His Dusk, Her Dawn

Chapter 29. Numb

"Ved, aren't you going to say hi to your father?"

I thought I heard my mother's voice but ignored her as I was busy playing video games.

"Ved?"

I slowly turned my head towards the door and shot an accusatory glance at my mother. She pouted when I refused to go and meet my father.

"Why should I meet him when he is going to cancel our plan again? Like he does everytime..." I complained.

I loved my father, but since my childhood, he had rarely shown his emotions; especially after Mom's demise, he had enveloped himself into a cocoon and refused to acknowledge that he was suffering his wife's loss.

His attitude was projected on me too, and I also struggled with sharing my feelings. But I wasn't as extreme in being stoic as my dad. At the moment also, my father was prioritising his work over his family. I wasn't much worried about myself, but Veer was still young. He needed our father the most.

Last time when I confronted Dad about the same, he wasn't pleased. According to him, Veer was a smart boy and didn't require much attention unlike I needed when I was young. I was frustrated because he just wouldn't accept the truth.

"Ved?" Mom asked.

"Maa, I told you already. I don't want to meet him. What's the use? By the time I reach his room, he would be packing his stuff for the next flight. What am I supposed to say to the man who doesn't have even a second to spare for his sons?" I said.

Mom sighed and mumbled to herself. She nodded and reminded me to come for lunch on time. I replied in positive and huffed as I grabbed my cellphone from beside me.

I checked my WhatsApp messages and squinted at my monkey's contact. I decided to message her but stopped when I noticed that she hadn't replied to my morning message. It was Sunday and she didn't have even a second to reply.

While I was burning holes through the screen, Nikhil's caller ID flashed on the top. I hung up the call. I was in no mood to talk to him even after understanding that he must have had a good reason to avoid telling me about why Sandhya was avoiding me.

Soon after Nikhil's call, Parth called me and put me on conference with Karthik, Shree and Shreyas.

"Bro, are you still acting like Devdas?" Shree asked.

"What Devdas? He must be worse than him," Karthik commented.

"How many bottles did you finish, Ved?" Parth commented.

"Should I write a sad poem for you, bro?" Shreyas asked.

I pinched my eyebrows as the boys kept commenting about me and laughing. After a few minutes, I had enough.

"If none of you want to get your necks broken, you better shut the fuck up," I warned.

"The Hulk has returned," Karthik said, and everyone stopped gossiping.

"Why did you call me?" I asked Parth.

"I think all of us had a pretty tough time after the college fest, mostly you and Shree. So, what about we party at my farm house this weekend? I can ask girls to join us too, but if you guys prefer, it can be 'only boys' too," Parth said.

"Yeah, man. I seriously need a break from Mahek. Her tantrums are eating my soul," Shree said dejectedly.

"The girl asked for a flat this time," Shreyas said.

A loud wave of 'Ohhhhh' went through the mobile conference, and we listened like a dedicated audience as Shreyas scolded his twin brother for a whole ten minutes. Their arguments heated up soon, and we heard some shuffling on their sides.