The Devil's Harem

“Mr Lulu?” Alex climbed onto the bus, wary and prepared for any unpredictable situation, but found Mr Lulu grumpily sitting there. And scattered in front of him were god knows how many empty cups of ice cream.

There were vanity vans arranged for the lead and the supporting cast, along with one for the director Mr Lulu and his daughter. On the other hand, for the staff, tents were erected. The temperature in Thar was more than anything they had experienced, and this was the least they could have done.

“Alex...” Lily, who was sitting beside her father, got up when she saw Alex coming inside the vanity van, “Is Brad here?” she asked.

Alex shook his head in denial to her question, but he tried to justify, “I am sure there are some unavoidable circumstances at play here.”

“Hmmph...” Mr Lulu scoffed, hearing Alex and throwing the empty cup in his hand, he reached out for another cup of ice cream. This was the only thing keeping him calm and his blood pressure in check.

“Dad...” When Lily saw Mr Lulu grab his nth cup, ready to devour it as well, she smacked his wrist in a flash and stopped him, “Not a spoon more. I have already been lenient enough,” Lily said, looking at all the empty cups on the table as well as the floor, “But no more.” Lily warned, pointing her finger at her father.

.....

“Do you want your father to burst his nerves?” Mr Lulu put the cup back and tried to fight against the unjust doctrine, “I am already under a mountain of pressure. That guy is not replying to the calls, we are behind schedule from the very first day, and I can’t even have that one thing that can help me get through this?” Mr Lulu complained, “Is this justice?”

“... Am I even worth working as the director,” but suddenly, when Alex had expected Mr Lulu to carry on the fierce momentum, his tone changed. The threatening aura around him dissipated in seconds, and Alex could feel the vulnerability, “Am I that useless?” Mr Lulu lamented over his failure as a director. He leaned towards his daughter and grabbed hold of Lily by her waist as he snuggled into her, almost on the verge of crying.

“Mr Lulu...” Alex got concerned by the sudden change in mood and tried to reach out to him but was stopped by Lily.

“It’s alright. It’s nothing new,” Lily said and then caressed her father’s shiny bald head, “Who said my sweet father is useless? My father is the best at what he does. Don’t worry... I will call for Batman and have him haunt that guy named Brad in his dreams. Are you happy now?” The roles had reversed, and the daughter was pacifying her wailing father.

“Promise?” Mr Lulu looked up at his daughter and innocently asked with hopeful eyes.

“Have you both gone bonkers?” Before Lily could reply, Alex could not contain it in his heart and blurted it out, “What’s this weird fetish?”

“Excuse me?” Lily looked at Alex as a frown appeared on her face. She did not appreciate his choice of words.

“Huh...?” Alex also realised his blunder. And as he looked at the father and daughter duo with confusion in his eyes, his hand went into his pocket, and he hurriedly pulled out his phone, “Have you guys gone bonkers?” Alex yelled over the phone, then sheepishly showing his teeth to the duo, he mumbled, “You know these guys. They can’t do a thing right without me. Hehehe... You guys continue.”

“Sir... Sir...”

‘Haash... I am saved,’ Alex sighed in relief. He did not want to anger Mr Lulu anymore, and this soft, spoiled Mr Lulu was way better than that cranky one.

“What is it?” Mr Lulu let go of Lily and asked, coming back to his cranky self, “Look at the bus shaking. Is your bum on fire?”

“That’s not... it... sir,” the guy who just rushed inside said, and taking in deep breaths, he spoke, “Brad... Brad... Brad is here, sir?”

“Holy Mo... Is he really?” Alex was the one most excited. He was afraid that the ice cream cups were going to shake his budget.

“I just got the call from his manager. They are only minutes away,” the guy nodded.

“Mr Lulu, did you hear that?” Excited over the news, Alex turned towards Mr Lulu only to find him still sulking, sitting in the corner.

“Come, Mr Lulu. Let’s go out and welcome our hero. He had already missed the welcome party yesterday.” Despite the rotten expression on his face, Alex suggested.

“Ummm... Ummm... Ummm...” Mr Lulu shook his head and looked away.

“What now?” Alex looked at Mr Lulu and then towards Lily, trying to understand what this new predicament was now?

“Why should I go welcome him?” Mr Lulu did not let Lily respond and said, “Who is the director here? Isn’t it me? So if he made me wait for so long, he should come knocking on my door. Better he should be falling on my feet.” Mr Lulu expressed his conditions.

“Oh, c’mon. Not again,” Alex helplessly looked at Lily for some support, but she just shrugged, not wanting to be a part of it.

