The Devil's Harem

“So... What are we doing today?” Wearing a white off-shoulder white top with patterns in blue and a brown capri, Veronica walked up to Alex. Veronica had just arrived at the location, and the first person she came across was Alex.

To be honest, Veronica was hesitant to walk up to him at first. But, following her conversation with Rebecca last night, the curiosity to dig deep into his relationship with Jessica got the better of him. So with her eyes on the task, she walked up to Alex.

Meanwhile, Alex was busy going through some random checks on the set. But hearing a familiar voice, he turned to look at Veronica.

He stared at her face for a good couple of seconds before he replied, “Of course, we are shooting. What else do you think all these guys are running around for? Now, not every day can be a fun day, can it?” Alex was smiling ear to ear when he joked with her, but it left a touch of sarcasm in Veronica’s ears.

“Ha... Ha... Ha... Very funny,” Veronica faked her laugh as she turned and twisted her body with every chuckle, “Of course, I know that we are shooting. I am not that oblivious to what’s going on around me. I am talking about the scene. What scene are we shooting?”

“Ha... Ha... Ha...” Alex copied Veronica’s move as he shook his hips, “You are also very funny, Veronica. How would I know that?” Suddenly Alex’s face turned grim, “All I am is a cash machine for you guys. C’mon, Veronica, beings of your stature shouldn’t be asking such questions.” Alex shook his head, expressing his disappointment.

.....

“... And to be honest, I am not in the mood to joke with you. It’s only day one, and we are already running behind the schedule. And believe me, Mr Lulu is not very happy,” Alex conveniently changed the topic, “It’s a good thing that I had stockpiled the strawberry flavoured ice cream well in advance. It’s keeping him calm for now. But I don’t think it’s gonna last long at this rate. Hey, Simon,” and just at that moment, Alex saw Simon pass by them and stopped him, “Can you get someone to bring in or order another box of ice cream? We are going to go out of stock pretty soon at this rate. And keep in mind that it should be strawberry flavoured and nothing else.” Alex instructed Simon.

“Sure, Alex.” Simon nodded and went away from there.

“... Ahhh... Brad had to be late on the first day itself,” Alex could not help but sigh. Brad was their male lead, who was cast opposite Veronica. And though everyone integral for the time being had already flown in yesterday, he was the only one missing. He was also the reason behind Mr Lulu’s high blood pressure.

“I mean, fine, everyone says he is a disciplined guy... And surely there must be a reason, an unavoidable circumstance behind him being late. But if he had gotten here a day before the shoot. And at least he should let us know or answer my calls. He is doing nothing. Everything is just turning more shit... shitier... shitty...” Alex suddenly cursed. But when he remembered that Veronica was beside him, he almost panicked.

“I am so sorry, Veronica. I am sure that beings of your prominence try to steer clear from such contamination, “Alex hurriedly apologised, “But what can I do? I just got a bit frustrated and blabbered out some nonsense.”

“... Just erase everything that I said in the last one minute. No, let’s play it safe and make it two.”

Veronica, on the other hand, had no idea what gibberish Alex was blabbering about. And indeed, out of all the nonsense he spoke, he got one thing right, he was talking nonsense.

When Alex saw the annoyance on Veronica’s face, he acted as if he was no longer welcome there.

“Fine, I won’t annoy you any longer,” Alex said and turned around to leave. But just as he did, Veronica grabbed his hand in a flash.

Everything happened so fast that Veronica had no time to think about her actions. She came here to talk about him and Jessica and if things lead to, also clear her doubts about what happened last night. Was she right to assume that he felt something about her or not? But from the beginning, it was Alex who led the flow of the conversation.

First, there was sarcastic nonsense from him, then there was a bit of complaining, and then, at last, there was some gibberish. And when he was done, before Veronica could comprehend things, he was already leaving. Alex never gave her the opportunity to execute what she came here for.

So without thinking much, Veronica grabbed Alex’s arm instinctively.

While Veronica was holding on to his hand, Alex looked at her puzzled.

“I... Ahem... I have something I wanted to talk to you about,” biting her lips and clearing her throat, Veronica said as she let go of his hand.

