Two months and five concerts later…
There was no denying that Akshara was having too much fun being part of the tour. She and Vansh were now a part of the group, and they were talking about planning future concerts together. The group put on another amazing concert the night before, and they had one more to go in the southern part of the country before they moved their base to a city in the central part of India.
Two months with the band had changed Akshara in many ways. She went from hating and worried about being on the stage in front of tens of thousands of people to looking forward to the concert, and the cheering crowd no longer intimidated her but fuelled her with new energy.
Another change was how she perceived Abhimanyu. She didn’t dislike him as much as she did the day she arrived. He still had his flare-ups when the band didn’t get it right, but they didn’t bother her as much. She still could not figure out why he lost his cool so easily. His most recent flare-up was when Arya showed up late to practice.
Akshara was surprised that he read the riot act to the lead singer, his best friend, for being tardy. She did find Arya’s sudden disappearance in the middle of the day and showing up very late in the morning odd. She had made random excuses about oversleeping or making a trip to the spa in the middle of the day.
That morning, Arya snuck in from the side door when Abhimanyu was talking to one of the band members and made her way to where Akshara was with the humming group.
She came up to Akshara and asked, “Do you think Abhi noticed I am late?”
Akshara smiled. “He has been busy with the guitarist to get the right tune.”
“Oh, good.” Arya let out a sigh of relief.
“Where have you been?” Akshara blurted.
Arya rolled her eyes. “I stayed up binge-watching a show last night.
It was so addicting I didn’t get to sleep until five this morning.”
“You need to get some rest, Arya.”
“I know. I was so pumped up after the concert last night, I couldn’t sleep and ended staying up all night.”
Arya looked around the practice room and asked, “Where is Vansh? If he is late, maybe I can get away for not being the last one to arrive.”
Akshara laughed. “Unfortunately,not. He is away for a meeting with someone this morning. He told me he won’t be in until this afternoon.”
“Whatever, I am going to go check on Abhi. If he says I am late, I am telling him I was learning how to hum from you guys,” she said, winking as she walked to the stage.
A couple of hours into the planning and practice, Akshara was interrupted by a loud noise from backstage. She stepped away from the small area that was set up for her practice and headed over to where she could hear the voices.
As she walked past the stage, she noticed the musicians shell shocked and looking in one direction. As Akshara got closer, she could hear Arya and Abhimanyu arguing.
“You haven’t got one tune right all morning. What has gotten into you?” Abhimanyu sounded angry.
“Abhi, calm down, it’s only the first day, and I am a bit tired from…” Arya’s words were lost when she saw Akshara.
Akshara stopped as soon as she saw the surprise in Arya’s eyes and realized she walked into a conversation that she wasn’t a part of. Just hearing the stress in Arya’s voice, she didn’t think as she walked backstage.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
Arya rolled her eyes and smiled. “Abhi is just having a meltdown.
We are okay.”
Akshara turned away and barely took one step when she heard him growl.
“A meltdown? You have been so distracted that I am starting to think you don’t give a shit about this tour.”
“Abhi, I told you. It was nothing. I slept late.”
“Are you on drugs?” Abhimanyu’s words shook the room.
“Don’t be an asshole, Abhi. I know we have a strict policy. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill,” Arya fired back.
Abhimanyu took a slow, deep breath and in a calmer tone said, “Get out.”
Arya blinked in silence as if in shock, and Akshara’s heart dropped into her stomach.
“Out…Now!!”
“Are you out of your mind?” Akshara could tell Arya was fighting back angry tears.
“You have an hour to pack and leave, or else I will have you thrown out.”
Abhimanyu took a step closer to Arya, his eyes boring into hers. “I don’t want people who don’t believe in the things I do on my tour or in my band.”
“What?” Arya barked. “You are asking me to leave the band?”
“I am not asking. You are fired. Leave.” His voice was brutal.
Akshara stood rooted to her spot, not knowing what to say. She could only think of calling Vansh when Abhimanyu walked away, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“Abhi, don’t be stupid. Is this some kind of a joke?” Arya cried out, looking in his direction as he walked away.
