Five-Thirty AM - XXX

When Noel finally walked in at eight the next morning, Dev was having breakfast.

‘Long night, huh?’ Dev asked, smirking.

‘Yeah,’ Noel replied with a smile. ‘Be right back,’ he disappeared into his room. He returned twenty minutes later, showered, changed and yawning. The vee neck of his tee revealed a hickey on his clavicle, showing up against his pale skin as a purple bruise.

‘Your hickey is showing,’ Dev snorted.

Noel turned a bright red. He wasn’t used to flaunting his sex life so this was a first for him!
‘So tell me about her,’ Dev said. ‘Do I know her?’

‘Guari Krishnan,’ Noel was making toast and missed the appalled look on Dev’s face.

‘Gauri, the producer of the serial?’ he choked.

Noel nodded. He turned around, a smile in his eyes. ‘Yes. Same Gauri.’

‘She’s how much older than you?’ Dev asked, alarm bells ringing wildly in his head.

‘How does age matter, Dev? I mean, she likes me, I like her. That’s all there is to it,’ he answered, casually.

Dev’s eyes narrowed, as he carefully kept his expression blank. ‘So when are you meeting her again?’

‘Tomorrow,’ Noel answered.

‘Have you signed on with the channel yet?’ Dev asked.

‘No, but she tells me it might to take a little longer,’ Noel was not worried. Dev looked at him. He looked happy, relaxed.

Shit!

****

The day Noel was to sign the contract, he woke up in Gauri’s bed. He stretched and reached out for her, running a hand down her naked back, as she lay on her stomach.

‘Noel,’ she murmured, ‘can you please put some coffee on?’

He sighed and said, ‘and here I was hoping to get some morning loving!’

She turned her head on the pillow to look at him. ‘Long day ahead, babe, so get up already,’ she smiled.

He got out of bed, padding naked to the bathroom, before getting dressed. He was having coffee when she came out of the bedroom.

She sat beside him, and put her arm around his shoulder, ‘big day today for you. You’re signing your contract. Excited?’

He nodded, yes. He was. He held her hands in his, ‘all thanks to you.’

She looked at him strangely and said, ‘of course. Now you really should go, and don’t be late, okay?’

‘Not on your life,’ he said. ‘Will I see you later?’

She nodded, ‘of course.’

It was only when he signed the contract that he realized it was for only six months. However, Gauri explained to him that this was nothing out of the ordinary, and since this had started out as a six-month role, the contract was for that period of time. Once it came up for renewal, then things could be re-negotiated. Noel was satisfied with that.

‘Gauri, how about we go out and celebrate tonight?’ he said tenderly.

‘Aw, Noel, you’re so sweet! Actually, there’s a party on tonight, and I can’t avoid it. So, why don’t you join me instead?’ she asked.

Noel had been thinking more along the line of a private celebration, just the two of them. But, he thought, I guess this is better than nothing. At least he would get to spend the evening with her.

Noel began working on ‘Ek Din Zindagi Ka’ or EDZK as fans had started to call it, the very next week. His startlingly different looks attracted immediate attention. He worked hard, realizing that he had to make a place for himself in this close group of people, who worked day in and sometimes day out together. He had to earn their respect and their friendship.

Like everything else in his life that had gone before, Noel threw himself into learning this new craft. He was a quick learner, never shirking from giving however many takes it took before the director was satisfied. He was alway punctual, always professional, treating everyone with respect, from the spot-boy to the lead to the director. He listened to advice that he was given, and he acted on it. That in turn, earned him the respect of his co-workers, who clearly saw the effort he put into his work.

And it paid off. Four months later, the visible improvements came in the form of lesser takes for a shot, and praises for his acting ability in the press; and the fan following he started gathering. Female hearts who’d never heard of RR for Men, beat for the green-eyed, brooding bad boy, Jatin in EDZK. His role started expanding. He worked longer hours, and barely crashed into bed, before it was time for him to leave again.

He also saw less and less of Gauri. She rarely came on the sets, and when she did, she treated him in the same casual manner that she treated the rest of the cast and crew. He understood. It’s never easy having a relationship with a boss. They slept together every now and then, but it left him feeling hollower each time. They still talked on the phone. He still went out with her to events sometimes, but mostly, he was busy with work.

There was something missing. He just didn’t know what it was.

Dev watched him sitting quietly watching TV one Sunday afternoon, after a particularly grueling week and finally broached the topic. ‘Noel, can I ask you something, buddy?’

‘Sure,’ Noel sat up, glad of something else to do, rather than watch reruns of old TV episodes.

‘What’s going on with you and Gauri?‘ Dev was never one to beat around the bush.

‘Nothing’s going on,’ Noel shrugged. ‘We’ve just been too busy. I’m working long hours, she has a channel to run. We do meet up, it’s not like we don’t talk on the phone, but ... just not as often as we used to be able to.’

