Gift of God

Varun was driving the car, but his focus was not on the road.

“I don’t like this, Aman.”

“It’s for Mr. Kashyap. He genuinely wants our growth.”

Varun looked at Aman, a frown deepening on his face. “From the time she appeared in the first ad, the controversies about her have been nonstop! She is rude, Aman.

“She should not have entered the modeling field if she didn’t want to be touched by anyone. This is how the modeling field works.

“How could she raise her hand to anyone? If she keeps on hitting people, then she can’t continue to work here.”

“Don’t you want her to keep working here?” Aman teased.

Varun glared at him, which made Aman grin.

“We can’t disappoint Mr. Kashyap. He helped us get our start. How could we say no to him?”

“Well…I know how to handle him,” Varun said.

“Okay then, that’s between you and Kashyap.” Aman leaned forward on the seat. “Isn’t the girl beautiful? You wanted to use her in our ads too,” Aman tried to convince him.

“Yes, she looked fresh and different.”

“Varun, if you’re not going to check out the models, then why are you worried about working with her?”

“I’m not worried about me but about my flirtatious friend. I don’t want him to get slapped.” Varun raised a mocking eyebrow, glancing at Aman.

Aman looked down, making a face. Varun smirked.

“Won’t you get more sleep if you don’t taunt me?”

“I don’t know what you get out of flirting with the girls.”

“It gives me a kind of joy… Life is to live. It’s like ice cream. We should eat before it melts.”

Varun shook his head.

They reached Kashyap Agency. As soon as they walked through the door, his PA waved them over. “Mr. Kashyap is waiting for you. You can go.”

Varun and Aman nodded and went to the first floor. Kashyap’s office door was not fully closed. Varun was about to enter when he froze, hearing his name.

Kashyap was talking about him, but with who? Varun slowly peered in and saw him on call. He gestured for Aman to be quiet.

“I want you to do the ad because it’s Varun’s company. I told you about him… He is the nicest gentleman I have ever seen.”

Aman looked at Varun, who was trying to hold in his laughter.

“You will be safe with him. You can trust him the way you would trust me.”

“See—he trusts you!” Aman whispered.

“Who is he talking to?” Varun murmured back.

“No idea.”

Kashyap hung up the phone. Varun knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Kashyap said.

Varun entered with Aman.

A man in his early fifties smiled at them. A name plate labeled Lalith Kashyap sat on the table in front of him.

“Hello, sir,” Varun greeted.

“Hi, young man. Take a seat. I was just talking about you.” Lalith smiled.

Aman glanced around the room. “With whom, sir? No one is here.”

“No, no, I was talking on the phone with Anaya.”

“Anaya? You mean Anaya Gupta?” Aman asked, trying to control his eagerness.

“Exactly. She is ready to quit the field because no one is kind here. That’s why I want her to meet Varun. He might make her change her mind.”

Aman smiled at Varun, who looked uncomfortable.

“She is a nice girl, Varun…but a little rude. She doesn’t like flirty people. That’s what creates so many problems.”

“But this is modeling. Flirting is so common here. She should understand that,” Aman said.

“She is not that kind of girl, Aman. That was why she wants to quit. But I don’t want her to do that before working for Varun. I’m sure she won’t complain.”

“Yes, sir, you are right,” Aman said with pride.

“But you should not be around her,” he taunted.

Aman scratched his head sheepishly.

“I’m kidding—but do be careful.” He smiled. “She is my daughter’s friend, and very much like a daughter. Very good character. I want her to be safe. That’s why I recommended you.”

Varun didn’t know what to say.

“I invited her to the Primary Awards function. I will introduce you to her there. Just work with her for a bit. If you like her, you can continue.”

Aman looked at Varun, wondering how he was going to avoid working with Anaya.

“Okay, sir. We will meet her tomorrow,” Varun said.

