"That's my bandmate Sia", Rahul said as a girl in denim shorts with red hair, three ear piercings and a guitar shaped tattoo running through her right forearm came up to us carrying a box of props.
I recalled seeing her in the newspaper article.
"And Sia, this is Zoya".
"Hi", I smiled.
Sia just nodded at me distractedly, "Rahul, we're up in twenty minutes", she said and without waiting for an answer, bounded off with the box.
"Woah, isn't she friendly!", I said, feeling totally pissed off.
"Don't take it personally, she's like that with everyone", Rahul said.
But I couldn't be so forgiving.
Stupid Sia!
My foul mood was almost immediately doused when Mishti came running to us, "Not late am I?", she asked anxiously.
"Not at all", I said "And Mishti you know who this is", I added gesturing at Rahul.
"Of course, the man of the moment!", Mishti said brightly "And we finally meet Rahul!", she said shaking hands with Rahul vigorously.
"Sorry we're last", I heard a voice behind me.
Riya was scuttling upto us with Krish tagging behind her "I'm very sorry Zo. But you know what my brother is like. Couldn't find his jeans, didn't know where his shoes were..."
"Oh you liar!", Krish burst out "You delayed us by slathering on thirty layers of mascara".
"He doesn't know what he's talking about", Riya said hastily, turning red, "Anyway, shall we go inside?"
Rahul looked highly amused by the little byplay of the Dixit siblings but didn't say anything.
"Rahul Saxena", he said simply, holding out his hand to her, "Zoya has told me so much about you and your...er... escapades".
"Hi!", Riya said making big eyes and pouting, forgetting her embarrassment, "And I've heard so much about you too. From the same source, of course".
I avoided Rahul's eyes.
"Anyway it was high time we met!", Riya continued and laughed loudly. Mishti gave an apologetic glance at Rahul.
"I know you!", Krish piqued up from behind her "You're one of the freak singer guys that my mom doesn't like. She says singers are bad boys".
"Shut. Up. Krish." Riya said dangerously as she grabbed Krish's ear and twisted it really hard and then turned to Rahul, her whole face now as scarlet as her lips, "I'm very sorry...my brother... he..well.."
"Oh, come on", Rahul said looking least upset and highly bemused.
We all trotted in after Rahul feeling rather starstruck seeing all the crowd. The smell of wine and an infectious party vibe hung in the air.
And Rahul did this everyday.
I was feeling very much in awe of him.
I gripped Rahul's hand as he led me forward. Riya, Mishti and Krish decently followed us at a slower pace talking between themselves.
As we approached the bar, Rahul waved at the barman who waved back brightly and automatically produced two tequila shots, placing them on the table.
Rahul picked one up and drained it, "Go ahead" he told me.
"It's okay", I said, feeling highly embarrassed.
"You're eighteen baby", Rahul said bracingly as he picked up the glass and held it out to me "It's legal and momma's never gonna find out".
"No I'm good Rahul", I said.
"Okay, cool", Rahul shrugged, placing the glass back, "But it's there if you want it".
"Right", I said.
"Now listen I'm getting up there", Rahul said looking around and seeing his bandmates standing ready near the stage, "You'll stay here like a good girl, alright? No running away with some me wannabe".
"I'll try", I grinned. He grinned back before bending down to kiss my lips.
Trying to ignore the usual flipping in my stomach that happened whenever Rahul came near me, I went and joined Riya, Mishti and Krish who were already halfway through an imaginary dance off.
The concert was everything I had pictured it to be. And so much that I had not pictured it to be.
I thought I would burst with pride and excitement when I saw Rahul singing. Riya and Mishti didn't seem to be aware of the hurricane inside me and were just grooving and shaking their arms from side to side.
After the concert was over, the rest of Rahul's band gave me a much more magnanimous reception than Sia. I could recognise all of them from the newspaper.
"You guys were insanely good", I said shaking hands with everybody.
There were the cheery faced, Mehra brothers. It turned out they were three years apart and not actually twins inspite of looking pretty much identical. And there was the grubby looking drummer Arush who had a preoccupied stance and a whiff of stale drink about him.
I noticed Mishti had retreated as far as she could from Arush. But Riya was all too enthusiastic for a conversation though Arush hardly seemed to be taking in anything she was saying.
