Chapter 3 Part 2

Prithvi...(past)

They said she was a crazy woman, that she was weird and twisted. But to the eight year old Prithvi, his mother was the most beautiful and the best mother in the world. They're just jealous, he thought as he watched her in fascination while she prepared the cake for his younger brother who had just turned three.

"Maa?"he piped "what's over there?"he pointed to a white plastic. She smiled "those are candles, to keep over the cake". He nodded as she whisked the cream frantically "what are you doing?"he asked curiously.

"Setting to pour over the cake mixture" she explained whisking faster. "Looks yummy"his eyes brightened with excitement "can I taste a little?"

"It's bad manners Prithvi!"she scolded "you mustn't touch anything...got it?" He nodded "sorry".

After a long while, the cake was ready and his brother Pratham came prancing into the kitchen "maa?I want milk" the little boy blinked at her.

"Of course beta" she took him in his arms and walked outside the kitchen. Prithvi stared at the remains of the icing on the jar, curious about it's taste.

Slowly, he wiped the icing and licked it; indeed it was yummy. He went on licking, savouring the taste that he didn't realize his mother walk in.

"What are you doing?"she scolded and he turned, wiping his fingers just in time "nothing..I didn't touch the cake I swear".

She walked closer "then what's in your hand?"she wasn't smiling. He shook his head "I just licked the jar.. there was nothing in it" he hoped she would listen to him.

"What did I tell you Prithvi?"her eyes were widened and he didn't like it one bit...he had made her angry "tell me!"

"I shouldn't touch anything"he almost whispered. She nodded "did you listen to me?" He bent his head in guilt. "Answer me!"her voice echoed in the kitchen.

He shook his head again "I didn't touch the cake..I just.." a slap fell on his face "don't lie to me...I hate liars!"

He rubbed his cheek "I'm sorry".

"Did you disobey me?"she asked pulling him close. He nodded "yes".

"Do you know liars and bad children need to be punished?"she had a wooden ladle in her hand. He knew what was to come "yes". She held the ladle firmly "show me your knuckles".

He stretched his hand out and she glared "the right hand Prithvi!" He pulled out his hand as he was told. No, the neighbours are wrong, she only beats me because she wants to discipline me; his thoughts read.

She hit his knuckles hard and tears fell on his cheeks but he didn't scream. "What did I tell you about crying? Don't you want to become a strong man?"

"Yes"he gripped his body firmly and closed his eyes shut as another hit followed, and yet another until he could no longer feel anything, as if his whole body had gone numb.

"You're a good boy Prithvi" she patted his head gently "I hope you learnt your lesson, didn't you?" He nodded "yes maa".

His father was back home and Pratham was dressed in new clothes as he kept running around the house in full gusto.

Prithvi kept the cake in the centre of the living room and placed the three candles over it. "Prithvi?"he turned to see his father "where are the others? It's time to cut the cake right?"

"I didn't invite anyone!"his mother answered, getting the four small plates. He looked surprised "not even the neighbours?"

She slammed the plates in anger "we don't need anyone..do we?" He stared at her "we need them Geetha, our boys need them".

She gave a stern glance and turned to her son "Prithvi? Do you want to call your neighbour friends?" He shook his head immediately "no". She smiled "it's settled then".

Pratham cut the cake while his parents helped him and Prithvi stared. He didn't understand why his mother was..different while other mothers were sweet. He had never seen her laugh, only a half smile.

They cut the cake and he placed it on the plate to give to his father. It was then his father noticed his hand "what happened?"he touched and Prithvi winced in pain "it's become red..what did you do?"

Prithvi could feel his mother's eyes on him "I..smashed my hand against the wall" he lied. "Didn't you apply something on it?"his father asked.

"I did" Prithvi lied again.

At one such night it was almost ten when Prithvi was in bed, ready to sleep. Pratham was fast asleep, curled up next to him. He had pulled the covers over him when he heard the footsteps.

"Maa?"he gasped, wondering why she was here, this late. She looked furious "why did you tell on me?"she murmured and he noticed she had something on her hand.

"I didn't..he was the one who saw my hand" he explained, slightly shivering. She pulled him out of the bed and pushed him to the floor "you told him, I heard you!"she slapped him hard "what else did you tell him? That I'm crazy?"another slap followed "you told him I'm mental didn't you?"

He cowered in fear, his mother never hit him like this before...even if she did it was only cuts on the knuckles or sometimes thrashing but this was too painful.

"Papa!"he screamed, wishing his father would come and help him. She wrung his ears "he left us Prithvi!"she yelled "he left me..because of you".

She was lying..he knew that..their father wouldn't leave them "I..didn't do anything..I swear" he stammered, unable to speak any more. The physical pain was bearable but the thought of his father away from him wasn't "please call papa"he pleaded.

She slapped him again and again "he won't come..he wrote a letter..he said he doesn't want us..I hate you Prithvi..I hate you!"she hit him with the cane.

He didn't cry..he couldn't..he realized he didn't know how to..all the emotions had left him.

He hadn't cried ever since...

◇◇◇◇◇

Today is indeed a bad day, thanks to that rich bitch!

