A New Ray of Hope

Chapter 10

While rehearsing for the great performance, Christopher bonded a lot with Priya more than the others. They were so close that he told only her about his first love - Melinda Sommer, even showing her a picture of that girl who had red hair and blue eyes. 

"I felt that I had no reason to live, given that Philomena wasn't there to care about me, and Sebastian was no more. I felt dead inside. But Linda was an angel. I had another reason to live, as she was there for me."

"She's so beautiful!" said Priya. "Chris, I can imagine the chemistry between the two of you already!"

"Don't imagine it, I have photos of that too, thanks to Philomena," he said. He pulled out another photo and showed it to her.

In that photo, Christopher was dressed as a cowboy, and in his arms was Melinda, wearing an orangish-pink dress, her hair done in a perfect bun. It seemed like they were on a stage, for a backdrop and set pieces could be seen.

Priya goggled at it in amazement. "When and where did you first meet her?" 

"When both of us were fourteen. She was a new student to my school," he said in a lofty, romantic tone. "Everyone liked her. But only I loved her." 

He became quiet, and stared dreamily into space.

"Hey Mr Loverboy!" she said, and gave him a soft smack on the shoulder. "Continue the story! Did she love you? When did you ask her out?"

Christopher nodded. "It was a Saturday evening, when I met her by chance near the Westminster Bridge. I sang a song and told her how much I loved her. There started our relationship, and we were going strong for three and a half years. She told me, 'Chris, even if the whole world is against you, I will be there for you as long as you are truthful!'. But I broke up with her just the day before I boarded the flight to come here."

"Why?"

"Long distance," answered Christopher. "She wanted to become a doctor in London, but I wanted to get out of there. How would our relationship work? So..."

 "Hmm..." muttered Priya. "But what did Linda's parents say about you dating her?"

"Her parents liked me," replied Christopher. "They were initially reluctant, given that my parents didn't care about me. But my Linda, she told her parents that both of us would take care of our lives on our own, without our parents' help. She was very hardworking, smart and independent."

"For the sake of long distance, breaking up with such a wonderful partner was bad," said Priya. 

Christopher nodded. "I'm still in love with her, Priya. I would do anything to be with her again."

Priya smiled. Just then, Savitri and Roshan came to them. "Chris, Priya! What are we going to perform for the next round?" asked Savitri.

"Kalyani and Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'," said Priya. "You know that song, don't you, Chris?" 

"I know Bohemian Rhapsody by heart," he replied. "But one thing about Queen really interests me. Do you know that Freddie Mercury was of Indian descent?"

Roshan and Savitri were surprised, but Priya wasn't. She knew everything about various musicians.