ABHIRA: THE RULE BREAKER'S GIRL

CH22- CRAZY CRUSH TO LOVER

Halfway through her search, she had a better idea.

“Abhimanyu, do you have any of your old videos from the competitions?”

He turned to look at her.

“Really? Still crushing over the eighteen year- old me?”

She rolled her eyes. “I want to hear you sing classical.”

“I might have some on disc in that shelf in the corner.”

She sat on the floor next to the shelf looking for the disc that had his recordings. She found his CD collection very interesting and surprised he still kept them—old western classics, famous Indian singers, including her father’s collections. As she flipped through the stack, she froze when she saw an overly familiar case.

“Abhimanyu, I can’t believe you have this here?” she said, staring at the cover of the case.

He chuckled, washing his hands and walking over to where she sat, shocked.

“Did you find my porn from college that I thought I had trashed?”

She was speechless as she looked up at him and flipped the cover of her very first devotional album she had recorded four years ago. “You listened to my songs?”

He smiled as he sat down next to her as she batted away tears.

“Baby, why wouldn’t I listen to your songs? You have a magical voice.”

“You knew who I was and still listened to my voice?”

“For the record, I didn’t know who you were until after, but by then,

I had fallen in love with your voice, and I could not stop listening.”

“This is surreal.”

“Why, baby? I have listened to every one of your albums. I love them.”

“I love you,” she blurted, overwhelmed by the intensity of her emotions.

He smiled, running his fingers over her cheek. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”

She let out a sob as he kissed her gently on her lips. His lips were soft on hers as he kissed her as if to soothe away the tears.

“Abhimanyu, how did I get so lucky?”

He chuckled, pulling her to him, kissing the moisture in her eyes away.

“That’s my line, love. You have no idea how much inner calm I found just listening to your voice, especially on some tough days.”

She let out a cry as new emotions gripped her. “Why didn’t you ask me to sing for you, then? I ask you to sing for me all the time.”

He smiled, kissing her on her forehead. “I need you. I just need to listen to you talk, asking me to sing, telling me how you had a crush on me, and I want you to be with me. That’s all I need.”