2 Encounter (2)

Timo's point of view:

The same Monday morning, in another corner of the city a man was cursing everything in sight as he was late.

He had slept late due to work and didn't feel well-rested but being the eldest of the group and clumsy with time didn't fit.

He had some morals to keep up for the youngsters of his group. He was already being blamed for spoiling them and colluding with them. These were really the hard times for him.

His cellphone was constantly ringing but he didn't answer it knowing very well that it was from work.

Somehow he made it to the place without losing more time.

After reaching the spot the first one to greet him was Ray, "What happened, big bro? You are late today, that's not you."

Timo casually waved his concerns away, "Yeah, I slept late as I was writing some new lyrics."

"New? Oh, are those for Mui?" Ray was surprised at first but he soon remembered that Timo was helping Mui with his upcoming solo project.

Timo rubbed his hands against the freezing cold muttering, "Yup, let's wrap up this shoot soon man, its freezing out here."

"It is freezing because it is minus six degrees out here!" Came a sarcastic comment from Kai. He was suffering the most in the chilling cold- a result of wearing sleeveless. He obviously wasn't happy that their big brother arrived late.

Timo felt apologetic. He could see Kai trying his best not to shiver under those jackets, "You're right Kai, you guys are ready I see, give me five minutes."

Timo rushed to get ready for the days shoot.

It was the music video shoot for the title track of their new album 'Breathe'. After so many scandals the previous year- which made them almost disband- the group was back on track.

Although all members had solo careers- including himself- their group was loved by a huge number of fans.

The title track was about a lover asking his girl to return to him even though he was terrible to her- you know the usual theme but when one thought clearly it was a song for their fans. They were trying to apologise to them through the song for causing them discomfort through many unwanted and painful issues.

Timo knew it as he was the one who wrote and composed it- along with Kai.

Currently, the director was detailing him the process of the shoot. The song opened with his part so he was the first to go.

In all the chaos to get ready, he only heard the procedure of the shoot and didn't give any attention to their partners for the video. He was supposed to hold his respective partner as soon as Mui's part was over.

And that was when he first saw her.

She was walking at that precise moment with her nose buried in a book. Brushing off her behaviour as a part of acting, he did as he was told- he grabbed her by the waist.

The very next moment she looked up in shock with big doe eyes.

He was taken aback by her reaction but being good at acting he concealed it well and bent down to whisper in her ear, "why aren't you performing?" He tried his best to be secretive about his action so as to not obstruct the flow of the shoot.

At his question, she looked confused but he noticed that she was flustered too. The girl's face was a direct screen to her mind. Her thoughts were clearly displayed on her face and in her eyes. Before long he came to this conclusion, he saw that now her confusion was replaced by anger. His only thought was 'uh-oh!'

Luckily, he was saved by the director yelling 'CUT'. He had to, Timo had stopped dancing to the music and intently staring at the girl in his arms.

Coming back to earth, Timo tried to step away from her but he somehow didn't want to. She was cute in his eyes. He was amused by the various expressions passing on her face, it was a rare sight for him. And this time her face clearly showed recognition of something.

To put her at ease he tried to speak again but he was interrupted by his longtime friend and group member Ray, "Is there a problem big bro?"

Timo reluctantly released his hold on her waist and nonchalantly answered his friend, "No, its fine Ray." He turned to the girl, "Are you fine?" He asked, voice filled with concern.

He saw that her face was flushed and she was still a little stunned. "Um… sorry…", she incoherently tried to mutter an apology.

"It's ok, sometimes during the shoot it happens, take a deep breath and you can do it." Timo tried to encourage her. In his eyes, she was just nervous about the camera. It was that simple.

She shook her head at his words,

"I am not a part of this, I didn't notice where I was going and ended up here." She tried to explain feeling embarrassed.

Timo frowned. He was a little surprised at his little discovery. "You mean to say you are not the actress?" It was now his turn to feel embarrassed. The air turned awkward. He mused about how lax the security around this area was.

She nodded her head three times to ascertain his findings. "Yes, I am sorry, I interrupted your shoot. I will leave now." She apologised before trying to escape.

He suddenly didn't like the thought of her leaving. It didn't sit well with him. Not knowing what to say he called out to her, "WAIT..."

It worked, she stopped and turned back but his mouth went dry as he had no idea what to say to her. She had politely explained the situation and he had grabbed a random girl in haste. He wanted to apologize but his ego wouldn't allow it.

He was mentally preparing his 'I am sorry' speech but the crew dragged him away as the temperature was dropping and they had to wrap this shoot up before they all froze to death.

At last, he only saw her retreating back, which somewhat disturbed him but being a professional and a logical person he suppressed all such thoughts and carried on with the shoot.