The main door of the Purohits flung open when a furious Abeer stomped inside and went straight to his room. Before he banged the door of his room close, his mother from the kitchen area peeked out to see the origin of the sudden noise.
"Abeer? GAURI?" She called out when a hasty Gauri entered the home and neatly closed the main door behind her. "WHAT ARE THOSE INJURIES?!" Their mother was taken aback by the scene she just witnessed.
Gauri halted her movements. "Mumma, I'll tell you later. These are nothing, okay? Don't worry." She ran behind Abeer to force her way into his room. Their mother followed.
"But beta-"
"Mumma, I said I'm fine, no? Nothing's wrong. Chill." Gauri said one last time and closed the door of Abeer's room, keeping their mother out and locking them inside.
She turned around to see Abeer standing before his study table. He was frantically searching for something in the drawers. Bringing out a pair of scissors he, with no second thoughts, split apart from his wrist what seemed to be a bracelet. Gauri stepped in closer behind him to find him aggressively throwing a transparent, tape-held flower bracelet on his study table. It was as if he had decided to look at it for one last time and never again would he turn to it.
It seemed like a token from someone's happy moments to Gauri. She had experienced some similar ones, after all. She knew what it meant to throw away such charms. Gauri was a divorced woman. She knew exactly how much it would hurt when a relationship fell apart. She knew what would happen when either of the two parties ceased to put in efforts to keep the pillar of their relationship standing undaunted and thriving.
When they say that your elders have seen a larger world, they are not wrong. Well, sometimes wrong, maybe, probably. But in this case, Gauri was definitely not going to let history repeat itself. Not at least under her supervision.
Abeer was not an immature person. But he was definitely younger than her and lacked some experiences that Gauri enclosed. It was important to make him realise the results of his current actions. What could happen if he continued to stay oblivious to the varying perspectives? How the tables could turn if he did not realise the importance of communication almost immediately then. Gauri took upon the responsibility of shoving into Abeer's brain, the importance of understanding relationships.
"I met Dhruv last night." She said from behind Abeer's shoulders that were busy heaving up and down, wildly in utmost desperation. The four words sparked something in him as he turned around, his expression a completely different one from that seconds before.
"DHRUV? AGAIN?" Abeer's loud voice reverberated in his room.
"Aye! Shh! You want mumma to hear us? Idiot!" Gauri slapped his lips to lower his voice.
"Ah- Ow!" He brought up his palm on his lips as a reaction to the pain and put his bag on the table to push all his attention to Gauri. "He did this to you?!" He referred to all the wounds all over her body.
"Yes. But I managed to do something worse to him, so these are justifiable, I would say. All the grudge-bearing gym sessions and the resentful lifting of weights paid off at the right time. We fought like animals and once he lost all his energy, we, Girisha and I, left him there in the dark, empty area of that parking space. Later, I called his family to get him. It was soon enough for him to stay alive. He's admitted to a hospital now, fighting to stay conscious. He'll recover, I feel. But I think I might face legal repercussions. There were CCTVs all around. Now only if they were in a functioning condition, I might be saved. I mean, he attacked us first. And that'll be pretty clear in every footage, no matter the camera angles. Proposing self-defence would yield preferable results. Let's see what happens. Anyway, that was my last time visiting that area. And the last time I met those people. Even accidentally. I hope so."
Abeer was quietly sitting on the bed, carefully listening to each word spoken by Gauri. His forehead, always in a frown, struggled to absorb the gravity of the happenings being narrated by her.
"If only murder wasn't illegal- AAAAAAHHHHH!!" Abeer had barely said anything when his left ear was violently towed by Gauri.
"And that's why..." Gauri pulled his ear closer. "Never let go of any genuine relationships you make. See what kinds of relationships exist? Embrace the ones you have."
"Aaaah- Oww!!!! Stop! Got it!!" Abeer kept attempting to draw back from Gauri's clutch. She left with him a red ear for him to caress it.
"I don't care how angry you are or how disappointing the circumstances get. Never in your wildest dreams destroy your memories like this." Gauri pointed towards the flower bracelet he had just slashed. "Memories are your only possessions that stay with you until you die. Even the concerned people might leave, but the memories stay. They're yours. Yours to own, yours to protect."
"What do I do with such memories when she is the one who wants me to get rid of them?" Abeer muttered under his breath, hearing his sister's words. He felt that those words were mere inspirational phrases, that only looked good on those scammy accounts on social media.
Gauri heard them. As much as she agreed with his opinion, she wanted him to look at the other side of the coin, too. Both sides belong to the same coin after all. Only one side doesn't account for a whole coin. Only half of it.
"I don't know what happened between you all. But you know, as a third person, my vision makes me see all the points of view as one unit. If it's about... her, I can say this. When someone pushes you away unwillingly, it is mostly because they have deeper emotions to deal with, or they feel that continuing the relationship would end up hurting the other person. In that case, leaving the other person, for their own good, seems like the best option to them. You know, Abeer, insecurities are the worst sentiments to ever exist. They make you do things that you know you will be regretting for the rest of your lives. I'll tell you. The regret is unbearable. Saying this with experience, please don't do something that'll bring you to a state of regret. You won't be able to recover from it. Ever."
Gauri again pulled Abeer's cheek to conclude her speech. "So go, communicate. If you make any girl cry, I'll make you cry double of that." She slapped the back of his head. "Got it?"
"Aa-" Abeer groaned as the slap landed on his head. Before he could retort and return the favour to his sister, she started running away from him. "You. Have. Been. Hitting me a lot!"
Abeer chased Gauri as she ran into their kitchen. "MUMMA!!" Hiding behind their mother, Gauri kept dodging Abeer's hands and giggling while their mother struggled to continue with her work because of them disturbing her.
- X - X - X - X - X -
Back at Navkar Residency, Aashna was sitting on her bed, in her room, like a puppy waiting for its owner. Out on the balcony, Girisha was on a call with someone. Aashna's doe eyes were swollen after a nice crying session and her skin was glowing, thanks to all the tears she had wiped on Girisha's shoulder.
Girisha entered the room. "I talked to Muskan. We won't let anything happen to Abhimanyu, okay? We'll make things with Kartik be fine, too."
She kept her phone on Aashna's study table and proceeded to sit beside her on the bed. "But honestly Aashna, about what happened between you and Abeer, that was your fault. I know your insecurities are deep-rooted, and you can't help them surfacing like this, but how was it Abeer's fault? Obviously, he would react that way if you keep him oblivious to the reasons for your actions. He wouldn't know your side of the story unless you told him, no? Don't just push him away. At least give him a chance. He's worth it. You know he's worth so much more, no? Go, apologise to him, and settle things between you two."
- X - X - X - X - X -
The next day, Aashna again skipped college and was found standing near a familiar housing society. Her gaze was fixed on the building as her eyes radiated the last of hopes she was expecting from whatever she was about to do. She was a hundred per cent sure that this idea of initiating a conversation with Abeer would succeed.
Turning the paddle of her solution into full motion, she entered the society, fully confident about the successful execution of her idea.
"Hello! Madam! Fill out the visitors register first!" The watchman of the society yelled from behind her, breaking the chain of her main character moments.
She turned around with an annoyed expression. "Yes. Coming!"
YOU ARE READING
His Favourite Book
General Fiction*MATURE BECAUSE*: It contains serious, sensitive and triggering topics like self-harm, unhealed trauma, assault, murders, etc. Reader discretion is advised. We are all flawed in some way or another, aren't we? How far can we go into our real persona...