shami sani.

[shamisani]

𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 ♦ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

SHAMIM SANI but mostly goes by SHAMI. pronouns are he/him. thirty-eight years old. born and raised in phoenix, arizona. unhappily married for fifteen years. he’s a hot shot management consultant. you can either find him at the office or the gym.

[shamisani]

kaiwinterson​:​​​

          For what it’s worth, he’d rather be at home. 

       To be fair, it’s safe to assume at any given moment that Kai would rather be at home. He’s never subscribed to the idea that parents, for the sake of their own sanity, require respite from their children. In truth, he thinks he needs his children far more than they need him. He doesn’t like to leave them, and if he didn’t have an iron-willed sister who would never allow it, he doubts he ever would. As it stands, she’s ushered him out for the evening, taking on babysitting duties so he can… do what, exactly? Sit alone at a bar, listening to a stranger rip into one of his films whilst wishing he was at home?  Because that’s what he’s doing, apparently – and, for lack of more eloquent phrasing, it sucks.

      Even the most egocentric of filmmakers couldn’t spend a decade having criticism levelled at their work and not come away feeling suitably jaded by the experience. Kai is no exception to that (and there hadn’t even been an ego to chip away at in the first place, just palpable please-like-me energy). In recent years, he’d been dubbed the Patron Saint of Insomniacs for his snooze-worthy cinematic offerings and, although seeking out negative reviews used to be like tonguing a broken tooth, painful yet impossible to resist, these days it’s more like pressing a finger to a fading bruise, just to make sure it still aches.       What this stranger says is the latter. Just a fading bruise. A cursory Google search could do more damage, he imagines. In more sober circumstances, he’d be too embarrassed to say anything, but liquid courage has his lips parting in preparation to speak before he can think to stop them.

       “If you think that’s dull, make sure to check out the sequel. You’ll be asleep till Christmas.“

.

Upon first glance, these two men seem to have nothing in common. But little do they know they’d both rather be at home.

The difference is Shami knows the second he opens the front door, he’s entering into the line of fire from his own harsh critic, whether it’s deserved or not. Farha made it a point for him to know she’d be in this evening which translates into wanting the house to herself for the night. Their marriage might not be the healthiest, but at least they’re trying to make things work with what they’ve got. Apparently, for them, that means avoiding each other. 

Shami’s taste in media hasn’t changed since he was around sixteen years old. He likes fast action sequences, cheesy jokes, a mindless storyline where the message of the movie goes right over his head. In some ways, criticism from Shami is a compliment of the highest regard. 

“Holy-” A voice speaks and it makes him jump. He didn’t realise someone was nearby. The surprise from finding out there’s a sequel is quickly subdued over the shock from seeing who spoke. Strange, because he has the same face of the person who he’d stared at on his phone a few minutes ago. 

“You’re not- You can’t be-” A look of guilt cross his features as he slips his thumb between his teeth to bite down on it. Just his luck. “I don’t suppose you’re a long lost twin or a look-a-like or something?”

[shamisani]

benjiwalker​:​

✹

               “Well, first, I’m gonna recommend that you get out more —” As usual for Ben, his words came out as a friendly tease. As much as he tried he couldn’t withhold the expression that came regarding Shami’s reaction to — laundry detergent — of all things. “I’m pretty much a single father to a teenager and I can safely say I’ve never stood in the grocery store aisle freaking out over — well, anything. Not that I’m judging you.” Again, more joking. It was just Ben’s nature. “Stop sniffing that stuff. Can’t be healthy.” Extending his hand, he rested it on the bottle of detergent attempting to get Shami to either put it in his cart or return it to the shelf. “I’m I gonna have to worry about you and Tide Pods?”

Like most old friends, some things don’t change. He remembers Ben saying something similar to him about a new pencil case back in middle school, and instead of an amused laugh echoing throughout the hallway, it’s now in Walmart’s detergent aisle. 

