"AAS?" Aryan asked in surprise.
"AAS?"
The boys looked up to see Aniket.
Ayaansh gave him a huge smile and nodded eagerly. "Haan, Bhaiyu! AAS! Usne thode hi gaane gaaye hai par saare kitne amazing hai. I'm a huge fan of his, Bhaiyu!"
Aryan and Aniket looked at each other.
"He's the best!" Aryan couldn't hold back himself.
Ayaansh agreed wholeheartedly.
"Ek second!" Ayaansh turned to him. "Tu jaanta hai woh kon hai?"
The pride in Aryan's voice registered in his brain a second later.
A hopeful Aryan looked at Aniket who softly nodded making Aryan jump in excitement. There were only a few people who were aware of the information. His younger brother deserved to know it from them!
"Kya hua?" Ayaansh asked, confused at the interaction between his brothers.
"AAS! Bhai, achche se socho!" Aryan said.
Ayaansh frowned. He was clueless what his little brother was talking about. Aryan gave a pointed look towards Aniket and it took a moment for the realisation to dawn upon Ayaansh. His eyes widened in astonishment as he looked at his Bhaiyu.
A soft smile played on Aniket's lips. Certain memories and moments in life could never fade away, for they were treasured more than the life itself!
"Mai?"
There was evident surprise in Aniket's voice.
"Haan, Aniket. You've a brilliant voice. It would stand out like gold in the crowd. I want you to record song for me!" Ritvik told him.
"Record a song?" Aniket was taken aback. Whole country knew Ritvik Birla only took the best! He was asking him to record song for him?
Ritvik nodded.
Aniket fidgeted and looked at Arnav who was standing silently till then.
"Can you please wait for a bit, Ritvik?" Arnav asked.
Ritvik gladly agreed and walked away to give the brothers some privacy.
"Bhaiya.."
"What's the issue, Ani?" Arnav walked closer and slung an arm around his little brother. "Tera idol tujhe song offer kar rha hai! Mujhe toh laga tha tu Khushi se uchhal padega.."
Aniket smiled slightly.
"I'm happy with law, Bhaiya. Singer nhi banna mujhe!"
Arnav frowned. "Par kyun, Ani? Tu itna achcha gata hai! Ritvik is never the one to sugarcoat his words. Tu jaanta hai he only chooses the best! Use Teri awaaz bohot pasand aayi hai, bachcha! You always wanted to sing with him, hai na?"
Aniket nodded. He had always seen Ritvik on television with stars in his eyes. It was his dream to sing alongside him one day. Untill their life turned upside down!
"Bhaiya, mujhe Ritvik Bhai ke saath gaana tha par woh pehle ki baat hai. Music mera passion hai but I don't want to get into it professionally."
"Kyun, bachcha? Music is your dream!"
Aniket looked away. It was a twelve years old Aniket's dream! The child who hadn't seen the outside world, who hadn't suffered enough to differentiate between dreams and fantasies. As he started growing up, he realised music could be his fantasy, but not dream. Arnav changed that for him! Music didn't only remain as his dream but became his passion as well. But he didn't want to make it his profession anymore!
"Kya soch rha hai?" Arnav asked gently.
"Kuch nhi, Bhaiya. Mujhe lawyer banna hai. Bachpan me toh sab sapna hi lagta hai, I don't want to record any song!" Aniket tried for a playful tone but Arnav saw right through his facade.
"Pehle ki baat aur thi, Ani. Ab kyu apni ichchha maar rha hai tu?"
Aniket looked down.
His demeanor told Arnav what he was thinking. He remembered when one of Aniket's music teachers had been very impressed by his voice and suggested him to approach music industry for singing opportunities. Aniket had been fascinated by the idea. When his teacher took him and to a small music company, the person they met asked money from them in the exchange of setting up a meeting with a music director. What he had asked was a huge amount of sum for the brothers but they pooled their savings and managed the money somehow. After a few days they got to know that the person had been a fraud who had looted a lot of youngsters including them!
The incident left Aniket disheartened beyond words. He blamed himself for falling in the trap and wasting their hard earned money. He got several small offers after that he declined them without a second thought. They had just enough for their sustenance, nothing to waste anymore!
"I know you've suffered a lot, Ani. Jo hua woh galat hua!" Arnav cupped his face. His voice was heavy with regret. He wanted Aniket to take up the opportunities he was getting but at the same time he was helpless. Being financially broke had never hurt him more than at those instances when his brothers had to curb their will due to it.
