“Hey, why was Abhimanyu sporting a suit yesterday?” Akshara asked Vansh at breakfast the following morning.
Vansh didn’t look up from his plate. “He had a meeting.”
“Oh… he works, too?”
Vansh looked up at her. “Yeah, and he almost dismantled the band to take over their family businesses.”
“You mean break up the band?” She was surprised someone like
Abhimanyu was going to step away from the fame. “When they are the top band in the country?”
“The tours were taking a toll on the band members and their families.”
“Oh.”
“He pulled the group back together for this one last tour.”
“No wonder the tour is so important to him. Then why treat Arya like that?” she grumbled.
Vansh placed his fork down. “Let’s not talk about Arya.”
“I hope she is doing okay. She didn’t answer my call when I tried to reach her last night.” Akshara missed having Arya around.
Vansh went silent for a long moment. “Let’s go.”
Akshara was nervous for that day’s practice. The one song she practiced all day, Abhimanyu was going to hear for the first time. The other songs she had been working on were mash-ups but were a much slower tune, but this one was a high-energy, high-pitched one that Arya would have rocked.
She followed Vansh out of the restaurant in the hotel, the anxiety of singing in front of Abhimanyu, especially after her not-so-innocent thoughts about him the previous day, ran high. She felt jittery as she walked into the large conference room, the banging of her heart in her chest deafened her.
She was surprised to see Abhimanyu to one side of the stage and no one else.
“Where is everyone else?”
“It’s their off day.” Vansh smiled, walking toward Abhimanyu.
“Hey, guys,” Abhimanyu said, and she smiled, looking away from him.
She could not look him in his eyes without her every nerve getting spiking up.
“Akshara, are you okay?” Abhimanyu asked the question he had asked her more than once in the elevator yesterday.
Vansh chuckled. “She is nervous.”
Akshara glared at Vansh and looked at Abhimanyu when he laughed.
“Don’t be nervous. You will like this song.”
“I like the song, but I don’t know if I can sing it like Arya.” Akshara kept her eyes on Abhimanyu.
“You will do well. Let’s get started.”
He gestured her to go to the stage to the fixed mic and added, “Vansh, I want you to listen on the headphones for the dips and peaks.”
Vansh walked over to the side where the sound system was set up and put on his headphones. Abhimanyu came to stand next to her, and she inadvertently took a half-step away.
“Relax, Akshara. I don’t bite.” He chuckled, and the words made her mind go down a deep, dark desire-filled hole.
She stood frozen as he adjusted the microphone to be close to her and said, “I will play the music in the background just like how it would be on the day of the concert. Listen to the music, know every beat, every subtle high and low, and make your voice flow with the beat.”
She nodded. “Easy for you to say.”
“Vansh and I are here to help. Forget where you are, just focus on the music.” Abhimanyu’s voice was soft, and that put her slightly at ease.
“Okay.”
“One more thing,” he said, taking a step back from her and sweeping his eyes up and down her body.
“We need to fix your posture.”
“My what?” she asked, moving her headset away.
He stood next to her and placed his hand on his abdomen. “Hold your core steady, feet apart, and roll your shoulders.”
She followed his instructions and stood as he asked her to and said,
“I’m ready.”
Two hours passed, and the practice was going as she had expected it to go—horribly. It took her an hour to get past the first line, and they were now stuck on the second one. What surprised her most was how calm and composed Abhimanyu was, and Vansh was the one who was getting impatient.
The worst part is she didn’t know what was wrong with the way she was singing. She didn’t know what Abhimanyu meant when he kept saying something is off.
Vansh finally gave up and stepped out to take a break.
Akshara stood on the stage feeling embarrassed that she wasn’t able to sing like Abhimanyu wanted her to sing as he listened to her voice recording.
“I know what’s happening,” he said, coming up the stage, a small smile on his face.
“What?”
“Your tongue is tensed, and you are not able to break out of it.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You don’t realize it, but…” He held his hands up, almost touching her face and asked, “May I?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I need to ease the tension. Trust me.”
