Shruti was coming back to her shared flat, after her last final when her phone rang in the pocket of her tote bag.
"Hi, Mom," she answered a moment later. "What's up?"
"Don't be mad at me," Mauli requested.
"Why would I?" Shruti wondered cautiously. "What did you do? Tell me now, so I'm not still mad when I leave for Mumbai on Sunday." She pulled her keys from her bag and stuck them into her apartment door.
"This could be a good thing, Shruti," Mauli said before hanging up.
Shruti pushed back the door and froze on the threshold; Arjun was sitting on her couch.
"What are you doing here?" she breathed, setting her things down on her kitchen table.
Arjun stood. "I wanted to personally escort you to Mumbai, so I convinced your mother to lend me her spare key."
It had been nine months since they'd last seen each other. They'd sent Diwali gifts and he gave her a beautiful bracelet for her twenty-first birthday in March, but this was their first face-to-face meeting since he'd played "Jannat Ve" for her that night at his home.
"I know it's still unprofessional," he went on, stepping closer towards her, "but damn it, Shruti, I don't care. Neil cannot do anything about your job; only I can. And you're the only girl I want next to me." He paused. "Unless, of course, you've met someone?"
"Arjun," she scoffed. "How could I? You're kind of all I ever think about."
"Good," he smiled, closing the last few feet between them to pull her into his arms. "I'm going to kiss you now."
"Oh, all right," she murmured as he pressed his lips to hers.
"You've been over here for a month now and I feel like I never see you," Arohi complained as she and Shruti sat down for lunch in late June.
"Well, Arjun is recording, so I spend most of my time at the studio," Shruti shrugged. "I know that place like the back of my hand."
Arohi frowned. "He doesn't give you days off?"
"He does, but I'm usually exhausted, so I stay at the hotel," Shruti lied.
It was hard for her, lying to her best friend of sixteen years, but she and Arjun still weren't ready to come clean about their relationship. While Shruti was spending most of her time with him in the studio—which Rishabh could account for—she hadn't slept a single night in her hotel since her first week in Mumbai. Instead, she was staying with Arjun at his house, where they could spend their evenings pretending their lives were normal and they didn't have to hide everything from everyone.
"Well, can you come out with all of us tonight?" Arohi asked. "It's Anmol's birthday, so we're celebrating. Arjun can come, too, if he wants, I guess."
Shruti laughed. "You'll have to ask him, but I'm in."
"Hey, has he recorded that 'Jannat Ve' song yet?" Arohi asked suddenly.
"Uh, what?" Shruti murmured, praying her face didn't turn red.
"About a week before you got here, Neil found his writing notebook lying around his house, and there's a song called 'Jannat Ve' that we'd never heard before," Arohi explained. "When Neil asked about it, Arjun got very defensive and wouldn't answer any questions, but now we're all dying to know who it's about."
"Oh," Shruti said. "He's recorded it, but I don't know."
"Come on!" Arohi cried. "You're with the little narcissist like 24/7. Surely he's mentioned something or slipped somehow?"
"I'm sorry," Shruti apologized. "I've seen him texting a lot, but I don't know who, and it isn't my place to ask."
Shruti and Arjun had decided that should people ask them about the other, they would tell small truths to keep their friends and family placated.
"Yes, it is!" Arohi exclaimed. "You're his assistant and pretty much his best friend."
"But I'm not about to risk my job by prying," Shruti murmured. "If, and when, he wants to tell me, he will."
"And you'll tell me and Neil," Arohi nodded. "Fine."
"Aru," Shruti warned. "I can't betray his trust like that."
"I said you're his best friend, not that he's yours," Arohi smirked. "That's still me."
Shruti just smiled. "Maybe, but I won't tell you anything."
"So you say now," Arohi shrugged. "But you will."
That night, Shruti sat in the sound booth at the recording studio, watching Arjun and his producer, Lijo George, set up the last song of his album.
"What's this one called?" she asked.
Arjun looked up at her and smiled. "You'll have to wait to find out."
"Ass," she grumbled, knowing he heard her by the chuckle that came from him.
"Don't fret, gorgeous," Lijo advised. "I don't even know this song; he just says it's important."
"And you don't need Rishabh, Anmol, and Hardil for it?" she wondered.
"Eventually," Arjun confirmed, "but I can lay down the vocals and my guitar part tonight. The boys will finish up tomorrow and then it's finished on our end."
Lijo left the studio and sat down at the soundboard. "Ready when you are, bro."
Arjun cleared his throat, sat down on his stool, and put on the headphones. "This song is called 'Saari ki Saari.'" He started strumming his guitar softly before singing.
Door hoke bhi paas mere ho
Sapno se aage ab tum
Hakikat bann chuke ho
Yeh dard hain jo tere
Tu kar de unko mere
Meri har dua mein tu
Par hakikat mein kahaan
Saari ki saari meri hai tu
Tujhko kabhi na main baantun
Haara dil haara tujhpe main aise
Behoshi ke aalam ho jaise
Saari ki saari meri hai tu
Tujhko kabhi na main baantun
Haara dil haara tujhpe main aise
Behoshi ke aalam ho jaise
Yaadein meri aayen jab bhi
Soch lena kareeb hoon main
Khwab mere aayein jab bhi
Palkon ke neeche hi hoon main
Yeh dard hain jo tere
Tu kar de unko mere
Meri har dua mein tu
Par hakikat mein kahaan
Saari ki saari teri hoon main
Kabhi door tujhse na jaaun
Chahe lage arson aane mein mujhe
Phir door tujhse na jaaun
Saari ki saari meri hai tu
Tujhko kabhi na main baantun
Haara dil haara tujhpe main aise
Behoshi ke aalam ho jaise
"Bloody hell," Lijo murmured. "Who's the girl?"
