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“Your family deals in secrets, in information,” he snapped. “Don’t act like you’re a fucking innocent.”
“My family deals in the news,” she replied, her voice tight. “I, on the other hand, deal in nothing. I am nobody. I am nothing.”
They stared at each other in the darkened room, shadows cloaking them. Neither was willing to give in, neither willing to break first.
Finally, Raashi said, “I need to go. They’ll be looking for me.”
She made it till the door, her hand on the doorknob when he spoke.
“You are many things, Raashi Gadde. But you never were and never will be nothing.”
Thirty-Five
HARSH
“You’re getting married tomorrow.”
Harsh rolled his eyes at his sister. “Talk about stating the obvious. What are you doing here anyway?”
“You know what’s not obvious?” Priyanka made herself comfortable in the dirty, plastic chair in the corner of the outdoor set. He noticed she didn’t answer his question.
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” Harsh checked his reflection out in the mirror an Assistant Director held up for him and held his hand out, asking for a hairbrush.
“You’re working.” Priyanka shifted uncomfortably in the chair.
“Again, with the obvious,” Harsh murmured, brushing his hair and watching his director make his way across the cluttered set to him. The man did not look to be in a good mood.
“Why are you shooting the night before the wedding?” Priyanka pressed, a frown beetling her brows.
“The shoot was planned,” he told her repressively. “The wedding was not.”
Priyanka rolled her eyes this time. “You could have rescheduled the shoot.”
His director, Venkat Garu, had reached them at this time. “Welcome Andi,” he told Priyanka before turning to Harsh. “The scene isn’t working.”
“Would it help if we tried it by the bench on that side?” he asked, knowing in his gut that a change in setting wasn’t going to help anything.
“Harsh,” the other man’s voice was gentle. “You’re exhausted. It shows. Go home.”
“I can do better,” Harsh argued stubbornly. “If you just-“
“I’ve been told there’s a wedding you have to attend tomorrow.”
Harsh glared at Priyanka who studiously ignored him, acting like she couldn’t hear the conversation swirling around her.
“Let’s wrap up for now.” Venkat Garu put his hand on Harsh’s shoulder and squeezed. “Go home, get married. We’ll set another day to nail this scene.”
Harsh ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it to help clear his head. “Ten more minutes. I can-“
“Harsh.” Priyanka stood up, discreetly dusting off the back of her pants. “It’s time to go home. Come on.”
“I’m not a fucking child with a curfew.” He rounded on her furiously. “You guys interfere with my personal life all the time and I allow it, but you don’t get to fuck around with my work.”
Priyanka flushed but she held her ground. “I’m not here to police your work. I’m here to spend some time with my brother the night before he gets married.”
“I also need to get home and get some rest, no?” Venkat Garu interrupted. “You will look good anytime but I need my beauty sleep, so I can look good for your wedding.”
They’d decided on a small, intimate ceremony but even small and intimate in the Gadde and Kodela world was about five hundred people. Harsh sighed, the knots of tension in his shoulders feeling like they were made of concrete.