These were Prithvi's thoughts as he tried to start his bike but it wouldn't budge. Come on you jerk! Prithvi tried again and again but in vain.

Some time later and he was done with a whole bunch of profanities, the engine finally came to life and he drove away angrily as he was already very late.

He reached his office, the Globaltech communications Ltd. After parking his bike at the two wheeler parking lot, he reached the reception and did the biometric identification, something routine in his life for four years.

He reached the second floor and walked straight to the men's restroom and kept his cellphone in his locker as it was one of the cardinal rules that usage of mobile phones were prohibited.

He removed his jacket and changed into a black shirt and arranged his messy hair which was entangled in his helmet.

"Prithvi?" Teena, his team member and colleague approached him "Sen wants to see you asap" there was worry evident in her tone and he knew something wasn't right.

"Shit! The jerk must have seen me enter" he swore "I'm done for!" She giggled "all the best". He glared "are you done with the shift already?"

"Yes..and Prithvi.." her tone suddenly switched to flirty and he could sense the fact that she needed something.. everyone knew her technique "I need a favour from you".

Teena had been his colleague since two years and his team member as well apart from Shyam and Pragati but he liked her the most; she was obvious and forthcoming.

"I'm late Teena, can't it wait?"he checked the time. She smiled sweetly "can we swap shifts? Just for tomorrow?please?" Prithvi hated his wife even more! If only he was a little early then he would have missed Teena and..

"Please Prithvi!"she batted her eyelids and he had to laugh; his friend Kevin always said she had a thing for him but Prithvi would ignore it. Now he really wondered if it was true.

"Why?"he asked, curious. She brightened "my cousins are coming from Indore..we're going for an outing". He thought for a while "alright..just one day". She pinched his cheek "you're so cute!"she walked away happily.

Cursing himself, he made his way towards the managing director's office. Sen was seated on his large leather chair, his bulgy eyes on the desktop.

"Sir?" Prithvi cleared his throat "may I come in?" Sen looked up and his demeanour changed "oh welcome Mr Sahay, I was wondering why you haven't blessed this office yet!"

The f##k! Prithvi rubbed his hair "I got stuck in the traffic and.." Sen was still smiling "oh the traffic! I totally forgot to send you a chartered plane!"

I'm screwed! Prithvi sighed deeply "I'm sorry sir..I tried to..." Sen cut his words in half "I'm not running a vegetable stall here!"he glared "it's a freaking multi national company!"

Prithvi had to control his snort by coughing; he knew how great and efficient his boss was at running the so called company. But he wouldn't blame him. Why was he still here? He knew why he had joined this company but that was a totally different story and he didn't want to go down that memory lane. It brought only pain, nothing else.

"Do you have the designs ready?" Sen asked directly and Prithvi had to clear his mind to remember what he had asked "er..yeah..in a couple of days" he said finally.

Sen looked murderous "you know what? Take a whole year..or a freaking century!"he slammed his hand on the table "what the hell is wrong with you?"

Prithvi couldn't even bring himself to look at his boss this time; what the hell was wrong with him indeed? He had gotten married to a girl whom he didn't even know anything about..and he needed her badly, or most importantly her money.

"I'm sorry sir..my team members are working on it..it'll be ready by tomorrow, I promise" he said slowly, hoping Sen would buy it.

His boss thought for a while "get your act together Prithvi" he said simply "I understand what you're going through..after what happened..it's not easy to move on..."

Prithvi could take the sarcasm and the taunting but the last thing he wanted right now was pity. He hated it, especially when it came from Sen of all th people. Naturally, the whole office knew what had happened and even though he had pretended to move on and forget about it, the people like Sen didn't; they kept reminding of how unfair his life was.

"I'm fine..sir" he said, pressing on each word "I'm perfectly alright..I'll have the designs ready by tomorrow". Sen looked slightly abashed but smiled anyway "okay..get to work then".

Prithvi closed the door and walked out and back to his cabin. He logged into the system and had almost started when Kevin sat behind him "good evening loser!"

Only Kevin could call him loser and escape with it, since they had been together for almost three years "rough day?"

"Not now Kevin..I'm really busy" Prithvi sighed, leaning back in his seat. "I've an age old remedy for forgetting everything" Kevin winked.

Prithvi snorted, switching on the desktop "I'm done drinking pal".

"I was talking about watching movie.. I've reserved two tickets for avengers.. after the shift..what say?" Kevin suggested hopefully. Prithvi didn't want to go back to his apartment "okay..count me in".

Kevin gave a thumbs up sign "great! See you at nine then...what about tomorrow?did you agree to swap shifts with Teena?"

Prithvi glared at him "it was your idea wasn't it?"he couldn't help but scoff "she came onto me suddenly I didn't know what to do.."

"She's a great distraction" Kevin explained in a serious tone "and she likes you a lot..why don't you guys get together for coffee sometime?"

Prithvi marvelled at his friend's matchmaking efforts and even knew his friend had his best interests at heart which is why it was difficult to hide anything from him, especially the fact that he had gotten married to a total stranger, that too for money. He knew what would happen Kevin got to know the real reason; he hadn't told anyone.