“Hey, hey! Hands off.” He attempts to slip the bottle of detergent away from Ben’s hand, because he’s incapable of making decisions when it comes to the most trivial things. Especially when Farha’s involved. “Listen, Mr. Cool, if you don’t get excited at the idea of your clothes smelling like-” he reads off the label, “-tropical lily and ylang ylang, then that’s your problem. But I guarantee you, one sniff and it’ll change your life.”

Shami lifts the bottle towards Ben. “Just one sniff.”

[shamisani]

“Yeah, if you wanna be bored to death-” Shami stands by the bar, voice a little too loud for someone who’s on a group call with the boys to help the only single out with picking the right movie for his date tonight. 

“Sleeping in The Abyss, that’s a good one.” He laughs heartily. “Dude, seriously, I struggled to keep my eyes open. It made, like, no sense? And nothing even happens... Literally, bro, if you can’t sleep at night, just turn that shit on... Yeah, she’s hot... Really? In Phoenix? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him... What does he look like? Send a photo.” Shami checks his phone, thinks for a second and shakes his head. “Nah, never seen him... Alright, buddy, good luck. Let us know how it goes.” He ends the call and looks up to call the bartender over so he can order his drink.

@kaiwinterson​​​

[stars-bean]

“Oh, I got new curtains. Well, what do you think?”

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) dir. Doug Liman

[shamisani]

“Oh my god, this smells amazing.” So good that he’s talking to himself out loud. He’s been standing in this aisle for a good twenty minutes, holding a bottle of laundry detergent in each hand. “You know, I never used to be this like,” he says idly to a person nearby, “But this new detergent smells like a fresh summer’s day and I don’t know what to do with myself.”

@phxstarters​

[jagso]

        as on any other average day, danny found himself dragging his feet from the construction site to his truck - covered in dirt, sweat, and desperation for a cold beer. unfortunately, he had a dog to walk waiting in his trailer and he couldn’t afford to just drink and pass out. instead, he headed in the direction of his trailer park and stopped at the closest coffee shop along the way.         after pulling the parking brake for his truck, danny hopped out - not bothering to lock it behind him, because who would steal something from that? it doesn’t even had a modern radio. he made some quick calculations in his head, noting that he may have to end up choosing between coffee and beers for the next few days before he got paid, deciding that today was a good day to have someone else make his coffee but assuring himself he’d do it all on his own the rest of the week - for the beer.         unfortunately, the line was a bit long, so it meant a moment of wait until it was his turn. the male was fine with that though, he could finally get a second to just be still, even if it was standing and surrounded by the general public that he was not in the mood to deal with yet. danny repeated his order in his head over and over again so that he wouldn’t slip up or get struck with anxiety blankness once it was his turn.           suddenly, a voice said something - either to him or simply near him - but he was too caught in his order repeating to catch what was said. “huh?” he asked, a dumb, clueless expression on his face, probably suggesting he had only two hard-working brain cells up there in his pretty little head. “did you say something?” @phxstarters​

[shamisani]

This is his favourite café. He feels weird buying coffee from anywhere else, as if it’s a kind of betrayal. 

Shami recognises the younger person next to him as the owner of a fairly run down truck, which he is confident isn’t even locked right now. He tries to get the other’s attention once. And then, a second time: “Hey,” Shami says, offering a short wave and a friendly smile.

He’s standing in the other line, getting ready to pay. Holding up his card, he hands it to the barista, who already knows to charge Shami for ten pay-it-forwards as well as enough to cover the orders for everyone else who’s standing in the queue. “If you want to upgrade to a large, now’s your chance.”

The barista explains that Shami is paying for everyone’s drinks and jokes that it’s probably because he’s feeling guilty. There’s a knowing look on Shami’s face that’s more or less an admission. 

[boyd-stevens]

SIDHARTH MALHOTRA as JAI in Baar Baar Dekho (2016) dir. Nitya Mehra