16/30 Double Date

                                    

                                          
Through no design of their own, they're in London at the same time, he for a holiday with his girlfriend - a holiday that he was supposed to take alone but that plan had gone down the drain - and she for an outdoor's shoot. Honestly, he's hoping to avoid her, aware that her boyfriend is her co-star; he's not particularly keen on the idea of having to see the two of them together, it makes him feel slightly sick to tell the truth. (Now he understands why she's always avoided seeing him with his girlfriend; it's not a pleasant feeling to watch the person you're in love with be with someone else, even if you're about 80% sure there's no real feelings there). 
                          
She's trying to avoid him too; she hates seeing him when his girlfriend's around, hates the pretence and the distance and the flares thrown her way - though she secretly enjoys the way Natasha suddenly becomes so possessive of Varun, like she knows there's something to be worried about. (What she loves even more is the way Varun doesn't seem to care; he pushes the girl to her limits and then some with his insistence on behaving as normally as possible). 
                          
Avoiding each other is easier said than done because Karan's in the city too and innocently suggests to Ranbir that the four of them going on a double date might be fun. Alia wants to kill the director for that, especially because she knows that Varun won't be able to say no to Ranbir and the last thing she wants to be doing is putting on the relationship act in front of Varun while having to keep up the act of Varun being nothing more than a casual friend in front of both Natasha and Ranbir - it's simply too much. 
                          
But she doesn't get much of a choice because, just as she'd predicted, the younger actor agrees, somewhat reluctantly, and so they all find themselves at a restaurant on Wednesday evening. 
                          
Greetings are exchanged awkwardly, Natasha responding to Alia's hi with a hostile glare, Varun hardly looking away from Alia long enough to acknowledge Ranbir's presence and Alia trying and failing to stop herself from stealing glances at Varun. 
                          
Things get no less awkward once they're seated. The conversation is halting, a very short bout of conversation about shooting covering all of three minutes before they lapse into silence again. 
                          
'Do you remember the last time we were in London together?' Varun asks out of the blue, confusing everyone but Alia who, as always, is on the same page as him. 
                          
'Student promotions wasn't it?' she asks, more to clarify for the sake of the other two than because she herself needs clarification. 
                          
'Yeah, back when we were all nervous energy, too excited to slow down, tripping over our words in interviews,' he reminisces with a smile. 
                          
'You say that like anything's changed,' she teases with a laugh. He sticks his tongue out at her in response, making her laugh harder. 
                          
'I've gotten better since then,' he protests. 'I can actually say what I'm thinking in front of the cameras now. And I wait my turn.' 
                          
'I'll agree that you get your thoughts out better now but, wait your turn, not so much,' she jokes. 
                          
'Okay fine, I wait my turn when I'm giving an interview with anyone but you,' he amends. 
                          
'That's better,' she says approvingly, getting an eye roll and a chuckle. 'Speaking of interviews, aren't you starting promotions for your next soon?' 
                          
'Yeah, when I get back,' he nods. 
                          
'And how excited are you?' 
                          
'Insanely,' he says with a grin. 'I honestly can't wait. 40 days of promotions and the film is so different, the promotions the marketing team have come up with are so different. I just want to get started with them...' he continues to talk, practically bursting with excitement, and Alia continues to listen, asking all the right questions to keep him talking. 
                          
Their conversation continues even when the food arrives and both Ranbir and Natasha sit there, extremely bored. 'Are they always like this?' Ranbir asks after they run out of words on the sixth topic of conversation they've attempted. 
                          
'You tell me; you know them better than I do,' she points out, referring to the fact that he sees them together far more often than she does thanks to industry events. 
                          
'Well, I mean, yeah, they're usually like this at industry parties but I thought maybe...' he trails off, not entirely wanting to point out the obvious. 
                          
'Maybe what? That they'd tone it down a little around us?' she questions, laughing. 
                          
'Well, kind of, yeah,' he admits, wondering why it's so funny. 
                          
'And if they don't do that at industry events when you're around, why would they do it here?' she questions. 
                          
'I don't know. I mean, I know Alia doesn't really have the same kind of feelings for me as she does for Varun but I thought with you here...' 
                          
'It doesn't matter who they're around Ranbir, their behaviour doesn't change,' Natasha tells him with a long-suffering sigh. 
                          
'And you put up with it because?' 
                          
'Because I've been with Varun a long time,' she says with a shrug. Ranbir raises his eyebrows, not finding the reasoning to be good enough. 'And maybe there're some other reasons. Being Varun Dhawan's girlfriend does have it's perks,' she admits. 
                          
'Is it really worth it though?' the actor asks, nodding to the pair next to them. 
                          
'I could ask you the same,' she points out. 
                          
'And I'd tell you no, it's definitely not.' Her eyebrows shoot up, showing how shocked she is by the answer. 'I've tried, it's been months - almost a year - now and she's still evidently more interested in him than she'll ever be in me - in any guy. I'm done with it.' 
                          
'Then why are you here right now?' 
                          
'Give it one last chance I guess. Thought maybe if the four of us were to chill together for a bit, it might give her the push she needs to get over him but evidently not,' he says with a shrug. 'But, honestly, I think I already knew it wasn't going to work.' 
                          
'Maybe, but it's different for you. It's only been a few months for you, it's been years for me,' she counters. 
                          
'And how many times in the past five years have you two split?' She stays silent at that, not wanting to answer. 'You can stay with him but, if he's in love with her, he's always going to be this way.' She still says nothing and he sighs. 'Just think about it.' 
                          
The two fall silent after that, Ranbir pushing about the few things that remain on his plate with his fork and Natasha watching her boyfriend interact with the girl he insists is a co-star and a friend, nothing more. 
                          
She's not blind, she knows he's lying, is well aware of Varun's feelings for Alia, knows that the last time he'd broken up with her, the two actors had given a relationship a shot, only for it to end when his family found out. 
                          
She might've felt bad about that if the girl had been anyone but Alia. But, as it is, she can't find it in herself to feel sorry about it, not when the actress has never been anything but open in her affections for Varun, regardless of his relationship status. Of course, Varun is also at fault and Alia had been extremely apologetic about it in the past but Natasha dismisses it; one time is forgivable, two maybe but to do it time and again is not. (She knows that it's her own fault, that the way she keeps getting Varun to give their relationship another shot, the way she tries to keep him from even speaking to the girl only pushes him more towards the actress but she's not willing to admit that).
                          
But, as she watches Varun talking and laughing with the girl seated across from him, she realises that, though she may not like it, Ranbir has a point; she's been holding on for far too long and, regardless of their history and how she benefits from staying with him, she knows there's no love between them anymore, that their relationship is all just for show now, something he really doesn't want anymore. So maybe, just maybe, it really is time to let go.