Love Behind The Scene

It was lord Ganesha' festival, everyone was busy preparing to welcome the idol to the house. Madhulika was seen running up and down to do one thing or the other.

"Madhulika, have you gotten the coconuts, the red flowers, and the sacred thread?" Her mum asked her.

"But I thought Kashika had bought those. Wasn't she supposed to get everything ready yesterday" Madhulika was very tired, she had been the one making preparations. Her younger sister wasn't even doing anything, the least she could do was buy the things needed for the preparation but she didn't do it.

Kashika had always been like that, lazy and bad mouthed. Although she was rude, she wasn't to madhulika.

Madhulika had earned respect from Kashika because of how easy going and nice she was.

"You know how she can be, go to the market and buy the things, please, just go" Divya pleaded to her daughter.

"Alright, I will use some of my savings to buy it. After all, it worths it... Today we are bringing Lord Ganesha home!!" She screamed the last part in happiness.

Madhulika started heading to the market, she greeted lots of people on her way.

"Here's your change" The seller gave her some rupees as her change.

"Thank you for the discount" She smiled at the woman and and started heading back home.

'I really can't wait for the veneration, it's going to make everyone feel renewed. I will also wish for the lord to make my dream of becoming an actress come to pass... I hope I...' Her thoughts were cuts off when she bumped into someone.

"I am sorry" She apologized. At this moment she didn't bother to look at the person, she just bent down to pick her bags that fell. And unfortunately, one of the coconuts broke.

' What a bad luck. This costs me my savings' She didn't want to get angry because it was a special day. A day of love and joy, but she couldn't help it.

"See what you've done " She yelled and lifted her head up.

Immediately she saw the figure in front of her, she gasped slightly.

The beauty of the man standing in front of her made her speechless. He was so cute beyond imaginations.

She noticed he looked different from a normal India guy. 'Perhaps he is not from here' She thought.

"Hello! You bumped into me, stop acting like I was the one that did" He snapped at her. His English was fluent, and his voice was sweet to hear.

Madhulika quickly gathered herself up, she cleared her throat and yelled back at him. "Didn't you also bump into me. Listen Mr man, don't..." She paused when she remembered she had to go home quickly for the festival.

"Oh lord, I am late" She muttered to herself and made to walk away, but the guy held her wrist, stopping her.

Madhulika stared at him, then at her wrist. She carefully dropped the bag on the floor, which contains the things she had bought.

"You pervert" She made a fist with her right hand, and gave him a punch on his face.

"Ouch!" The man screamed in pain.

"Do not underestimate the power of madhulika. Goodbye" She picked her bag and started to run home.

Getting home, she saw that her mother was impatiently waiting for her.

"Madhulika, what took you so long?" Divya asked.

"Nothing. Here are the stuffs" She replied and handed the bag over to her.

"You bought a lot of things. Don't you think they are too much?"Divya was worried because of the way madhulika usually spends money to buy excess things.

" It's lord Ganesha' festival, so cheer up...."Madhulika was saying, when she heard the sounds of playing drums, and singing.

"They are here" She ran outside the house.

Outside was filled with lots of people. Some were carrying the god, while some were playing drums and singing. All of them were putting on yellow clothes.

"Hail lord Ganesha!" One of them screamed so loudly.

"Hail!" Everyone chorused, including Madhulika.

She covered her hair with the

ghoonghat, joined her palms together, and bowed. "Hail lord Ganesha" She muttered.

They placed the idol at the right place, and then did all the necessary rituals.

It was finally time for the ritual. The whole family was present in the room Lord ganesha was placed.

And it was madhulika turn to perform her veneration. She took the tray containing the candle and other things, then she started moving it round in front of the idol.

'Hey lord, I hope you will fulfill my dreams right now. I have never been so desperate to become an actress. I don't know why but I feel like today is an amazing day... Hail, lord' She thought to herself and bowed again.

The festival for that day finally came to an end, everyone was happy after the veneration.

