A LITTLE DEATH
i. DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?
❝NOW, FOR THE STAR OF THE EVENING...❞

IF THERE WAS ONE THING EVERYONE KNEW ABOUT STEVEN GRANT ROGERS, it was the fact he loved Mastani Oberoi with all his heart. Of course, the two had never crossed paths and Steve had only seen the woman on the silver screen, but it was enough for him to be unfathomably in complete adoration of the actress. He had seen every single one of her films ━━ even the ones where Mastani was on screen for the briefest of moments. Mastani Oberoi may be considered another face in the background to the vast world, but she would always be the star in the eyes of Steve Rogers.

When it was announced that Mastani would be the lead role in the Booker Conrad Wolff's upcoming movie, Dreamy Girl, the public had lost it. Critics predicted the movie would flop due to the actress' lack of experience and the harsh judgments received from the public about a woman of color being a lead in an American film, but Steve doubted it. His only grievance was that the movie's premiere (that was tonight) was only available to the elite of New York and the people that worked in the film industry. Steve, like every other regular person, would have to wait four weeks to be able to see the movie for himself. And, Mastani Oberoi wouldn't be in the same theater as him. If he could catch a glimpse of her, Steve Rogers could die happy. But, it was something out of his reach and that was enough to break his heart.

"I had a feeling I would find you here," the voice of James Buchanan Barnes, known mostly as Bucky to his friends, broke the serene silence Steve had surrounded himself with. He felt a clasp against his shoulder, hearing his friend whistle as he faced the view Steve had distracted himself with for the past hour. "It's dangerous up here, you know? One strong gust of wind and you'll be a splat on the floor."

Steve tore his eyes away from the gigantic billboard of Dreamy Girl and faced his best friend, having to glance up at him to get a good look. It was dark, but the billboard lights illuminated the rooftop they were on. Bucky wore a grin that reached his eyes and Steve struggled to return it.

"I thought you had a date?"

Steve had muttered softly as he returned his gaze to the billboard. It had been painted over and over again due to people constantly defacing it. However, Mastani's beauty still shined through.

Bucky mumbled something incoherent as he stared at the huge billboard. He had to admit that Mastani Oberoi was beautiful, but he would never say it out loud. After all, Bucky was aware of how much his best friend loved the girl. His eyes wandered to the military posters that hung below the billboard, urging people to join the military and protect America. It was the perfect place for Steve since he was able to stare at the girl of his dreams and be even more motivated to join the army. However, Bucky would do anything to keep Steve out of the bloody clutches of war.

"Buck?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking," Bucky mumbled as he snapped his attention back to his friend. He wore a small mischievous grin on his face and Steve wondered what was going through his mind. "I did have a date, but it wasn't really working out, so I ended things early."

Steve hummed in acknowledgment, not knowing what to say. Bucky went on dates often ━━ almost every other night. At first, Steve would introduce himself to every one of his dates since he figured he would be seeing them around often. But, that wasn't the case. Bucky's dates rarely lasted longer than a night. After a while, Steve had eventually stopped introducing himself to the men and women that he found clinging onto Bucky's arm. "Sorry to hear that, Buck."

"Enough about me, may I ask what you're doing here so late?" Bucky asked, nudging Steve as he spared a glance at Mastani's poster again.

Steve shrugged, trying to hide how his cheeks burned.

"Is it because you can't go to the premiere tonight and get to see your girlfriend in the flesh?" Bucky teased which caused Steve to give him a rough shove, but he barely moved an inch.

"She's not my girlfriend, Bucky," Steve muttered as he sighed softly, leaning against the railing. "I know I'm going to sound crazy for saying this, but... I feel a connection to her, you know? I just can't explain it."

In fact, Steve Rogers could explain it. He and Mastani were alike in many ways, but the most prominent one was that they were both underdogs, looked over, brushed aside, and treated like garbage because of things that they could not change. For Steve, it was the size of his body and his disabilities, but for Mastani, it was the color of her skin. Of course, Steve could never truly understand the struggles that Mastani went through ━━ for he was still a white man in America. He had more privileges than she would ever see in a lifetime. However, it still filled Steve with pride to see Mastani moving forward in an industry that stacked the odds against her. It gave Steve hope that one day, he would be able to achieve his dreams of joining the military as well. She inspired him to go after his dreams.

