Chapter 4
You can make it work if you want to. I know.
But he deserved more, so much more, than once-a-week phone calls and Skype chats here and there. I knew he wouldn't mind, but I would. He deserved to be a priority.
Unfortunately, it wasn't in my power to give him that place in my life. I wouldn't break it off, I was too weak to handle that kind of pain, I'd let it drift.
He was bound to meet new people, and I didn't want to be the anchor that didn't let him drift off shore to paradise.
For now I had a roof over my head, almost a year of teaching experience & a stable job in my pocket, an income to pave my way through student loans, and of course, dad.
He smiled a lot more often, his genuine smile that made the corners of his experienced eyes crinkle. For now he was enjoying the retired life, I'd even catch him smiling in front of Ma. I'd look at them, and for those few seconds I'd see a couple that even death couldn't do apart.
But I didn't recognize the woman in the picture. She was the mother I never knew. And the one I did, was not my mother. But I loved them both very much, for they both had their own circumstances.
Asad and I were similar in that sense, we didn't know much of what a family was like. His parents were in their own world, sipping 4 O'clock tea and selling saris back in the country. They never got him, but he still loved them. He had a sister, I'd met her once. I envied their bond, but even she couldn't stay for long. I had a dad, who loved me more than anything else in the world, but he was detached, only half here. I had no complaints, he loved me to the best of his ability and that was more than enough. We were loners, but he'd come to accept it while I kept myself under an unlikely illusion.
"You're home," he locked the door, "This early? You feeling sick?" His concerned hands dropped the groceries and made their way to my face.
"I'm fine Papa, we had a half day today," I smiled and looked up.
"Are you alright bacha, you seem kind of down," he stated rather than inferred.
"It's probably because it's the end of the marking period and I have to rush and get all the test grades in. I still have 2 chapters to go with the kids, I don't know how I'm going to fit them in and test them fairly,"
His eyes questioned my explanation while I silently hoped he'd buy it. "Alright then," he continued on aimlessly with the groceries.
He didn't buy it.
Maybe I was a bad salesman or he, just a smart customer.
"Spaghetti?" he called out from the kitchen. I could sense the annoyance in his voice.
He impatiently waited for an answer with the box in hand hands. He was too cute sometimes. My ol' man.
"How bout roti today? I've been craving some good old Indian food for a while," I tried for a signature smile, "I'll be there in a moment, you can get the atta out," I head for the door.
"Where you going?"
I sighed, there was no point in trying to sell it, "Making a call,"
"Asad?" He gave a knowing smile.
"Asad indeed,"
*** A/N: There's probably one or two more parts left. Those who were looking for a plot, I'm sorry. This is a story.
-Shweta
Edited by -ForeverYours- - 11 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
Cricket
124