A painful memory part 1

I was searching for something in my Mom’s room as I found something else. I found a picture of my mother standing besides a man who looked her age. He definitely didn’t look like my father.

I went to the kitchen.

“Sasha, did you find the purse?” my mother asked.

“No, mom. I found something else” I replied.

“And what’s that?” she wondered.

I showed her the picture I carried. She stared at it for a while before breaking down in front of me.

I asked her “What happened, ma? Why are you crying?”

“Beta, I’m sorry. I’ve not been truthful to you.”

“Who’s this guy, mom? Just tell me.”

“You won’t believe.”

“Just tell me. There’s nothing to hide.” I had enraged tears on my eyes.

“He’s your father.”

“What? No, no, no, no! My father is your husband. My dad.” I freaked out. I couldn’t grasp what she had just said. How was he my father?

“Before your father, I had him. His name is Rishi.”

I could hardly gather myself to put my agony into words. “So, you want to tell 

me that this Rishi is my father. Right?”

My mother was still sobbing. She said “Yes, beta.” She added “He was such a great guy.”

“Does my dad know all about this?”

“Yes.”

“What? I hate you. I hate both of you for not telling me about him before.” I blasted out at her.

“I’m sorry, beta. Please forgive me. I didn’t have any choice.”

“Tell me all of this, ma.” I added “I want to hear all of this.”

“It’s very painful. The memories are still fresh. It feels just like yesterday that he left me.”

“What? He left you?” I added “How was he such a great man if he left you?”

“I don’t know. One day he was there, the other day he was gone.”

“How did you meet?”

“Beta, I don’t want you to judge me for my actions. I was madly in love with him.”

I nodded.

She added “It was night time as I returned to my flat. I was staying with one of my friends back then. We both used to work at the same place. She had lots of affairs at that time. That particular day she asked me to go to the club with her. I was drenched in sweat after a gruesome day. But I couldn’t deny her requests. I gave in. So, I reached the club and we sat there. After a while, she was gone and I was all alone. I didn’t have any idea what to do. I went to the bar and asked the bartender to make me a drink.”

I interrupted “And there he was.”

“Ya. He came from somewhere.”

**************************************

He looked like someone who was ready to take on the world. Loads of confidence and guts. Brooding looks coupled with a decent dressing sense.

He said “Hello, miss. Let me buy you a drink.”

I replied “Umm…who are you?”

“Umm…just someone who wants to buy you a drink.”

“Okay. Go on.”

After a while, he asked me “So, who brought you here?”

“Umm…I’m here with a friend” I casually asked.

“So, where’s she?”

“Umm…she’s gone somewhere…left me here…alone…with unknown people.”

“I see your friend is not loyal to you” he said as we both grinned.

We had both finished our drinks and so he said to the bartender “Pour us another.”

“Do you stay silent all the time or today is something different?” He asked me.

I replied “No…I’m not silent. I’m just shy.”

“Okay, so do I intimidate you?”

“Huh?... Not at all.”

“So, you don’t have your family here?”

“Nah. They are back at my home, Maharashtra.”

“So where do you stay?”

“I stay with my friend on rent.”

“So, managing all by yourself, huh!” he said.

I smiled and nodded.

“Umm…you certainly don’t belong here” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean…a girl like you…here. It’s strange.”

“A girl like me?”

“Ya. Do you know why people come here?”

“No, can you please explain?” I was annoyed.

“Look, this is not a place for girls like you. It’s trash. You understand?”

I probably got an idea what he was actually telling me. This place was a brothel in the middle of the city. People came here just for satisfying their physical needs.

I said “Okay.”

“Do you want to go some place else?” he asked. How could I deny him? I gave in. He took me some place else. A place where actually I felt a lot better. It was not the first time I was with a man. But just that this felt different.

“So, what do you do?” he asked.

“I’m a student at IRT and working part-time.”

He nodded.

I asked “And what about you?”

“Well, I have a small firm on the outskirts of the city.” Little I knew that he was a big industrialist. He certainly didn’t want to reveal his identity. I liked him instantly. He never looked like being nervous nor he was textbook. He was different. He had a certain kind of magnetic charm that other guys surely lacked. Or maybe I felt so.

“You look tired” he said to me.

“Ya, I am. I have had a long day.” I certainly couldn’t make eye contact with him. I noticed his eyes on me.

“I like your hair” he casually flirted.

I grinned and said “Thanks.”

“I mean it takes something to maintain them.”

“Definitely” I said.

After getting to know each other, he asked “You care to dance with me?”

I replied “Umm…why not?” After so long I had felt better and for that I had to thank my roomie.

He didn’t hesitate to come near me one bit. At first, I was nervous. I started to know him not long ago and here I was giving him a license. What was I thinking?

He whispered “Trust me” as he kept his hand on my waist. I finally shrugged off all my inner demons. I extended my arm to rest it on his shoulder. Not long after, we were swaying to the slow music. I buried myself into his chest. I could feel his blood running fast. What was happening between us? The way which he always took the initiative, the way with which he was so sure about me made me fall in love with him over the days and months to come. He flirted so openly as if he had known me for years and every time he did that, he completely swept me off my feet. It looked as if I was born to become his life purpose.

That day we had exchanged numbers.

*******************************

My mom was in tears once again. Perhaps, I had re-opened that chapter of her life which only gave her pain. I brought her some water. Can you believe that your own mom can hide something as serious as this? I certainly can’t. But I believe that she had a reason to hide it from me. She was madly in love with him.

I told her “Mom, if you feel better, please tell me what happened then.”

She replied “The days to come were the best days of my life. I came to know that he was a big industrialist. He was a great cook and an even better human being.”

*******************************

One day when I was at work, he called me.

He said “Hey.”

“Hey, I’m at work. I’ll call you later.”

“Wait…wait. Hold on! I’m not going to take much of your time.”

“Okay, say.”

“I want you to move in with me.”

I was shocked as to what he had just said.

I replied “Really? Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I am sure.”

“Umm…this is new for me. I’ll call you later and tell you.”

“Okay, I know you will reply positively.”

I was astonished by the way he was fearless in his approach. He knew that I 

had no option but to accept his proposal to live with him. That night I called him to say that I had never been happier in my life. In some days, we moved in together.

We would wake up in the morning to each other, have fantastic sex at night, cook food together, have romantic outings and most importantly, appreciate the hard yards we were putting in together.

Once, he told me his life story. He was orphaned from a young age as both of his parents died in a car accident. He was taken in by his Uncle but he couldn’t get along with him and so he decided to come here. He set his own firm few years back and made it a big industry. I mean how can a guy be so intelligent and so confident at the same time. He had all of his life sorted out. He was a true inspiration not just to me but to everybody that worked under him. He could have had anybody but I was lucky he chose me.

Then the big day came. 

Read the second part of the story, here.