Part 02
Episode – 02 I Agree
Until here: Pranay and Nayanika meet for the second time accidentally at a cafe, he offers her the role of his manager for the upcoming album. She refuses him; nevertheless he insists that she give it a second thought. Nayanika discusses this with her bestie Anagha who suggests her to take that chance. Nayanika is left alone and undecided.
It was 7:30 when Nayanika rang the doorbell. Her mother opened the door. The weather was still windy and chill. She entered absent mindedly, dropped her handbag on the table and sank down on the sofa. “What’s the matter dear? you don’t seem yourself” asked Shalini caressing her head gently. “There is something I need to tell you mom” “Whatever it is you will tell me at the dinner table, now go take a hot shower and come down quickly for dinner, OK” Nayanika nodded her head smilingly.
Apparently she went upstairs, took a long shower and came down, her mother was laying out the plates already. She sat on the chair and began narrating to her mother all that happened that evening. She even told about her chance meeting with Pranay in the flight months ago. Then she stopped and looked enquiringly at her mother who was slowly eating from her plate listening intently. “Now what shall I do mom? I already refused his offer, but Anagha tells me to think about it and so does he” “Look Nayanika, firstly I trust you as my daughter. Secondly you are a 20 year old woman now whom I have raised to think independently and make own decisions. You know what’s right and what’s wrong, you know what you like and what you don’t. It is up to you to decide what to do. Remember, whatever you choose I will always stand with you.” Nayanika’s eyes filled overwhelmingly, she was lost for words, she hugged her mother tightly because she found no other act sufficient enough to reciprocate her feelings at that moment. Shalini patted her back affectionately. They both finished the dinner, watched TV for an hour and half, her mother then kissed her Goodnight and went to bed. Nayanika remained infront of the TV , though her eyes were watching the screen, her mind was wandering elsewhere. She was picturing all the words her bestfriend, her mother and Pranay had spoken. Should I….or should I not… was the rythm.
After browsing the channels mindlessly for another half an hour, she finally got up, switched off the TV and went to bed. She knew it was going to be a sleepless night. For a long time she rolled restlessly in her bed, then slowly dropped into a deep slumber.
A beautiful garden. The sun is shining bright in the clear blue sky. The grass looks golden by reflecting the light. She is holding the hands of a good looking man, they both seem happy and peaceful. She starts running down the garden path asking him to catch her, she is laughing and turning back to look at him, he too is smiling and running towards her but suddenly he steps into a deep hole. He calls out her name but before she could reach him, he gets sucked into the tunnel. Nayanika woke up with a jolt, her face was all sweating, she looked at her phone, it was four in the morning. She wiped her face and drank some water from the bottle and laid down on the bed again. Was it me in that damn nightmare that I saw now? she asked herself No wait a second what was I watching before coming to the room… ah…some nonsense ‘damsel in distress’ serial, now I get it, this was some stupid imagination of that serial. How silly of me to be scared of such trivial things she despised herself and closed her eyes.
Was that really an irrelevant dream or does it carry a hidden message of her future life….. ? we do not know and she doesn’t seem to care either. Well for the next three days, Nayanika went on with her life as usual, she pretended like she forgot about the incident but it still lurked at the back of her mind. At last she decided to call him, If he acts like he doesn’t know or that he never did see her, she thought of dropping this matter then and there. Meanwhile Pranay too wondered what on earth had made him think that Nayanika would agree to his deal. He called himself a fool for imagining such things. He thought of contacting Raghav, the head of Rock N Roll Talent Agency, the biggest and best name in the industry.
He was in his home studio, humming some random tune when his phone buzzed. He usually kept the phone on silent while he worked, but today he didn’t; thinking he would call Raghav, the talent manager. He picked up the call, it was an unknown number. ” Hello” he heard the distinct voice of a young woman. Instantly he knew that was her. His heart beat with a feverish excitement, he said “I knew you would call back, tell me that you are ready to work with me” he screamed in a single breath. Nayanika was startled by his exhilaration.” Ya…I am interested, when shall I meet you?” she said with a gap between the words. ” Super cool, why don’t you come to my mansion right away, we could just discuss and make a contract” “Ok, text me your address” ” Sure” He disconnected the call and shared his location with her. His joy knew no bounds, his heart felt as light as a bird. He ran into the bathroom, had a clean shower, dressed casually and came out. Though he looked like a rogue in the coffee shop the other day, today he wanted to be his best self. And what more can you ask, since the day he had went out for that coffee run he was a changed man unknown to himself. He had regained his composure and his mind was more clear than ever, he had even worked out the release plan for his album which would span over eight months. The best of all, he was slowly giving up cocaine ecstasy and cannabis but the alcohol still lingered on. Was that because he had found a new addiction? We may just suppose so.
It was 11:00 in the morning when Nayanika reached the mansion. The day was bright and sunny, the magnificent villa looked even more beautiful in the daylight. She was awestruck at the magnanimous beauty. He lives all alone? they say he went from rags to riches and he literally did she thought. Pranay saw her looking at the house from balcony and asked the security to open it. He went to the door to welcome her. She walked in admiring the large garden in front of the house. “Welcome home,” he said with a beaming smile. Nayanika stuttered for a second, she did not know what to say ‘ did this man say welcome home, but this is his home not mine, why did he say just home? Or did I mishear him?’ she recovered and said ” oh! thank you” Pranay too bit his tongue , ‘what did I say like an idiot? I should have said my home, not home, what will she think of me now, oh Lord…! Let me handle this straight from here on’
He showed her to the office which was the first room in the house in the right corner. She sat down on the chair. It was a spacious room with a mix of antique and modern furniture decor. The big windows on the north and east walls were completely made of glass. They offered a fantastic view of the city. The walls were beige in colour and portraits of Pranay on the cover of his albums were hung on them. The office wore “a less is more look” and Nayanika was totally impressed. She liked his minimalist taste. ” I’ll brief you about the album, the songs for which I am going to shoot videos. All you need to do is contact the producers, mark the date and plan for the promotions which include Tv shows, red carpet appearance and interviews” ” Alright then I am ready” she said. When it came to work they both had one thing in common – pure dedication. They always put in their heart and soul to whatever they did. So he explained everything that was planned for the next eight months. She listened carefully and nodded her head. In the end when he looked at her enquiringly , she asked ” who is your stylist, I want to speak to him?” He replied, ” Richard Williams, but why?” ” You are going to dress in black and grey until the release of the album” he looked surprised, his face made a question mark, ” I am your manager now and you are obliged to listen to my words. Because the theme of your album is despair and desolation, you will represent it in everything you do. That will be your first step in promotion” she said with a serious business like look. “That’s the spirit, then we shall make this official. I will send for the contract papers and mail you all my producers and director’s details. Let’s get rolling” he said with his trademark bewitching smile. She smiled too. They looked like two devilishly talented people who kindled fire any moment. She got up to leave, but he looked at the clock and asked her to stay for lunch as it was 1:30 in the afternoon.
They went into the custom designed dining hall. The head cook and overseer of the house an old man named Ramu looked affectionately at them as he served a hot sumptuous meal. They finished their lunch and came out to the drawing room. Nayanika said she would leave now and come tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning. He agreed and bid her goodbye. She walked out of the door in her usual manner but he looked at her for length as if painting that scene in his heart.
Nayanika came to the footpath of the main road and booked for an auto. As she waited she began recalling all that he had said to her and started devising her own improvisations. She made a note of the things in her phone. Well , Pranay had tapped on the hidden capacity of management in her and she was definitely going to explore it.
To be continued….
Words from within... 