She nodded, and her eyes closed automatically when he moved closer just a tad bit and pressed his fingertips into the softness below her jawline. Her heart was thumping in response to his proximity, and she felt a scorching heat sweep her skin, but she stood still. She took in the rush of blood through her veins as his sexy cologne filled her lungs.
“Breathe, Akshara.” His voice was shaky even as she registered every one of the sensations that his touch triggered.
He gently massaged her jaw and said, “Let’s give it one more try.”
She opened her eyes to find him looking at her, the darkness in his eyes she had never seen, and as if her body knew the language his eyes were speaking, she leaned into to him. The hands that had cupped her jaw came back up to gently run his fingertips over her jawline.
“You are beautiful.”
His words sent seismic tremors through her, making the ground under her feel unstable. She lost all control over her actions and held his gaze as he bore into her eyes. His thumb ran over the soft skin on her cheek, and her insides squirmed in response to the warmth of his touch.
Both of them stood looking at each other for an unknown amount of time, and just as she was going up on her toes to satisfy the need to feel his lips on hers, he jerked back. A moment later, she heard Vansh’s voice and stepped back.
“Akshara, you have a beautiful voice. You can do this. Focus.”
Focus?
After calling her beautiful and her wanting to kiss him?
Could he have eased the tension in her tongue by coaxing it with his?
Akshara didn’t know if she was relieved or upset that Vansh came back into the conference room. She looked at her best friend as he walked over to where he stood with tea.
“Drink this and take a break. You are doing well, but something is not sitting well for this guy.” Vansh handed her a mug of the hot beverage.
“Thanks, Vansh. He told me my tongue is tense, and I needed to relax.”
“Akshara, I am not just saying this because Abhimanyu is my friend, but he is the best. If he believes that someone is capable of something, he will make it happen. He regards you with the highest respect, and just because he and your dad had a conflict, he will not hold that over you.”
“I… I know he won’t.” She meant it, although she had wondered if he was going to be mean to her because of the fallout he had with her father.
“Let’s go. You can do it.”
Her skin tingled from the overwhelming sensations as Abhimanyu checked on the sound system. He came back with his headset on, adjusted his mic, and looked at her.
“I am going to practice with you.”
She smiled. “Do you also need to practice? You just sing, and people go crazy.”
“That’s not true. I practice when the guys party.” He smiled, easing the tension that had built up a short while ago.
She nodded and gestured to Vansh to start the music. She took a few deep breaths and tried to center herself with the music playing in the background. She knew she would have a lot more thoughts about Abhimanyu later on, but in that moment, she was going to be his lead singer and let their voices meld into harmony.
Hours later, she looked at Abhimanyu and let out a sigh, a smile on her face.
“That was amazing,” Vansh called out, climbing onto the stage to hug Akshara.
Akshara laughed, hugging her best friend, but her eyes met those of the man who knew would invade her dreams that night, admiration in his eyes.
She smiled at him, enjoying the feel of being admired by the famous rock star for singing his songs. Later that night, she spoke to her mother on the phone as she looked out of the window at the dimly lit hotel garden a few floors below.
Her eyes automatically went to the spot where she had seen Abhimanyu hang out by himself many nights over the few weeks they have been at that hotel.
There was no denying she felt disappointment when she didn’t see him. She continued her distracted conversation with her parents and other family members in the household. Her eyes wandered over the open space in hopes of seeing the tall figure she couldn’t wait to see again.
Shortly after, when she was about to give up on the idea of watching him lost in thought, she saw movement. Her heart sprang into action in her chest, and she smiled, making her aunt wonder what made her lips curve up as they video chatted.
“I have to go, auntie. Tell Ma I will call her later.” She ended the video call abruptly, and as if she had no control over her thoughts, she grabbed her room access card before stepping out.
Even as she rode the elevator, she had no idea why she was headed his way. She was driven by an unidentified need to be with him as if to experience what she did when he was close to her. She stepped out of the elevator and walked toward the open gardens.
