Chapter 4
Ariya woke up to steady knocking on the door followed by a voice calling out her name. It took her a few seconds to recognize the voice as Veer’s and that he was knocking on the connecting door.
The room was still dimly lit by the light from the bathroom, and she wasn’t sure what time it was as she stumbled toward the door. She opened the door and stood squinting at the bright light streaming in from his room. He stood in front of her, his hair looking glorious and shiny. “What time is it?”
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay, just tired.” She felt weak like the time she was recovering from the flu many years ago.
He gently placed the back of his hand on her forehead for a brief moment. “You are running a slight fever. You will need antibiotics if you start to run a higher temperature.”
“I’m fine, Doc. Is it time for us to leave?” She looked around the room for a clock.
“Not yet. Stefan is in a debrief with the guide team, and we will go after lunch.”
“Okay, what time is it?”
“It’s almost ten in the morning.” His voice was calm, but that alarmed her.
“Oh gosh, I slept like a log.”
“It’s the venom. It tires the body out. I’m glad you are not throwing up.” He pressed his lips together.
“Thanks for checking on me. Where is the debrief?” Ariya asked pulling her hair into a bun.
“In the conference room next to the restaurant downstairs.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you downstairs in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll wait here, let me know when you are ready to go,” he said softly.
“I’m fine, Veer.”
“I know you are. Knock when you are ready to go.” He gave her a nod before shutting the door on his side.
Ariya stood in her spot unable to comprehend his behavior. Twelve hours ago, she had a completely different opinion about him from what she saw a minute ago. Veer was caring and was almost too friendly and caring.
She let out a sigh and shut the connecting door on her side and headed straight to the bathroom. She smiled when she realized the bathroom still smelled of his musky shower gel from yesterday, but she wasn’t annoyed.
Dr. Veer Thakur was not as bad as she thought, and she felt guilty about stereotyping him.
Shortly after, she knocked on his door standing in the hallway. Veer opened the door smiling.
“Thanks for waking me up. I so badly needed a shower.” She followed him down the hallway.
“I didn’t mean to wake you up, but I got worried when I didn’t hear you on the other side of the door when your phone rang for a long time,” he said, turning to look at her.
“Oh no, my phone rang, and I didn’t even hear it.” She pulled out her phone from her backpack and saw her sister and mom had called back to back. She quickly texted telling them she was in the shower when they had called, and everything was fine with her.
“What are we doing now?” she asked, putting her phone away.
“You can either go join Stefan and listen to the policies and procedures of the network that he is reciting for the new guide group and the crew recruited locally or… you could hang out with the core team and me while we chat about what we want to do at each location.” He almost smirked.
She laughed shaking her head. “You know where I would want to go.”
“All right, follow me.” Veer led her down the stairs pointing to Stefan and a few others as he addressed a group of people as we walked past the doors to what looked like a sunroom. A temperature-controlled sunroom.
Fancy for a rainforest. Siri would have liked the place.
Veer introduced Ariya to the team who worked for the network and arrived the night before. She made notes of possible story points as Veer discussed the plan for each day for the next two weeks. The plan included a few days of trekking to a specific spot, going on a motorized canoe for a few other locations, and then a few days on a river cruise. It all sounded exciting, and she made notes as the crew planned the detailed portions of the television show.
“We need some drama,” Andy, the director of the show, said adamantly.
“Don’t do this again, Andy.” Veer threw his hands up in the air.
“Dude, your fans, the viewers need more than just the animals. We need a personal touch to the show,” Andy insisted.
“I’ll spend a day with the locals and treat their pets or domestic animals.”
“Good, I like the sound of it… we need more.”
“Andy, it is a two-hour pilot episode. Why do you need more than a snippet of the so-called ‘drama?’” Veer sounded annoyed.
“Exactly, pilot… we need to show enough to get people talking about it,” Andy said.
“I can throw in swimming with the alligator.” Veer rolled his eyes.
“You’ve done that already. No good.”
“What else do you want, Andy?” Veer almost snarled.
“Are you ready to cut your hair?” Andy asked almost hesitantly, and an eerie silence fell into the room.
Ariya was surprised to see the sheer anger on Veer’s face, but he looked at Andy in silence.
Andy took a deep breath before talking. “Veer, hear me out. I know you don’t want to make a big deal about what you do on a personal level, but it is not a bad thing. I want the viewers to know who you are. I want them to see the heart behind that fucking pretty face and hot ass.”
Ariya had no way to contain her laughter and let out a loud snort as soon as Andy said ‘pretty face’, but she quickly recovered and bit her lip. “I’m sorry.”
Andy was not going to get distracted. “I know you have a personal reason for growing your hair… tell your viewers why you are doing it.”
Veer was looking at Andy in silence, and Ariya had a moment where she felt compelled to say something. It was because of what he told her the previous night about him wanting his fans to see him in a different light.
