Those EYES

He first noticed the long, flowing chestnut-brown hair of the girl he had supposedly come here to make up to from the transparent door and had a quick desire to run his hand through them. Maybe, someday. Soon. He needed to see that one look on her face to tell if she was going to be interested in him if she wasn't already.

'Jacob will be here in a few minutes, I guess.' Shawn said in a creamy voice, one that could now flux the gothic exterior of an emo bitch he once was rejected by in tenth grade. He had entered a big office accessorized with the shades of only red and white, like its owner had it recently done for the winter holidays.

Three heads turned to look at him. He had expected to see his sister and Itika but Daniel Praile had also decided to join in. It was better to have a producer be involved from the very beginning. Daniel was a busy man, who had to make big decisions by the minute, and so it was kind of a surprise to see him there and much worse, waiting for his director who currently was taking pictures of the newborn of a celebrity couple. Weird national interests.

'We know. I had a word with him upstairs. The baby is not very cute by the way. I can't imagine the amount of VFX they are going to throw on those pictures. Poor little fella.' It had to be Dina who would say such a thing. It was HER thing; making the most useless observations that nobody cared to hear, especially her little brother.

None of the other three had spoken a word following her comment. Dina still chose to add, 'They'll probably get her her first surgery when she is fifteen. I mean, that's what they say happened to the Willie twins. Both had puffier lips on their first day of high-school. Just saying.' Dina dipped her head to the right, and grinned with her big teeth out.

'Yeah, why are you saying?' Shawn walked across the six-seater conference table with an empty executive chair at its head, and sat down on the one beside it. 'Don't care. Never cared.' He shook his head twice to support his coolness and smiled at Itika who was awkwardly staring at her sling bag on her lap.

'YOU don't care. But we do. These kids are the future of our entertainment world. Sooner or later you're going to be competing with one of them. Look at this baby. She got three million followers on Instagram the same day her Mum made an account in her name. How do you plan on staying in trend when there's always someone more admirable to beat your popularity?'

'Who cares about shit like that? I am making music. And that's all that matters. Oh by the way, last I checked I had about thirty five million followers. I'm cool for a few years.' His sister's insignificant subject of discussion had begun to irritate him, but when he saw Itika looking at him, her eyes fixed on his, with an almost appearance of a smile, like she was amused by what he had said, he smiled back mimicking the same expression. There was more to the way she looked at him than just amusement. Her gaze transformed from soft to scrutinizing in a few seconds. He was suddenly sure she was trying to read him, but didn't know if what she read was any good. One thing was certain; the darting glare from her hazel brown almond shaped eyes was making him uncomfortable. Usually he would ask a question to clear himself off of the uneasy situations but in that moment his brain had frozen.

Those EYES.

Who looks at a guy like that? The look didn't speak of any attraction she might have had for him. He hadn't realized her stare was merely for ten seconds, it had felt much longer in his head.

He rubbed his palms together in a motion like when you role a cotton bulb into a lamp rope. He did that when he was nervous. Dina had caught that, and blurted out, 'What are you all worked up about?'

Shawn narrowed his eyes at her. 'What? Nothing. Why?'

They heard a latch being undone, and all four of them turned at once to see a tall man in white sweats and a green cargo, with nerdy glasses and a thick white band on his head that pushed his neck-length hair backwards. His appearance didn't make him look like he was thirty. There was a MacBook in his hand which he dropped on the table as soon as he got to his chair. 'Hi, I'm Jacob.' He put a hand forward towards Itika and she reciprocated with hers, 'Hello, I'm I-ti-ka.' She said and eyed Shawn for a second, aiming to reach both with her greeting. Shawn shifted in his chair and gave a nod, embarrassment poking at his gut from inside. How had he not even said a Hello to her before? Was that why she had looked at him that way? He thought he should say something to her after the meeting. For now he was just focused on her spotless, radiant skin while Jacob took over the room, hoping to make HER feel under the spotlight for a change.

'Did Dina take your through the script?' Jacob opened his laptop and kept it on a side. It let out a mild thump that made Daniel's head look up from his cellphone for the first time in the last fifteen minutes. He pulled out the frameless specs and held them in the palm of his left hand. He seemed like he was ready to talk when matters of business were on the table, any jibber-jabber that didn't concern him automatically reflected off his aura.

'Not yet. I was waiting for you.' Dina answered before Itika could.

Jacob rested his back against the chair and spoke.

'Itika, we are thinking of making a summer video with you and Shawn as two strangers who fall in love at fight sight but are too shy and scared to do anything about their feelings—'

While Jacob was busy narrating his concept, Shawn narrowed in on her nose ring that he hadn't noticed before. It was too thin and had no shine, its tan color camouflaged over Itika's similar complexion which had a striking, watery glow, almost like she had stepped out of a steam room.

Aah!

'--You two had met in a beach carnival that your friend had taken you to. After your little eye contact in the beach there will be scenes like Shawn is waiting outside a restaurant where you work as a temp waitress, and he is looking for excuses to pass by a basketball court that you go to and his friends tease him about it, then you are invited to a road-trip with your friend, and find that he is also there—'

Itika was trying her best to ignore whatever Shawn was up to. But when a smirk started to appear on his peach lips, she squinted at him for a fraction of a second and continued to listen to what Jacob was saying.

'--And eventually you guys are going to talk… This will cover nearly two-thirds of the duration of the song, which by the way is called When We Met. You with me so far?'

'Yeah. Sounds kind of… sweet.' When Jacob was moving his finger on the touchpad of his laptop, Itika did her final shift of gaze and raised her right eyebrow at Shawn, then immediately rolled her eyes, warning him that if it was a trick he used on girls, it wasn't going to work.

'That's the plan. I would like to finish with this in three to four days starting this Monday. It will give you time to prepare or get into one of our acting programs, but for that I need to know if you're interested.' Dina spoke this time.

'Oh, yeah. Sure I am.' The upward curve on the top right of her light red painted lips made her look even more beautiful. She gave out a sincere vibe when she spoke, kind of like the hottest girl in school was also the top of the class.

'We will have you read the contract and once you've signed it, we will be taking you for costume fitting.' Daniel spoke this time in a coarse, unclear voice that justified why he had been staying quiet all this while; he had a sore throat.

'We also need a signature from one of your parents or a guardian to help with the papers.' Dina added.

Lines of confusion appeared on Itika's forehead, she looked more innocent like it was even possible. Shawn felt a nerve weaken in his chest. He wanted that innocence when he fucked her.

'Why do you need that?' Itika's Indian drawl was the weakest Shawn had ever heard considering she had spent most of her life in her own country. He wanted to hear her more with that accent.

Jacob answered, 'Just a routine procedure.'

'I can give you a name, but I can't have a signature. And besides, I'm old and wise enough to vouch for my own decisions.'

'That's not the issue. Since you're not from here, there should be at least one local warranty to help us take care of your VISA.'

'Hmmm… Alright. I think I can get my uncle's signature who is a US citizen.'

'Swell.' Jacob pulled a blue file that was sitting in front of Daniel and placed it in front of Itika. 'Dina will help you here with the details of the contract. You can ask her if you have any doubts. I'll hope to see you Monday. And please, shift to Vellore. We can't have you staying in that cheap BnB now that you're one of us. All expenses paid.' Jacob flashed a proud smile, took his laptop and within seconds was out of his own office. Daniel followed like a shadow.

'I need to make an important call. I'll be right back.' Dina also got up, and stepped out of the room.