I Am You & You Am I (1)

Chatters and whispers rang through the big hall. Men and women dressed in designer clothes, drinks in their hands, laughing, discussing, and gossiping. Though not simultaneously and by no means planned, the woman who called herself Aasira felt, no, knew that the gossip was about her. 'Up-and-coming actress, Aasira Shabab, caught buying drugs'; 'Famous model, Aasira Shabab, exposed having relationships with different men'; 'Rising star, Aasira Shabab charged with hit-and-run case'.

Of course none of them were true, except for the hit-and-run; which, in her defense, happened only because she was way too drunk to drive and couldn't find her driver. Obviously she fired him the next day when he said he was with her that night making out. She was drunk, not stupid enough to lower her standards that far.

She kept looking at her watch, hoping that the time moved fast enough to the point where her leaving earlier than the rest didn't cause another big scandal. But alas, while her fame and fortune might let her get whatever she wanted, it couldn't give her that power over time. Hence she stood there by the side wall, clutching her glass strong enough that it might break at any moment, gazing around the hall, meeting the eyes and politely smiling to whomever tried to steal a glance at her.

"Aasira honey, there you are!" A woman with blonde highlights called out to her, making her loosen the grip on her glass. "What are you doing standing in the corner?" Shruti, her friend, asked as she stood next to her. While not the most pleasant of company, when the crowd is filled with accusatory glace, an innocent chatterbox would have to do.

"Nothing really, just thinking how much poison it would take to kill them all." The girl who called herself Aasira said, frowning as she caught another person stealing a glance at her. When in God's name will this party end?

"Depends on the poison. If you're going for strong ones, a single drop of it in each glass would do the trick." Shruti said with a serious face, which in a second turned into a grin. Say what you will about the girl, she did have a good sense of humour. Definitely better than most of her other friends. "Why the plan to murder everyone?" She asked as if oblivious to what was happening around the giant hall. Although knowing her, she probably really was oblivious to it all.

"I can't stand it. All this gossip and lies. My contract for June's photoshoot was cancelled because they, and I quote, 'didn't want to do business with questionable characters'. Can you believe that?" She said, trying not to let her anger come out in a higher volume.

"It'll be fine, Sira. It's only for a short while. Pretty soon someone else will do something wrong and they'll latch on to her instead. It is what has been happening and what will be happening until the end of times. Don't let this get to you." Shruti said, rubbing her back comfortingly. She really was a good friend.

"I know, I know. It's just..... I have been through so much to get here, you can't even imagine the sacrifices I've had to make to get to this place and then this happens." she said, frustration now seeping into her voice. What seemed like an attempt to comfort her, Shruti was interrupted by a man in the waiter's uniform carrying a note.

"I'm sorry ma'am," he said knowing full well he was interrupting a serious conversation, or atleast that's what it might have seemed liked to others, "I was told to give this note to you. The person said it was of utmost importance."

Taking the note sealed within the envelope, she wondered who it was. Hopefully not some crazy fan letter to make this awful evening turn into an even more of a tiresome night. Taking the note out, her eyes quickly spread through the contents, until she reached the end at which point her eyes were on the edge of bulging out. She read it twice, thrice, just to make sure what she read was true.

Probably noticing the fear on her face, Shruti asked, "Sira, what is it? What does it say?" She tried to take a look at the letter before the woman who called herself Aasira tucked the note back into the envelope.

"Who was it? Who gave you this note?" She asked the waiter, fear in her voice. Same fear that was now visible on the waiter's face. "I-I d-don't know, ma'am. The person hid their face." He managed to say before getting slapped.

"And you just did whatever this strange person asked of you? If I didn't have to leave right now, I'd have you fired and made sure you could never get a job ever in your life." She said setting her glass down, which miraculously did not break, and started to make her way out.

"Sira, wait! What's wrong? Why are you behaving like this?" Shruti asked as she caught hold of her. She knew that all Shruti meant was kindness and care but she did not have time for this.

"Shruti, I don't have time for this. Now free my hand or else you'll suffer the same fate as that waiter." Hurt was clear on Shruti's face but it didn't matter. Shruti freed her grip and trotted her way to the bathroom, probably to cry.

Never had the woman who called herself Aasira driven at such speed, in such a craze. She made no mind as to what the speed limit was or what the signal said, she needed to go, needed to reach that place.