“Mr Lulu, my sweet little uncle, my godfather, my nutter... I mean nurturer. Please don’t do this to me,” Alex sat on the floor beside Mr Lulu and spoke, “Isn’t this the last cup of your ice cream? If you promise to behave yourself, I will buy you everything that can be made with strawberries in it. Strawberry milkshake, ice cream, cake, lavda-lahsan*, everything. Just show your face to him, please,” Alex lightly held Mr Lulu’s chin and tried to persuade him.

“Are you serious?” And fair enough, Mr Lulu was very much enticed with the offer.

“Of course, I am serious,” Alex was all smiles in front of Mr Lulu, but in his heart, he had something else brewing, ‘Look at you, the hungry miser. You want everything to stuff that mouth of yours but don’t even want to spend a penny out of your pocket. Che...”

“... He may be the Jack Sparrow of this ship, but aren’t you Barbossa?” Alex said, posing him over a mint tree, “Shall we go now?” Alex asked, still smiling at Mr Lulu.

“Oh yes... yes... Absolutely. We shouldn’t delay it any longer.” Mr Lulu stood up and tried to put his arm around Alex but was too short to do that. So, when Alex saw him struggling, he bent a bit to help him achieve that.

“Yeah, that’s better,” Mr Lulu appreciated the gesture, “So milkshake, cake and ice cream are fine, but what’s with this lavda lahsan*? I have never heard of it.” Mr Lulu asked. This new, unknown dessert had him curious.

“Hehehe... Oh, it’s something of a Bharatiya cuisine. I will try and see if it can be made available here,” sweat appeared on Alex’s forehead as he tried to explain.

“Oh, is it good? Have you tried it?” Mr Lulu persisted to know more about it.

“Oh, no... no... no... Absolutely not,” Alex denied right away. But when he saw Mr Lulu look at him suspiciously, he changed his tune, ” Actually, I haven’t had the privilege to have it, yet,” Alex elaborated, “Only a few fated ones can actually appreciate the flavour and texture behind it. But in this time of junk food, where can you find those who can appreciate organic stuff?” Alex showed his disappointment in the way this world was heading towards.

“Oh, don’t worry, both of us will have it together when the time comes,” Mr Lulu said and, giving a pat on Alex’s back, made his way out of his van, leaving Alex behind.

“Even I would want to try that,” While Alex looked in the way Mr Lulu left, Lily said from behind him.

“Huh...” Alex almost jumped up in surprise when he heard someone behind him. While dealing with the father, he totally forgot about the daughter.

“Of course, of course, why not? We can all have an orgy... I mean it can be organised. No big deal... Hehehe” And without wasting any more time there, Alex ran away without giving Lily a chance to continue the conversation.

“Hey, where have you been all this time? I was looking for you?” Just as Alex got a moment to himself, Rebecca walked up to him.

“Now, what do you want?” Irritated, Alex asked.

“Hey, take a chill pill, man. I just asked you a simple question,” Rebecca was taken back by Alex’s response, “Not like I have asked for a name in your will or a kidney of yours.”

“Fine, what is it? Why were you looking for me?” Alex sighed and tried to calm himself.

“Nothing much. Just had a chat with Veronica, and she sounded a bit, you know, screwed on the top,” Rebecca said, pointing at her head, “I feel like it’s something to do with you. So I decided why not directly ask the party involved?”

“Me?” Alex looked confused, “Well... I did have a brief talk with her like half an hour ago, but I don’t think it was something weird. She looked fine to me.”

“So, what was she talking about?” Lost in her own thoughts, Rebecca tried to find the reason behind Veronica’s weird behaviour.

“Honestly, I don’t want to think about anything else for now,” Alex looked away, “I am already stressed out over Brad. If the first day is going to be like this, I can’t even imagine how it would end.”

“He is here... He is here...” While Alex and Rebecca were lost in their own thoughts, someone cried out from among the staff.

Soon, three cars stopped in front of them. Dressed in black suits, a couple of bulky men hurriedly stepped out of the cars from the front and the back and stood by the one in the middle as they looked around for a potential threat.

Only after they were sure that everything was okay did one of the guys open the door, and someone put his leg out.

* * * * *

(A/N 01: *Lavda Lahsan... An authentic Bharatiya cuisine which... To be honest, I don’t think many of you would like and appreciate it though. But you can always check that on the internet and let me know your thoughts in the comments ?? )

(A/N 02: You should also check out my Fan-Fic, Against The World, All Alone)