"So backstage before a show can be incredibly hectic," Arohi explained quickly as she moved around people preparing for the performance. "Arjun is getting ready on his own, but a hundred other people are working together to make this happen. Don't get in their way."
Yogita nodded, taking mental notes as she tried to keep up with the fast-paced tour manager. "Does he usually get ready alone?"
"Yes," Arohi confirmed. "I've been his tour manager for six years and he's never once asked for anyone in his dressing room at least two hours before a single show. No one knows what he does, but he's spectacular on stage, so we don't ask."
"What about his assistant?" Yogita asked. "Shruti, right?"
Arohi stopped abruptly and spun to face the new girl, causing Yogita to slam into her nearly. "Don't call her that. Don't let her hear you call her that and certainly don't let him. Shruti has been a part of this family for a very long time and we all decided a long time ago that calling her his assistant was degrading to what she does here. Without Shruti, this entire ship would sink in minutes. No one can do his or her job without Shruti doing hers."
"Got it," Yogita muttered, feeling adequately shamed. "She uhh, dates Shivam, doesn't she? I'm just trying to get up-to-date here."
Arohi sighed and went on walking. "That's speculation that hasn't been confirmed. They're lifelong friends, and they swear it's nothing more than that."
Before Yogita could respond, Shanaya, Arjun's sister and stylist stopped them. "We have a problem. My sweet brother is saying that he won't wear the jacket tonight. He's worn it everywhere on the tour, but suddenly, he's refusing."
"Shanaya, I don't have time for this," Arohi rolled her eyes.
"You're the tour manager!" Shanaya cried. "This is exactly your problem."
"No, I deal with tour issues," Arohi corrected. "All Arjun issues are deferred to his actual manager. Find Neil."
Shanaya frowned. "He'll take your side and tell me to deal with it."
Arohi admired her wedding rings. "Yeah, he's good like that. Goodbye, Shanaya. Come on, Yogita."
"Who's the new girl?" Shivam asked as he joined his sister, watching the two women continue their backstage tour.
"New assistant tour manager," Shanaya explained. "Arohi finally replaced Anushka."
Shivam nodded. "Think she'll survive working under Arohi?"
"It wasn't Arohi that got Anushka fired," Shanaya reminded him. "It was her constantly coming on to Arjun ."
"Yes, I do seem to recall her batting her eyes quite a bit at him," Shivam nodded. "Can't for the life of me figure out why. I mean, I'm always around, so she needn't slum with him."
"Ewwww," Shanaya gagged, shoving him away.
After the tour, Arohi excused herself from Yogita and hurried away to speak with the sound technicians, so Yogita tried to make herself useful by checking on Arjun. Just as she went to knock on his dressing room door, a soft voice called to her.
"Don't do that."
Yogita looked up to see a pretty girl in jeans and a simple blue t-shirt walking towards her. "He goes on in fifteen minutes, so I thought I'd make sure he's ready."
"He knows," the girl assured her. "He's never missed a show by even a minute, so he'll be ready. You must be Yogita?"
"I am," Yogita confirmed, offering a hand. "You are?"
"Shruti Sarnaik," the girl introduced herself, shaking hands.
"Nice to meet you," Yogita said. "So, what's he like? Arohi was very tight-lipped about it all."
"No offense, but it's probably best that you figure it out on your own," Shruti explained, pulling a sleek phone from her back pocket. "Arjun is different from everyone. What I say about him will be different than what Arohi would say or what Prince would say."
"Got it," Yogita mumbled. "Well, Arohi didn't give me anything to do."
"Why don't you round up the band and make sure they're ready?" Shruti suggested. "Rishabh is probably with Shanaya somewhere, but it's hard telling where you'll find Anmol and Hardil. I'd check the wardrobe room first; they like flirting with Shanaya's assistants."
"I can do that," Yogita nodded. "Thanks."
"She's already enamored with him," Shivam went on. "It didn't work out for Anushka, so it won't work for Yogita."
"Well, she won't deal with him much," Shruti shrugged. "She's Arohi's bitch, to put it mildly."
He laughed and threw an arm around her. "Oh, that's one of the reasons I love you, Shruti. Such a nasty girl behind the innocent face."
"Fuck off, Shivam," she rolled her eyes lovingly, pushing him away.
Onstage, Arjun sat down on the stool Shivam had brought him and smiled out at the crowd. "I want to thank you all for coming out tonight for this show in my beloved hometown of Mumbai. This next song I'm gonna sing is one that I've never performed before. Most of the people I work with every single day have never heard it, but it's one I've been working on for a while now. This is 'Tum Mere.'"
