AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I’m ready. Don’t worry,’ Zayan replies, his previous concerns being folded and tucked away, replaced by a charming smile and forced ease in his shoulders.
‘Farah!’ Owais booms, unabashedly excited. ‘Introduce us, please. I have been waiting so long for this.’
A giggle escapes me, a giveaway sign of my nerves. Amal clocks it first and presses the most genuine smile on to her lips. She takes the lead away from Owais, thankfully.
‘It’s really nice to finally meet you, Zayan,’ Amal says, sticking her hand out for him to shake. ‘I loved you in Cloudy Skies; it’s one of my all-time favourite childhood movies.’
I send a glance Zayan’s way, surprised to see him smiling gratefully.
‘You’re Amal, I’m assuming. Farah’s said a lot about you,’ Zayan replies. ‘And you must be Owais. She hails you two as the greatest love story.’
Owais grins, brown eyes glimmering with unrestrained smugness. ‘Well, I’d say we’re doing OK.’
Maha snorts loudly. ‘Please, they’re probably going to elope next year. But you and Farah are good competition. You’re treating our girl well.’
‘Maha, I told you –’ I start to hiss, but Zayan cuts me off.
‘She’s been the best hurricane to enter my life.’ My attention snaps to him, and I blush at the intense way he’s looking at me. It’s all pretend. It’s all pretend. It’s all pretend. ‘I’m glad we met at the coffee shop that day.’
Under her breath, I hear Maha let out a breathy ‘aww’, and even Amal looks softened. We’ve convinced them. Somehow, we’ve made them believe that Zayan and I are truly in love with one another.
For the next couple of hours, we talk about anything and everything – university classes, whether Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire or Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man (the right answer is Miles Morales). Eventually – and inevitably, I suppose – we land on the LSDCATS.
‘They’re being such social-media jerks,’ Maha drawls, leaning back in her armchair. ‘They keep saying these underhanded things about you and Zayan. As if they’re above smack talk and therefore have to say it under their breath.’
‘I wish we could put them in front of a camera with both of you,’ Anushka adds, sitting cross-legged by the low coffee table. ‘I’d like them to deny the chemistry between you two then.’
‘We did get an offer for an interview with the LSDCATS,’ Zayan says from his place at the other end of the sofa – with a couple of pillows between us.
‘We did?’ I ask, surprised. ‘Was it from The Actors’ Guild?’
The Actors’ Guild is one of the most prestigious unions for upcoming actors and actresses. Only the greats get interviewed, or the future greats in cases like Zayan’s – he’d got his membership and interview at fourteen.
Zayan shakes his head, and I deflate a little. ‘It wasn’t them; it was some entertainment outlet. Lacey got an email today, asking if we’d be interested in doing it. They said the LSDCATS are waiting on what we’ll say before giving their response.’
‘Cowards,’ Gibitah scoffs, while biting into a samosa. She’s completely, unabashedly unafraid to talk about how much she hates the LSDCATS. She’s always updating me on their latest retaliations and urging us to fight back. She and Nur are practically a tag team now.
‘You guys should totally do it,’ Nur says excitedly. ‘Maybe you’d finally be able to put this LSDCATS rivalry to rest by demolishing them in the interview.’
A round of agreement rings through the group, all of them unaware of the nerves bundling in my stomach. What if Henry was there? Just the thought of seeing him makes me want to curl up under my covers and never see the light of day again.
‘Who would we be interviewed with?’ I ask, carefully trying to hide the nerves in my voice by eating a handful of crisps at the same time.
‘The opposing co-stars,’ Zayan says, his gaze like a laser on me, analysing me in a way that I wish he wouldn’t. I don’t want him to clock my worries. ‘And I’d be there the whole time to guide you, of course. You wouldn’t be going in alone.’
‘As good as that is,’ David intervenes, ‘this could all still end very badly.’
‘How so?’ Anushka asks, while taking a long sip of her chai, a brief look of delight painting over her expression.
‘Well, what if the LSDCATS have something planned? What if they say something that Farah and Zayan are completely unprepared for?’
‘He’s not wrong,’ Gibitah adds, shooting me a look. ‘The LSDCATS have been extremely underhanded lately. Aside from copying the Lives, there’s been the tweets and the cast list … I’m pretty sure they’re the ones filling all these gossip rags with stories about you two, to make you look bad. I read one yesterday about how your and Farah’s relationship was actually just a PR stunt – can you believe that?’
I feel my eyes widen as I force out a convincing laugh – The Tragedies don’t look at each other, and Zayan wears this bemused expression on his face while the rest of the group laughs around us.
‘But think of the great publicity it would drum up,’ Nur insists, thankfully, steering the conversation away. ‘Do you know how much ticket sales would go up if they did this interview? This could put us over the edge and end this war altogether.’
‘But what if David’s right, and we’re not ready for it?’ I ask desperately. ‘I don’t want to make a fool of myself or jeopardize Zayan’s career by messing something up.’
