Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GbzS5dFNy
Perfection.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoLBF2ZGJ6
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvP2SdHEUtU
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEVHarUAv4
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK18fbSGwbW
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,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhUoNDIPgN
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFopyCicgz
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO94iEToRhV
You know why?209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzxBRh0cfA
It was because she was always..always right.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeBCsD1CjG
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKDtWBBmOD
It was that obvious.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9c5IujILU
I texted my mother the next second:209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9g3GxxMrHd
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDSUV0Ouzb
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YCjpYn2NT
"What's up?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxeSYXCd6k
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPvXd8eymt
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dbowAug9D
The bar was buzzing with lights.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05ydBEZ8xB
Red.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMbY7sIaL7
Blue209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOkA1v2fi2
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Blue209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0oNiSxdg9
I smiled at Jake while he paid the bill. His cheeks were red, like the sweet guys like him go with cheap champagne.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTHZQEoLkY
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7q9bhrwxZm
He protested.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNawSsc0Ic
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96HyoM9jrU
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡien3BqiNJY
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGg1JDYXdLS
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UvCxtmS3Q
"Goodnight, Jake."
********209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuyqasqdTh
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CDP5qPFew
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiV66sGShgt
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ejMI9MiQu
I felt like that zebra.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdv282UvtDt
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdX2WENbJyX
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbu4Vc2AkL
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkZA7bQKwP
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."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ465rlnfV7j
She gestured me to the empty Ottoman in front of her and I sat like the obedient little kid she had raised.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63jwgh5Sih
She glared at my father before she continued,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCh1oezGMB
"Will you explain what just happened?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hB2wC9nnL
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7JzFlYAhs
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuVUxuRcEd
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaGiDJeFGt
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDSWaUD4nD
"No," interrupted my mother.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSOE9O6A9W
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzbHnsJtNF
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."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiu37POeSb
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPglRTY1RT9
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAi0OM1MUq
My mother smiled.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnGmxvERrW
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHY1oSdsmE
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrgzSPH8d6
"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."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqAcZW3ZGa
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3a1nPZc68
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHanAnEKFEB
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Y8qF6SXfr
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2qWY0rQIS
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lQbd2dopJ
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXK3xY6gLB
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