“Akshara, that’s not what you said,” her best friend, Aarohi, said with her eyes skewed.
“That was three years ago, and I was upset he walked away from the competition after arguing with my dad.” Akshara shook her head.
Aarohi was not going to let her off easy. “You said you would ask him why he walked away when you met him in person, and guess what, he is here on campus for the concert. You have to ask him.”
“Why does it matter anymore?” Akshara rolled her eyes.
“It does because I think you still have a crush on him.” Aarohi laughed.
“I had, Aarohi… not anymore. I am nineteen, not sixteen. I don’t care for arrogant quitters,” Akshara snapped.
Akshara’s tone only amused her friend. “Well, then go talk to him. Ask him what you wanted to ask him all these years. Talk to him, so you can get him out of your system and consider looking at other guys.”
“Aarohi, just stop. Why are we talking about him?”
“I saw the way you blushed when you saw him.” Aarohi laughed.
Akshara rolled her eyes. “I did not.”
“Yes, you did, and until you talk to him, you won’t get over him.
You are still hung up on that magical voice of his.” Aarohi winked.
“No, I’m not. Stop talking about him.” Akshara glared at her best friend.
“Akshara Goenka, I’ve known you since kindergarten, and you are a bad liar. You may even be in love with him.”
“Abhimanyu? No way.” Akshara scrunched her nose.
“He is Abhi, by the way… doesn’t use his full name anymore.” Aarohi rolled her eyes.
“I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Fine, keep loving him secretly.” Aarohi laughed, looking at herself in the mirror. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the concert?”
“You know I don’t really enjoy crowded events.”
“Abhi, the love of your life, is going to be performing at the concert and will be at the after- party. Are you sure you don’t want to go?”
Akshara smiled. “You enjoy the concert and stop saying I am in love with Abhimanyu. I liked him for his talent, nothing more.”
“Suit yourself. Don’t stay up too late.” Aarohi laughed before stepping out of their campus housing apartment.
Akshara smiled as her friend pulled the door closed behind her. She looked out of her window when she heard the loud noises from the university stadium as they got ready for the concert and the after-party.
The next two hours were worse—more than being at the concert— and what annoyed her even more was how she was responding to hearing Abhimanyu sing. He had a beautiful voice, which drew her to him and made her crazy about him in high school, and years later, she was feeling exactly what she had felt for him then when she watched him sing on television.
After spending a torturous amount of time in her room, hearing him sing even after the concert was over, meant she needed to leave her room and get some fresh air. She stepped out of her apartment and walked in the opposite direction of the loud music. The campus was empty, and she knew every single soul was at the after-party.
She walked around the empty campus and was about to return to her room when she saw someone walk toward her down the dimly lit corridor.
She froze when she saw it was the guy she had heard rocking the concert a short while back.
Seeing him in person earlier that day made her feel strange sensations, almost as if something she had buried deep inside came alive.
She looked at him realizing how much taller he was in person. She had turned away not wanting to look at the arrogant guy who was once a prime contender in one of the top music competitions in the country.
She stood frozen as he walked closer to her but turned to walk into the gardens. She let out a sigh of relief, but the loud thudding in her heart would not stop. It was deafening when she turned to walk back to her room.
Akshara took two steps and stopped, feeling a deep tug in her chest. She turned around to see he was sitting on one of the benches looking into the darkness. Moments passed as she stood debating if she should talk to him. She looked at the guy she had seen in person, up-close, when she attended the competitions with her father, who was one of the judges.
She was there in the audience when he argued with her father over some feedback that was provided to him about not following the classical format when he sang. She could not believe the way he spoke to her father, a key member on the panel of judges for the competition.
In spite of how rude he was to her father in front of the live audience, there was no denying she had a deep admiration for him. She felt a strange connection with him when she watched him sing, and in that moment, that feeling made her walk toward him in the dark. She wanted to know why he gave up singing classical music.
She stopped a few feet away from him as he sat with his back to her.
“Abhimanyu?”
He turned his face, putting the silhouette of his profile in her view.
“Yes.”
“Hi, I am one of your fans.”
“Hope you enjoyed the concert.”
“I… I didn’t go.”
That seemed to surprise him, but he didn’t get up. “And you are my fan, how?”
She felt embarrassed that she didn’t go and yet, introduced herself as a fan.
“I liked your classical songs. The ones you used to sing.”
“That was over three years ago. I don’t do that anymore.”
She could tell she was invading his private time and should leave but could not help but ask, “Why? You have such a beautiful voice.”
“I just don’t,” he almost snapped.
“You did such a good job on some of the songs, I felt like hugging and kissing you.” What the heck was she saying?
“I don’t care for your kisses and hugs. I don’t sing classical anymore,” he growled.
The best thing to do at that point was to walk away, but she could not get herself to do that. She went on with her rambling. “I used to watch you sing, and I used to feel so happy listening to you. That day, when you argued with… the judge, I was there in the audience.”
“And?”
“You argued unnecessarily.”
That comment made him stand up and look in her direction. It was dark, and she knew he couldn’t see her that well. “So, what if I argued? I felt strongly about it, so I did.”
“You were wrong. You broke the cardinal rule of the tune, the judge gave you some very casual feedback on that, and you got all worked up.”
The tempo is her voice was out of control.
“The judge… that old duffer,” he snorted.
Akshara felt a burn inside when she heard the way he spoke about her father. “Don’t talk like that about him.”
“Oh, yeah, are you his fan, too? Then know this, that man ruined my music career. That egoistical moron…!!! Just because I didn’t touch his feet and beg for his forgiveness, he didn’t let anyone in the industry give me an opportunity to pursue my career. There, now you know why I don’t sing classical and had to form my own band.”
Akshara was in disbelief. Her father was the most respected in the
Indian music industry,who nurtured many other singers and musicians and mentored them.
“You’re wrong. You are an idiot not to realize your mistake. You’re a rule breaker, that’s why you got kicked out of the competition, and you deserved to be.”
With those words and a weeping heart, she turned away from him, running to her room. She shut the door and collapsed on her bed, crying.
“I hate you.” She felt extremely sad that the guy she had admired and loved turned out to be a heartbreaker. The crazy feelings she felt for him and had kept secret up until that point, she decided to bury them forever.