"Mai haalaaton se majboor tha. Tujhe aur Aru ke liye tab Mai kuch nhi kar saka..."
"Aap yeh sab kya keh rhe ho, Bhaiya?" Aniket stopped him with a gasp. "Aapne humare liye kuch nhi kiya? Mere liye, Aru ke liye kuch nhi kiya? Humare liye aapne apni zindagi badal di aur aap yeh sab..."
Aniket pulled away from him as the angry tears rushed to his eyes.
"Ani.." Arnav tried to reach for him.
"Akela chhod do aap mujhe! Koi baat nhi karni mujhe aapse!" Aniket snapped at him angrily.
"Achcha, I'm sorry. Tu sun.." Arnav pulled him to sit down with him and spoke gently. "Mera kehne ka woh matlab nhi tha, Ani."
"Toh kya matlab tha?" Aniket's eyes filled up.
Arnav hugged him. "Achcha, I'm sorry, tu ro mat please." Aniket's tears still hurt him more than anything else.
Aniket held onto him. "Aapki vajah se hi toh aaj mai yahan tak aaya na, Bhaiya. Aapne apna bachpan qurban kar diya mujh par aur Aru par. Aapne ek anjaan bachche ko zindagi di, Bhaiya. Uss bachche se jisse aapka koi rishta bhi nhi tha, na khoon ka..."
"Dil ka rishta toh tha na, bachcha?" Arnav cut him off and pulled away gently.
"Tu aur Aru meri jaan ho, Ani. Teri siwa mera tha hi kon bata? Mujhse koi rishta nhi hai tera?"
Aniket's eyes brimmed up again. He could never express in words what Arnav meant to him!
"Give yourself another chance, Ani. Apne liye na sahi toh mere liye? Please?"
The pleading did the job. Aniket sighed. He could fight with his brother any day without hesitation but couldn't even argue back when he was pleading him that way.
"I don't want public attention, Bhaiya!" Aniket told him honestly. "It makes me uncomfortable."
Arnav nodded. Aniket never liked to sing in front of strangers or any kind of attention from them. He was a camera shy person.
"You will not be on the screen, Ani."
"But my name will be! I love singing but I don't want to be associated as a singer, Bhaiya. Mujhe limelight nhi chahiye. Mujhe lawyer banna hai. I don't want the camera attention! I don't know how to explain..." Aniket was getting worked up. He didn't know how else to say it properly. He had always loved singing. He still did! But he had just outgrown the idea being in the centre!
Arnav squeezed his hands to relax him. He understood what his brother was trying to say. He suggested him to talk to Ritvik about the same.
A reluctant Aniket agreed grudgingly.
Ritvik heard them and almost smiled in amusement. "You don't want to come in front of the crowd? Are you sure?"
Aniket wanted to roll his eyes in disgust. Did the man have an hearing impairment? And what the heck was he finding worth smiling at the moment?
"You'll make one hell of a rockstar, young man!" Ritvik said eagerly. It had been years he had heard such a voice! It would be a shame if he couldn't give it a face!
"I don't want to!" Aniket snapped rudely.
"Aniket!" Arnav scolded.
"It's okay, Arnav!" Ritvik smiled sweetly. "He is just pissed off at me for wanting to make him a rockstar!"
The sarcasm wasn't lost at Aniket but he couldn't find himself retorting back. Even he knew Ritvik was right. Ritvik Birla rarely laid his eyes on anyone and here it was him who was throwing conditions at his face. He felt disgustingly proud of himself!
Arnav sighed. "Do you've any solution to this, Ritvik?"
Ritvik leaned back on chair and looked at Aniket pointedly. Aniket frowned. "What?"
"You're sure you don't want the camera?" Ritvik asked, discreetly hoping for a different answer but sighed dismally when Aniket shook his head.
The disappointment in Ritvik's eyes saddened Aniket. He meekly looked at Arnav, scared to face the same disappointment in Arnav's eyes but Arnav's eyes showed none of it.
"He knows what he is doing, Ritvik. Stop needling him." Arnav told Ritvik firmly. He wasn't letting anyone touch his younger brother, not even his best friend.
A reluctant smile made its way to Ritvik's lips. He nodded. "Okay, then, he can sing under an anonymous name."
Aniket looked up with interest.
"Anonymous name?"
"It's like a hidden identity, Bhaiya. I will sing but not with my real name but with a disguised identity. This way I can have the copyrights as well without having to come in front of the crowd."
Aniket explained with eagerness. He felt like a fool for not getting the idea before. There were so many artists who used the same trick. He could have exactly what he wanted. An audience for his voice without showing up.
