Page 48 of Born in Sin

Cara stilled, her gaze on the other woman, Majid’s cousin. Two years, they’d shared a room in that hellhole of a school. They hadn’t been friends, but they’d been civil to each other. And she’d watched with a smile as Celina had crossed her in the corridor that night.

“Cara.” The director tapped her hand to get her attention. “If the visitors are disturbing your focus, we can ask them to leave.”

“No, it’s fine.” She turned her head, focusing on the director and his directions, all while her every nerve ending was tunedinto the group that was being given a tour of the sets. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kabir emerge from makeup and greet them effusively, turning on the charm for the women. Ameera laid a bold hand on his arm, pretending to take a selfie but nuzzling into his body in a way that was an invitation by itself.

Kabir allowed it, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in closer. Cara watched as he whispered something in her ear that had Ameera giggling. She saw Majid glance around, his gaze skimming the set. Looking for her, she supposed.

She kept her back to them, allowing her stylist to fiddle with the folds of the dress she was wearing and smoothen out nonexistent frizz in her hair.

“Car,” Kabir’s voice came from behind her. “The fans are here.”

Cara turned, a polished yet remote smile on her face. “Hello,” she said politely, her gaze skimming over the faces, both familiar and strange. She made it a point to look at Majid last. He met her gaze, that familiar expression of puzzled suspicion on his face.

“Positions!” The director’s shout had everyone on set scrambling.

Cara left Kabir to tell the guests where they were to sit and walked over to stand in her position. Kabir joined her a second later, standing beside her as the makeup artists touched up their makeup and blotted the sheen from their faces.

“Your Ice Queen thing is giving me frostbite,” Kabir murmured.

“Hmm.” Cara tilted her face to the right so the lady could dash on some highlighter. “I hope their dicks freeze and fall off then.”

The lights dimmed a second later and there was no time to think of anything but work. Three hours later, when the director was satisfied, they took a break, dropping into their chairs with a relieved sigh.

“I should go over and mingle,” Kabir murmured.

“No.” Cara allowed the makeup artist to spritz water on to her face, sighing at the cooling relief. “Let them come to you.”

“Car-“

“They worship at the altar of arrogance, Kabs. Just give it a moment.”

True to her words, Naveen and Ashish sauntered over a few minutes later to talk to Kabir, Cara pretending to ignore them while listening to every word. She checked her watch, noted the time and excused herself to speak to the director. From the periphery of her eye, she saw Majid pull out his phone and frown down at it. She knew what the scheduled message said, every word burned into her brain

Does betraying a friend make your micropenis grow? Or did you do it just for fun?

His head snapped up, red faced, furious gaze lasering into the back of Cara’s head. She continued chatting with her director, nodding attentively to the notes and feedback he’d made for Kabir and her.

“You know Cara,” the director said now. “Kabir and you are magic onscreen and off. This movie is going to be huge!”

Cara smiled. If she had a rupee for every time she’d heard that…

A small commotion at the other end of the set had her glancing over. Ameera was trying to calm a furious Majid down. But he shook her hand off before striding off the set, leaving the rest of them behind.

Temptation woke within her, a sneaky beast that had often overcome common sense. She shouldn’t, she knew, and yet, she found herself murmuring an excuse and walking towards the door. Her security fell in step behind her and she didn’t dissuade him. She might be tempted to step over the line, but she wasn’t stupid enough to obliterate it. She ignored Kabir’s sharp glance and walked around the group huddled around him.

Shiva stepped ahead of her, opened the door and scanned the area around. Then he nodded and allowed her to step out. A cool breeze wafted across her face, bringing blessed relief to her overheated cheeks. She walked over to where a few trees provided some shelter.

“Shiva,” she murmured. “Cigarette?”

Shiva started. He’d been working for her for over three years now and had never once seen her light up a cigarette. But she knew he smoked, and she knew he always had a few stashed away in that safari suit of his.

Giving her a distrustful look, he dug through a pocket and handed over a slightly smashed cigarette and lighter.

“I can get a fresh one,” he said.

Cara shook her head, putting the smashed cigarette to her lips and fumbling the lighter. A hand appeared in her periphery and lit the cigarette for her. She took a deep drag and looked up. Majid’s grim face filled her vision. A second later, Shiva’s broad back was between her and that face.

“It’s okay, Shiva,” she said, blowing out smoke. “He’s with the group that’s visiting the set today. Kabir’s fans.”

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