Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqA2FtLM8Z
Perfection.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMliUWtxHBP
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8v9bDNgbE
She looked like a tragically defeated princess draped in velvet and silk and cut open with a shiny silver dagger glistening with a red, perfectly red and perfectly shaped little drop of blood.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HjFutXGBA
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrlZUjVaq4
She was so nice. So good. So polite. So...I don't know...perfect?
It was totally like how the bots commented on every channel,148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwhXG4nkpJ
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAowMLxZejp
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITDymx8NnB
You know why?148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvTZfgXnLN
It was because she was always..always right.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20TMjptZhT
And there was only one ambition in my whole stinking life: To prove her wrong.
The moment I thought of pressing the publish button, I knew the outcome the way I knew the back of my hand.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4RF7CmoO0
It was that obvious.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQnD5dLfm5
I texted my mother the next second:148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8B2lMa0pas
Spare key under mat.
Maybe she would notice, right after she had cleaned the entire house for 6 times and dusted the shelves like my father's perfect wife.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtNvIeoqzd
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsrE1hlrTk
"What's up?"148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ636EmgtgTT
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzx1GmLYmTf
Jake even insisted on taking me to the bar. And at last, I finally agreed. He drove me to the nearest one. It had a lively atmosphere. People here were damn serious about drinking, I must say. So many people. So many dim colored shirt. Such randomly mixed scents lingering in the air.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTf6t3C4z1q
The bar was buzzing with lights.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡae4TRpekMN
Red.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbA5wpAo3ei
Blue148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYffwGc8LM
Red148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZyKzGruPK
Blue148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEBHm1UhBK
I smiled at Jake while he paid the bill. His cheeks were red, like the sweet guys like him go with cheap champagne.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kSQNGxl7G
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbgoddmZLw
He protested.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9FIOhzvsO
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62pFRoboQ2
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxWupki3Dd
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBukL3Dd2oX
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Mu60R9yFb
"Goodnight, Jake."
********148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBME5jJbzrj
I looked at my doorstep. He was not home. Thank God, he was not home. I finally took a deep breath, like a child famishing the absence of Their math teacher.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsQEG64Xe0
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt784UXMom4
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1nnRzPODh
I felt like that zebra.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOPzy23Xz3
I found myself face to face with my parents sitting in the living room.
"Why weren’t you picking up your phone, Hridhi?" asked my mother, her phone on the coffee table.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2ZnAmmQt2
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQOjMSNSY3
I was trembling without any reason because my mother had big eyes and stared at me as if she could see my tar black soul.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sfoc5WSy1
My father however, looked at his phone. Facebook still hadn’t been outdated in Bengal, I guess.
"Hridhi, I can bet that you were in the bar," said my mother. "Sit down. Sit beside me."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zOA2n8VJg
She gestured me to the empty Ottoman in front of her and I sat like the obedient little kid she had raised.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Rm16f2LJS
She glared at my father before she continued,148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rgFWdI6lS
"Will you explain what just happened?"148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQ6ylrMzvH
I explained. From his hands on her waist and him fucking her at hotels. I had proof. I said I had his transaction receipts amd everything. Journalists had access to things like that. CCTV footages are our left hand and fishing out answers from stubborn people was our right.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6noTkg2nd
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7e4NH9xvK
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2trN20P7mB
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzdsyPm7yq
"No," interrupted my mother.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UlaywZmwa
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHDfM4mig1
I followed her to my room. I knew why. She wouldn’t be able to keep her cool with my father's constant questions that I stored inside my stomach.
"Ma, I have one and only thing to say. I am leaving him." I said. "Look, all the powerful women out there divorce their cheat of a husband and lives happily ever after."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI83tI3xbsk
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooZiyx7vtz
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJxc5CmRcG
My mother smiled.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBDb3iY4YI
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfykt6N3jSk
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnaVOgWK3xw
"Hridhi, I have seen the world for a longer time. You came from ME. I know that you are obsessed with him. Don't lie."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4ZUjDYV9X
Her words struck me like lightning in the sky. Fire burnt through my blood vessels. I wanted to lash at her. Burn her. Throw spit at her and tell her it was NOT TRUE.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7xBQp4Z9E
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRfSoIExs0
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYs6F9lCA5
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14BqMON4uy
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZKmorjJ6Y
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."148Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYjWZVq9ZP
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