Their Bollywood Reunion - Chapter 16
Chapter 16
She sang as if the very goddess of music and arts was dancing upon her lips. She sang like an angel, with such unflinching emotion that she transformed his composition to something akin to heaven itself.
She’d always been able to elevate any score placed in front of her into a piece of heart-wrenching melody, imbuing it with her own brand of magic.
AJ closed his eyes and let the spiraling ragga move through him like lightning. She took the dip with the experience of a maestro and then chased the high again, with the energy and enthusiasm of the innocent.
Innocent and yet possessing of a deeper awareness of the world—it was the reason her voice could weave magic out of simple words.
“Anna, you’re messing up the alaap there,” he said, interrupting her solo piece, which was a haunting piece of twists and turns. Usually, it only took her a few tries to get there. In fact, he’d even told Virat that they might be ready for production soon. But today, she was all over the place and not even realizing it.
“Oh,” she whispered and yet there wasn’t an ounce of awareness in her eyes. All day, she’d been watching him with a fierce intensity and it was there now, too.
“If you aren’t well, we’ll take a break,” he said, signaling to the musicians and technicians, who had begun talking among themselves or tuning their instruments.
“No, I’m just distracted,” she said. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“I know you’re worried about your grandmother being alone,” AJ said gently, “but now’s not—”
She waved away his concern. “Oh, I’m not worried about Granny at all. I called her last night and she said she fleeced ten thousand rupees out of her nurse over three games of rummy. She’s doing fine.”
“Then what is it?” he said through a tight jaw.
Never before had she been distracted like today. In fact, her focus and devotion to music to the exclusion of everything else, like fashion and romance and living the high life, had been the first quality that had impressed him on that show.
She pinned him with her gaze. “Are you planning to throw me out so that you can marry Ms. Shah?” Her voice was crystal clear in the soundproof room, reaching every nook and corner.
“What?” AJ said, noting the pin-drop silence that followed her ridiculously outrageous question.
“I asked you a simple enough question. She’s been all over social media posting pics that are at least six months old. But is there real fire under the smoke she’s been blowing all over? Is that why you’ve been resisting my attempts toward seducing you every night?”
Virat whistled a roguish tune while Vikram straightened from his place against the wall. The entire team of musicians was watching them as if they were at a tennis match, with their heads turning back and forth. A couple of them guffawed and then covered it up when AJ glared at them.
“Jesus, Anna, we’re in the middle of a practice session with twenty-five musicians whose time’s valuable. Not counting Vikram and Virat, here.”
She shrugged. “Then answer my question instead of avoiding it.”
“Stop acting like a diva, Anna.”
“Why not? I’ve spent ten to twelve hours for the last few days working. I can sing that alaap in my sleep, AJ. I’ve earned the right to act the diva and ask a few questions of my errant husband. Especially when he keeps getting—”
AJ pressed a hand to her mouth. And the damn woman kissed the center of his palm. The contact seared him. Her eyes twinkled up at him. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist, then pushed away his hand. “If you don’t want me to air out dirty laundry in front of everyone, AJ, start answering my questions.”
Virat gave out a bark of laughter and AJ glared at him. Even Vikram’s mouth was twitching. AJ pressed two fingers over his temple as the older Raawal called for a break and everyone filed out.
He bit out a curse, even as he stared at her greedily. When and how had his shy, docile, nonconfrontational wife transformed herself into this fiery, beautiful creature that didn’t care about the world? How was he supposed to keep his resolve that he’d never hurt her again?
“Fine, what do you want to know?”
“Are you interested in Ms. Shah? Is that why you smuggled those papers out of my bedroom? Did you already sign them? If you think I’m going to meekly accept a quiet settlement and sidle out of your life again, you’ve got it quite wrong.
“Because I’m not going anywhere, AJ.”