Madhulika was in the living room acting up a play, she didn't know when kashika walked past her to open the door.

"You think you can beat me? I am going to rip that eyes off yours out" She said, as if someone was present with her.

Kashika on the other hand heard a knock, she walked pass Madhulika who was so busy acting up her rubbish - according to her.

She opened the door only to see a man she hadn't even met before.

"Hey, who are you?" She asked.

"Isn't this apartment 3?"The man also asked.

'Hmm. His accent explains something; he isn't from India. He looks so cute... Kashika this is your chance' She thought and smiled at him.

"This is four, three is over there" She replied, pointing at a particular direction.

"Oops, sorry for disturbing" The man wanted to turn back and leave, but Kashika stopped him by saying, "We are celebrating today, come in and have some sweets. And you must also be tired, I will make you coffee".

"Thanks. But no, thanks. The apartment is a stone throw from here, no need" He rejected kindly.

"I don't take no for an answer. Come in" She dragged the stranger's hand into the living room.

Getting inside, Liam saw a lady talking to herself. He couldn't see her face because his back was facing her.

He figured out the lady was acting. He was bemused by the way she was talking.

" That's my crazy sister, ignore her crazy attitude and please sit" Kashika said, she took him to the couch and sat down.

This time around, Liam could see the face of the lady. He furrowed his brows in surprise.

Madhulika stopped acting when she notice the presence of people in the living room. She stared at them and her eyes sparked in surprise.

"You!" There both chorused.

She was shocked to see him at her house. 'Did this pervert follow me here? How annoying' She thought, burning up with anger.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she walked to meet him.

Liam stood up from the couch. "Are you a stalker, what the fuck are you doing here" He also asked.

"This is my house! You are the stalker....You didn't get a chance at the market, so you followed me to my house....If you don't want me to call the cops, leave now" She yelled at him.

"Do you guys know each other?" Kashika asked. She had been staring at the both of them in confusion.

"This man here broke one of my coconuts, although it was accidentally but he tried to touch me, how shameless,,,, now he's here" Madhulika explained.

"Is that it... That's not enough reason for you to send him out of the house. Today is lord Ganesha's festival, so treat people nicely" Kashika said, almost snapping.

"I was about leaving, anyways... Thanks" With that said, Liam walked away.

Kashika couldn't think of ways to stop him from leaving, she just felt frustrated.

Her hands fisted, she threw a glare at Madhulika.

"Why are you so insensitive? What's your problem.... Listen, I was getting closer to being friends with him, but you ruined it. Didn't you see the way he's dressed, the way he talks, he looked rich and cute... That's the kind of men to lure, you use and dump them. If you think this stupid acting skills of yours would help your life, then you must be crazy" It was rare for Kashika to speak to Madhulika in that manner. Her anger took control of her.

"Kashika, I am sorry if I ruined your plan. But don't you think you shouldn't say such words before Lord Ganesha. We just brought in lord Ganesha' idle and need to worship it wholeheartedly for ten days, please just quit your annoying job for a while.... Look, I am trying my best. What else do you want me to do! "Madhulika retorted.

" What I want you to do?" Kashika asked. A smirk appeared on her face."You can dance so well, how about you start dancing in a club".

Madhulika felt insulted, she felt as if she just heard something that shouldn't be heard. She lifted her hand up and gave Kashika a slap.

"Don't you ever in your life say such words to me. Not everyone is like you, you get it" After saying those word, Madhulika angrily walked away.

Kashika held her cheek with her palm. She frowned and walked away.

Eleven days later, after the festival had been concluded, everything returned back to normal. It was morning, and Madhulika had already left home to continue her job hunting.

She had prayed for that day to favor her. And she believed that since lord Ganesha festival had been concluded, her dream would come to pass.

"Good morning, Madhulika" People who knew her, greeted her as she walked.

"Good morning" She replied all their greetings.

She started feeling sick, and the thought of going back home came to her mind, but she reminded herself not to give up and she continued her job hunting.

