21. Let's Talk
Not everything is about money.

"We discussed three hundred bags of KitKats for this scene. Where are the goddamn KitKats?!"

Mr. Osborne's vicious green eyes stared at the tiny pile of KitKats sitting in the corner like a child in timeout.

Roshan and I stared at one another as the director of our first movie went berserk. He couldn't blame me for this one as Roshan was responsible for arranging the food. His father was the producer after all.

"That was all I could find within a fifty mile radius," Roshan lied.

No way did stores run out of KitKats a few weeks before Christmas and New Years'. Roshan probably only remembered these before coming to work this morning. I was waiting for the director to start screaming at him to leave and get more instead the man turned to me.

"You're the second AD and you couldn't be bothered to ascertain the scene requirements?" he asked me in disbelief.

"Hey man, I told her I'd take care of it," Roshan said before I could don the disgusting man a few colorful words.

"It doesn't matter who screwed up because neither one of you can take any responsibility," Mr. Osborne spat frustrated.

"We can shoot a different scene," I suggested.

"No!" he snapped. "Someone better go get the damn KitKats. We are finishing this scene today! I don't care if it's a fourteen hour shift."

"I'll go," I said clenching my jaw.

"Good," said Mr. Osborne.

I kept my cool and left the set. I drove myself today which meant I couldn't even send the driver to get the chocolates. I ended up going to ten different stores to reach a count of three hundred bite sized KitKats.

When I returned to the set, the KitKat scene had already begun and everyone was quietly watching the actors perform.

"Cut!" the director snapped.

The scene ended and he told the crew to prepare for the next scene.

I hurried up to him to show him the chocolates.

"We don't need that many," the director said when he saw me. "What Roshan brought was enough for the scene. You can give those out to the crew if you want."

"Why did you make me get these?" I couldn't help but ask.

He shrugged and went to talk to the DOP.

I took a deep breath and went to my locker where I kept my purse and phone. I had been carrying the paper in my purse since last week and it was the golden opportunity today to hand it in.

I returned to the set where everyone stood confused by my speedy return. The director raised an eyebrow as I brought the letter out of my purse and handed it to him.

"It was a pleasure working with you," I said bitterly. "I hope it was the first and last time we worked together."

Roshan who was standing by the man's side blinked in shock. He shook his head at me.

"Annie—" Roshan started desperately.

"Maybe if my dad was producing the movie, I would've received the same treatment as you," I told him. "But my dad's dead and so is my respect for this man."

I gave the director a pointed look.

"Annie, you're—" Roshan started.

"Ro, I need to go."

I turned on my heels and walked off the set, leaving shocked faces in my wake.

Oh, I made sure to bring my KitKats home along with me.

* * *

"He did what?" Tara gasped in shock.

I had relayed over today's events to my supermodel friend who finally took a day off to help me. We were getting our manicures done along with Ashar's sister, Aara. Although skeptical at first, Tara accepted my help plea with Aara.

"He made me buy three hundred KitKats!" I repeated. "That jerk deserves to become a leech in his next life!"

"You believe in reincarnation?" she asked confused. She was far too Americanized despite being half Indian.

"Of course. My dad took me to temples growing up," I told her. "I'm a huge believer of Karma."

"Oh is that why you're helping his sister?" she asked in a lowered voice. Aara was seated across the room from us getting a pedicure. The girl needed serious help. "After the humiliation we put their family through."

I looked at Aara as a lady painted my nails carefully.

Tara wasn't exactly wrong.

"Remember when I joined your school and had no fashion sense? You became my friend and helped me," I reminded her. "I used to cry my heart out in the beginning. She's in the same position. Ashar wants her to get a good education but he doesn't understand the costs it comes at. I had to step in."

"So you're doing this for him?" she asked raising an eyebrow. Her smirk flustered me for some reason.

"No way!" I said immediately.

"You haven't been hanging out with our lot lately," she said in an accusatory tone. "Your husband's been keeping you busy. When's the honeymoon or has it already—"

"Shut up." I glared at her.

The room suddenly felt stuffy. I hadn't even thought about kissing Ashar let alone . . . No, we were only pretending to be in love. Certain boundaries couldn't be crossed.

She giggled as we finished. Aara seemed delighted by her rose gold diamond studded manicure. She ran up to me to show her nails.

"Isn't it pretty?" she asked. "You guys are amazing. Thank you."

She ran off to take photos of it leaving me and Tara confused. She acted like a child. No wonder she was bullied at school. It was always the innocent people who tried to put a hard shell out for the world yet failed to maintain their walls every time someone said something.

I never thought she'd talk to me. She barely ever looked my way. She was showing the nails off to me proudly like I used to show to my dad.

Tara and I took her to Tara's favorite hair stylist next to give her long hair layers and curtain bangs. The stylist gave her a flawless caramel balayage that made me jealous. I got my hair done too while I was there.

Next, we went shopping. Tara knew how to style clothes and accessories the best way. We must've shopped for hours until finally stopping at the food court. Tara went to a vegan restaurant since she was going to Paris for her next show in a few days. She needed to eat light.

Aara and I waited in line at a busy Thai place.

"You're cool," Aara said suddenly.

I frowned. "What?"

"You're really cool," she smiled. "I thought you were a snobby . . . person who somehow managed to lure my brother into your trap. But I can see why he likes you."

"He likes me?" I asked raising an eyebrow. Realizing he was my husband, I quickly added, "I hope he loves me."

