A very handsome young man in his late twenties came out of the conference hall and walked ahead elegantly. He was 6 feet tall with broad shoulders and a lean muscular body. His facial feature is stoic with a sharp nose and chiseled jawline covered by a shortly trimmed beard which made him very attractive. His silky black hairs were shortly trimmed but the hand could run through that. He was wearing a deep navy-blue color suit that was complimenting his honey-toned skin. His assistant was following him and updating his next schedule of the day. He entered into a room that seemed his office. His secretary was standing inside the office waiting for him. She informed the moment he entered the room “Mr. Ahuja, Madam has called just now.” With that, she passed the phone to him.
Taking the phone, he walked to his chair and sat down. Looking down at the screen, he was about to dial a number, but his fingers froze, and looked up with his sharp deep brown eyes at the two persons standing in front of him coldly. His assistant and the secretary immediately understood what he wanted to say and walked out of the room without wasting a second.
He then dialed the number. The call connected quickly and he heard a charming female voice “Come home early. Your grandpa invited us for dinner tonight.”
His face contorted and closed his eyes inhaling deeply as though he was not at all happy to hear this. He heard her again “Do you understand?”
He then exclaimed slightly creasing his brows with his deep heavy voice “Mom, you know I don’t like to go to the main mansion then why did you agree?”
“Atharv… he is your elder. Show some respect. I already promised, so don’t lose my face.”
He snorted and said “OK.”
At night, Atharv reached the mansion with his mother Komal Ahuja. When they came out of their Mercedes Benz, a woman in her late forties came walking gracefully towards them wearing a wide smile. She was his father’s sister, Rita Brar. She said “Good evening sister in law. It has been a long time you didn’t show up here. I thought this time also Atharv will not come. I wonder how you convince him to come here.”
Komal smiled and said “It’s not like that Atharv didn’t want to come here. He has always been busy in his works, so taking out time is difficult for him.”
Rita laughed softly and said, “Yes, I know.” She then looked up at Atharv and asked “How are you, my boy? Long time no see.”
With a faint smile, Atharv said shortly “I am good.”
“Let’s go inside. Everyone is waiting for you, especially Dad.”
With that, they all entered the mansion. The old man, Virendra Pratap Ahuja in his eighties was sitting on the couch and talking with one young man in his mid-twenties and a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man was Rita’s husband Dhiraj Brar and the young one was her son Vicky Brar. Once their eyes landed on Atharv, they all stopped chatting.
The old man shot a cold look at Atharv and snapped “Now you have time to come here. So many times I summoned you but you dare to not show up. Didn’t your mother teach you manners?” His gaze swept to Komal and looked at her coldly.
Atharv’s fists were tight inside his pocket. His gaze daggered at his grandfather and was about to say something but Komal held his arm tightly and said “My apologies father-in-law. Please forgive us.”
Atharv looked down at Komal knitting his eyebrows as though he was annoyed with his mother.
“Well, it’s already dinner time.”
With that, the old man walked to the dining area with the aid of a walking stick and sat down on the main chair. All of them then walked to the dining area one by one and sat down on their respective chairs. The food was served, and everyone started eating quietly lowering their heads other than Atharv. He had no mood to eat and swept his sharp gaze to all of the people present in the dining area.
Virendra Pratap started saying word by word without lifting his head “A marriage proposal has come for you, Atharv. She is one and only daughter of a diamond merchant. You need to meet her. I don’t want to listen ‘No’ this time.”
Irritated, Atharv stood up instantly and turned to leave, but he heard the bone piercing cold voice of his grandfather
“Atharv… Why are you so arrogant? You don’t have any respect for elders.”
Atharv snorted and said indifferently glancing at his grandfather through his shoulder “All I learned from you only.” He walked out of the mansion the moment he finished speaking.
Out of anger, Virendra Pratap slammed his fist hard on the table.
Rita stood up saying “Excuse me” and chased Atharv who just walked out of the mansion. She called him “Atharv wait, listen to me.”
His steps froze and stood there straight without turning back. Rita came to him and said looking up at his brown eyes “Don’t get angry. I know Dad is pressuring you but you know the reason behind this. You should think about it once. I know this girl well. She is my sister-in-law's daughter. She is very good and perfect for our family.”
He frowned and said coldly looking down at her “I don’t want any woman in my life, and you know the reason very well.”
Shrugging, Rita said “I know it is tough for you to move on but you shouldn’t dwell in the past. We have all suffered this massive loss in our own accords, but life doesn’t stop here, Atharv. You should…”
“OK, I got it. Give some time to think.” He deliberately interrupted her as he was unwilling to hear further.
Inside the mansion, Virendra Pratap looked at Komal coldly and exclaimed “Is this what you have taught your son? I was not wrong all these years. You are as useless as earlier.” He snorted and continued, looking away from her “From whom am I expecting?” With that, he stood up and strode out of there holding his walking stick.
Komal remained seated there lowering her head. Tears slid down drop by drop from her eyes. Dhiraj and Vicky looked at each other and started eating lowering their heads.
A few moments later, Komal stood up and walked out of the mansion. The dinner ended in an awkward situation. While coming out she encountered Rita whose face was pale. Rita said “Sister in law, what should we do with Atharv?”
Patting her shoulder, Komal said, “Let me talk to him.” She then walked past her lowering her head. Once she got in the car, she glared at Atharv and scolded “What is this, Atharv? Can’t you control your temper for a while? What a bizarre situation was that? Every time you don’t have to react like this. Sometimes you have to deal politely.”
Atharv neither looked at her nor replied. He started the engine and concentrated on driving. His gaze was fixed sharply on the road.
Annoyed, Komal shouted helplessly “Are you listening to me?”
He said calmly “Mom, don’t get hyper. Your blood pressure will rise again.” He said those words without looking at her.
Komal was angered to death by him. She slapped on his arm and said sternly “It is all because of you. Why can’t you move on?”
“I can’t. End of discussion and please Mom, I am requesting you, don’t start all these now.”
Helpless, Komal only could look at her son. She didn’t pursue this matter further as she knew very well how deep the scar in his heart was. Looking away from him she fixed her gaze outside. The rest of the journey was awfully quiet.
One hour later, they reached their mansion and Atharv strode directly to his room. He came out to the balcony and started smoking cigarettes one by one as he wanted to numb the pain in his heart. His hand holding the cigarette butt was shaking. At last, the whole packet of cigarettes finished. He took out his phone and dialed a familiar number, but it was switched off. He redialed it to check, but the result was the same. His grip on the phone tightened and his breathing quickened. There were tears in his eyes.
After sometimes he came inside, walked to the closet, and took out a photo album. Opening it he looked down at a photograph of a very beautiful and cheerful girl. Caressing the photo he murmured “Tina…”