"My head aches, oh Lord please direct me to the right place, I can't possibly continue like this" She muttered, tiredly.

Suddenly, a paper flew over and landed on her feet, she wanted to ignore but her eyes caught up with that of a lady struggling to pick the papers scattered on the floor.

Understanding that the papers must had mistakenly slipped out from the lady's hand, Madhulika bent down and picked the one on her feet. She walked closer to the woman and handed the paper over to her.

"I figured out it's yours, so I..." She trailed off.

"Thank you very much, if only everyone is as kind as you" The lady appreciated and collected the paper.

"It's no big deal..." Madhulika was still saying when her phone started ringing.

She answered the call immediately. "Hello mum".

"Madhulika you have to come home right now" Her mum said on the phone, by hearing her voice one would know that she was panicking.

"What is it? What happened mum" Madhulika asked worriedly.

"Come back home right now" And with that the call went disconnected.

"Lord, what's happening" She muttered, but it was obvious the lady heard her.

"Miss, is everything okay?" The lady asked.

"No, I mean yes" Madhuklika faked a smile and wanted to leave, but the lady stopped her and gave her one of the papers.

"An audition is going to take place soon, we are looking for young girls,,,read and understand" Those were the words of the lady after giving her the paper.

"Okay" Without looking at what was written on the paper, Madhulika quickly walked away.

"A nice first impression" The lady muttered, watching Madhulika leave.

****

Somewhere in India.

Shruti stared at her reflection on the mirror, she smiled and picked up her purse.

"The sari seller was right. I love how it fits me" She admired herself for sometime and then brought out her phone from her bag.

She dialed a number. "Where are you" She asked, immediately the call was answered.

"Shruti, I won't be able to come, something is going on right now...Please come to my house if you can, or just attend the engagement party alone, I..." Kashika's voice was heard.

"What is going on?" Shruti asked, disrupting Kashika.

"A lot, just come with any money you have, please...Stop shouting, it's not as if we aren't gonna pay, we are, okay" The call went disconnected.

Shruti creased her brows. 'I wasn't shouting, and I didn't say she isn't gonna pay' She started thinking.

Suddenly, she thought of something, "Could it be that she wasn't talking to me? Then who could she be talking to?...Could it be....Salma?" She took her debit card and left the room in a haste.

*****

Liam scoffed as he entered the office.

"Is this your definition of a perfect office?" He asked his supposed newly appointed assistant.

"Sir...?" Raghu was confused, there was nothing wrong with the office.

To Raghu, the office was large enough, it contained everything he would be needing for the job. So why the complain.

"It's so hard being in a strange place, I can't wait to finish this project and get out of here" Liam lamented.

'What an arrogant and proud peacock' Raghu cursed, not saying it out tho.

"Get me a cup of coffee" He ordered and sat down on the chair.

"Okay" Raghu replied and walked out of the office.

Immediately he got outside, four other workers rushed to him.

"How was it....Is he nice?....Did he compliment us for arranging and decorating his office?..." They bombarded him with questions.

"He..." Raghu wanted to tell them about how he complained and all, but when he remembered how they all arranged the office with joy in their heart all to welcome him, he stopped and decided to lie to them.

"He liked it so much, he couldn't help but admire the office".

"I knew it, we tried" One said happily.

"Our hard work wasn't in vain".

*****

Madhulika pushed the door opened and then walked in.

She paused right on her track when she saw the smiling face of Salma.

Madhulika knew the smile wasn't a genuine one, but a wicked one.

"The prodigal daughter is here" Salma teased, she walked forward to meet Madhulika.

At that moment Madhulika became dumbfounded, she joined her two palms together and bowed slightly - It was their way of greeting.

"Hi, aunt Salma" She muttered.

"Who's your aunt? Huh?" Salma asked, she suddenly held Madhulika's hair and then pulled it hard.

"Ouchhhh" Madhulika screamed in pain.

Kashika and Vidya rushed towards them.

"Let go of her" Kashika demanded.

"Or what" Salma asked, pulling the hair more hard.