Ashar and I were supposed to pretend to be in love. I was merely keeping up the charade.

She pressed her lips for a second as if holding something back. She couldn't.

"He said he could never love someone after her. How did he fall for you?" she asked. "No offense. It's just he was head over heels for Hayat. You don't understand how bad it was when she broke the engagement."

Ashar had brought up Hayat but no details except for an engagement. I didn't know how much I could coax out of Aara about this topic.

"How bad was it?" I asked her slowly as the line moved up.

"He'd work like a robot," she said. "Then he'd crash and stay home sick. He barely ate and dropped like fifty pounds. He was super skinny. He would go to mom's grave and come back with red puffy eyes from all his crying. He'd wear his thick grandma glasses because we couldn't afford contact lens. Hayat should've waited a few months to break the engagement. Doing it two months after mom's death makes me want to punch her to this day."

That was a lot to register. Ashar's mom was dead? What about his father? Also, Ashar went through that kind of trauma? A broken engagement post his mother's death?

"Ashar told you all this right?" she asked suddenly.

I nodded quickly as we grabbed our food. "He rarely talks about it."

"He hates talking about the past," she said with a sigh. "My brother had to go through a lot."

It was as if there were other things I didn't know.

We met Tara at a red table and consumed our food. Tara was kinder to Aara today after spending time with her. She reminded us of . . . us. She was truthful about everything we asked. I wished I could dig a bit deeper about Ashar but I needed to get closer to her for that. Otherwise, she'd assume I didn't know anything about him.

After we finished eating, Aara said, "Finally, we can go home."

I shook my head. "It's time for Tara to go home. You and I have one last place to visit."

Tara knew already so she blew me and Aara an air kiss before bidding us goodbye. I took my confused sister-in-law to the best optometrist I knew to get her eyes fixed.

Once we finished ordering her contact lens, Aara wrapped her arms around me.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded and didn't say a word. She just held on to me as if telepathically telling me how grateful she was for today. I uneasily hugged her back it was not a gesture I was accustomed to.

The Virk family was another wonder in this world.

* * *

"Who are you and what have you done to my sister?" Ashar asked when he saw Aara.

She wore a Dior rose gold dress with an expensive sheer sweater of the same color. Black stilettos by Versace complimented her feet. Her hair was curled loosely to give a natural vibe. We had gotten her a temporary pair of stylish eyeglasses until her contacts.

"You're so pretty." Rosie gave Aara a hug.

"Now, I don't want you to enjoy your suspension," Ashar said sternly. "Make sure your grades remain A's or this stuff will be thrown out of the window."

"Ashar!" Aara groaned.

"Shouldn't you study for your upcoming SAT exam before Christmas?" Ashar asked like a strict parent. His kids were going to hate him in the future.

Aara started to leave when he stopped her.

"Did you thank your fairy godmother?" Ashar asked her.

She gave him a look. "Obviously. I'm not you."

Before he could reprimand her, she ran clicking her heels. Rosie ran behind her asking to try on the heels.

I smiled and headed up to my room with my trash bag. I took a seat on my bed before pulling out a bag of KitKats. Ashar entered behind me and gave the KitKats a puzzled look.

"I thought rich people didn't eat poor people chocolates," he said taking a seat on the edge of the bed. He helped himself to one. "Shouldn't you be eating Godiva or Ferrero Rocher or something?"

"Those do taste better," I confessed. "But I had a surplus of these, so I decided to celebrate eating these."

"Celebrate what?"

"I quit my job."

His jaw dropped. "Why?"

"The director treated me like a slave," I told him. "I told him goodbye after he made me run around get these and then tell me he didn't need them after all. How could someone treat someone this way?"

"Isn't that how you treat Cece?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him before snatching the half eaten KitKat bar out of his hands. How dare he disrespect me after I graciously shared my chocolate with him. So what I didn't care for Cece? I saw her maybe a total of ten minutes every day in comparison to the ten hour shifts at work with the monster director.

Also, I spent the entire day with his sister and he wanted to talk about the maid.

"Leave," I told him.

"Ano, are you really gonna take my chocolate?" he pouted.

I nodded crossing my arms. He tried to reach for it but I turned showing him my shoulder. He sighed surrendering easily.

"I should still thank you for what you did for Aara," he said.

"You're welcome," I told him and resumed eating my chocolate.

"How much did you spend on her?" he asked. "It wasn't a part of our deal for you to help her. I don't like it."

I suddenly felt a sinking feeling in my heart at his words.

"That's not necessary," I told him. I felt like throwing up what I had just eaten.

"No, she's my responsibility," he said.

"Ashar, I don't want your money."

"I can't be indebted to you after all you've—"

I set down my KitKat harsher than I had intended. He stopped talking immediately.

"You want to pay me? Okay. It was fifty grand. Give me the money." I held out my hand at his shocked face. "C'mon, give me. Right now."

"Ano—"

I pulled my hand back and got off the bed. "Not everything is about money. I thought you'd know that better than me."

I put on my flip flops and went downstairs to walk around the backyard. I told Cece on my way to bring me a cup of green tea.

As I walked around thinking about my day, I heard footsteps approaching. When I turned to take the cup of tea from Cece, I was met with Ashar's smiling face.

"Let's talk."

* * *

A/N

How's life?

How's the story?

How is COVID?

—K-K-Kiran