"Okay kids. This is where the stars get their makeup done. Don't touch anything." Vikram's assistants were giving a tour of the studio to the kids of cast and crew.

It was 'Bring your family to work day'. Shubha requested Latha to organize it. "It's not just the contribution of those who worked here, but also those who waited for them at home without complaining. They missed so much family time because of hectic work. It's only fair that we honour them." Latha readily agreed.

"Why do we have so many lights?" asked one of the kids.

"To help see better. To make sure that the makeup suits the artist perfectly" said Shubha.

"Do you all get makeup done here?" asked Disha.

"No. My makeup room is in the third floor. It's very huge and spacious than this."

"Wow. I want to be like you when I grow up. You get beautiful dresses and makeup." Disha looked fascinated. She stared at the surroundings with a dreamy expression.

"Akka, are you the main heroine of the film?" asked the Production Designer's son.

"Yes. She has a fighting scene with my uncle." Dhruva answered proudly.

Shubha remembered the misunderstanding the kids had earlier. She quickly changed the subject. "Let's go and have lunch."

As they climbed down the stairs, Disha ran and held Vikram's hand. "Take me to the room where the weapons are kept. "

"No. I don't have permission." Vikram refused.

"Please. I will just hold the big big knives."

"You mean swords?" asked Shubha. "They are not real steel swords. They are made of carbon fiber."

"What is that?" Disha couldn't understand.

"Carbon fiber is used because it has high tensile strength, low weight, high chemical resistance--"

"Do you really expect a six-year-old to understand this?" Vikram interrupted her. "Disha. The weapons we use are all duplicate. Going there will be waste of time. Have your lunch."

Disha looked angry. She stormed away. After lunch they selected few interested kids to demonstrate how filming is done.

"When the camera is far away, this group will look towards left. This group will look the other way. The one in the centre will have sunglasses on. Once I say action, the camera will move towards you. You all should slowly turn your heads to look at the camera. The girl in centre will remove her sunglasses and stare at the camera with confidence in her eyes. Now practice turning heads slowly. It should be in sync with the music." Vikram instructed them.

"Is this how you shoot songs?" asked one of the kids.

"Yes." Vikram nodded.

The kids had fun shooting, while their parents cheered them. "Where is Disha?" asked Shubha.

It was then that Vikram noticed that Disha wasn't there. "She must be with mom. They were having lunch together."

"I saw Latha aunty outside. She was alone." Shubha was worried.

"She must be somewhere here. I'll look here. You look outside." Soon everyone started searching for Disha. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Was I too harsh? Did she go out on her own? Is she kidnapped?" Vikram panicked. He was in tears. "What did I do! It's all my fault." He started shivering.

"Stop. She must be here. She couldn't have left the building." Shubha asked herself. 'Where will a six-year-old girl go in a place like this?'

"Does she know where the weapons are stored?" She asked Vikram.

"No."

"The she must have gone to the third floor."

"What's in third floor?"

"My makeup room." Shubha ran towards the lift. Vikram followed her. They reached the room to see Disha sitting there looking at herself in the mirror.

"What are you doing here?" Vikram fumed at her.

"I wanted to look. I didn't touch anything." Disha was scared.

"That's not the point. What were you thinking, running away like that young lady?" He yelled. "Do you know how worried we were?"

"Sorry"

"You should be punished. I am taking you home right now." Vikram announced. "If you repeat this behavior again, I'll tell your mother."

She started crying. He was about to say something when Shubha interrupted. "Not now. Let's go home."

He nodded and held Disha's hand and led her out of the room while she cried.

---***---

"Uncle is a bad boy. I won't talk to him." Disha told Shubha. "I won't dance when he gets married."

"Okay. Let's talk about something else. You are older than Dhruva. Right?"

"Yes. Seven minutes older." She said proudly.

"So you are the elder sister. You are the one who should protect him always. Right?"

"Yes"

"Just imagine this. You and Dhruva went to a attend a party. And then he goes missing suddenly. You can't find him anywhere. You look around to see so many new people, who could have kidnapped, I mean, steal him away for money. You yell his name and ask others to help. But no one can find him. How will you feel?" asked Shubha. She was careful not to scare her by giving extra details.

"I will cry" She answered, looking at her brother playing alone. She didn't understand most of the things Shubha said. But the thought of Dhruva going away from her made her feel very uncomfortable.

"That's exactly what Vicky uncle did when you went missing. He cried. He was so worried. He was shivering. Yet he continued searching. Because when we love someone, the thought of them leaving us will scare us. He scolded you out of love."

"I'm sorry akka. I shouldn't have left alone."

"Yes!" Vikram, who was waiting by the door entered the room. "Someone's finally back from their ego trip."

"Is that your standard dialogue, Mr. Vikram, the resident of planet named ego ?" asked Shubha.

"Language! Ego and Vikram don't come in a single sentence" said Vikram. He exchanged a high-five with Dhruva.

"Vicky uncle, I'm sorry" She apologized.

"I'll forgive you only if you promise to dance on my wedding." He said.

"Sure. I'll be your dance partner when you marry Shubha akka." She replied.

