The Marriage Contract

78 - Father and Son

Abhimanyu wiped his tears and rang the doorbell to the house he had sworn not to come back to since he had turned 18. He wiped his tears away, not wanting to fall weak. He rang the doorbell and no one answered. So he tried again.

The door opened and Harshvardhan Birla stood in front of his son, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, surprised to see his son at his doorstep.

"Son..." Harshvardhan's voice trailed off as he corrected himself. "Abhimanyu. What are you doing here?"

Son...the dreaded word that Abhimanyu never allowed his father to call him, ever! Abhimanyu felt a part of him breaking upon realizing that the man standing in front of him –the one whom he had denied fatherly rights to, the man who whom he had despised all his life, the man whom he misunderstood all his life –only he –only he was deserving enough to call him son.

"Dad." Tears prickled Abhimanyu's eyes as he choked on his own words. He moved forward and wrapped his arms around Harshvardhan's shoulders, embracing the only man –the only parent who loved him unconditionally. Abhimanyu sobbed profusely as he cried into Harshvardhan's shoulder.

Confused by Abhimanyu's sudden outburst, Harshvardhan Birla gently patted Abhimanyu's shoulder in comfort. "Abhimanyu, what happened? Is something wrong?"

The concern in Harshvardhan's voice made Abhimanyu feel even worst for treating him like a stranger all these years. The man loved him. He cared for him.

"I am sorry, Dad. I am so sorry." Abhimanyu pulled away from the hug as he looked at Harshvardhan's face.

"Abhimanyu..." Harshvardhan was left speechless, unsure about exactly what Abhimanyu was apologizing for. "Come in. Let's talk about it."

Abhimanyu nodded his head, walking into Harshvardhan's house as he closed the door behind him.

~*~

"Water." Harshvardhan offered Abhimanyu a glass of water before sitting down beside him on the couch.

Abhimanyu took a sip of the water, his eyes bloodshot red as he began talking. "I met her today."

Harshvardhan raised his brows. "Met who?"

"She is married now. Has a son." Abhimanyu did not even want to refer to that woman as his mother anymore.

Harshvardhan's eyes widened in understanding. "Manjiri."

Abhimanyu turned his head away from Harshvardhan. "Yup, her."

"I thought it was her." Harshvardhan mumbled to himself.

"What do you mean? You knew she was here, in Udaipur?" Abhimanyu asked, flabbergasted.

"I saw her one day –just around town and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It stressed me out. Before I could approach her, she left. That day, in my cabin –when I was so tensed –Manjiri is whom Richa and I were talking about when Akshara walked in. I could tell from her face she knew something was troubling me but before she could say something –you came and took her away. And after a while when I didn't see Manjiri again, I just chalked it up to my eyes playing tricks on me and forgot about it. Until now, when you mentioned her." Harshvardhan explained, before adding:  "But how did you come across her?"

"There was a 5 car pile crash on the highway. Her son was a part of it. Yuvaan. She named him Yuvaan. She came in, begging me to save her son. She didn't even recognize me. She didn't call me son. She didn't even acknowledge me in front of her husband. I was...I was just Dr. Abhimanyu Birla to her."

"I am sure she must have had her own reasons..."

Abhimanyu shook his head, tired of having to listen to his father demean himself for that woman. "She told me the truth, Dad."