YOURS TRULY

Part 14

A\N: I am sorry for not being able to post this. I have no excuse other than being completelyle blank and suffering from writers block. So I hope you will like this part. I tried and I am really sorry...

"I don't understand you, Akash! Why - why are you behaving like this all of a sudden?" Raina ran her hand with utter frustration through her beautiful and long black hair that had brown highlight at the end of it.
"Raina, it's just..." the accused person standing in front of her with a hanging head muttered.
"No. Tell me. Why won't you take the promotion? It's a huge leap Akash! Also, 35k is a huge sum to turn down." She looked at him with astonishment and unbelievability in her eyes. She could not believe what her boyfriend had just made his mind about turning down the huge opportunity of the promotion. "It's madness!" She shrieked.
"No it's, not. You know I don't want to be in this job for long. It's just..." Akash's nose flared up.
"It's just what? What will you be doing if not this job Akash? What do you want exactly?"
"You are talking just like my father Raina!" He hissed as his fist balled up on his knee.
'Why can't anyone understand damn it!' The back of his mind howled. It's not like he didn't know what to do, but he was just not sure. All his life he had seen his father, his sister taking up science, even his mother's English literature, had its share of glitch and glamour. But History, the subject that was supposed to be a looser's reluctant 'no option left' option, the subject that had no glory, Akash had have picked up that one with all his eagerness and joy even after scoring 98 percent in boards marking himself as the black sheep of the family.
So many things he had heard, so many ridiculing gazes aimed at him with suspicion about his board's marks. Whenever relatives had ever been too kind to conceal their feelings! But never, not a thing could overcast his enthusiasm and utter fascination on the subject until it occurred to him that getting a job after graduation should be the most important thing in his life as a male, who was supposed to be the bread earner and the future that his parents were depending upon. And once Jhum pisithammi's son in law had retired she apparently turned into worried sick about Butu's after retirement plans which also involved Akash's unsecured one. "You think there is time, but it will start breathing down on your neck before you will even realise Butu! only if Akash had persuaded Engineering he would have got a job easily. But with this degree in history... tch!" She had made a sound from her mouth looking at Butu's son. Though the father was not in the agreement of this statement he didn't verbally oppose it either. Just his face took upon the scowling expression and after sometimes he had moved away from the discussion. Then Jhum continued with her opinion to Poulee who had listened to it keeping her head upon her hand, " that's what I say, Pulkit has not completed his graduation, I don't know how they will cope. Although Pulkit is doing engineering, he will get something..." Jhum had predicted about her grandson taking sips from her cup of tea.
And after that day the future indeed turned into clouded grey smokey before Akash's eyes. Hence after graduation quickly he decided to pick a job, anything that would get him rid off the 'good for nothing' and 'hopeless' titles on his head. So when his friends after exam were busy with after graduation party, Akash was running with his inexperienced CVs across the city in search of a job until after two months he landed one in a privet farm offering a small earn.
While reading the appointment letter Akash's father did not say anything other than "I thought you would go for masters."
Never in life, Akash was able to figure out what his father, the human was and what he wanted from him. He never remembered him being close to him, that was always for his sister. Father, for Akash, a very rude, serious person who was mostly out of the house. Although in fragments he remembered Butu practising in a basketball court, with his baby sister and baby him - the memory was so dusty and abstract Akash most of the time counter argued with himself about its actuality. As he remembered his father mostly as a Math and Biology teacher for the siblings, that too till just secondary board exam for Akash. After that, he turned towards arts and the common ground all that he had with his father came to the end, for long ago in middle school Akash had left the basketball and picked up the cricket bat for being on the school team and gradually climbing the ladder of being the captain of the team. He had never seen the man laugh in front him as he remembered, nighter cry. All he was familiar with of Butu was his scowling face and anger that had rained as slaps on him in past.
So in this situation when in the grave tone his father asked him without even looking up at him, he couldn't decide whether he was happy or sad. "I-I wanted a job. I mean that's the point, at the end isn't it?" The twenty years old Akash had explained stammering.
This had made Butu look up at his son. He heaved a sigh looking at his son. A voice on the back of his mind was going off asking him to stop his son from doing this telling him not worry about money in this age and chase the what was important instead of looking for any point. But Butu knew he was looking at the clear reflection of himself, which also meant that telling anything to Akash, won't really produce any impact. And whenever making someone understand something of himself clearly had been Butu's forte!
Hence he stayed mum about what he wanted to say and nodding said nothing but, "congratulations then."

And seven years later he was here now. Though it was not his only job. Unable to decide he had left countless jobs, went back to university to complete his masters two years after. Then hiding the will of getting a Doctorate degree went back to jobs again. But this time, this promotion was not something his mind was agreeing with. The offer was making the air around him dizzy, suffocation him, making the urge of throwing up in him and his girlfriend encouraging him to take the promotion was not helping it.

"Just think about it Akash! It's really important for the future. Our future!" Holding his face in her hand Raina pleaded. All Akash could reply was nodding looking down at his shoes.

