I threw on some clothes as fast as I could. They were going to give us the proper clothes in which the photoshoot would be done at the Vanity Fair studio.

This was an important and probably the biggest interview of our career so far. It will give us a lot of exposure, which is why it's highly necessary that I don't fuck it up.

No words were exchanged between Andrew and I. We both rushed out of the house, dashed into the car and then we were off.

We were a little late. But thankfully no one commented on it. Even though Angela was giving us a death glare. The interview would be done first and then there would be a photoshoot.

The moment we walked in, we were immediately taken into a room coloured in blinding white. A woman was sitting in a chair with a bunch of papers. When we entered, she looked up and gave us a big smile. She got up.

"Hi, Justine Hoffmann, nice to meet you," she shook our hands. We introduced ourselves too, even though she obviously knew us.

"Please sit," she said politely and went back to her chair. Andrew and I reached for the same chair. My hand touched his for a split second and I jolted it away, like it burned. We said sorry simultaneously, and I looked awkwardly away, clearing my throat. I made fast to the other chair and sat down.

"Okay, so let's begin. Where are you from?"

Andrew looked at me. Guess I'm going to have to answer.

"We're both from Goa, a small state in India."

"Born and raised?"

"Born and raised."

"How did you guys meet? You two form a wonderful duo, I must tell you. I love listening to the Urban Mantra."

Andrew laughed. "Thanks a lot. Well, when we met- she was actually my father's student. She learned the harp from my dad and. . ." He continued with a really long story about how we met. Justine looked entranced. She was hanging onto his words with the utmost attention.

"How does it feel like to become an international artist at such an early stage in your career?" She asked when Adrew finished.

"Well," I started, "it surely is overwhelming. I mean, we literally became famous overnight. And we have to make sure that the fame doesn't get to our heads. It's really tough, you know? To remain humble. But we're trying our best. But at the same time, we love it too. Like, the fans, they're wonderful. They really make us feel wanted. We love them. Without them, none of this would be possible. Also, now we're getting to live our dream too." I smiled widely.

Justine nodded a few times. "Yes, the fans love you. I have here a bunch of questions from a few of them actually."

"That's great!" Andrew said.

"Okay, the first one is, how would you describe your type of music."

"We kind of try to mix class with. . .edginess." Andrew said.

"Yeah, like," I nodded at him, "we try to incorporate Indian classical instruments into our songs as much as we can. I think it might be called baroque pop?"

"Yes," Andrew piped in. "And we also try to make it a little unique and we try to stand out from other mainstream artists. We try to make our songs. . .languid and such that people might feel relaxed by listening to us."

"Also, we love experimenting with random musical instruments," I said. "We try to make each and every song different."

"Beautifully explained," Justine said.

She continued with the rest of her questions. It went on like this for about an hour and a half. At the end, she came to the question that I was dreading all throughout the interview.

"So," she smiled excitedly, "are you guys dating anybody?"

"No." We both said at the same time, and I mentally face palmed myself.

"Oh," she raised her eyebrows. "Are you looking towards a relationship-"

"No, we're not. Next question please," I said as coolly as I could.

She gave us an amused look and told that it was the end of the interview. Then it was time for the photoshoot, and I was low-key excited.

They made me wear this gown, with corset and everything. Andrew looked very good in his tail coat.

I walked out of the dressing room to find Andrew already waiting. My hair and make up was perfectly done and I felt pretty.

"Hey," I said cheerily. He turned, about to say something, but then he faltered. He was looking at me with a weird expression.

"What?" I twirled a little. "Is it not good? I don't look good? Is it too much? Oh no, the make up is too much, right?"

"No, no, no," he chuckled and walked towards me. "It's perfect. You look. . .beautiful."

"Oh," I said shyly. Was I blushing?

"Yeah, it kind of shocked me," he continued, "because at home, you look like a drowned pig all the time-"

"You-!" I hit his shoulder and he pretended to get hurt. The photographer beckoned for us and we proceeded to stand in front of the white screen.

We did as we were told, posing here, posing there. It was fun. I had to pose with my harp. A few of the people on the management team had fetched it from our house.

The end result was pretty good. The photoshoot was pretty cinematic and had an 18th century vibe. But it was beautiful. I loved it. I even jumped a little with joy. Then we had a small performance to do, in our photoshoot clothes itself.

We were supposed to play a musical piece. I would play the harp and Andrew would play the violin. It would be recorded and posted on ours and Vanity Fair's YouTube channels.

They made us sit in front of the same white screen, but now a huge painting of a horse was hanging on it. I was sitting in front of my harp and Andrew was standing beside me, ready with his violin.

We had decided to play our musical piece In Her Eyes that was composed by us, with a little help from Ben.

"Action!" The director said, and the cameras started rolling. Andrew started to play. I was going to join after a few seconds.

There were about three cameramen circling us and taking the video from different angles. I was nervous. I begged myself to not mess this up.

I joined in. My harp was giving the real tune will the violin was harmonising and playing in the background. Thankfully, I played it fine. We slowly reached the crescendo, Andrew's violin sounding more energetic now. We reached the climax of the song and suddenly stopped. After a second, I started again and Andrew joined in. Slowly, the song ended, and Andrew played the final note.

"And, cut!" The director announced and started clapping. "Beautifully played, guys." Everyone around was also clapping. I stood up, took Andrew's hand, and we both bowed.

"Very well!" Angela said as she walked towards us. "This is going to he loved by the fans. You two are really talented."

"Thanks, Angela," Andrew said.

"Don't thank me," she dismissed Andrew. "I'm just really glad that I'm being able manage two such talented people."

She walked away, and I turned towards Andrew. "That was so good!"

"It was, wasn't it?" He said and put a hand around my shoulder and started walking. I was suddenly overly conscious of his hand touching my shoulder and pushing me into his body.

"You know, we should make an album with just musical pieces," I suggested, trying to take my mind away from his hand, as we walked away from the white screen. He looked at me curiously.

"Well. . .that's a good idea, I guess? But first, let's just focus on the second album."

"Of course. But then, we'll do it."

He laughed a little. "As you wish."

•••

Author's note: hey guys! I tried to make the interview as professional and real as possible. Hopefully it was fine.

Next chapter - next Saturday at 10pm IST.

~Indrayani.