Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--163Please respect copyright.PENANAwBxh5UXbGy
Perfection.163Please respect copyright.PENANAKjX3OlhNXH
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.163Please respect copyright.PENANATvmC5TNk6j
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.163Please respect copyright.PENANA2Kwt1LtQWN
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.163Please respect copyright.PENANAg3TRI5oKdl
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,163Please respect copyright.PENANAfupSmLNoKt
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.163Please respect copyright.PENANA7Ao5WLfzF5
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.163Please respect copyright.PENANAjYN7k6jVLG
You know why?163Please respect copyright.PENANAcPqWBMj9wG
It was because she was always..always right.163Please respect copyright.PENANA5fXqPy5oYT
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.163Please respect copyright.PENANAZVUsG7Ta7E
It was that obvious.163Please respect copyright.PENANAIV156msxoD
I texted my mother the next second:163Please respect copyright.PENANAJhGCnxG3HP
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.163Please respect copyright.PENANAV1XYJ5sJcx
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.163Please respect copyright.PENANA52bARyg9E3
"What's up?"163Please respect copyright.PENANAAUogD7TcHZ
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.163Please respect copyright.PENANAEiqyr4w2MZ
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.163Please respect copyright.PENANAzLzkY72TvI
The bar was buzzing with lights.163Please respect copyright.PENANAljPsQe1lc0
Red.163Please respect copyright.PENANA4umeZ9RgAQ
Blue163Please respect copyright.PENANADDhKjEA8nS
Red163Please respect copyright.PENANA25jKatUpOO
Blue163Please respect copyright.PENANAPLrTTo0i4T
I smiled at Jake while he paid the bill. His cheeks were red, like the sweet guys like him go with cheap champagne.163Please respect copyright.PENANAOFIjAsBahY
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.163Please respect copyright.PENANAJlQdZeuY3T
He protested.163Please respect copyright.PENANAZWMc9R0SrX
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"163Please respect copyright.PENANAbjN65n9KsN
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.163Please respect copyright.PENANAPnoKWprn0c
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.163Please respect copyright.PENANAMptSxi6Tra
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.163Please respect copyright.PENANARLfVP0Z5nu
"Goodnight, Jake."
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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.163Please respect copyright.PENANA8cUFPatCak
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.163Please respect copyright.PENANAtpKaX9jHYO
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.163Please respect copyright.PENANA6UwcOBQPkd
I felt like that zebra.163Please respect copyright.PENANA1CndjlZUwP
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.163Please respect copyright.PENANA41vLza4vhd
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."163Please respect copyright.PENANACFHCsDkCgO
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.163Please respect copyright.PENANAJUd5KYgSIB
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."163Please respect copyright.PENANAPcBhOGeg6D
She gestured me to the empty Ottoman in front of her and I sat like the obedient little kid she had raised.163Please respect copyright.PENANAZMzRQGFCLx
She glared at my father before she continued,163Please respect copyright.PENANADHewxAhDM0
"Will you explain what just happened?"163Please respect copyright.PENANAWUEWTPiZ3B
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.163Please respect copyright.PENANAKUf9wdVU9A
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.163Please respect copyright.PENANAtct4HH4zNT
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.163Please respect copyright.PENANAERMeZPj42R
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"163Please respect copyright.PENANAsfoVWOLxh6
"No," interrupted my mother.163Please respect copyright.PENANAsCBHem5Tf4
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."163Please respect copyright.PENANACIND79DDDt
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."163Please respect copyright.PENANAZwJPgZcKwL
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."163Please respect copyright.PENANA3ahTqO6pfr
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"163Please respect copyright.PENANAKLvZwo7dCk
My mother smiled.163Please respect copyright.PENANAfJrh3VhN6j
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."163Please respect copyright.PENANAnwXz5RQB4k
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"163Please respect copyright.PENANADVA8BFu12W
"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."163Please respect copyright.PENANAdjeYNiBIW3
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.163Please respect copyright.PENANAg198TtvQMo
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."163Please respect copyright.PENANA5mFDADvRit
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."163Please respect copyright.PENANAFO9IBPPs3T
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."163Please respect copyright.PENANARYcfSPS7JA
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.163Please respect copyright.PENANAtSsPRKbyBm
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."163Please respect copyright.PENANAOSe9x2iKol
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