Girl Your Love
Is All I Ever Need
Oh Girl Your Smile
Makes Me Weak At My Knees
My Heart Goes Hmm..
Ho Ho Ho...
Tumne Humko
Yeh Kya Kar Diya
Tum Jahan Chal Diye
Dil Wahan Chal Diya
Tumne Humko
Yeh Kya Kar Diya
Tum Jahan Chal Diye
Dil Wahan Chal Diya
Teri Raahon Ko Takte
Chaand Taare Sab Nikal Aaye
Mita Do Dooriyan Yeh
Raat Yoon Hi Na Guzar Jaaye
Ho Tum Mere Gale Lag Jao
Main Saare Dard Bhula Dunga
Bhula Dunga Main Khud Ko
Tum Mere Marham Bann Jao
Yeh Saare Zakhm Bhula Dunga
Bhula Dunga Main Khud Ko
Girl Your Love
Is All I Ever Need
Oh Girl Your Smile
Makes Me Weak At My Knees
My Heart Goes Hmm..
Ho Ho Ho...
Sach Tu Bane Jhootha Main Banu
Rabb Se Jo Mange Dua Main Banu
Khud Ko Bhula Ke Tera Main Banu
Chahat Hai Meri
Chhoo Le Jo Tujhe Woh Hawa Main Banu
Teri Khushiyon Ki Wajah Main Banu
Teri Har Din Ki Subah Main Banu
Kismat Ho Meri
Yeh Aankhein Neend Se
Jab Bhi Khule
Tum Hi Nazar Aao
Sirhaane Rakh Ke Soya
Khwaab Jo Main
Sach Bhi Kar Jao
Tum Mere Gale Lag Jao
Main Saare Dard Bhula Dunga
Bhula Dunga Main Khud Ko
Tum Mere Marham Ban Jao
Yeh Saare Zakhm Bhula Dunga
Bhula Dunga Main Khud Ko
Girl Your Love
Is All I Ever Need
Oh Girl Your Smile
Makes Me Weak At My Knees
My Heart Goes Hmm..
Ho Ho Ho...
"Wow," Yogita breathed. "There's gotta be a girl, right? He's been rumored to date Kritika Kamara. Think it's her? Ooh, or Warina Hussain? They were seen at a Garba party together and she just broke up with Parth Samthaan."
Neil, who was standing beside her, eyed her warily. "Miss Bihani, did you sign all of your paperwork today?"
"Yes," she confirmed. "Why?"
"Then you know you sign a non-disclosure agreement, meaning should you ever talk about anything private in Arjun's life outside of this small circle, you'll spend years tied up in litigation," he warned coolly. "What my brother does and who he writes about is his business, and as the newest member of our team, you know absolutely nothing yet."
"Okay," she whispered, feeling mortified. "It's a great song though."
"Have you heard that one?" Shivam asked Shruti when the new song finished.
"Nope," she denied. "I like it though."
"Best love song yet," Shivam agreed, "and he's written some new other stuff too, no?"
"It's what he does best," she confirmed. "Now you need to go make sure the crew is packing up because we have to be out of the arena no later than one, which means we'll have two hours to clean up. Then we're at the airport by 7 AM to take the flight to Kolkata. Find Prince and take him with you."
Arjun left the stage when the show ended and found only Yogita waiting for him.
"Everyone is packing up because we have to be out by 1 am," she filled him in as she walked just behind him. "You have an interview to do back at the hotel and then Shruti said it's straight to bed so you can be up by 6 am."
He yawned. "Thank you, Yogita. If you don't mind, would you find Neil and send him to my dressing room?"
Sad that he didn't care to spend time with her, Yogita sighed dejectedly. "Sure."
"Don't feel bad," Prince said as he approached Yogita from behind. "Arjun is an enigma to most of us. I'm his brother and I don't know him as well as I'd like to; few do. Do your job well and you'll get there."
"Who's in with him?" she asked, wondering who she should suck up to; it wasn't every day a girl got the chance to work for Arjun Punj, after all.
Prince shrugged. "Neil, for sure. And Shruti. Rishabh is his best friend, and so is him, too. Shanaya and Shivam are closer than me. It's just because I'm young."
"What about your parents?" she wanted to know.
"They died when I was four," he answered. "Neil was just eighteen at the time, so I lived with my grandparents until I was twelve and started living on tour with everyone; Shruti was my tutor to finish school."
"She's just a jack of all trades, huh?" Yogita realized.
"I guess," he shrugged. "Shruti is the glue."
"Uh-huh," she muttered. "I have to find Neil. Have you seen him?"
Prince nodded ahead of them at where Neil was letting himself into Arjun's room. "Just there."
"Damn it," she groaned. "I was supposed to find him and send him there."
