Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoariIEADAQ
Perfection.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMatgGuPU1s
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1D5h1SHd3h
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdw9kJGBS0N
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGt28oiNkel
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,208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeX66UkPsUa
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTMACGv2f5
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdV0jmL7tgZ
You know why?208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiZvypiM1j
It was because she was always..always right.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJgzR32044
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLo5uzgipIF
It was that obvious.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzNtqZdxta
I texted my mother the next second:208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovmjDM7TW3
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjn2uzLaal
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJwrC9FCZ4
"What's up?"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXM5d4WO0Ss
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3YTxq1EZc
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQlLZEuhsr
The bar was buzzing with lights.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrO9HnaHvDH
Red.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5lUfojYVM
Blue208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLaDrB3LBn
Red208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHE1K4uwzQ
Blue208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPElhkyeik
I smiled at Jake while he paid the bill. His cheeks were red, like the sweet guys like him go with cheap champagne.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20is5WjUqR
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9dGSpAvCM
He protested.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZ3mwisHZa
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8N9NGhMid
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwFDARUnhD
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUEgqqg39l
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMP19MZu1lc
"Goodnight, Jake."
********208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKoSJfyNxc
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqap7A2xyb
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMuNKWZ0Bc
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQlX35Y0xp
I felt like that zebra.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahW0R0vEXJ
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcYxorRgle
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7DKLJAjQX
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2hhMiJdsn
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."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26Y9rUwoMd
She gestured me to the empty Ottoman in front of her and I sat like the obedient little kid she had raised.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqvCHPGhmk
She glared at my father before she continued,208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wXEQPFZ0w
"Will you explain what just happened?"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOF83GsUnpV
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY996D7wlSR
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1fwuy0L14
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhYp5stDgq
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9o1G4ff6t
"No," interrupted my mother.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZH7MNhXNB
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdnkUPsPmR
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."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02O6VHKaeq
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf73Pjhcndc
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNew1Wcrq5
My mother smiled.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQWhn4rdTi
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpiGzwP5dr8
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXN7KWJR8Bl
"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."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgbEH8GtfO
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM58ebpqHAN
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpczXB07FU7
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MwvSlbJ6U
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡba7R0eCfRb
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0L64yp6Md
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOnvOpu1Rk
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and then Add to home screen.