, and come to the ramp. It's already late," Dheeraj, the director, lashes out in a disgusting manner and leaves along with the producer. 

"Look, Saniya, these are the most covered dresses I can get you right now. Check out the others; they are more revealing. Please wear this and come out," Abhishek explains to Saniya and takes the departure, leaving Saniya off guard. 

Although she does not wear a hijab , her clothing used to be covered despite being a model. She also adds the 'No Exposure clause' to every assignment she takes on, but the world never gets what modesty means, especially in the field she has chosen. It is not as everyone spat on her; there were people who used to understand and used to alter or modify her clothes to be less revealing, but today it was not her day.

 Giving a final glance towards everyone, she just returns to vanity and calls her brother tearfully. How could Adil, a famous lawyer and protective brother, not go to his sister's aid when she is in tears?

Adil comes to the set and calls off the shooting and gives the legal notice to everyone—literally everyone present at the spot.

Later, to cool down Saniya, he takes her to LalBagh (one of the famous botanical gardens in Bangalore). Sitting in a secluded place, Adil points his finger towards the flowers present in the garden. 

"Saanu, look at the flowers in the glass house; whatever the situation, they never forget to bloom and brighten the mood of every person. I will not say to suppress the matter, but the journey has not stopped, right? You have to get up and fight like today, and I am there to protect you always," Adil assures her, which helps Saniya. She nods meekly and wipes her tears, smiling at her brother.

Seeing the time, they quickly purchase a bouquet of roses and some balloons to entice their sister and brother-in-law.

Flashback Ends

-------------------

Manhattan - New York

Neha's POV:

"Congratulations, Neha, you have entered the final jury's round, and your designs are so outstanding, I am sure you will be selected for fashion week." Jennifer congratulated me. Finally, my designs got selected and tomorrow I have a final presentation to present infront of the jury's; hopefully if everything goes well, I can enter my designs in New York Fashion Week, representing Luxurious Chic. Currently, I have butterflies in my stomach due to excitement and nervousness. 'Why nervous?' because the jury is the famous Italian designer Lisa Padro and, of course, my boss and owner of Luxurious Chic, Monica James.

"Thanks, Jenny, but I am nervous after coming to this stage. What if I get rejected?" I turned to her side and expressed my feelings. "Don't worry, as per my knowledge, no one gets rejected in this round, it is just they check the outfits and the suitability for the event, and your designs are so fantastic that there is no chance of any modification. You just relax and get ready for tomorrow's final presentation," Jenny consoles and motivates me. I just nod and get ready to leave the office. I don't know, but something seems uneasy to me. It is one of my dreams to represent myself worldwide, and now that I am about to officially reach that stage in a few hours, I am not feeling good.

To reduce my uneasiness, I directly drive to Central Park, which has been my solace in these 4 years. After grabbing some takeout and sitting in some secluded place, I call Ammi to have a talk.

"Assalamualaikum Ammi, How are you?" I greet her once she answers her phone.

 "Waalaikumassalam Nehu, I am good, and what about you? How are you and how's everything?"

"Alhamdulillah, everything is good, and what is that noise? Are you some where?" I ask, hearing some void background noises. "Ahh, your Papa and Asif uncle are playing badminton, and Ayesha is the umpire, and you know right what will happen: your father is cheating and Ayesha is helping him." Hearing that, a chuckle releases from my mouth. They cannot change, especially Ayesha and my father. They fight with each other when they play alone and if they play with others, they just team up and fight with them. After finishing the talk, I get up and leave for home. I have already completed my dinner while talking with Ammi. I'm hoping, InshaAllah, everything will be alright tomorrow.

-----

"Can you please get the safety pins, thread, and needle?" I ask one of my team members for the final fittings of the outfits in the mannequins. The last round is about to start in an hour, and judges are about to call us one by one. The nervousness and stress are at their peak, the last-minute jitteriness.

"Miss Neha Ali, it is your turn now. Please bring your outfits." The jury calls my name, whispering a few verses of the Quran, I and my team move our mannequins near the judges; I stand aside the mannequins representing while others move backwards. To examine the outfits, both the ladies (Lisa and Monica) get up from their seats and come forward, checking the details, designs, and fabrics of each and every outfit, they move aside and discuss something in silence, which was inaudible, noting down something in their book and they again come towards me, rather towards the outfits and examine again. 

Seeing their gestures I am unable to understand what is going in their minds, are they happy? will they reject it ? but Jenny said there is no rejection in this round, many intrusive thoughts are running in my mind and none was true when they voice out to bring scissors and cutter to one of the jury members which makes me to come out of my thoughts and face the judges in a questionable way.

Soon Scissors and cutters where brought Lisa takes the scissors while Monica takes the cutter and they come towards the mannequins, I am still unable to understand what is going to happen will they tear my dresses, Are my outfits that bad? 

I come out of my thoughts when Lisa cuts the fabric, as it forms a slit in one of the dresses near the left thigh. Meanwhile, Monica cuts the sleeves of one of the dresses, making it sleeveless. Similarly, they cut the pieces of fabric in other dresses; they move backwards and declare, "Now these are perfect for the event." As they declared, I came out of my shock state.

"Sorry jury's, May I know the reason for making the outfits slit and sleeveless?" I let my voice out in an audible format. Hearing me, they look at me as if I am naïve.

"Are you really a fashion designer? Monica, How come she works here and doesn't know the meaning of fashion?" Lisa yells at me and later asks Monica, my boss, about my designation in her Italian accent. 

Hearing the comment makes me furious, and I reply back, "Sorry, ma'am, I didn't get you. If I don't know the meaning of fashion, I would not be standing in front of you," I replied politely, which enraged both of the jury's.

"Oh, really! Then these are the outfits you designed. You gullible girl, did you not even realise that you would be representing Luxurious Chic at New York Fashion Week? You created these full-coverage, skin-hiding outfits. If these are made public, Luxurious Chic will undoubtedly be on the papers, but for the downfall, and I do not want my company to shut down by representing these types of dresses." Monica snaps at me.

 What does she mean about these types of covered dresses? 'Why do designer dresses mean exposure and cleavage? Why can't it be modest?' thinking of it, I step backwards and call one of my senior team members, Rachel, who was an assistant to me during this project.

"Sorry, ma'am, if representing Luxurious Chic in New York Fashion Week means to showcase this version of outfits, I shall back out from tomorrow's event, and I am totally fine if you use my outfits; my assistant Rachel can represent it with the final changes," stating that I back out from the event and storm out of the office.

---------------------------------------------------

Guys, I don't know the details regarding shooting and crew members and even about the New York fashion week, I just described using some basic knowledge and as per the story needs. If there is any mistake, just forget it and overall it is just a fiction story, so I believe it will be author's liberty to create as they wish ;)

Coming towards the chapter, I need an honest review on this chapter. Please do let me know your feelings and opinions.

Don't forget to vote and comment.