Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qAQoQ2Xxg
Perfection.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdty7eersMD
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3hSfKT0gh
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNeJpEUCHi
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzL5lQuyDM
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,207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7tDjFn21l
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHnX8a8DJi
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGlUiFea6f
You know why?207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsNyWDhrkj
It was because she was always..always right.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4teoxnDbxu
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlloyFZjWuj
It was that obvious.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Wa22oJRcA
I texted my mother the next second:207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQ3rKhZxoq
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZMLWz7yih
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4P6EGLZDrt
"What's up?"207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtif0hF6ARP
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0rPpsTo9y
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9wXvBF6kd
The bar was buzzing with lights.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFshhiDwBQw
Red.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshLp3i8c9b
Blue207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOK2oLGKHpx
Red207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjLJqYyca2
Blue207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQ0is2AjAf
I smiled at Jake while he paid the bill. His cheeks were red, like the sweet guys like him go with cheap champagne.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BFuKYMzoL
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvucHEW94UZ
He protested.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07UPtxCr95
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiqS3Du6Og
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvVxsWW3MD
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWEmFQuq8T
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWFIx2KTOa
"Goodnight, Jake."
********207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsL7uNyEPPy
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3oX8btDAB
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwChxfxubFo
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9WOzOJipM
I felt like that zebra.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnE3lFWkQTy
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lwWXiy2m4
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbfmKQ4PJ0
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDKLN0YhMq
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."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVI63Ws7Ip
She gestured me to the empty Ottoman in front of her and I sat like the obedient little kid she had raised.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSU2dLeskb
She glared at my father before she continued,207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQAKsbYpZV
"Will you explain what just happened?"207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5kwji9beo
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKPtUHxjox
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtOhXmfiFs
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yK23b9C7u
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnYnrsbqSP
"No," interrupted my mother.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYhTMWFsLD
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RfzoPjbUp
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."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzzpUJS3Dr
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YTVrmXX5V
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLA3fn3IYgG
My mother smiled.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡer2UtoDtVq
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6eIxmcZ6S
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoG862QbHSY
"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."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPakN2gvQJN
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.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3cN2BVU0N
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP7mEIMVT5
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7JyTmLzGy
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8X2LQ6lDcV
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJ9oi8hSK3
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."207Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuvrJOwXmk
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and then Add to home screen.