"Butt out," Arjun smirked.
"This entire album—save for 'Chogada,' and 'Kamariya'—is full of love songs," Lijo argued. "As your producer, I want to know about this girl who's so inspiring. And don't lie and say there are multiple girls; I know you too well."
"She's an important girl," Arjun shrugged cryptically. "That's all you get to know."
"Do you know?" Lijo asked Shruti. "You're with him more than anyone."
"I see him texting a lot," she shrugged, using the same line she'd given Arohi earlier. "He's my boss, so I don't ask."
Lijo rolled his eyes. "I'll figure it out; Arjun has tells. I'm sure Neil and Arohi will want to know, as well."
"Aru begs for info every time I see her," Shruti confirmed, more for Arjun to hear than Lijo.
"Aru is a busybody who should learn to mind her business," Arjun grumbled, packing up his instrument. "What time are the guys due in tomorrow? I told Rishabh I'd remind them."
"Ten or so," Lijo shrugged. "I'd like to be finished recording by noon so we can mix. Make sure Hardil isn't hungover."
"I make no promises," Arjun replied. "Shruti, are you ready, love? We can pick up dinner before I drop you at the hotel."
"Okay," she agreed, packing up her bag. "Goodnight, Lijo."
"Later, gorgeous," Lijo winked as the pair left.
"I hate that you let him call you that," Arjun murmured as he led Shruti through the building. "If we just told people, he'd have to stop. I'd make him."
Shruti sighed. "You know why we don't."
"I'm starting to wonder," he muttered as they reached his Range Rover in the back lot.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.
"It's like you're ashamed of me," Arjun replied. "You're an intellect, studying great things at university, just slumming it with a musician. Are you ashamed of me, Shruti?"
Shruti closed her eyes to keep tears from filling them. "I can't believe you just said that. Just take me to the hotel."
"Fine," he snapped.
They rode in silence to the hotel Shruti had a room, and when he pulled up in front, she climbed out without a word to him.
Shruti waited until she was safely in the elevator before letting her tears flow freely. When the doors opened, she cursed internally at seeing Rishabh on the other side.
"Shruti?" he murmured, reaching out to her. "Hey, what's wrong? What happened?"
"It's nothing," she lied. "I'm fine."
"Liar," he accused. "What happened? Was it Arjun?"
"Don't, Rishabh," she warned, pulling away to head to her room.
"Ganpati Bappa," he realized. "You're the muse. You're the girl all the songs are about, aren't you?"
He saw her shoulders slump and he knew he was right.
"I don't know how it's going to work," she finally whispered, reaching her room. "He thinks I'm ashamed of him and that's why we haven't told anyone."
"He thinks you're ashamed?" Rishabh repeated, sitting down on the small couch in her suite. He looked around. "This place looks barely lived in. How do you do that?"
"I haven't," she admitted. "I've been staying with him for the last month and a half. And I'm not ashamed, at all. I'm terrified."
"Of what?" he wanted to know, patting the seat next to him for her to sit down.
"Everything," she breathed, wiping her eyes. "I don't want Neil to think I'm unprofessional for dating my boss. I don't want Aru to think I'm an idiot for getting involved with Arjun. And mostly, I'm terrified he's going to get bored and move on to some supermodel or something. I'm a nobody; he's an IMA winner."
"Oh," Rishabh nodded. "That's Shaleen's insecurity rearing its ugly head. Shruti, you can't think like that. I might not have known they were about you, but I've heard the songs. He's completely in love with you. And by how upset you are, you must feel the same way."
"I do," she agreed, realizing that was the first time she was admitting out loud that she loved Arjun. "I have to show him that." She sat back against the couch. "I know what I have to do."
The following afternoon, Shruti stood in front of the group: Arohi, Neil, Rishabh, Shanaya, Shivam, Henrik, Anmol, Hardil, Lijo, and last but not least, Arjun. They were seated around her suite, staring at her impatiently.
"What's going on, Shruti?" Arohi demanded. "Don't you dare tell me that you're going home? The album might be finished, but your job isn't."
"No, it's not that," Shruti denied, eyeing Arjun. "I uhh, do have a confession though. It's something I've been keeping from you for a little while now, and it's been hard, and people are getting hurt, so it's time to come clean." She took a deep breath. "It's me."
"What's you?" Shanaya asked.
Neil, however, looked to his brother. "It's her, isn't it?"
"Yes," Arjun confirmed. "It's Shruti. She's the girl the songs are about."
"Wait, what?" Arohi cried. "You're telling me that 'Jannat Ve' and 'Saari ki Saari' and 'Hawa Banke' and all those other songs are all about Shruti? Are you two dating?"
Arjun, who'd been sitting on a stool near the kitchen, stood and walked to stand beside Shruti. "Yes, if you can call it that. Mostly we just spend our days at the studio and our nights at my house, but yes, we're together. I told her how I felt when she left last summer, but she was afraid you'd think her unprofessional, so she left with no resolution. When I disappeared for a few days before she got here, it was because I'd flown to Manali to meet her and lay it all on the line. That time, however, she was more receptive."
Shivam smirked. "Well done. I was almost convinced Shrashti had weaseled her way back in."
"Waheguru ji, na ji, na," Arjun denied.
"I'm the reason we've kept it from you all," Shruti went on. "I've been so afraid of what you'd think that I never thought much about how Arjun felt because he never said anything." She turned to him. "But I'm not ashamed of you at all. If anything, I worry you'll become ashamed of me."
"Fucking Shaleen Malhotra," Arohi cursed, knowing he was the cause of Shruti's insecurity.
"I have nothing to be ashamed of," Arjun said softly, cupping her cheek. "I love you, Shruti."
She smiled, leaning into his hand. "I love you, too."