‘I can’t believe this; you could not have met her. She died five years ago. You are mistaken… you must have met someone else…. She couldn’t have been there….’ Riya sat down slowly thinking about Dhruv’s shocking announcement.
Dhruv sat down next to her and said; ‘Let’s talk about it’
Riya wiped her tears and looked at Dhruv, in her wet red eyes he saw a lot of questions and he wanted to answer them. But he didn’t know how and the only way they both could find answers was to talk. So, they talked.
‘Tell me about her, I want to know her.’
‘She left home when I was only 13, she used to fight with parents a lot, there was a lot of drama. She wanted to be an actor and my parents were not in favor. She was good at science and they thought she would be a doctor or an engineer. Despite her good grades in Science she always dreamed of becoming an actor, a famous one just like Madhuri.’ Dhruv wanted to add something, but he didn’t interrupt her, and Riya continued; ‘She was 16 years old, the day her AIIMS result came out and she got AIR 567, my parents were happy. We were sitting in our room Tara was nervous and I hugged her, I knew she would never take admission into any Medical college. She went out and all I heard was an argument, I don’t remember what they said, but they were loud.’
Dhruv was trying to put Tara in an argument because the girl he knew could never fight with anyone. Of course, he didn’t know her that well, but he lived with her memories for a long time.
‘You know when I met her, I am not even sure if she was there or not, but she was so different than the girl you are defining.’
Riya smiled and said; ‘She was not that angry always, she just wanted to follow her passion and she fought for it. She might not be the perfect daughter for my parents, but she was the perfect sister and friend to me.’ Riya had tears in her eyes again and she said; ‘She used to call me every day, she told me everything about her life. She was a beautiful dancer and got the role of a dancer in a movie, she was the main lead. Her life was perfect, she had so many friends, and they all used to party a lot. There was Shweta, Arpita, Varun, and TH, I have no idea what TH stands for and neither did she.’ Riya smiled and her tears fell on her cheeks, she immediately wiped them.
Dhruv smiled back and said; ‘Then what happened?’ he sounded like a curious little child.
‘Everything was smooth, she had everything she needed, even though she had the movie, but she used to do a lot of side roles’ Dhruv lightened up, this is the part of Tara’s life he was familiar with and he nodded in excitement. Riya continued; ‘Not just for money, my father used to send her money, they were not talking but every first Monday of the month he used to transfer money into her account. And when I asked her why she was still taking those side roles, she said and I remember it vividly, “If I reject a role just because I think I am too big for it, I am actually smaller. This role is right here in front of me and one day a bigger one will come the same way.”
Dhruv felt relieved, finally an explanation for everything Tara told him.
Their conversation got interrupted by a voice, it was their producer. They had to complete the scene. Dhruv got up and helped Riya, they started walking towards the set in utter silence and Dhruv broke the silence; ‘Coffee after the scene?’. Riya looked up, her eyes were still red, and she said; ‘Sounds great’. Dhruv smiled at her and said; ‘Also, you need a little touch up.’ She laughed.
Dhruv waited for Riya to get changed after the pack up. Riya came out looking all fresh and charming, Dhruv saw a reflection of Tara in her, but he didn’t say anything. They walked to his car and sat inside, ‘where are we going?’ Riya wanted to inform her parents about the place. ‘have you heard about the Eastern Village? It’s a quiet place, with books and coffee.’ ‘Great let’s go then’ Riya texted her parents.
‘So, how did you meet her? I still can’t believe you met her but even if it’s true I want to hear about it.’
‘We met two years ago’
‘For the first time?’
‘Yes, for the first time. She came into the room, walking down the hall, she owned the room, she had charisma. And she came directly to me which I didn’t believe, she couldn’t be an extra. She sat with me, talked to me about being an extra on every set, she told me about her flatmates, her eating food on the set habits. She was full of life.’
Riya smiled and nodded, ‘that’s her’ and she turned the volume up, she hummed with the song, ‘It was Tara’s favorite song too’. They reached the café, went inside.
‘You were right, it is a quiet place’
Dhruv smiled and pointed her to a table, after settling they ordered cold coffee and French fries.
‘So, what happened to her movie’ Riya looked up and this question made her a little uncomfortable, but she knew what she got into, she continued; ‘The film didn’t start for another year, it was not a big-budget movie, but she had hope. They started the film in April-2015. She called me as soon as she got the good news, we celebrated after her first day. It was all well until the day. After two months of filming, 25th June 2015, she was doing a dance stunt at a height of 50 feet. She was performing the step but due to the equipment, she was not able to deliver it. They loosened her safety belt and she agreed to it…… at least it is what they told us. She performed the step and suddenly she lifted back and slipped from the safety belt, she fell down….. 50 feet’ There was silence, Riya sobbed, and the waiter came to break the silence.
‘You know the worst part was when we went to the Maharani set, she was there lying on the floor, her face was covered in blood, there was the police, there were so many people and they were not letting me touch her, or to go near her.’ Riya had tears in her eyes, but she was angry, and she said aggressively, ‘She could have been alive, but they didn’t let us check. All they said were their doctor had checked, "she is dead". We didn’t know if it was an accident or ….’ She broke down and cried. Dhruv stood up and hugged her, he kept her close and made her feel okay.
‘You know I met her at Maharani set and she looked so beautiful, she seemed fine and happy’ Dhruv comforted Riya with his kind words.
Riya stopped crying after a while and said; ‘I am fine now.. I am fine. Thanks’ Dhruv moved back to his seat. ‘Did you see the movie where she was sitting with you, was she there?’
‘I did check the movie, but I couldn’t find a single scene, I was in the back, but the main lead was sitting in front of Tara all the time.’
‘Why didn’t you sue the producer?’ Dhruv sounded upset
‘We tried, but Tara signed a contract with them with all the terms and conditions including her life’ Riya shrugged; ‘Do you think it was her soul?’
‘of course, it was her soul. But I am not sure why she chose me; I didn’t even know her.’
‘Maybe you did not know her, but she knew you and she knew you were good.’
Dhruv got surprised ‘What?’
‘She always remembered people who helped her in any way. Maybe she knew your kind heart and she wanted you to know about her and tell us that she was okay….. I don’t know but I am just assuming.’
After paying the bill, they took off. Dhruv dropped her at her house and they didn’t talk at all the whole time. They both were in deep thoughts.
‘See you tomorrow’ she pushed the car door and smiled.
Dhruv went straight to the Maharani set and went inside, he opened the door and walked straight to a place, sat there…. there where that table was placed two years ago, where he first saw Tara and talked to her. He closed his eyes and he was remembering her lines, “I am 22….. my roommates are so cool….. I live in 2bhk…… I love eating…” and he opened his eyes in surprise, “I wish my sister knew how happy I am” and he said, ‘You wanted me to search for your family. I disappointed you, I didn’t search for you. Forgive me if you can’ Dhruv sat there wishing he could have done it earlier but at last he was there. He looked up and smiled.
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