"Yogita!" Arohi called out. "We have a tech emergency and need all hands on deck, so your job duties are expanding. Go with Arjun to his interview and intervene if questions are too personal. If he doesn't like a question, his immediate tell is to scratch the infinity lock tattoo on his left wrist, so watch for that and jump in immediately."
"Okay!" Yogita agreed quickly. "Who's the interview with?"
"It's a brief profile for Rolling Stone," Arohi explained. "He's on the cover next month so this is just some preliminary stuff. The big interview is next week in Delhi."
"Sounds good," Yogita nodded.
Twenty minutes later, Yogita sat in an Audi with Arjun, heading towards the Radisson Blu Hotel.
"So, what previous tour experience have you had?" he asked, making polite conversation with her.
"Um, most recently I worked on Neha Kakkar's last tour," she explained. "And I've worked with Tulsi Kumar and Shreya Ghosal in the past."
"So female artists?" he mused. "It's different with guys, just so you're prepared."
She smiled. "It's fine. I'm a guy's girl by nature, so I'm good."
"Don't tell the girls that," he warned with a smirk. "Arohi, Shanaya, and Shruti are girls' girls. They're a very tight threesome, so getting in can be difficult. It didn't work out with the last assistant tour manager."
"I heard that was because she unsuccessfully threw herself at you," she boldly replied.
He shrugged. "She might've. I wasn't interested."
"What kind of girl are you interested in?" she wondered. "There's always speculation, but you never confirm anything and it's always mostly hearsay."
He sighed and leaned back in his seat. "I like a girl who is confident but not cocky. That's a cliché, I know, but it's true. Someone who isn't afraid to speak her mind and doesn't take shit from anyone. She's kind, but not a doormat. There's a light about her that is inexplicable but easily seen. You bask in it when she's around."
"This all sounds specific," Yogita noticed. "Is she the mystery girl your new song was about? Or all of your brilliant love songs, for that matter?"
"I just write from the heart," he replied vaguely.
At the hotel, Arjun's security whisked him away to a private suite where the journalist from the magazine was waiting. Since most of the questions were about his music and the tour, Yogita occupied herself by checking the thirty emails Arohi had sent since she'd left the arena.
"What about love?" the woman, Riddhi Chakraborty, asked, catching Yogita's attention about fifteen minutes into the interview. "Your songs all sound so personal, so there must have been, girls who have meant a great deal to you. 'Tu Mileya,' for instance. That song won you three IIFA awards."
"It did," Arjun nodded calmly. "To date, it's perhaps my most meaningful, though I did perform a new song tonight that I'd say is up there. I wrote 'Tu Mileya' for a wedding four years ago and had no idea it would take off quite as it did."
"Whose wedding?" Riddhi wanted to know.
"A member of my team," Arjun replied. "Shruti is my right-hand woman and she deserved something beautiful."
"Ah, yes, Shruti Sarnaik," Riddhi nodded knowingly. "One of the three women integral to your team. Then there's Arohi Punj, your tour manager/sister-in-law, and Shanaya Punj Kapadia, your stylist/sister. It seems your team is very family-oriented." She looked to Yogita. "Are you a cousin?"
Arjun laughed. "No, no, she's new. Arohi needed an assistant tour manager to help her out so she hired Yogita here. This has been her first day."
"How's it going?" Riddhi asked her.
"Well," Yogita answered. "It seems like it's going to be an amazing experience. He's a fantastic musician and I'm very lucky to be a part of the team now."
Riddhi checked her notes. "I think we're good here now. I'll do a brief write-up for this month and then I'll see you next week in Kolkata."
"Sounds good," Arjun said as he stood to shake Riddhi's hand. "Always a pleasure."
Once Riddhi was gone, Arjun yawned. "Well, Miss Bihani, it's been lovely, but I should shower and get to bed. Do you know the itinerary for tomorrow?"
"Yes," she confirmed, again hurt that he didn't want to get to know her. "I'll see you in the morning."
Yogita excused herself, left the suite, and headed down the hallway for the elevator. Arjun and his family were staying in a suite while the rest of the crew were being put up in smaller rooms on lower floors. When the doors opened, Shivam and Shruti emerged, laughing about something.
"Oh, hi," Shruti greeted her. "How was the interview?"
"Fine," Yogita told her. "I never knew you were married. Arjun said he wrote 'Tu Mileya' for your wedding. He said you deserved a beautiful song."
"He did?" Shruti breathed. "Um, yes, I am married."
Yogita eyed Shivam suspiciously before looking back to the blonde. "Is it hard to be away from your husband?"
"Nope," Shruti denied. "Come on, Shivam, we have to be up early. Goodnight, Yogita."
