AFICIONADO

Record 2: Lyrics

The day was cold. Still, Ridhi woke up early. She wasn’t even sure if she had slept at night. She was half asleep and half awake or maybe in a dream. She couldn’t say it for sure. She laid on her bed for some more time. When her alarm rang, it was his voice.

An upbeat dance song.
‘Let’s dance, come on now
Take off your shoes and feel the soft floor’
The song always uplifted her mood. So it was her morning song. That was from his forth album. He had released only seven albums. The last one had the highest sales. It broke all records and he was riding on its fame when one day he simply broke of the contract with his sponsor company and left the world of fame. Ridhi was not able to afford an album at that time. She had no money. She was merely able to pay her school fee and that too because of her scholarship. When he left, Ridhi was shocked to such an extend that she took leave from school and even went in to depression. She failed her exams and it took about three months for the nuns in her orphanage to convince her to get back to her studies. They talked to her everyday, gave her strength and slowly she got back on her feet. She learned to live without him. But she couldn’t let him go. She heard his songs everyday. She watched his videos in the library computer. She could afford a phone only after she got her own job. Then she could see everything about him. She bought all his albums. All his merchandise. She talked to so many people, big and small to know his whereabouts. Most of her friends and fellow fans had moved on. They started stanning other idols or stopped fangirling as a whole. But Ridhi just couldn’t. He was all she had. He was her star and she was his fan.

Ridhi got ready and played with her car keys. She won’t be needing them for a few days. She will be going in a company car. It wasn’t something someone like her would do. Yes, it’s quite normal for companies to send people to convince idols to sign contracts but someone who is in her position to go after an idol who kept on rejecting everyone, that was something out of the line. But this is what she had been waiting for. So, she had to keep a straight mind and never give up. Ridhi dialled the number for the company car and after half an hour it came at her doorstep. Just a few more hours and she can see him. A dream that she had been seeing all her life was coming true. Tears rolled from her eyes and she wiped them and got in to the car. She sat down and kept her air pods in her ears and played Aditya’s voice. It was him talking in various lives and interviews. The recordings of them. They were only audios but these gave her the confidence she needed whenever she faced the most difficult situations in her life. Ridhi closed her eyes and listened to his voice in her ears. A smile appeared on her lips, followed by it, a stream of tears.

*****

‘What is your name, child?
Sister Stephanie was tensed to core. Mother superior was out for a charity event and the nuns of St. Mary’s orphanage had found a girl aged four or five at their gate. They had been trying since the last one hour to make the child talk but she didnt. The orphanage was already filled with many children and now they had a new child. Sister Stephanie was sweating thinking about how to arrange provisions for the new child. She needed the opinion of Mother superior. But before that they had to register the child’s name to contact the police station. If it was a toddler, they can register a name they wanted or just say that there is no name for the child but this was a five year old child and should at least remember her name or her mother’s face. But the child wouldn’t talk.
‘Is the child dumb? Maybe, she cant speak at all’
Sister Josie suggested.
‘She could be. Or maybe she is deaf. We have to consult a doctor to know that’.
Sister Rachelle said calmly. She kept reading her novel sitting near the window. She was unbothered by it all. She was a student and had to read for her literature examination.
‘I will do something later. Let’s feed the child first.’
Sister Stephanie made hand gestures to the child and called her to eat. The child understood. The nuns were then convinced that the child was deaf. They felt sad but there wasn’t much they could do than to give that child at least a day’s meal.
‘What will we call her?’
Sister Rose was arranging the table for all the 34 girls in the orphanage.
‘I don’t know. We will think about it later. Let’s pray and eat something. Let the mother superior decide on all of these.’
Sister Stephanie led the little girl with the blue frock in to the dining hall. The girl was scared and confused but when she saw all the other girls, she felt some peace of mind. She walked along and forgot about her fears for some time.

*****

‘Can you stop the car in between at some hotel, please? I have to pee.’
Ridhi said softly to the driver.
Yes ma’am. We will eat something as well. There is a booking at a restaurant 6 km from here. Our company has made the booking there. You can rest there as well.’
The car driver explained to Ridhi.
‘Thank you so much’
Ridhi played the soft voice of Aditya on her phone again and looked out of the window to see the tall mountains approaching.

The driver stopped at a restaurant. It looked grand. It had a lot of plant and flower decorations. It seemed as though she was looking at an old movie set. Ridhi smiled to herself and walked inside. The set design of Aditya’s ‘Love you to flowers and springs’ song came to her mind. It came out when she was fourteen. It was a beautiful song. Aditya romanced another guy in the song so many years back and it literally became the talk of the town with many asking to boycott the song but it went to become his biggest hit till then. That was Aditya Sen. He was born to make a difference.
Ridhi hummed the song and went inside the restaurant and sat down. The driver gave her privacy and sat on another table even though she had asked him to sit with her. Ridhi ordered a sandwich and went to the restroom to freshen up. She washed her face and reapplied her make up. It was her first meeting with Aditya ever and she wanted to look her best. Then she had a sudden urge to wipe off all the makeup from her face and stand in front of him like that sixteen year old girl who had her world turned upside down just in one day. Tears fell from Ridhi’s eyes. She wiped them with a tissue and walked out of the restroom.
Ridhi had her sandwich and was about to pay with her credit card when she found the cleaning boy near her table. He smiled at her and she smiled back. His phone rang and Ridhi was stunned. The ring tone was Aditya’s song. Her favourite R&B song by him. ‘Teasing my heart’, the b side song from his 4th album ‘Reasons’. She listened to the song and suddenly kept her credit card back in her purse. She then took out 4000 rupees and kept inside the bill folder. The cleaning boy cleared the table and took the folder and opened it to count and he was stunned. He looked at Ridhi who was getting ready to leave.
‘Your bill is only 500, Ma’am. This is 4000.’ His words were shaking.
‘You can keep the change’. Ridhi smiled and walked away.
The car journey went on about an hour more and Ridhi could see beautiful mountain ranges and waterfalls. It was getting colder and her phone range was going on and off. After sometime, they passed near an old church. Ridhi was captivated by it. Though she didn’t believe in God, she grew up in a Christian orphanage and she was used to praying in churches since her childhood. Ridhi asked the driver to stop the car. She wore her jacket and walked out and entered the church. There was a small mass going on with barely 30 people. There were a few children singing. Ridhi stood at the side and listened.
Suddenly, she froze. There was a male voice as well. He was playing a piano and was singing a prayer song. Tears rolled from Ridhi’s eyes. She was hearing that voice after almost a decade. It was still the same. So beautiful and mesmerizing and full of emotions. Ridhi couldn’t stop crying but when she realised it, she wiped her tears and looked at the man near the altar and took every bit of him in. She saw him singing with an expressionless face. This was the first time she was seeing him in person. He had a black jeans and a jacket on. His hair was longer than she could remember and dishevelled. He had a small beard growing on his face. His eyes looked tired but his voice was fine. So fine.

After the song, Aditya took his guitar which was kept on a chair and walked down without looking at anyone. Ridhi didn’t know what to do or say. He was walking towards her and her whole world froze. She gathered all her strength and said ‘Adi..
Before she could finish the word his low voice fell in to her ears like a thunderbolt.
‘Get lost’

Amrutha

*****

So here is the second chapter..I have tried to create an ultimate fangirl with this story..please give feedback.. ❤