Her words made him stop, and he turned to look at her. “It will not be funny if you don’t leave now. Start packing.”
“Who the heck is going to sing if I go?” Arya challenged.
Abhimanyu turned, his glare intense. “If I could teach you to sing, I can train anyone. Now…Out. Or else I will have you escorted out of the hotel and have someone else pack your things.”
Akshara stood in her spot as Arya kicked aside a chair as she angrily walked away from the conference room. She recovered a few seconds later and followed Arya out of the conference room calling out to her.
She caught up with Arya at the elevator.
“Arya, stop. Don’t walk away like that.”
“He is an asshole, Akshara. I am done with him. Sick of his bossiness.
He will drive you nuts, too, just leave.” With those words, Arya stepped into the elevator.
“I will call you later. I need some space,” Arya said when Akshara offered to go with her to her room. She batted away tears as the elevator doors closed.
Akshara called Vansh, but she could not get hold of him. She hoped that Vansh could resolve the conflict between the two friends who had worked together for years. She walked into the conference room and heard the music playing but did not dare look in the direction of the stage.
She walked over to where the group of hummers were waiting to practice and said, “I need to go. Let’s practice tomorrow.”
Akshara left the conference room and went straight to Arya’s room, although she said she wanted some space. She could not leave the woman who she had become good friends with to deal with this on her own.
When Akshara got closer to Arya’s room, she could hear loud voices.
One was Arya’s, and the other was that of a man. She froze just as she was about to knock and realized Arya had company. She had mentioned a long term relationship that had not worked out a few weeks back, but Akshara didn’t realize she was back with her boyfriend.
If her boyfriend was here, why wasn’t he at the concert the night before?
She stepped away from the door, not wanting to intrude and went straight to her room and crashed on the bed feeling Arya’s pain.
Would Vansh ever talk to her like that?
Even if she messed up?
The answer was no. But again, Abhimanyu was not Vansh, and he was notorious for being a stickler for rules and principles. She shut her eyes to push away the negative thoughts and tension from her body.
Akshara woke up to loud banging on her door, and she sat up, unsure how long she had napped. She walked over to the door and opened it to find
Vansh standing outside her room. He let out a sigh of relief.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Vansh… Arya, did she leave already?” Akshara caught the time on her phone when she picked it up to see the missed calls from Vansh.
“She did an hour ago.” Vansh’s tone was shaky.
Akshara pressed her fingers to her head. “I… I was hoping you could talk to both of them.”
Vansh shook his head and stepped into her room and sat on the chair.
“I don’t know how it came down to this.”
“Vansh, talk to Abhimanyu. If he continues to behave like this, I will leave. He won’t be firing me because I don’t work for him.” Akshara grit her teeth.
“Akshara, relax.”
“Don’t tell me to relax. Say that to your best friend. Arya didn’t deserve to be treated that way today. How could he do that to his best friend?” Akshara felt sad for Arya.
Vansh looked at her for a long moment. “Abhimanyu is under a lot of stress. I am the son, but he is the one freaking out about my mother’s health. He is flying in doctors from all over the world for her treatment. He is not taking the situation well.”
Akshara fell silent, not expecting anything close to what Vansh said about Abhimanyu.
“He has a group of people staffed at the hospital to be there round the clock to provide status to him about her health. He was the one who thought about doing the tour the moment the doctor said that her health condition would improve if she is happier.” Vansh stopped as if it pained him to talk.
“People only see the rough exterior, but that guy is a gem of a person, and he has a heart made of gold.”
“Still doesn’t justify his behaviour,” Akshara growled.
“Agreed, but Arya knows him. Their anger will last only a few hours.”
Akshara was relieved. “So, will she be back?”
Vansh pursed his lips together.
“I’m afraid that is not happening. Not for this tour, at least.”
“What’s the point in having a heart of gold, then? If he is going to hurt people like this, people he cares about.” Akshara shook her head.