‘And you’re okay with this?’ Dev questioned.

Noel thought for a moment before he answered. ‘Honestly? No. No, I’m not. I do want to see her more often, but she’s working on a new series and she’s extremely tied up with that.’

‘So how long are you going to wait around for her to be free? I mean, look at you, it’s a Sunday afternoon, and TV’s latest hot shot is sitting at home chatting with his friend. Is she working on Sunday, too?’

Noel sat up. ‘What’s wrong with you, Dev? We both need time to relax before the next week starts. So yeah, I’m letting her get some me time.’

Dev looked at him incredulously. He’d never heard such bull shit from Noel before, and yet here he was talking about relaxing away from the person he loved?! How did that work?

‘Noel, what about your ‘we’ time?’ he asked instead, gently. ‘You haven’t gone out with her the entire week, so one would think, if you wanted to relax you’d be helping each other relax. Why are you here and not over at her place?’

Noel smiled, ‘you know, that’s not a bad idea.’ He picked up his phone and dialed.

She picked up the phone after a few rings. ‘Noel! What are you doing? I thought you were going to relax today.’

‘Gauri, I thought, why don’t I come over and we can relax together,’ he said, smiling to himself.

Dev looked on cynically. He already knew what the answer would be.

‘Noel, babe. I told you I’m in the middle of the new series thats coming up, and I’m working on that right now. So coming over isn’t that good an idea,’ she said.

‘You’re working on a Sunday? Gauri, you really need to stop working so hard,’ he said.

‘I know, babe. But what can I do? Plus the channel is giving me headaches with EDZK,’ she added.

‘What’s wrong with EDZK?’ he asked frowning.

‘Nothing’s wrong. These things happen and its my job to fix it,’ she said, brushing it away.

‘Oh,’ he said. Pause. ‘I guess today is not such a good idea then, is it?’

‘No, babe, I’m sorry,’ she said.

‘So she’s busy on Sunday, too?’ Dev asked, once Noel had disconnected the call. He hated the look of disappointment on his friend’s face. That was answer enough for him.

‘Come on, get some jeans on,’ he got up, determined to have THE talk with him.

‘What?’ Noel stood up as well.

‘Get some jeans on, and let’s go get some fresh air,’ Dev said.

They drove for a while, before finding a beach to sit at.

‘What’s troubling you, Noel? Other than Gauri, I mean,’ Dev began.

‘I’ve been receiving offers of movies,’ Noel said. ‘I wanted to discuss it with Gauri, but she doesn’t seem to have the time for me anymore.’

‘Do you want to go into movies?’ Dev asked.

‘I really don’t know. I know that the type of acting required in movies is slightly different, and I don’t know if I can do it. But, I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot,’ he said. ‘What do I do with the series, then? Do I just dump it and walk away? Gauri did so much for me how can I leave her in the lurch? Plus, my contract comes up in two months for renewal, and I need her to help me negotiate.’

Dev listened quietly as Noel unburdened himself. He looked at the problem from all angles and realized one thing.

Noel didn’t have a clue about his own marketability.

He’d known the bargain that Rishik had driven to get him into modeling. But Rishik had been fair, and had never taken undue advantage of Noel.

Gauri on the other hand, was a different story. If what Noel had told him was true, then he was grossly underpaid. The series may have been a Top 5 before, but it had climbed into the Top 2 since Noel had entered. It was Noel’s presence that had helped the series along. So now, it was time for Noel to cash in on it. The movie offers were of course, a God send. Noel had a fall back option. He just didn’t know it.

The final piece fell into place on their way home.

They stopped for dinner at a restaurant in Juhu. The restaurant was fairly crowded and they followed the attendant to their table. It was only after they sat down and had ordered their drinks, fruit juice for both of them, that they looked around at the other diners.

Noel saw her first. She was sitting at a table by the window, her reflection visible against the dark night sky, the sea crashing onto the beach below. She was dressed for an evening out. And even as he watched, he saw her date lift her fingers to her mouth and kiss them. He was young, younger than Noel - early twenties - with curly black hair and the kind of chocolatey good looks that works so well on TV.

With a sense of detachment, he noticed that he did not feel any pain, or betrayal. All he felt was a sense of relief, mingled with a sense of bitterness. Something had finally fallen into place. He smirked and turned to Dev, who was also watching them.

‘That’s called the casting couch, Noel,’ Dev said quietly.

‘And I thought it was only for girls,’ Noel smiled bitterly.

‘Nope. It’s for men, too,’ Dev replied.