Salma whistled and the two boys who came with her rushed to hold Kashika and Vidya.

"Mum, Kashika" Madhulika called, ignoring the pain she was in.

If Madhulika wanted to, she could free her hair from Salma's grip by pushing her away, but she didn't and that was because Salma was an influential person in the society, if by mistake Salma gets injured in the process, Madhulika knew where she would be next...Prison!

"Stop all of this!" Madhulika yelled.

"Or else what?...Pay me my money and I will let you and your family go" Salma stated.

Madhulika bit her lips, she didn't want to show it that she was in pain. She only had two options, either she pays the money and her family would be free, or she pushed Salma and go save her family. But she didn't have the amount of money to pay, leaving her with no choice but option two.

She suddenly lifted her hands up and caught with that of Salma's on her hair, she pinched them hard, and when Salma removed her hands from her hair, she pushed her off and then faced the men holding her mum and her sister.

Fortunately for her, Salma didn't fall and get hurt, she only staggered but quickly regained her stamina.

"Let them go, you don't want to go through me" She threatened, but the men paid deaf ears.

"I said let them..."

"Enough!!" Salma yelled, making all of them to flinch, including the men.

Everywhere became quiet, as they all watch keenly what the woman in her early forties was about to say or do.

Just like as if someone said something funny, Salma started laughing.

"That's a nice one" She continued laughing.

They all wondered what was making her laugh.

Then again, just like as if someone angered her, she suddenly frowned.

"I was being easy with you, but you didn't like it. And now I am about to go hard....Boys, leave them, start taking out their furnitures and important things, that should cover up for my money."

Hearing those words, Madhulika's eyes widened, she quickly went on her kneels in front of Salma.

"Please don't do this, please" Tears were already streaming out from her eyes.

"You pushed me, Lika" Salma said, calling Madhulika's name in short.

"I will pay you your money, but please don't do this, I..."

"Then where is the money?" Salma asked, almost yelling.

"Not now, I mean I will pay but not now...Please, give me some time" She pleaded.

Salma chuckled, she bent down to Madhulika's kneeling level and then touched Madhulika's right cheek.

"We all know there's something you can do to pay me back my money" She told Madhulika.

"Wh-what?" Madhulika asked, hoping it shouldn't be what she was thinking about.

"Get married to my son...You know he likes you so much, he's the reason i gave your late dad the loan, so you will be repaying him by tying the knot with him" She spilled out.

Madhulika looked at Salma, " You want me to get married to that rascal you call a son, huh" She blurted out.

"Shut up!" With that being said, Salma slapped Madhulika.

Kashika clenched her fist, wishing she could deal with Salma.

"And let me remind you that this rascal was your friend, he gave you lots of things and..."

"Fine!" Madhulika stared at her mum and Kashika, then she stared back at Salma.

Then with a low and shaky voice she replied, "I will marry Naman, your son".

A smile found its way to Salma's face, she helped madhulika up from her kneeling position.

"Soon you are going to become my daughter in-law" She giggled.

Divya shook her head, she was in tears.

"Madhulika you can't possibly get married to Naman, you can't" She was sobbing.

No one would want their daughter to get married to Salma's son, except that person didn't know of his wayward life.

"Woman!" Salma snapped at her. "Don't butt in our business, this is between me and your daughter, not you".

Madhulika joined her palms together and bowed slightly. "Thank you, aunt Salma" She said.

"Why are you thanking her, she's supposed to be the one thanking you cause... "

"Don't say it" Madhulika disrupted Kashika.

'Cause you will be getting married to her useless son' Kashika said inwardly, not saying it out.

Although she didn't say it out, Madhulika knew what she wanted to say and that was the reason she stopped her. She didn't want Salma to get angry again.

"I should start preparing for the wedding, my son is getting married" Salma smiled. "See you soon, daughter in-law".

She walked out of the house and her goons walked behind her.

Immediately they left, Divya fell on the floor and her crying increased.

"Mum!" Madhulika and Kashika called at a time.