---***---

Vikram woke up early in the morning. He was nervous. They were going to introduce Shubha's character with a poster that day. The same poster that was gifted to her on her birthday.

Few hours later when everyone woke up, they started chatting on the group. Dhwani and Pragathi congratulated Shubha even before it was posted. They were sure people would like it.

'Technically I am also being introduced to Telugu film industry with this film. When they accepted me, they will definitely accept you' Pragathi texted.

'I'm worried about Nisha's fans' Shubha added a worried emoji.

Dhwani was slightly annoyed. 'Nisha's fans? They have been trying to mock me since long. Did I let it affect me? They will shut up once the film is released.'

'Forget about Nisha... See what your boyfriend did' Naveen messaged.

'What did he do?' Shubha didn't understand.

The boys sent laughing and giggling emojis for a long time to annoy her. 'Though your poster was made long ago, you are the last one to get introduced.' Chris typed.

'Because he loves us more than you' Naveen added fuel to the fire. They sent smirking emojis.

'Guys... guys please... don't ruin my life' Vikram sent a message.

'My boyfriend follows the rule of saving the best for the last' Shubha replied. She heard a knock on the door. She opened it to see Vikram standing there.

"Subbu, don't believe them. The production house decided the order. For me you are most important." He explained as if his life depended on it.

"Repeat it while I record it. I'll put it in our group chat." She said with a serious expression.

He hesitated. "They'll feel bad." He muttered. She burst our laughing. "You are so sweet."

"Darling, I'm sorry. I couldn't talk to you last night. You were waiting for me to return. But I didn't speak a word." He apologized.

"That's okay. I didn't stay awake to talk to you. I just want to make sure that you reach home safely. That's why I stay awake till you're here." She said, buttoning his shirt. "Now. It looks perfect." She looked up to see him still looking uncomfortable. "What?"

"I was late because an event was added to my schedule. An audio launch of my friend's film."

"Which friend?"

"Er..." he hesitated, "Nisha."

She didn't speak. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone. I know how much the mention of Nisha's name affects you. But I didn't have a choice. I mean, she met with an accident few months ago. She needed all the support she could get. So, I couldn't refuse. I just made a small speech. Nothing dramatic. I kept it simple. I'll show it to you." He sounded apologetic.

"It's okay. You did the right thing. She needs help. It's not like you supported my arch enemy. She is just another actress. We have an entire lifetime to talk. This is just one evening." She still couldn't get over the fact that media termed her 'Nisha's replacement'. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Sweetheart. What if someone sees us like this?"

"There's no one in the house except us."

"Really? Why didn't you tell this before?" He asked in a mischievous tone. "Sweetheart, I always wanted to ask you something. But I never got a chance. Now that there is no one to overhear, may I ask the question?" He winked at her.

She giggled. "What's that?"

"What did you steal seven years ago?"

Her expression turned from blush to bewilderment. She smacked his head. "Idiot."

"What else did you expect? Oh my God!" He gasped dramatically. "You are such a naughty girl Subbu." She glared at him.

Few minutes later, she received a call from Latha. "Shubha, read the comments pouring in. Everyone started liking your poster. It's a very good response for a new comer."

"Really? I will check. Thank you aunty." Shubha opened their social media accounts to see the response. The comments varied from 'beautiful girl' to 'pretty face' to 'all the best'. Most of them were positive. Sure the number of likes were lesser compared to others. But she didn't care.

"Now they noticed your beauty. After the film releases, they will praise your talent as well" said Vikram. She wasn't listening. She was busy reading the comments.

After about fifteen minutes, she put her phone aside. "I still can't believe it Vikram. I am gaining fame. There are articles written about me. It's overwhelming."

"You deserve this. And much more" said Vikram. He saw the beautiful reply made by Nisha to Shubha's poster. He felt that attending her event the previous evening was worth it. 'It will prevent her fans from making negative comments about the film.' He thought.

---***---

"Is this your poster? I never knew my bestie is so beautiful." Rukhsar pulled Shubha's cheeks.

"You don't talk to me. You didn't tell me about Naveen."

"It's nothing."

Shubha could see her cheeks turn pink. "If there is something I should be the first one to know." She demanded. She knew there was something from the way they talked about each other. But, she couldn't disregard the fact that Naveen doesn't want to get into relationships. She was in dilemma.

"Listen. Guess what happened yesterday in Ramesh uncle's lab?"

"What happened?"

"He requested Dr. Vidya to let me work with him for two weeks. Last week I understood that he has absolutely no knowledge of our subject." Rukhsar's voice carried excitement.

"Hey! Say it quickly." Shubha could sense it was something good.

"I tricked him into deleting an entire month's research results. The best part is, he doesn't have the data saved anywhere else. Which means..."

Shubha gasped. "He can't continue the research." She couldn't believe it.

"I made it look like it's his fault. It really is his fault. He should know what to do and what not to do. Dr. Gupta is not at all pleased. He has to shut down the research" said Rukhsar.

"But it's our research. Our efforts are also wasted."

"Says who? We have the data saved in our laptops. Remember?" Rukhsar smirked. "We can always restart it."

"I Love You" Shubha embraced her best friend. "You are the friend everyone needs but only a few deserve."

---***---