“Akshara, what’s done is done. We need to move on, and…” Vansh’s words were lost when they heard a knock on her door.
Akshara scrunched her nose.
“Who could that be?”
She walked over to the door before Vansh could get up and let out a gasp when she saw Abhimanyu standing outside, his face still a mask.
“Is Vansh here?”
“I’m here, Abhimanyu, come in,” Vansh called out from the living area of the room, but Abhimanyu didn’t step in, and he looked at Akshara.
“May I?”
“Please.” She stepped back to let him into her room.
Her room which she thought was large with a living space to one side and a kitchenette to the other suddenly felt small. Abhimanyu went straight to the chair next to Vansh and sat down.
“Did you tell her?” he asked without looking at Akshara.
“Tell me what? I know about Arya.” She let out a growl.
Abhimanyu turned to look at her when Vansh shook his head.
“You will be the lead singer going forward.”
Akshara frowned. “I am the lead singer already.”
“For the band. For both practices. Modern and classical.”
“What? No.” She looked at Vansh in disbelief.
“Yes.” Abhimanyu stood up like he had no other business there since he has voiced his edict.
“Abhimanyu, I don’t work for you. Don’t think you can boss me around. I don’t sing anything other than traditional.”
“Why not?” he challenged her.
“I’m not trained for that. I am a classical singer.”
“You can be trained, and I am sure you will pick it up real fast.”
“What the heck… I can’t,” she barked when he turned away and started walking to the door.
He placed his hand on the door handle and turned to look at her.
“I don’t believe you when you say you can’t. You are the daughter of a music legend, trained by him, and it would be a disgrace if you say you can’t do something with music.”
Akshara felt her jaw drop and watched in silence as he nodded at
Vansh before opening the door and stepped out, shutting it behind him.
“What the heck did he just say?” She felt numb.
“He is right. You cannot say you can’t.”
“I hate that man.” She pointed her finger at the door.
Vansh chuckled. “He speaks the truth, nothing but the truth.”
“How dare he pull my father into this.That’s just pathetic.” She let out a growl.
Vansh shrugged. “He stated the fact. Your father is a music legend.
And you as his daughter…”
She interjected. “Don’t you dare…”
Vansh laughed. “So, you will sing both practices?”
“Your friend may have a heart of gold, but he has the devil’s tongue.”
“According to his fans, he still has a voice of a god.”
“Vansh, I’m done here. I am going to leave. I can’t imagine being talked to like he did with Arya.”
“Akshara, it’s his way of getting the best out of you. He knows you can do this, that’s why he wanted you on the tour.”
She shook her head. “Big difference. You wanted me, he didn’t object.”
Vansh chuckled.
“I…was too scared to even consider you as the lead singer because of the history your dad and Abhimanyu had, but he was the one who insisted that I talk to you. He believes you have the talent to sing in any genre without any effort. He wanted you.”
The new revelation made a tremble pass through her.
He wanted her...
Akshara let out a growl in frustration to shake away the new thoughts that swarmed in her head.
“I don’t believe you.”
Vansh smiled. “He thought of you being a part of the tour, and I wouldn’t have, ever. He really believes in you.”
“I hate him.” She didn’t know what she was saying as she was still processing the latest detail.
“Good. I will see you tomorrow for practice.”
“I hate you, too,” she said, flinging a pillow at Vansh, which only made him laugh.
“Get some sleep. We are going to change the format a bit.”
“Why the heck does he not hire another singer?” Akshara was frustrated.
“He just doesn’t bring anybody into the group… only the best, and that’s you.” Vansh smiled.
“Traitor,” she grumbled as he walked to the door.
“See you tomorrow. Sleep tight.”
Akshara sat in the middle of the bed processing everything that happened. The part that she kept going back to is Abhimanyu mentioning her dad. He knew she would take on the challenge if he were to talk about her capabilities for being her father’s daughter.
How did he figure out the easiest way to get her to take on the challenge?
And he was the one to want her on the tour?
Why?