The doors closed before Yogita could make any more accusations.
"That was close," Shivam mumbled as they walked down the hall to their rooms.
"Uh-huh," she grumbled. "I'll kill your brother."
"Don't be rash, Shruti," Shivam grinned. "He was being honest for once; he did write that song for your wedding."
She sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you in a bit."
He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "See you."
Shruti turned and used a key to open the door behind her. She dropped her things in the hallway and went to the bedroom. Moments later, Arjun emerged from the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist.
"Hello, sweety," he smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing, talking about the background to 'Tu Mileya' like that?" she snapped. "We've kept a cover on everything for years and you almost blew it in minutes! Saying I deserved something beautiful?" she scoffed. "Please. You just wanted to say I danced to your song."
"Oh, I didn't give a single specific," he explained, going to the dresser for pants to sleep in. "I don't know why it's such a big deal. It's been four years. It's probably time you admit it."
"You just wanted to impress the new girl," she smirked. "So few celebrities will talk openly about personal stuff, so you wanted her to think you're a rebel for doing it."
Arjun made a face. "I wasn't impressed with Yogita. She's worked with female artists at best and her outfit was entirely inappropriate. She almost makes me miss Anushka."
"Take that back," Shruti demanded.
Arjun raised a brow. "Did I hit a nerve, Shruti?"
"You know Anushka was a thorn in my side," she said through gritted teeth.
"Someone sounds jealous," he chuckled in a sing-song tone.
She threw a pillow at him. "You're an asshole."
"Perhaps," he agreed, "but you married me."
"I did," she sighed. "And despite everything you are, I don't have any complaints yet."
Arjun laughed and pulled her to him. "I would like to tell the world about us though, sweety. We've been married for four years and we deserve an award for how well we've hidden it, but I want everyone to know you're my wife. I want them to know I write those songs for you. Riddhi Chakraborty has always been good to me, so why don't we tell her?"
She chewed on her bottom lip. "I don't know. We'll have to ask Neil and see what he thinks. For now, I'd like to shower and sleep."
"All right," he agreed, kissing her before releasing her. "Hurry up in there; I like falling asleep beside you."
"Ugh, cringe," she joked, walking to the bathroom.
"You love me," he called after her.
Shruti stopped at the door and looked back at him. "I guess that makes you lucky."
Downstairs, Yogita sat on her phone, talking to her best friend back home, Shreya.
"It's amazing," she gushed. "He's so beautiful and in the Audi to his hotel, he was telling me about what he looks for in a girl and I swear, it's me in a nutshell."
"What about his team?" Shreya wanted to know. "Aren't they like, all his family?"
"Yeah," Yogita confirmed. "His older brother, Neil, is his manager and he's married to Arohi, the tour manager. His younger sister, Shanaya, is his stylist and she's married to Rishabh, his lead guitarist. His youngest brother, Prince, is just eighteen, so he tags along because they've all been caring for him since their parents died."
Shreya thought for a moment. "Isn't there another brother? Shivam?"
"Yes, Shivam," Yogita confirmed. "He's the guitar tech and it's not confirmed, but I'm pretty sure he's married to Shruti, Arjun's glorified assistant, but when I called her that, I was reprimanded. She seems like a bitch. But Arjun wrote 'Tu Mileya' when she got married and there's no way she'd travel all the time like this without her husband, so it has to be Shivam. That's the inner circle and I know she isn't married to Arjun. He's single. And perfect," she sighed.
The following morning, the entire team convened in a conference room for a quick breakfast before heading to the airport.
Shruti was just filling her mug of coffee when Yogita joined her at the coffee bar.
"Morning," Yogita yawned. "How can you look that good after too little sleep?"
"Been doing this a long time," Shruti shrugged.
"I noticed you don't wear a wedding ring," Yogita stated. "Why not?"
"If I'm helping techs, it gets in the way and I'm afraid I'll lose it," Shruti explained, thinking Yogita to be a tad nosy. "I wear it occasionally, but we got matching tattoos instead."
Yogita could tell by the finality in Shruti's voice that she wanted to drop it, so she made a mental note to check both Shruti and Shivam for tattoos when she could.
"Excuse me," Shruti said, reaching over to Yogita for the sugar.
Yogita scooted over and spotted the flash of ink on Shruti's left wrist.
"Hey, what's your tattoo?" Yogita asked as Shruti backed away.
"Oh, this?" Shruti asked, holding up her arm. "It's an infinity skeleton key."
"An infinity skeleton key?" Yogita repeated.
"It's my matching tattoo," Shruti explained, getting irritated.
"Oh, that makes sense." And then, suddenly, it hit her, and she gasped. "Son of a bitch!"