I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before closing my eyes tight. It had been a difficult month, but I needed to block out everything now in this moment. Life had proved to me that I could only really rely on myself. If I wanted to reach for my dreams I had to be brave. When I opened my eyes, my jaw set with determination. I focused on the piano in the centre of the stage and I walked forward.
*****
“Buggering badgers that was bloody insane!” Kira shouted, elbowing her way through the crowd to get to me. “You smashed all those other wankpuffins out of the park, Mozart.”
“Kira, shut up,” I muttered, glancing around at all the other “wankpuffins” that Kira was referring to and giving them apologetic smiles.
“You’re a musical genius!” she shouted, ignoring me totally and pulling me in for a forceful hug, which involved violent side-to-side swaying and bumped a fair few people out of the way. I was laughing when a different pair of hands fell on my shoulders and pulled me away from Kira. Strong arms enclosed me in a tight hug and lifted me off the ground so that my feet were dangling in the air. The familiar smell of citrus with masculine undertones enveloped me.
“God, that was amazing,” Jack said, his voice sounding rough with emotion. What the hell was going on? Why was he here? “You were wonderful out there.”
He lowered me to my feet and pulled away slightly. His eyes looked a little dazed and a lot in awe. He smiled as I blinked up at him and then he kissed me. Not a peck, not a light brush of the lips but a proper, full-on, I-want-you-right-here-right-now kiss.
“Urvi?”
I knew that voice. I froze, then pulled back from Jack to peer around his body. Mum, Dad and Rahul were standing right there, looking as shocked as I felt in that moment. Jack turned towards them, keeping his arm around my waist and my brother’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline.
“Get off my sister,” Rahul said, his face flushing with anger. He was a few inches shorter than Jack with much less muscle bulk, but it didn’t seem to put him off wheeling out the big brother routine he’d been perfecting since I was five years old. I rolled my eyes. My brother hadn’t spoken to me in over a year and yet he felt justified in ordering around anyone who dared to touch me.
I felt Jack’s arm tense but when I glanced up to his face he was smiling at my brother, turning on his charm to full voltage.
“Hi there,” he said, moving towards my family and extending his hand to my brother. “I’m Jack. Urvi’s boyfriend.”
It was my turn for my eyebrows to shoot up. Boyfriend? Since when? Jack’s hand went ignored by my brother who was still looking furious. I’d had enough. I stepped in front of Jack and pushed his hand down, giving him a small shake of my head as I advanced on my family. I started with Rahul.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m your brother. Of course, I –”
“Abrotherdoes not ignore his sister for over a year,” I told him in a low voice. “Abrotherdoesn’t stop caring when she decides to follow her own path. You’renobrother of mine. Now, I repeat,” I focused on Mum and Dad and fixed them with an unwavering stare. “Why are you here?” Their rejections over the last eighteen months had hardened me now. Jack’s deception had hardened me. I was no longer the eager-to-please daughter who was devastated by their disappointment. Mum bit her lip and went to reach out for me. When I flinched away from her a look of raw pain flashed in her eyes.
“I saw it was the performance today on the Academy’s website,” Dad said. “We thought . . .” he paused and looked down at his shoes for a moment. “We wanted to see you.” He cleared his throat. “Your maji she misses you.”
His voice was thick and to my amazement I could see a sheen of tears in his eyes.Your maji misses youhad always been code for my dad to sayhewas actually missing me. I took a deep breath.
“I missed her too, Dad,” I said. “But youknewthat. You would have known after all the times I tried to reach out to you guys and was shut down, all the times you rejected your own daughter because I wasn’t following the plan you had for me.”
“Your music was beautiful,” Mum whispered as a tear fell down her cheek. “So beautiful.” Dad put his arm around her shoulders and I felt like my heart was breaking inside my chest as I held myself back from going to her.
“I never wanted you to give up your music,” he said, his voice defensive. “Doctors can play music in their spare time. You could –”
“Mr Radia,” Jack’s voice cut through my father’s as he moved forward to stand between my family and me. “I will admit that, as I am very much in love with your daughter, I am somewhat biased.”
Kira and I sucked in simultaneous shocked breaths at that declaration but Jack wasn’t finished.
“Anyone who watched Urvi perform today would know that she isnevergoing to be doctor. She wasbornto write music and perform. It’s her lifeblood. People would kill to have her talent. Today she performed to a packed auditorium of people and rendered them all spellbound for a magical twenty minutes. I’m afraid that if you can’t support her, if you can’t offer her unconditional love in this moment, then, and I know it’s not my place, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Dad blinked at Jack before a slow smile spread over his face.
“I think I might like you, Jack,” he said and to my complete shock he stepped forward to shake Jack’s hand. Then he turned to me.
“Bubba, I’m sorry,” he said, the tears back in his eyes as he stared at me.
“Oh, Dad,” I whispered as a tear escaped and rolled into his greying beard. And that was it. I was in my dad’s arms for the first time in over a year and a half.
“We . . . I was wrong,” Rahul said, his stiff tone showing how much he hated to apologise for anything. Rahul was a solicitor. He and my parents saw the world in black and white: professionals and non-professionals. He’d thought I was throwing my life away when I left medical school. He probablystillthought that, however good I’d been up on that stage. But he loved me.
“Okay, weasel-face,” I muttered, my own eyes filling with tears as I turned and fell into his arms. Mum was full-on sobbing next to us now so, after squeezing Rahul and kicking him in the shin (he deserved both), I hugged her as well. When her sobs subsided enough for me to start to pull back she held onto my shoulders then her hands went to my hair. She clicked her tongue.