It was past nine at night, and people were either in their rooms or hanging out by the large pool at the back of the hotel. She pushed open the glass door and stepped into the warm night air.
Abhimanyu stood to one corner of the garden, almost in the shadows like he didn’t want to be seen. Her smile widened as she got closer to him, but her steps slowed down with a sudden nervousness.
What was she doing there? What would she say to him?
She stopped and was about to turn away when he moved to face her. Even in the shadows, his smile was hard to miss, and she smiled back, the overwhelming feeling melting away.
“Hi, Akshara.”
She took a step forward. “Hi, Abhimanyu.”
“Beautiful night, huh?” He smiled, looking up at the full moon.
“Yes, it’s very nice here. Is that why you come here a lot?” she asked like she needed to know why he spent time alone.
“Are you spying on me?” He chuckled, making heat creep up her cheeks.
“I… I can see from my room window.” She was finding it hard to talk since she felt the conversation was becoming awkward.
“You were spying on me, then?” He laughed.
She shook her head. “No. It’s not like that, but I wondered why you spent the time alone in the darkness.”
Even in the dark, she saw something pass in his eyes. “I do it sometimes.”
“You have been doing this for a long time,” she blurted.
He took a step closer and asked, “How do you know?”
She was thinking of their argument in the dark a little over six years ago and didn’t intend to blurt it out as she had done before.
“I… Vansh told me.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “You are not a good liar.”
“No, he did.”
“I never told him I did this… no one knows. Only you observed.”
His voice was soft.
She nodded, realizing it was time to come clean about how she noticed him in the gardens when she met him for the first time during the college fest. She had noticed him in the gardens after dark the entire week and had assumed he was either smoking cigarettes or something illegal.
“You did this when you came to our college fest a few years ago.”
Her voice shook for reasons she could not explain.
“Which college?”
She knew the moment she told him the name of her college, he would know it was her who had yelled at him and called him names in the dark, along with splashing the water from the fountain in his eyes.
Before she could say anything, he let out a chuckle. “Are you the girl who yelled at me for destroying your dream of seeing me sing your favourite classical songs?”
She held her breath and looked away, not wanting to look at him.
She felt embarrassed and petty for how she spoke to him that night.
Excitement rippled through her that he still remembered the episode.
He wasn’t entirely nice to her, but she felt bad for what she did. She stiffened when he placed his fingers under her chin to make her look at him.
“I’m sorry. I said some rude things to you that night.” His words shocked her.
“I was the one…” He silenced her by placing his finger on her lips, causing a shiver to pass through her.
“You meant well, and I should have listened to you and taken your feedback, but I was in a weird state of mind.”
She smiled, glad that she was able to come clean about that incident.
“I hated you after that, especially because you said mean things about my dad.”
“I would, too.” He chuckled.
“Did you hate me, too?” she blurted.
“No, not at all. And I remember that incident very well because you gave me an idea for the name of my band.” He laughed.
“What?”
“The Rule Breaker… you called me that when you were pissed.”
She shook her head. “No, I did not.”
“Akshara, I remember every word… you were probably too angry to realize what you were saying.”
She felt even more embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I was angry that you were making up things about what my father did, but… I found out later. I’m sorry for—”
“Don’t be.”
“Do you not sing classical because of what my dad did?” She couldn’t help but ask the burning question.
“Not at all. I have other reasons I really cannot talk about.” His voice was shaky.
Akshara couldn’t be there and face him anymore. “I have to go.”
“Good night.”
“Enjoy your alone time.” She turned to leave.
“I don’t mind it if you want to hang out here with me.”
She smiled, nodding. “Next time.”
Abhimanyu watched her walk away and then turn to look at him one more time before stepping back inside. He kept his eyes on her as she gracefully walked to the elevator.
“Do you still feel like kissing me when I sing, Akshara. I would love to kiss you back, taste your sweetness,” he said to himself, remembering the way she had looked at him a couple of days back, her eyes filled with lust.