The two drank their juices in silence, while waiting for their food to arrive. Dev thought over what he wanted to ask Noel. He’d been thinking hard and he knew it would be a win-win situation. It would be up to him to sell it to Noel. Ultimately, however, it would be Noel’s decision, but he had to know he had better options that one Ms. Gauri Krishnan.

‘Noel,’ he started. ‘Let me manage your career,’ he stated bluntly.

‘What d’you mean?’ Noel frowned.

‘Look. You are in a very sweet spot right now, as far as your career in TV or movies go. Your presence in the series has caused the TRPs to rise. You’ve come to the notice of the film industry as well. You’ve already got a fan base that will follow you to the theaters or the TV set.

‘In other words, you’re a sellable product right now. People want you. An actor has a small shelf life unless they are good and marketable. You’re both. You can act. You look good. There’s no reason why you should fail. All you need to do is pick what you want to do.

‘Let me handle how your career goes. We’ll take the major decisions together, and you’ll make the creative choices. I’ll make the financial ones, the business ones. I take a cut from your earnings, a percentage. We can work out how much later on.’ He waved a hand, he was in full flow.

‘I think this is the right time for you to get a manager,' he finished.

Noel sat looking at him. This was unexpected and his friend’s offer more than generous. He knew he’d never be as street smart as Dev was, his sheltered upbringing and the army life had left him a little isolated from the real world. And this was a world that was beginning to seem like a morass. He was right in the middle of it. There was a hunger in his belly, a need to make it to the top. He wanted it.

He looked across the room at Gauri and her escort. He looked back at Dev.

He raised his glass and grinned. ‘To my new manager,’ he said.

Dev had been looking at him, barely able to read the expressions in his face. His face broke into a wide grin at the words.

‘To my new client,’ he said, raising his glass in a toast.

As they clinked their glasses in a toast, they both burst out laughing. Gauri heard them and turned around. She saw Noel laughing with another man, a few tables away. She turned back to her young new protegee/escort and smiled dazzlingly at him.
******

‘I don’t know what happened between the channel and the production house. I didn’t try to find out, either. I didn’t want to know. But there were creative differences.There was just about a month for my contract to be over when Gauri asked me to come for a meeting. Contract negotiations. I showed up with Dev.’ He laughed shortly at that memory.

‘To say she was surprised would be an understatement. The producer from MG Films, Deep Ghoshal had already met with us. He’d explained that my character could only have a life of six months. This is what the story demanded. The channel had been asking for my stay to be extended, and this would kill the plot line. They were ready to bring my character to a logical end.

‘This was fine by me. I’d already been offered ‘Woh Meelon ki Doori ... with another channel. Dev and I had were in the process of negotiations - which were almost complete. It was only a matter of finishing out my contract with Apna TV.’

‘What happened when you met with Gauri?’ Mitul wanted to know. She had a sudden hatred for this unseen woman who had dared to mess with Noel’s life.

‘She realized that she no longer had a hold on me,’ he said flatly. He stood with his back to the TV, hands in his pockets looking down at her. ‘She agreed to let me go.’

‘Woh Meelon ki Doori, Woh Lamba Rasta’ (The Long and Winding Road) had ousted EDZK from the TRP top spot. It ran for two years before shutting down. EDZK shut down six months after Noel left.

He was quiet for a long moment, moving restlessly to the window and back.

‘The rest you know,’ he finished quietly.

She did. Noel’s next was a small but integral role in the film, ‘Mohabbat ki Baatein’ (Words of Love). It was a hit. His work and his presence did not go unnoticed. He was offered ‘Sirf Mohabbat Hai’ (It’s only Love) right after that.

He leaned against the window watching her as she sat with her head bent. Slowly she leant forward and started gathering up her things. They’d talked for so long today, but the sun was still far from setting.

‘What’re you doing?’ he asked her.

‘Interview is done,’ she said thickly, putting her things away. ‘I should be going.’

For a second, he stared at her dumbstruck. Then, in four long strides he crossed the room, falling to his knees in front of the couch. He took her stuff out of her hands and dropped them on the table.

His large hands came up to frame her face, ‘Mitul,’ he said, huskily. ‘Look at me,’ as she refused to meet his eyes. She closed them as he tried to turn her head around to look at him. ‘Please, babe,’ he pleaded. ‘Don’t do this to us. Don’t shut me out. Not again.’

Her throat worked as she tried to keep the tears from falling. But it was no use, they streaked down her cheeks under her closed lids. Her hands were clenched in her lap.

He wiped his thumbs along her cheeks, taking the tears with them. Trying to think of what to say, to make her understand.

‘It happened so long ago. I never loved her, Mitul. I’m not proud of it, of myself. But I needed to be honest with you - no secrets. I’ll never hide anything from you. I’m a flawed man, Mitul. Flawed and scarred. But this is me, on my knees, telling you that it’s you I love. I’m in love with you, Mitul Imani.’

****