Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuAGrAFGyD
Perfection.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiDwskWHLo
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKWtxvQ2TP
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZFhH0AZjJ
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHkogvgDtV
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSvSuVssjm
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6vwmmXIy2
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2td1DSwUgP
You know why?209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ158QmkjsrB
It was because she was always..always right.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aH4382ACz
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAovrP7V3J
It was that obvious.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIy7vfmVfTL
I texted my mother the next second:209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVZ2Hj0Ezp
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfnNLwEQN5
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOE3WglGfjo
"What's up?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3X05FeAkw
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyUboBgKcu
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5K5eMskhLR
The bar was buzzing with lights.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjuXfOmWuz
Red.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvenMx86jte
Blue209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExCcqpao60
Red209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTnHkbR5fA
Blue209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjoxeHI42A
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YhusiDkB9
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOOUTY8xgA
He protested.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA194bJEUlP
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6RjSIRg2N
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DHXzcSCnw
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mtl2RYjjJ
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQWEC8ceCt
"Goodnight, Jake."
********209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxR28F7dXbu
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnW5X5djec9
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSZjKBF9P6
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDO5mvflgE
I felt like that zebra.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvEqtxOQhn
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKYfjwqPrR
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzloI1JB9K5
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HOluiMROe
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvjjeQlWR2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkW2EHki1t
She glared at my father before she continued,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdwFy0dEWe
"Will you explain what just happened?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4i26VxXGUe
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQ5FqY9Lee
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55LyJs5N6V
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUmMI0pgCP
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxllr4UlOo
"No," interrupted my mother.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoLq3ylWWm
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PRo80fH3p
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMAKW7Q1RB
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCZHHtrcgK
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcasDnK2Bq
My mother smiled.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeZbF4YQFG
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSsj2HzAjk
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSaj5yQy0r
"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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYEk3uPuJ5
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBodd14RxFC
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2K7xoSqCTD
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXYKHwnbiO
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIvN5xoXmR
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDmG0qxt42
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SXQEya8HU
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and then Add to home screen.