Ritvik nodded. That's exactly what it was.
"You want this?" Arnav asked Aniket.
Aniket saw the shining hope in his Bhaiya's eyes and nodded with a smile. Arnav looked at Ritvik who also nodded. Arnav hugged Aniket tightly. Finally he could see his brother living his dream!
The warm embrace melted Aniket's every apprehensions and filled him with new desire to overtake the world. Miseries never touched them gentle. It always left its thumbprints that were for nobody but them to see. But Arnav's embrace gently soothed all those thumbprints and scars.
And what surprised Aniket the most was that the gentleness had not come from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it!
Arnav pulled away when he was being called for some meeting.
"Tu ja, Arnav. I'll deal with the paperwork." Ritvik told him.
Arnav cupped Aniket's face and kissed his forehead. Aniket's eyes misted. The contagious smile on Arnav's face told him how happy he was. He wished that smile would last for a lifetime to come!
"Papers sign kar le?" Ritvik asked after Arnav walked out.
Aniket nodded.
"Thank you, Bhai!"
Ritvik looked up at him with raised eyebrows.
Aniket smiled. "Ritvik Birla ne song offer kiya hai, ek thank you toh banta hai na, Bhai?"
Shaking his head with a smile, Ritvik forwarded him some papers. "Sign them!"
"Papers ready the aapke paas?" Aniket looked at him suspiciously.
Ritvik raised his hand to whack him but Aniket ducked him and glared. "Aap pehle se mujhe convince karne ka plan karke aaye the?"
"Abey, jyada shaana mat ban. Tere Bhaiya ne kaha tha isliye laya tha."
"Bhaiya ne?" That was a new information for Aniket.
Ritvik bit his lips. He wasn't supposed to say it out. Arnav would just kill him for blurting this out to Aniket.
"Bhaiya ne kaha tha aapse yaha aane!" Aniket's voice turned heavy.
"Ani, galat mat soch yaar.." Ritvik came closer and made him sit. ".. I'm not giving you this song because Arnav asked me to! Tu jaanta hai na none of us mixes up personal and professional relationships?"
Aniket gulped and nodded.
"Arnav bas itna chahta hai ki tu apna sapna pura kare. Uss pagal ko iss baat ka guilt hai ki tujhe financial conditions ki vajah se apna sapna pichhe chhodna pada. He just wanted you to fulfill your dream of singing!"
Aniket's eyes filled up but he quickly blinked the tears away and looked up at Ritvik. "Papers?"
Ritvik patted his back and handed him the papers to sign. Aniket took it and started reading and filling up whatever was required. He stopped at the name section.
"Fill up the name you want to use." Ritvik said. "May be your initials?"
Aniket blinked his eyes. His initials! AS!
He looked outside from the glass window where Arnav was talking with some of his clients. When they had walked out to build a life of their own, Aniket had automatically started using Arnav's surname as his. They asked for a surname everywhere and he didn't have one. Arnav had once found him crying over it and told him that people used the same surname as their family. And Aniket's only family was Arnav!
Aniket smiled and wrote down his initials. He handed it to Ritvik and stood up. "Mai jau, Bhai?"
Ritvik nodded. Only after Aniket left he looked down at what Aniket had written and found himself smiling fondly. The bond between Aniket and Arnav always warmed up his heart. They had a new rockstar to make the world dance to his tunes! Ritvik couldn't wait to introduce the voice and the name to the world!
A.A.S.
Ritvik didn't have to wonder what it stood for!
Ayaansh smiled at Aniket warmly. He knew Aniket respected Arnav a lot but now he could see their equations in an entirely different light. He got up and hugged Aniket's midriff. The information had left him overwhelmed.
Aniket ruffled hai hair. "Mujhe pata nhi tha tu AAS ka fan hai!"
Looking up from his midriff, Ayaansh shook his head. "Mai AAS ka fan tha! Ab mai sirf apne Bhaiyu ka fan hoon!"
"Mai bhi!" Aryan leaped on happily to join the hug.
Aniket smiled and kissed their foreheads. "Chalo ab so jao dono!"
Smiling to himself, he lied down with the boys. On his darkest days, when he felt inadequate and unworthy, he only had to remember who he was!
A.A.S.!
____________________________________
A/n
So here is the prologue!
How was it?
Hope you guys liked it!
And one thing that I completely missed out to mention was that the name ROOH was suggested by heyyitscherry
Thank you so much for the beautiful name, di!
Love,
Muskan