Ritika rubbed the sponge over Deepika's forehead. She looked like a princess. The makeup girl moved back hunched inside the rushing limo struggling for her balance. She took a good look at Deepika and then handed her a pair of over-sized sunglasses.

Deepika wore the shades and eyed Ranveer sitting across with Sharin talking to her animatedly, to Deepika's distress, with a hand on her crossed legs.

"Done?" asked Deepika.

"Yeah, just a second," Ritika said and sprayed a lot of hair spray on Deepika's hair that was tied in a high bun with two strands dangling on the sides of her face.

Ritika sat beside Deepika to pack her stuff in various bags.

Deepika's eyes wandered inside the limo longing for attention. The girl beside her had done her job to make her the most beautiful woman in the city, but ironically, no one was even looking at her; everyone was busy with themselves.

A pang of jealousy arose in her chest when a slutty smile brewed on Sharin's spotty sun-beaten face. She noticed her tummy drooping over the waistband of her skirt. The skirt is too tight and there must be rashes on her hips.

The bottle of wine trembled in the case beside Deepika's armrest. She would have had another glass had her lips were not painted burgundy, the same shade as her sunglasses.

Thankfully, the car slowed in a turn and they knew they had arrived. A murmur was audible from within the car as they finally halted. Sharin gave Deepika a thumbs up after Ranveer air-kissed her. She seemed elated.

Ranveer opened the door to crackling camera flashes. A buff bodyguard stood holding the door for him who moved aside when Ranveer grabbed the door for Deepika.

Deepika stepped onto the concrete floor in her white stilettos and stood towering over Ranveer. There was a cheer and the flashes went crazy. As she smiled behind her huge shades and lifted her arm to wave, a thousand voices started calling out her name so that she looked into their camera. Ranveer posted a grin on his face at this slight humiliation while the media ignored him.

Deepika slithered her arm into Ranveer's ignoring deafening calls from the paparazzi and walked a few steps when an over-excited man in a suit a tad too tight for him approached the group. The tall buff bodyguard(hired by the producers of Padmavati) blocked his advance.

"I'm Ezekiel, the organizer," the guy screamed an arm in the air trying to talk through the crowd. The bodyguard gave way.

"Hello, sir. Ma'am," he cocked his head as if he was doing namaste.

Both the stars smiled. Ranveer extended his arm with Deepika's arm wrapped around it. Ezekiel quickly grabbed it and shook it with excitement. Deepika decided not to follow suit.

"I'm Ezekiel," he repeated. "We have managed Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Bhai as well," he screamed over the noise.

Ranveer awkwardly nodded at the unwanted information while Deepika grinned.

"This way ma'am," he pushed photographers to make way.

The event went smooth, the organizers and the owners met the stars, and a lot of pictures were taken which will later be sprawled all over and inside the gym. Ezekiel tried in vain to convince Deepika and Ranveer for more meetings after the event, but they dodged the bullet.

A mini stage was set up for the press conference. The air conditioner was set ice-cold low to fight the heat from the numerous cameras, still and motion.

Deepika sat on a chair, her exposed legs crossed, a microphone in her hand. She would have had goose pimples had she had any hair on her waxed smooth thighs.

Ranveer sat beside her, warm in his jacket, but his face had lost a little color.

"How's life together now that you two are in a relationship?" a stupid question. There was a small laughter wave among the journalists.

Journalists were told beforehand not to ask anything about religion, politics or fights in the industry, so they were left with only stupid questions. But you still had to be careful of some of the rude ones who didn't mind an argument with the organizers or even the stars for a news scoop.

"It's great," Deepika chuckled. "We are still discovering various things about each other, our interests, likes, dislikes, things we hate, what we love... So it isn't an event that we are together now, we will go on discovering each other hopefully because that is the most fun part. And we'll make continuous efforts to stay together."

Ranveer looked at her impressed. Both knew the one-hour press conference won't end soon with to-the-point short answers. They have to kill time before someone decides to pop up a controversial question.

He got up from his chair, went to her side and kissed on her cheek so that most photographers could get a clear click. Everyone cheered and Deepika just smiled.

"It is fabulous, just fabulous to be with a woman so intelligent, so sensitive, and..," he paused. "And amazingly beautiful." He laughed but no one else did. "So yeah, it's wonderful."

This went on for over half an hour where Deepika would answer the questions with utmost panache and careful political correctness while Ranveer tried to make a joke every time he spoke which worked sometimes and crashed otherwise.

There were various questions, all fashion, Bollywood, and relationship.

Which leading lady would you like to work with?

"Deepika and everyone else..."

Would you work with Salman Khan?

"I'd love if some script works out..."

Are you working with Rohit Shetty?

"Yes..."

Are you working with Imtiaz Ali?

"Yes..."

Where does your fashion come from?

"It comes from the heart..."

What do you think of Ranveer's fashion sense?

"It's his expression and he carries it well, and I love it..."

When will we see Padmavati?

"Soon..."

Your next film is with Ranbir Kapoor. How was the experience working with him now?

"It was a great experience. Ranbir is a very dear friend and one of the best actors of our generation. There is no animosity between us as the media would like to present. We are mature human beings and I wish him luck for his future and look forward to working with him in more films if given a chance," she said as she had prepared, although it was somewhat true. Ranveer raised his hands in the air and applauded.

You have been successful only with Deepika. All your other movies have failed at the box office. What do you have to say about that?

"Er.." the question caught him off guard. "I..er..see it as an advantage," he fumbled. "I believe it is wonderful that Deepika is lucky for me and now I have her in my life, my other films have not worked but.. er... I don't see it as my shortcoming because I have worked on them as hard as in films with Deepika," he paused. " And you know what, why not... If a film finds an audience because of Deepika's stardom, and that too my film, I don't see any harm in that. You know what..," he stood up. "...it gives me another reason to love my sweetheart."

His hand went under Deepika's legs and he scooped her off the chair. Deepika's eyes widened in surprise and she put her arms on his shoulders for balance. She smiled embarrassedly.

Ranveer rocked her in the air like a child as a thousand clicks flashed at them. He was doing exactly what she told him not to. Finally, she dug her fingers in his jacket so he put her down. Both sat back on their seats with fake smiles pasted on their faces thinking about various arguments they'll make in the fight that awaited them after the press meet was over.

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