"Thanks man..it's just..I'm seeing someone else" he finished smoothly. Kevin had his eyes bulged out "what? When did this happen?"

"A chick I met in Facebook" he explained, as if it was as simple as that. Kevin settled back on the seat "we were chatting for a while now.. and now we're meeting occassionally.. she's a sweet girl..but we're being discreet".

Kevin took a moment to ask "when were you planning to tell me? You included me in those group of people who would make fun of you?" Prithvi detected a hint of pain in his voice.

"I told you she doesn't want it to be public"he added hastily, trying to imagine Aarti using a Facebook profile. She seemed uptight for that, he thought amused.

But she was a mystery, and he had never been so intrigued to be honest. Who was she? And why did she want to get married so badly? He still remembered the first time they had met...even though he had thought initially that she was some rich spoilt bitch who needed to take revenge on her parents for not gifting her a car or something, the notion seemed to have disappeared the next time they met. He knew there was something more she was hiding from him, something more sinister...but who cared? As long as she paid him handsomely, her craziness was least of his worries.

"Can you at least tell me her name, what she's doing?" Kevin just wouldn't let go. "Aarti" he replied, feeling safe to lie later "she's studying in college for now..is that enough for you?"he sneered.

She didn't look older than twenty, that much he knew; probably studying science or something like that. Kevin had a huge smile "introduce me to her sometime". Prithvi forced a smile "of course I will". And then I can say we broke up.

He was busy working on a troubleshoot and it was almost midnight when his shift got over. He switched off the desktop and came back to his locker to collect the phone.

There were lots of missed calls and text messages, he observed. Few were from his brother Pratham, and he decided to call him later as it was really late and his brother would have been fast asleep.

There were two missed calls from his uncle, and he ignored them. And there were three calls..from Aarti, he realized with a little surprise.

Why had she called him? Had she changed her mind? F##k! He called her immediately without realising the time.

She answered after a few rings and that surprised him too...hadn't she slept?

"Hey"he greeted, feeling stupid. "Are you drunk?haven't you seen the time?"she snapped. Her parents clearly didn't teach her manners, he thought; she had zero tolerance for politeness.

"I..er..saw your many missed calls" he replied, ignoring her sass. There was silence and he wondered if she had hung up "yes..I called you long back.." she said finally "I need your help".

Oh thank God!he felt relieved. She wasn't changing her mind then "yeah..tell me".

"Can we meet outside the park near my apartment at ten? I'll tell you what to do" she said. He could feel strangeness in her tone but chose to ignore it "yeah..I'll be there..what's the.."

She had hung up.

◇◇◇◇◇

It was past ten and she was late, he checked his watch, a Fasttrack which was a gift from his brother.

"Hi" came a voice from behind him and she settled a little far from him. "You're late" he pointed out.

She ignored the comment "I didn't have breakfast..can we make a quick trip to a cafe?" He nodded "okay..there's a restaurant nearby and.."

"I prefer Costa's" she said. Of course, he gave a thin smile and started walking ahead. She followed him "where are you going?"she demanded.

"I thought you were taking a cab, since you're allergic to my bike" he replied coolly. There was no snappy comeback, instead she sighed "do you have a helmet?"

Whoa! he was impressed; whatever she wanted help with, it was big or else she wouldn't give in so easily "I have a spare".

She nodded and they walked together near where his bike was parked. He handed the helmet to her "you've sat in a bike before?" She nodded vigorously "of course I have".

He knew she was lying but didn't care "alright". He started the ignition and she sat back "you can..hold the handle behind.." he said, feeling awkward.

"I'm fine...let's go" she said in a grumpy voice. He drove away swiftly not wanting to alarm her than she already was.

They reached the Costa's and he parked the bike. She removed the helmet and he stared at her "you okay?"she looked flustered "I don't enjoy..bike rides".

He laughed, despite himself "usually women don't...especially my bike". She smiled, and it was the first time she saw her smile; she looked...cute.

"I take it I'm not the first then?"she asked as they made their way inside the cafe. "No..there have been hundreds..even thousands" he teased, making the situation lighter.

She grinned "good to know". They sat on the corner and she got up "do you want anything?" He had never been to Costa's "er..just a coffee..".

She suppressed a smile and walked towards the counter and came back with two cups. "Your coffee" she pushed it towards him.

It tastes like shit!he thought, but sipping it anyway..he couldn't understand why people paid tonnes to drink the garbage when his brother made a much better coffee than this.

"I thought you wanted breakfast" he said, observing her. "This is my breakfast" she said in a matter of fact tone. He didn't feel like prodding further "so what did you need my help with?"

She kept the cup on the table "I need to find a birth certificate..somewhere around twenty five years ago..".

He listened in surprise "whose?" She shrugged "mine". He choked on his coffee "you're..twenty five?" She had to be lying..she looked really young..

"Yeah..can you help me?"she asked, ignoring his stunned look.

"Depends..but why do you need it all of a sudden?"he asked. She sipped her coffee slowly "I need to find my father".