Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38ZjzCCYXR
Perfection.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0odGZO7KN
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0HkR4F8pm
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNc8wq2f1t
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwpK15GJnp
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,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqQhZrRPjT
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHG9lqSACfB
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3bC8g1joH
You know why?147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmIKbOnkjX
It was because she was always..always right.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd13CmqfOPj
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZJAkCrJt4
It was that obvious.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbYwpzYvuk
I texted my mother the next second:147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi07g4AFHpH
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVJctaD1vF
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpOgpGGmx1
"What's up?"147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡls4JRFXY8o
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwp2Mi8p4A
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VDss2Kq8o
The bar was buzzing with lights.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIqamdEqpY
Red.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdZucRaMb0
Blue147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxZiJWovhl
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Blue147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtySMYKxAlc
I smiled at Jake while he paid the bill. His cheeks were red, like the sweet guys like him go with cheap champagne.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdiEOfvz50
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfCO8LsrJd
He protested.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglb6zPLkQj
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34fVLjNCVa
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPQq2FOJP8
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNopyzMyv4Z
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulrWTBbFAt
"Goodnight, Jake."
********147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswQwGSOEyL
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusX1qk16Tm
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKly7XFpit7
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJNiEhgjTv
I felt like that zebra.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97Tqoyy0aW
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4ism07tWp
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKrWxg992G
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujCNJjeBfP
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."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1zcediQxh
She gestured me to the empty Ottoman in front of her and I sat like the obedient little kid she had raised.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOa73VUq6f7
She glared at my father before she continued,147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfDe2AMs7n
"Will you explain what just happened?"147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzNudxNGRI
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66ULQJEHZZ
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDZjGAfn8H
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEj4KjZesVB
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf352euBXf0
"No," interrupted my mother.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bG5KlzGzA
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt44enHSAqb
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."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HgCcZ3OO0
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2Toli3wKV
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzCawKZQZj
My mother smiled.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAMCbpcpSc
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmh4HcsoS6y
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcndr5HFH8
"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."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyn5Kf0769
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.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAbKJy95Pq
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDpV8Mjkhy
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Wdh4SZt5O
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEeU6LZOQ6
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZg24luR2F
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."147Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSIyWq4U7P
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