Flawless Silence

Chapter 02

Shivaay was quite astounded as his eyes met one of his students named, Annika Tripathi in the shopping streets of his hometown. He somehow anticipated her to step forward and make some basic greetings nevertheless he was alarmed by her ignorance. Frowning at the thought of her ignorance of not recognising him as her professor, he tugged his phone and walked away leaving his childhood friend, Ayush behind.

Entering his parent's home, he smiled meeting his distant relatives seated on the L-shaped couch.

"Namaste." He reached to touch their feet asking for the blessing. One among them, Shekar happily touched his head and blessed him with prosperity and accomplishment in life.

"Finally Shivaay is getting married." His aunt exclaimed stroking his cheeks.

"Do you still don't want to look at her picture?" His cousin Arjun teased. Shivaay stretched up his lips, hearing out. His cheeks turned a flash of pink, and thankfully his full-grown beard had helped him to hide them.

"I believe in old days customs. In the olden days, people saw their spouses only at the altar and I want to do the same."

"Ohhhhh." His family hooted teasing him.

Soon he and his cousins indulged in humourless jokes about their childhood pranks on the senior member. They laughed remembering the young and innocence-filled time when technology wasn't that advanced.

"I'm just concerned about Shubham." As his aunt mentioned about his elder sibling, the atmosphere of the room grew thicker than expected. "I'm worried for him. Subsequently, at Shiv's wedding, he would be all alone. Shiv's would-be wife couldn't appreciate looking after her mentally ill brother-in-law."

"Not to worry, Jiji." Pinky, Shivaay's mother spoke as she digested the dull moment. "As parents, I and Shakti Ji are there for him. At least till we are alive. Then, I will let the almighty protect my child."

Shakti, Shivaay's father walked into the conversation. "Also we can't infringe on Shiv's freedom. We spoke to his would-be wife and she boldly told us to give the new couple privacy, which I appreciate."

Shivaay scowled and then raised his left brow.

As the conversation turned more debatable, he got up from his seat, brushing his hair strands. He strolled towards his elder brother, Shubham's room. His brother was like that ever since he could remember. As a young kid, Shivaay vigorously fought with his parents for giving more attention to his brother than him, not understanding the situation. Now he regretted wanting Shubham to be gone and be present and grab everyone's mind.

Shaking his thoughts away, he jerked the door wide open. Glancing at his elder sibling with a large smile lingering on his lips, Shivaay sat opposite him. Shubham clutched the coffee mug closer to his lips and peeked, recognising Shivaay he let out a small squeak before placing the mug harshly on the teapoy and hugging his brother.

"Baccha!" Shubham exclaimed. He still called baccha like he used to do with a toddler Shivaay.

He had pitch-black eyes, unlike his younger brother's ocean blue. His eyes shone and dilated as he talked animatedly. His curly locks lingered on his forehead and he didn't make any efforts to push them back. As Shubham clamoured to enquire about his long absence and complained about him not playing with him as they used to before, Shivaay mellowingly answered him.

"Your baccha was busy selecting Poke ball to play together with his Shubh Bhai."

"Sacchi?" His eyes twinkled as he asked.

Beaming at him Shivaay nodded. "We will capture Snorlax soon."

Shubham giggled. "Snorlax is papa."

"Is it?"