Hearing her, Alex turned towards her and nodded, gesturing for her to continue.

“I want to talk about last night,” All of a sudden, the matter between Alex and Jessica was out of the picture. As soon as Veronica opened her mouth, it was about her and him.

“Last night? Did I do something weird last night?” Alex tried to remember, “But I didn’t drink that much last night and was pretty much sober. I even walked back to my room on my own.” Alex tried to interpret her words on his own, interrupting the flow Veronica was trying to set up.

“Agghh... Will you at least let me finish for once?” Veronica, annoyed by his behaviour, again grabbed his hand, straightened his finger and put it over his lips, “Now, not a single squeak out of your mouth until I am done talking, got it?”

Complying to her command, with his finger over his lips, all Alex could do was nod.

“I am talking about what happened during the dinner. All the praises about inner and exterior beauty you heaped upon me. Why would you do that in front of so many people? And what’s with the sudden one-eighty degree turnaround?” Veronica asked it all in a single breath. She was afraid that Alex might interrupt her once again.

“Ummm...” Alex said nothing but made some noise.

“What ummm... ummm?” Veronica did not understand the meaning behind his actions, asked.

“Ummm... Ummm...” Alex, with his index finger over her lips, shook his little finger in front of Veronica and tried to make her understand with the gestures of his eyes.

“Ohh... Okay, remove them,” Veronica pulled his hand away, “I am clearly waiting for your reply, so it’s pretty obvious that you need to speak. So, what’s with your antics? Are we shooting a drama among ourselves?”

Meanwhile, Alex smiled after being rebuked by Veronica. But instead of replying to her, he put his hand over her shoulder and looked straight into her eyes.

“I am proud of you. In fact, I am so proud of you that I can’t even express myself in words,” Alex shook his head at his helpless dilemma. But this got Veronica even more confused.

“... I can’t believe how wrong I was about you,” Alex sighed, “I have always thought of you as someone who felt pleasure pitting people against one another. Always ready to add more fuel,” Alex was very blunt and honest with his words. But Veronica did not feel bad or surprised over the revelation. She knew in what light he saw her. In fact, she had portrayed herself as such in front of him. What surprised her was the fact that he was using it all in the past tense. That means something had changed. But what was that? And Why?

“... But you... You...” Alex found it hard to choose the right words as he looked around before his gaze stopped at Veronica’s chest. He looked at those bulging peaks in appreciation, “You have such nice and big...” Alex spoke but stopped before he could complete. Then nodding and shaking his head simultaneously, he walked away from there without saying anything more, leaving Veronica hanging.

Obviously, Alex was talking about her generous heart in light of her treatment of Abir despite being a son born out of wedlock. But unknowingly, he had left Veronica gawked with a wide range of thoughts, from one extreme to the other.

“Hey, why are you standing here like a fool, staring into the air?” Rebecca, munching on an apple, walked up to Veronica leisurely and asked.

“Have you ever heard of the phrase to never judge a book by its cover?” Veronica ignoring what Rebecca said, asked.

“Hmm... What’s with the sudden philosophical question?” Rebecca asked, confused as to why Veronica would suddenly ask something like that out of nowhere. But she still nodded, “I have. In fact, my grandfather has to use it at least once a day. Either a situation would present itself, or he would create one to use the phrase.”

“I know now the meaning behind the phrase.” Veronica suddenly turned towards Rebecca and put her hand over Rebecca’s shoulder just like Alex did moments ago. And in a profound tone with a serious face, she spoke, “Listen, Rebecca, take it as coming from your big sister. But never ever trust guys with handsome looks. Especially those who act naive around you. You don’t know what they are packing.” Veronica was totally saying this with the image of Alex in her mind.

“Wha... What are you talking about?” Rebecca could not make head or tail of what Veronica was blabbering about, “Is there something wrong in your upper floor?”

“You won’t understand. You are just a kid,” Veronica shook her head, “How can a sweet guy like him be so... so...” Veronica shuddered as she thought of Alex’s gaze on her chest. She crossed her arms over her chest and, safeguarding them from public eyes, walked away from there, mumbling to herself, leaving behind Rebecca in confusion.

* * * * *