Krish on the other hand was hopping about the place in excitement. The place mostly filled with teenagers and Krish was visibly feeling important and pleased on being able to come here.
After saying hello, Sia and the Mehra brothers went for a drink which left just Rahul and Arush with us.
"So, Arush what do you do on the days that you're not performing?", I asked.
Arush looked up as though he had just noticed we were there, "Someone said m'name?", he asked with a strange frenzy in his eyes "Thank you so much for the love, Mumbai!"
Krish giggled.
"The concert is over Arush", Rahul said.
"Oh yea..", Arush said absent-mindedly.
"See, Arush why don't you show these three around?", Rahul said pointing to Riya, Mishti and Krish.
"Yeah let's go", Riya said enthusiastically as grabbed both Krish and Mishti by their elbows and steered them forward. She then turned and mouthed to me, "Have fun!"
Mishti looked extremely apprehensive at being lassoed onto a guy who couldn't tell the difference between during and after a concert but nevertheless, she followed suit.
"I've finally seen the magic!", I said happily clapping my hands as we made our way to the other side.
Rahul brought out a champagne bottle and took a gulp.
"I've not blushed so much for a long time", he said softly.
"Who was the last person who made you blush so much?", I asked trying to catch him off guard.
Rahul laughed as he took another gulp, "Clever are you? Alright. It was Scarlett Johansson."
Our small talk carried us a long way and by the time we had walked as far as the gates and were turning back after evading a particularly loud group of giggling girls, Rahul had drained the champagne bottle.
"Foya Zakhri...", he drawled throwing an arm around my shoulders as we hobbled over back to the bar, "My star among suns...sorry... I mean my..."
And the next thing, I knew my lips were on his and I was kissing him.
Before I knew it, he was kissing me back. The champagne bottle fell out of his hand and rolled onto the floor as he cupped both my cheeks and kissed me harder. His hand moved to my waist and pulled me closer until the space between us was totally eradicated. We were kissing like we never wanted to stop and I thought I was going to combust from the heat.
And then...
And then was a huge scream from the other end of the hall.
We broke apart and stared at each other for a second.
"Was that sound from the bar?", Rahul asked. I nodded.
The two of us turned and raced over to the bar and the scene I saw sucked out my euphoria of kissing Rahul.
Krish was lying unconscious in Arush's lap.
God! If something horrible happened here, it would all be my fault.
Riya was standing rooted to the ground in the middle of puke stains, looking mortified. For all her heroics in the classroom, she easily freaks out in situations like this.
"Where were you two?", she snapped seeing us, "Thought you were coming back only after you got married and had kids."
"What happened to him?", Rahul asked. Riya's outburst seemed to have sobered him up a bit.
"You! You invited us to this frigging concert!", Riya said walking upto Rahul and jabbing a finger in his chest, "Look what happened to my brother. He drank that stupid scotch meant for Arush and threw up. And now he feels really warm!", she wailed, "Someone call the ambulance!".
"What do you mean really warm? Is there a temperature?", I asked moving closer.
"I'm sure there is! It must be about five hundred degrees."
"Then you should call a fire engine, not the ambulance", Mishti said dryly.
"There is no temperature", I said after putting my hand on Krish's forehead, "Are you okay Krish?", I asked softly.
Krish opened his eyes and muttered something wearily. I could only catch the words 'sister' and 'bitch'.
"Mom and dad will kill me if they find out", Riya said weakly.
Fortunately Krish was steady enough after sometime but the chaos somehow dampened my spirit. I said goodbye to Rahul and his band (who would stay there for the whole night) and departed with Riya, Mishti and Krish.
I reached home late and mom was in a foul mood. She knew Riya was the ultimate party kid so I tried to throw the blame on her and said that she was the one who had wanted to keep staying.
But Mom was somehow convinced that Rahul was a bad influence. She lectured me throughout dinner.
"Look Zoya, as much as I like the Saxenas, I don't think much of their son", she said "What with that long hair and singing songs...he doesn't even go to college. I'm totally okay with you going to his concert or whatever, but see that you keep a distance with that boy. The lesser you have to do with these 'artists', the happier you'll be. It's never a good idea to get very close with riff raff like him".
Too late!