"Promise me that you won't scream," Bucky suddenly started which caused Steve's eyes to widen, but he trusted his friend. Bucky wore a grin on his face as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two tickets. "Wear your best suit, Rogers. We're going to go meet the love of your life."

And, Steve did exactly what Bucky asked him not to. He screamed.

It was only an hour later they had arrived at the theater.

Steven Grant Rogers had worn his best suit ━━ a three-piece wool suit that was a tad bit too big for him ━━ in preparation to meet the woman of his dreams. He was nervous. His palms were sweaty and his knees shook with every step he took, but he had Bucky by his side. His best friend wore a bright smile on his face as he greeted the many eligible men and women that came across his path. Steve wished that he had an ounce of confidence that Bucky had, but he had no such luck. He would always be too awkward to talk to any man or woman. In fact, most of them scared him. Most men took their anger out on him and greeted him with fists while women used venomous words to rip him apart. He didn't know which was worse.

The crowds were tenfold, all wanting to catch glimpses of the stars. It wasn't often celebrities would come to New York for premieres, but Booker Conrad Wolff's films were always shown in the city first. He had been born and raised in New York, wanting to find stardom in the city rather than somewhere else. His films were popular, garnering more and more wealth for the man and anyone involved. It was said that if you were in one of his films, you would be set for life. Steve hoped that would be the case for Mastani as well, wanting nothing but the best for the woman.

"Geez, look at the amount of protesters gathered around," Bucky mumbled, looking across the street at the groups of people that screamed obscenities their way. It wasn't directed at them, but at the directors of the film and the actors. It was obvious that their hateful words were directed at the only person of color in the movie.

"A bunch of jerks," Steve grumbled, moving his way toward the front of the crowd of adoring fans. It wasn't difficult since he was smaller than a majority of them, but the red velvet rope prevented him from going any further. "Has the premiere started? Why are we waiting out here? I don't want anyone taking our seats, Buck."

"Relax, champ," Bucky replied, giving Steve a light pat on his back. "We need to wait till they let the actual celebrities in and then we'll be allowed in."

Steve breathed a sigh of relief, nodding his head. He couldn't hide the excitement that was written across his face. He watched as members of the crew walked down the red carpet, waving to the crowd. Steve had to admit that he didn't recognize any of them. He saw faces, but didn't know their names. It felt like eternity had gone by as everyone who worked on the movie came across them. Eventually, the actors had shown up and people had lost their minds when their favorite celebrity walked by. But, finally, the only person Steve had eyes for had arrived.

"And, now, for the star of the evening," the announcer, Sandy Marx, sounded as everyone paid attention to the limo that had rolled in, "the Dreamy Girl herself, Mastani Oberoi!"

♡

I AM SO EXCITED to be rewriting this book! It has always been on my mind because it is based on one of my favorite Hindi films and I have big plans for this book! My perfectionism is what keeps me from actually writing and posting chapters for this book though. But, recently, I have tried my best to only focus on writing and getting things done! I have had this chapter finished for a long time, but I finally got around to fixing it up! It is very similar to the original chapter! It makes me so sad that I ever only originally posted one chapter for this book before I drafted it for ages. But, I don't want to draft anymore stories and I just want to keep writing! I know that this first chapter didn't have much action in it, but I plan on making it up in the next chapter!

I do plan on exploring some darker topics in this story, so please be mindful of the trigger warnings when reading this fic! I will try to keep it to a minimal since I do want this story to be somewhat happy, but it's hard to do so when the time period was just so against people of color. However, Mastani will try her best to overcome these hardships! Plus, I am excited to write Mastani and Steve's love story!

I am so so excited to write this story ah! I hope this chapter was somewhat interesting! I thought it would be important to show how Steve feels toward Mastani early in the book! If you've watched Om Shanti Om, then you probably already know a lot of key points that will happen, but I have changed quite a bit from the plot of the movie to incorporate it with the First Avenger!

HOPEFULLY, THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE HERE SOON! AND, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!

━━ AMARA
[ ORIGINAL DATE ━━ 07.24.2019 ]
[ REWRITE PUBLISH DATE ━━ 04.28.2022 ]