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‘What,’ Maha asks dangerously, ‘is he doing here?’
Amal mirrors this intense anger directed at Zayan. ‘No matter what he says, Farah, if he’s cheated on you –’
‘We were never together!’ I blurt, ignoring the wide-eyed expression Zayan is shooting my way.
I don’t know what’s changed in my head, but the thought of continuing to lie to my friends about Zayan makes my skin crawl.
‘What?’ Amal cocks her head.
‘We were pretending to be in a relationship because everyone thought we were together after that first photo of us. We thought it was best to capitalize on the attention to fix Zayan’s reputation, and in exchange he’d bring industry officials to the audience on opening night.’ I admit it all in a rush.
Maha collects herself first. ‘So you were in a PR relationship?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ Amal asks, hurt evident in her voice.
I scramble for an explanation before settling on the simple truth. ‘I was afraid to tell you guys. I thought if I told you the real reason why I was doing the play, why I needed Zayan, it would upset you.’
‘Farah,’ Amal says, a touch of reprimand in her voice, ‘we wouldn’t have judged you. Never. That’s not how this friendship works. If we thought you were doing something wrong, we’d have told you, and loved you despite that. You don’t give up on people because they make mistakes.’
Zayan’s hand intertwines with mine under the table, squeezing when he sees my jaw tremble with the urge to cry again.
‘I’m sorry for not telling you,’ I reply.
Amal watches me, her face full of soft concern, but Maha still looks hurt, and that makes my chest ache.
‘It’s OK,’ Amal replies, a smile slipping over her lips. ‘You were afraid. I get that. But you have to remember that we’re your friends. We want to be there for you.’
I nod vigorously. ‘I promise to always be honest with you.’ I look to Maha, who is still standing there silently. Our eyes meet, and I try to convey how sorry I am for lying to them.
‘It – it’s going to take me a minute to get over this,’ Maha says, and I can’t blame her. ‘But I will. Get over it. Because we’re best friends, Farah.’
My eyes prick with tears as I nod.
‘But what about now?’ Maha continues, trying to ease her tone into something more neutral. ‘Not to be rude or anything, but I’m pretty sure you don’t need to be standing in a kitchen looking all in love with each other, with no cameras around, to get more publicity.’
I blush furiously, especially when Zayan’s mouth lifts into a smirk.
‘Well, now –’ Zayan meets my eyes and squeezes our hands together again – ‘Farah has some things she needs to deal with. Stuff that’s larger than our relationship.’
Of course he’d be looking at the bigger picture. I should’ve known he wouldn’t let what happened with The Tragedies go so easily. He wants me to talk to them.
‘Zayan …’ I reply uneasily.
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he says firmly.
‘What about your new movie role?’ I point out, grasping at straws. ‘It’s being shot in Australia.’
‘We can deal with that later,’ Zayan argues gently. ‘The play is more important. We’ve covered up your leaving – said you were sick. The public has accepted it for now. The LSDCATS are trying to capitalize on the narrative that’s being spun about me and Laiba, and about you and I being over, but Laiba has shut that down.’
‘She has?’
‘Yes, Farah. You’d have known this,’ he says, a little tartly, ‘if you hadn’t disappeared off the face of the earth.’
I ignore his tone and grab my phone from the table, logging in quickly to the redownloaded Twitter. The first thing I see is Laiba’s tweet.
@LaibaSiddiqi: @ZayanAmin and I are not together. We are not getting back together. As for the NDA, that is something I had to sign when I was with Zayan, and it’s understandable that Farah did as well. What the public is doing to a budding actress is disgusting. Do not destroy talent before it has the chance to grow, simply because of ill-intentioned rumours and lies.