*

After returning home he threw over his fatigued and exhausted figure on the bed. He kept breathing burying his face in his cushion until interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Letting out a groan from the back of his throat Akash let the phone ring thinking it was from Raina but the second time the phone rang heaving a great sigh he picked it up. Amit's name on the caller id washed a fresh air over him. Laying on his back Akash swiped on the phone screen.
After having discussions for some time over absolutely nothing in particular a piece of new information made a light bulb go off inside Butu's son creating some great frowning lines on his forehead.
Amit was ranting about the problems he was facing about the internship he was doing under the lawyer and who's daughter apparent had completely swept his feet off, when heaving a great sigh he mused, "and among all this, our Ipshita is getting married... I mean..."
"Who's getting married?" Akash sprang up on the bed.
"Ipshita."
"Ipshi-!"
"Shuvro Kaku's daughter! You met her..."
"No. Yes. I know her..."
"You didn't know she was getting married?"
"Umm... no." Akash didn't understand why for all of a sudden the room started to look dimmer than usual for him and suddenly a bad rotten taste spread inside his mouth. "Isn't she just, like what twenty four or something?"
"Yeah, some of them get married young, brother!" Amit spoke in a small voice and a dry chuckle. "Her husband will be flying out of the country, so they are you know..."

After hanging up the phone he stayed on the bed for sometimes looking at the unmoving fan over his head with a blank face. His mind with more than one thought now was tangled in such a way not one argument made by the subconscious mind was inflicting any bigger impact neither on his conscious mind nor on his external attire. But the among all the thoughts there was one very hidden, very absent but somehow too strong to create an unfathomable void in him. Yet the musing stayed too sunk for Akash to connect it with the sudden emptiness. Closing his eyes he felt like he was falling from somewhere of height so tall that looking down he would feel dizzy.
Akash sat up on the bed with a slouching shoulder and a frowning forehead.
'What the damn is it to me?'
Heaving a lung full of sigh he quickly walked out of the room and found his mother sipping tea sitting on a chair with Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' in her hand. Contemplating upon something Akash stopped in the place in his way to the kitchen.
"Maa, you knew Ipshita is getting married? I mean Shuvro uncle's daughter!"
Poulee's eyelids inched up as she looked over her book to take a look of her son and then snapped her head right over her husband's study to throw dagger from her eyes as Butu appeared out of the room with the empty cup in his hand.
"Yes. We do." Poulee replied with a scoffing tone in hopelessness while daggering her husband with eyes. Butu looked up at his son with flaring nostrils clearly unhappy about Akash's coining up this topic.
"I have a seminar that week, so I and your mum will be heading out to Sydney." Explanation from his father made Akash realise that his parents already had a discussion and possibly some arguments over the topic which must have concluded against his mother's will.
"Well, I could have gone." His mother said in a grumpy voice turning a page.
"You said you will take this chance to get an interview with that - what his name - that author of yours..."
"Whatever dude! You don't want to attend this wedding, just fold!" Rolling her eyes Butu's wife argued back.
"Oije! This same sentence again! Why won't I? He came to my daughter's wedding. I should have. But... but.."
"But - but!"
"As much as I am loving this argument, I have something to say actually."
The heads of the parents darted at their son hearing his interjection.
"I... got promoted today." Bringing a smile on his face Akash told them.
"Really?" With eyes almost tearing up Poulee rushed to take his child in his arm.
"Yeah as the section officer!"
"Oh my god! My baby!"
The mother cooed rubbing her son's back. Smiling down at her Akash looked up at his father unknown about the fact that how many things the person wanted to say and what he wanted to do - the son heard his father saying, "this is what happens when you stick to a place for long you see." Did the corner of his face curl up a bit? Butu giving him a node walked passing the hugging mother and son.
"Well, you wanted me to stick to a job..."
"I wanted you to stick to a thing." stopping in his way and turning around to look at his son Butu said, "Be it a job or anything that you prefer. Be committed."


***

The small hand of the clock was about to touch the three when lying on his bed Akash with a blank mind was zooming into a certain photo from his phone's gallery and with a gap of moments inhaling and exhaling long sighs. His face, as one could see from the light of the cell phone, was giving nothing away.
After sometimes he turned the phone screen off and kept it away with the intention of closing eyes. But again moments later turned it on and slide into a certain inbox on Facebook. After contemplating over great thoughts, and winning over conflicts, he typed something but erased it with the cross button again and again.
"Aren't you too young to get married?"
"Marrying abroad huh!" Who could resist that, he thought scoffing as he typed. But then removed that as well.
But then re-typed and erasing this time turned off the phone again.
But then again turned it on then deleted the picture he was looking at, permanently then turned the phone off again.

*

At the morning as Ipshita checked her phone, the message of Akash Chatterjee that was sent at the ten to be four in the morning, was leading in her notification bar. Arguing in her head long enough, sitting on her bed, all sleep swept off, with drumming heart she kept looking at it and then opened it which read -
"Heard you are getting married. Congratulations Ipshita. Hope you are happy."

"Happy?" She murmured reading and rereading the message thrice and then again...

Hope you liked the part. Please do comment and VOTE!!! most certainly...