They rushed to her and squatted beside her.

"You don't have to do this, Madhulika. Please don't get married to her son" She cried.

"I... " Madhulika paused, she didn't even know what to say.

If only she had the money then she wouldn't get married to Naman.

"Madhulika, I have some money I am saving, you can add yours to it and we will work hard to look for the rest" Kashika said and Madhulika chuckled dryly.

"What's funny?" Kashika asked.

"You. Have you forgotten the reason we are saving?" Madhulika replied with a question.

"To pay the landlord" Kashika muttered and Madhulika nodded slowly.

"If we pay Salma with the money then we would find ourselves in the street, the landlord would chase us out... By the way, even if we gather up all the money, it still won't be enough to pay Salma" Madhulika explained.

She hugged Divya and began stroking her hair.

"Don't worry about me mum, I will be fine" She muttered.

"It pains me that I can't do anything, I am useless... " Divya sobbed.

"Stop it mum, I will get angry if you say such again".

The door opened and they looked up to see who it was.

Shruti rushed in.

She joined her palms together and bowed her head in a form of greeting.

"Kashika, I thought Salma was the reason you asked me to come with lots of money" She said, staring around.

"She was, she has left already" Kashika replied.

"Really? Where did you get the money you gave to her? What did she say?" She asked.

"We didn't give her any money, she proposed a deal. Madhulika is going to marry Naman, her son" Kashika informed and Shruti gasped.

"It's... It's not true, right?" She almost stuttered.

Kashika sighed, she stood up from the floor and walked closer to Shruti.

"Let's get out of here, I need some fresh air" She said and walked away.

Shruti glanced at Madhulika before walking out.

Madhulika helped her mum up and took her to the bedroom.

She laid her on the bed and covered her with the blanket.

"I know you are stressed out, you need to rest, I will be back" She said and her mum nodded.

She walked out of the bedroom and got to the living room.

She took her bag that was on the floor and then opened it.

She took out her phone and wanted to close the bag but the paper in it got her attention.

"That lady had given it to me, what is it?" She muttered curiously.

She took out the paper from the bag and stared at it.

*Audition! Audition!* Was boldly written on the top.

She furrowed her brows and after reading the content, she smiled.

"Wow, should I also try this one? Or will I get rejected just like the other ones I have tried?" She muttered, holding the paper tightly to herself.

She had tried lots of audition and wasn't accepted. Not because she wasn't able to meet their acting expectation, but because she wasn't able to meet their lust expectation.

The managers would want to sleep with her and she didn't allow. She wasn't the type to sell her body because of her needs.

Her shape and curves was one of the things her sari couldn't hide, it was always revealing.

She believed her body is a treasure and she should keep it well, not give it out because of a temporary position.

*Use what you have to get what you want* Kashika always say this to her.

But Madhulika believed the words meant something else, not the way Kashika sees it.

The address of the place was also written on the paper.

Without wasting time, she walked out of the house and took a taxi to the place.

When she got there, she paid the taxi man his money.

She stood in front of the big building in front of her and then exhaled.

'Help me Lord Ganesha' She prayed silently and then walked into the company.

Immediately she stepped in, she was welcomed with a cool atmosphere.

She could inhale a sweet scent, everywhere was dazzling clean.

"Welcome miss" A voice made her stopped her admiration.

She looked at where the voice came from and it was a girl sitting behind a counter, probably the receptionist.

She walked to her, "Good day".

"Same miss, how may I help you?" The receptionist asked.

"I came here to apply for the audition" She replied and the receptionist smiled.

"Oh, the form is actually free".

'I never said it wasn't free' Madhulika said inwardly, almost rolling her eyes.

"So can I get the form?".

"Sure" The receptionist opened a drawer and brought out a form which she gave to her.

"Can I get a pen please?" She requested and it was immediately given to her.

She went to sit and began filling the form.

The form contained her name, age, skills, mobile number, etcetera.

It took her some minutes and when she was done filling the form, she stood up and went to the receptionist.