Aman looked at him, his jaw dropping in shock. He wanted to say, “What the…?” but he controlled himself since Lalith was with them.

“Good. You know, she is one of the nominees for the Fresh Face of the Year award.”

“Of course, she looks so fresh…,” Aman said with a cheesy smile.

Lalith glared at him with a warning gaze.

“No, no, sir, I just said the truth—nothing other than that,” Aman said.

“Hm.” He shook his head.

“Okay, sir, we’ll be leaving now,” Varun said.

“Okay, young man. See you tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

Varun and Aman walked back to their car.

“What happened to you, Varun? You were determined to avoid working with her before meeting him, but you became speechless when he asked.”

“He trusts us—he thinks she will be safe with us. How could I break that trust? Is not it about our respect?”

“I tried to tell you that, but you ignored me!”

“Leave it. We will work with her for only one ad and then we will drop her. Won’t we likely get an excuse to do that?”

“Yeah…”

“But I warn you—keep your distance from her. If she complains about you, I will kill you.”

“I’ll go on holiday… Would that work?”

“Why? Can’t you keep your flirty mouth shut?”

“Sorry, Varun. You should just murder me instead of asking me to shut my mouth in front of a beautiful girl.”

“I will surely murder you if you mess with her.”

“Okay, okay… I will try to keep my mouth shut. Not because Mr. Kashyap wants it, but because I don’t want to see you become a murderer.” He pretended to sniff and wipe his eyes.

“How would you see me being a murderer after I killed you?”

“My soul would see you,” he said with a pang of fake sadness.

“Stop acting like a nice guy. Always following the girls…”

“This is a great insult to Aman Mathur. You are going to see the new Aman in front of Anaya Gupta. Mark my words.”

“We’ll see…”

***

The next day, Varun was sitting in his car outside of Aman’s villa, looking at his wristwatch again and again. Aman was late, and he was losing his patience.

He got out of the car and walked inside the villa. He saw Aman standing in front of the mirror, admiring himself. Varun rolled his eyes. Aman saw him and grinned from ear to ear.

“Let’s go!”

“One minute…” He adjusted his tie’s knot.

Varun advanced on him. Grabbing Aman’s tie, he turned to walk back out the door, pulling Aman along behind him.

“Varun, I didn’t know you were so jealous of me... You messed up my tie.”

“Shut up. I was waiting for you for more than half an hour.”

“We are going to an award function, damn it. The auditorium will be filled with beautiful chicks.”

“I think you are going to get a slipper shot, for sure.”

“I won’t, because all the girls are not grumpy chicks like Anaya Gupta.”

“Stop calling her ‘chick.’ Mr. Kashyap will get upset with us.”

“Am I saying that in front of her? No. It will remain between us.” He winked.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you,” Varun said wearily.

They reached the ceremony building. After parking the car, they walked in. An organizer took them to the table that Kashyap had reserved for them. Varun and Aman took their seats.

As Aman had said, the auditorium was beautiful.

“Wow... It’s warm in here!” Aman said.

“We are in an air-conditioned auditorium,” Varun said.

“It doesn’t matter. Seeing the colors themselves, I feel warmth...,” Aman said, running his eyes across the models and actresses with a smile.

“Where is Anaya Gupta?” Aman asked, searching for her.

“She will be in the award-winners section, wearing a dazzling outfit with half an inch of makeup,” Varun said.

“Yeah. After all, she is a nominee,” Aman said.

The ceremony began. The awards of various categories were given. The awaited moment of “Fresh Face of the Year” came.

More than the nominees, Aman was curious to know who the winner would be. He held his breath as the winner was announced. Anaya Gupta won the award.

All eyes turned to the pathway to the stage. A mild commotion was raised when Anaya Gupta appeared on the stage in a simple knee-length, half-white sleeveless gown with light makeup.

It was the first time a model had received an award with so simple an outfit. Varun’s eyes couldn’t move away from her. She was beyond his expectations.