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“Now what?” Nanda Garu asked. “What are you doing about it? Because if you’re not doing anything then I will have to reconsider our discussion. I have too much riding on this movie Harsh. Too much.”
Harsh’s throat clenched, his fist vising over the phone. “It’s bad reporting. That story isn’t true. None of it is.”
The other man grumbled, “It’s always bad reporting. My question is, what are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll sue-“
Nanda Garu made a scoffing noise. “Sue. By the time you get a court date only, your reputation will be finished.”
“I’ll fix it,” Harsh blurted out rashly. “Give me this week. If it’s not fixed, you can offer the role to someone else.”
Silence fell and then the other man sighed. “One week and only because I like you. Don’t let me down.”
The line went dead in his hands and the sound from the rest of the crowd in the room rushed in, making Harsh wince. He scrubbed his hands over his face as he contemplated what he was going to do. He knew what he had to do. He just didn’t want to do it.
“Harsh!” His father’s grating voice cut through his musings.
He sighed again before turning to face the horde of agitated people.
“I would like to speak to Raashi,” he announced. “Alone.”
Everybody gaped at him like he’d announced his intention to colonise Mars. Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea, Harsh mused. Maybe he should leave all these psychos behind and go find another planet to live on.
“No,” Ram said. “You say what you want to say with me in the room.”
Agastya rolled his eyes. “Do you just recycle your dialogues?”
“I have to,” Ram snapped back. “Because you Kodela brothers won’t leave my sisters alone.”
“Ram Anna,” Harsh interjected. “Please?”
Ram stared at him, his eyes seeming to bore right through him. And then he nodded, waving a hand through the air. “I’ll be right outside.”
Agastya scoffed, a disbelieving noise. “With him, you’ll wait outside. With me-“
“Get over yourself Kodela,” Ram grumbled, as he turned to leave the room. “I trust Harsh. He’s a good guy.”
“And I’m not?”
Harsh suppressed a smile. His brother was known to the world as the OG good guy. So, his outrage at being thought otherwise was palpable.
“You’re doing better now with Veda’s influence. Before that, you were a bit dodgy.” Their voices faded out as they left the room, followed by the staff, parents and assorted spouses and brothers-in-law.
Until, finally, it was only the two of them.
Harsh exhaled hard.
“Yeah,” Raashi said, staring at the mug in her hands. “I know.”
“Harsh-“
“Raashi-“
They both spoke at the same time, falling silent too at the same moment.
“You first,” he offered.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was angry and feeling bitchy and I didn’t think before I spoke. I didn’t mean or plan for any of this to happen.”