She had to wait cause the receptionist was busy attending to another girl.

After what seems like years to Madhulika, the receptionist finished attending to the girl and the girl left.

Madhulika gave her the form.

"So quick?" She furrowed her brows.

'Should I take hours just to fill a form?' Madhulika almost said it out but she restrained herself, she didn't want to sound rude.

"We will get back to you through your email, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day" The receptionist smiled and Madhulika returned the smile before walking out of the company.

Her stomach made a rumbling sound and that was when she recalled she hadn't eaten anything since morning.

She opened her bag and stared at the money in it.

"I should get something to cook" She muttered and began walking to the nearest market.

She got to the market and bought some stuffs.

It was packaged and given to her.

She paid and started walking around the market, looking for one last thing to buy.

She wasn't looking at her front and that was how she bumped into someone, the things she was holding fell and her stuffs were all on the floor.

Her eyes became red and she wanted to cry.

She had used her last money to get the foodstuffs,,, now it was all on the floor.

She looked up and her anger increased when she saw the face of the person she had bumped into.

"Are you jinxed!" She yelled without thinking.

"Jinxed?" Liam muttered.

Earlier he had left the office and went to the market, he was hungry but couldn't eat their food, he wasn't used to it.

He decided to go into the market and see if he would see some pasta so he will go prepare it by himself.

He disliked eating food made by others, he also didn't like sending someone to get food for him. He trusted no one.

He was busy staring around, trying to find an English dish foodstuffs when he bumped into someone,,, he was also surprised to see her.

"Why are you always careless" She said, with tears coming out from her eyes.

Liam furrowed his brows, wondering what was making her cry.

"Are you sure you are mentally stable?" He asked.

Madhulika clenched her fist tightly, not wanting to do anything stupid.

"Why are you so callous? You threw away someone's only meal and all you can do is ask if the person is insane?" She muttered, trying to fight back her tears, but she couldn't, cause it kept on flowing.

Normally she could act as if she wasn't pained, but she didn't know why she wasn't able to do it now. Maybe because it had to deal with reality, not some damn acting.

"Only meal?" Liam mumbled, he was taken aback. "Is that the reason you were crying?" He asked calmly.

Madhulika didn't reply, she wasn't able to.

She held her head and screamed in pain as the headache hit her again.

Her vision became blurry and she immediately passed out, falling on the floor.

The market people gathered around her and someone called the ambulance.

Liam couldn't hear what the people were talking about cause they were conversing in Indian.

A man suddenly faced him, he spoke Indian to him but Liam couldn't understand.

"I don't hear your language" He told the man, hoping the man would understand him.

"Why are you standing there, carry her, the ambulance is here" The man snapped. His English wasn't even pleasant to the ear.

Liam scoffed. "They should come carry her,,, why should I touch her?".

Why saying the last part, he recalled when she punched his face only because he held her wrist,,, he scoffed again.

Madhulika was immediately carried by the nurses into the ambulance.

The man creased his brows. "Who is she to you?".

"No one" He replied and began walking away, but some men gathered around him, stopping him from walking from walking further.

"What do you want" He asked them.

"You claim she is no one to you, why were you seen talking to her?" The man asked and the other men started talking.

Although he didn't understand what the other men were talking about, he could tell they were agreeing to what the man said,,, their facial expression said it all.

"Seriously" Liam chuckled.

"Who's telling a joke?" The man asked with a deep frown on his face.

"I said she's no one to me, what else do you want from me" He asked, still calm.

"We don't believe you. You were the last person seen talking to her... How are we sure you didn't do anything to her, hence the reason for her going unconscious" He said.

"Really? You think I am responsible? Are you guys blind? Didn't you see what happened?" Liam was beginning to loose his cool.

The men started talking again, Liam found it annoying.

"You have guts,,, I am calling the cops" The man said and started dialing a number.

"Go on" Liam muttered, he folded his hands below his breast.

The people stared unbelievablely at him.

Wasn't he afraid?