'Beyond the Horizon': There's more to it...

Chapter - 18

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"Shit...shit...shit...what the hell has happened to the damn line..." An agitated Sidharth cursed, flouncing towards his room to give it another try taking the receiver of the walky-talky along.

He has been trying the phone to Karachi for three days now. When it went to a dead tone at first, he had thought the phone line could have some issue for the day or probably their phone was dead for some reason. But with the same thing happening today, that is, the third day in a row he was disquieted and anxious.

He was to leave tomorrow for his advertisement shoot and wanted to talk to her once, before he leaves. Yes, he had signed the contract papers after scrutinizing every aspect that hit his conscious mind and this was the very first ad shoot of his modelling career which was proposed to him as a gift by the casting company. As per the itinerary, Istanbul (Turkey) was their first stop. Two days of stay there, and they would be heading to Egypt, with no idea of further destination or how many days it would take for them to be back. For Sidharth, it was a first ever outing to different countries hence he wasn't sure if he would be able to connect her when he is gone to those places, the reason of him being distressed and more unnerved.

"Mom...is phone me koi problem hai kya? Ya phone line me?" He spoke from his room, loud enough to reach his mother who was in the kitchen preparing dinner for them both.

"Nahi toh...abhi shaam ko hi to tere doston se baat kiya na tune?" She replied walking towards his room. Wiping her hands off with her dupatta.

"Damn...! Yaa! Yes...of course...f*ck" He cursed again muttering the last part. It was taking a toll on him, the phone line not connecting or unable to reach her in any possible way and him experiencing the nervousness of traveling abroad for the very first time.

"Mhhmm!!...Sidharth!!??" His mother yelled, glaring at him for his choice of words.

"Sorry yaar...I am sorry..." He reverted, temporarily placing the receiver on the side table walking towards his mother to embrace her motherly affection in himself, experiencing an instant sense of relief.

"Aee...kya hua bache? Are you all right? Nervous hai?" She asked, not much surprised with his sudden action as he would usually do this if something were bothering him. A silent hug to his mom would be his solace in the times of gloom and crisis, an emotional one.

"Hmm" He hummed, tightening his hold around her.

"I know its new for you bache. But if you lose the confidence, you lose the game...right? Aur tu kab se darne laga...tu toh sher bacha hai mera...strongest! You are never losing a game ever! Hai na?" She spoke, concluding it for him. The simplest form of words immediately bringing the lost twinkle back to his eyes as he pulled back to look at her face.

"Hmm" He nodded back to herwith a tight lipped smile.

"Acha karega tu...boht acha! All right? Tension nahi lene ka bilkul!" She said pulling his face down to drop a kiss to his forehead.

She knew her child was meant for something bigger and why not he has been working hard for all these. Dieting, working out for hours, meditating and what not. The only addition to his intakes for last few months that she disliked to the core were the occasional puffs and boozing. The new set of friends that he has got, mostly from the industry were all ultra-modern per her observation. With a way of living that was quite different from what they followed here at their home, yet one 'never stay-behind the crowd' attitude of hers in terms of modernising society and its directives, she has been whole heartedly trying to absorb his changed routine till she considers it under control. It was still better than to look him go through the agonizing pain which was the only expression on his face whenever he would be home during his off days for months except the last one. They have not talked about it all directly and she did not mean to distract him from his work for now. They have a life to discuss those 'less-important' things. Moreover, the frequency has been a lot less in the gone month, so she was anyway a little relaxed on that part.