“This will be good for your image. You may inspire some of your fans to do what you did to support your cause… whatever the cause,” Ariya blurted.
“Yes.” Andy got up from his chair and hugged Ariya. “Ariya, I can tell I’m going to like working with you.”
“It’s too personal, and I don’t like sharing my life with everyone. Me, I’m okay to share, but not my family.” Veer wasn’t convinced.
A celebrity who cares about the privacy of his family. Not bad.
Ariya felt compelled to intervene even though she hadn’t worked with the team before this assignment. “Andy… if I may. Veer, you don’t need to tell everyone why you spent a year flaunting long hair, give them the message. That message is very powerful.”
Veer looked at her for a long moment, and she held his gaze. She could tell the anticipation was building in the room as the crew stared at both of them.
“I’ll do it. No making a big deal about it. I’m going to say I am getting a haircut because it is an inconvenience to get in and out of the river.”
“Not good enough,” Ariya said, making Andy gasp.
Andy hugged Ariya again. “Did I just find my sister from another mother?”
She laughed, and the group joined in, and finally, Veer smiled, shaking his head. “Okay, you can have a ten-minute bit about my hair with the haircut, and I will tell everyone I grew my hair to promote cancer awareness, and that I will be donating my hair. No auction business like you suggested last time and nothing, I mean nothing, about who I am doing it for.”
Ariya smiled as the group celebrated and looked at Veer. He was protecting a close family member, and she sent a silent prayer for whoever the person was who needed the positive energy, wishing for a speedy recovery.
After much deliberation, the crew decided to shoot the haircut episode the following day at a local salon in the town. Ariya knew she was going to have a goldmine of a story to tell about Veer Thakur—a celebrity animal doctor and a philanthropist who refused to take over a multi-million-dollar business.
*****
The team broke for lunch and moved to the back of the lodge where lunch was being served at the picnic tables. It was hot, but the shaded area behind the lodge was pleasant. Ariya sat with Stefan, and they caught up on all the years they hadn’t spent time together. It was only noon when she was done eating, and they had another hour before they were heading into the national forest to shoot the opening scene.
Ariya excused herself and started walking toward the sound of water.
“Don’t go too far, Ariya,” Stefan called out, and she nodded smiling at him. Stefan was always the big brother she didn’t have, and she could count on him to be overly protective.
Ariya enjoyed solidarity especially when she was taking pictures of nature. She captured pictures of the dense forest and the small bugs that rested on the plants. She kept taking pictures with a nagging feeling that she was being watched.
She turned when she heard a sound behind her, and she saw Veer approach her. “I feel left out. You are taking pictures of only the animals without me.”
Ariya laughed and pointed the camera at him and shot a few pictures with the crew in the background. “There, I’m sure you’ll like those pictures.”
Veer walked up to her and stopped a couple of feet away silently looking at her.
“Are you mad at me for poking my nose into your business with Andy?” Ariya asked.
“Why would I be, you are part of the team.”
“In all honesty, I would have preferred the long hair for the rest of my story, but Andy has a point.”
“Really?” He raised a curious brow.
“Yeah, it adds so much mystery and character. You have such good hair, women would kill to have those waves and the shine. Heck, I would love to have your hair.” Ariya laughed.
“You have beautiful hair, why would you want my unloved hair?” Veer smiled.
“You won’t get it… just take the compliment.”
“My mom says the same thing.” His voice was soft, almost sad.
“Is it for your mom?” she asked after a moment of silence, and he nodded.
“I’m sorry. Hope she feels better soon,” she managed to say.
“Thanks… she is better now, but… it’s a constant worry. We are still not out of the woods. She has one more checkup before we know it’s all good.” He smiled.
“You are a good son. What you will do tomorrow will bring awareness … you have the power to inspire people to help in some form,” Ariya said, softly.
Veer smiled and turned to look over his shoulder before speaking. “I liked what you said, and that’s the only reason I agreed to let my haircut be part of the show. Andy is out there boasting to Stefan about how he convinced me to do it.”
“He did, Veer.”
Veer smiled. “No. You did. See you at the picnic tables.”
Ariya smiled but did not say anything as Veer turned to leave, but he stopped. He turned and stepped closer to her, too close. “Let me check your neck.”
“I’m fine.” She tried to pull her hair out from under the straps of her backpack with one hand as she held her camera in the other.
“Hang on.” Veer held the strap of her backpack up and freed her hair and pushed it away from her neck. He inspected her neck running his thumb over the delicate skin, and when he pressed into the skin, she winced.
“Sorry, you will need some antibiotics. I see signs of you developing an infection.”
“Okay, I’ll pop any pills. I just cannot miss your salon appointment tomorrow.” She laughed as he continued to check the sting.
“You probably can get away without it, but the healing will take way too long. I’ll check the medical kit to see if we have any, and you can always talk to a real doctor if you’d like.” He winked.
“You are a real doctor, Dr. Thakur.” She smiled, following him back to the picnic tables.