Drifted Apart

Chapter Twenty - Duties

Naveesha looked at her father. He was eating his dinner and Naveesha looked at her mother from the corner of her eyes. Ever since Thenushi had left home earlier in the day, her mother had not spoken a word with her and Anu had remained surprisingly silent maintaining a long distance from every one of the house and especially with Naveesha. She had her eyes filled with tears and Naveesha could feel the tension in the home as they sat for dinner. Her father had not yet known that his elder daughter had been to visit them and though however rude and evil Naveesha had been towards Thenu, she was afraid of what her father might say. So, she ate silently giving glances here and there then and now.

"What happened today?" Akash asked suddenly not looking up from his plate.

"Ah!" Naveesha asked shocked.

"I asked what happened today," Akash said again.

"N-nothing thaththa," Naveesha replied sweating furiously.

"Are you sure?" he asked again and gave her a piercing glare as Anu too looked at her daughter.

"Yes thaththa," Navee replied slowly.

"Hm, why are you picking on your food and keep looking at me? You look like you have done something terrible," he replied matter of fact.

Naveesha did not have anything to say to that. She looked as though she was shaken to the root. She wiped her forehead as Anu cleared her throat.

"Thenushi visited us today," she said as Akash smiled.

"Ah, that's more than enough," Akash nodded. "I can think of what would have happened," he said and turned towards his wife. "How is she, Ani? Is she well? Is our son in law treating her well?" he asked.

"Yes Akash, she is alright." Anu said and stopped. Naveesha gulped down the cup of water and stood up.

"Good night thaththa," she said and without even giving a glance at her mother she left to her room and locked the door behind her.

Akash looked at his daughter's actions and turned towards his wife again.

"Is amma sleeping?" he asked as Anu nodded. "So, tell me Ani, what happened today?" he asked softly.

Anu took a deep breath and let it out of her mouth. "What didn't happen today Akash? Everything should not have happened, happened today," she wiped the loosened tear by her lashes. "Poor girl, she left home crying, she didn't even have time to eat peacefully," Anu gulped and drank the cup of water Akash gave her.

"Who was it? Naveesha or amma?" he asked.

"Naveesha," Anu replied.

"Ah, I thought so, we should have brought her up well. In a way, both of us are also to be blamed for how she has grown up," Akash said as he sighed and washed his hands.

"Even I think about the same thing Akash," Anu replied holding her tears and taking a deep breath.

"It was amma who made her this way," Akash said again shaking his head as though he was regretting his decisions and he was worried about how his younger daughter had turned up.

"We should have corrected her when she was young, but it's too late now. Too late really," Akash sounded full of regrets. "The saddest thing is that Thenu is the one who gets hurt because of Naveesha every single time," he finished.

"Is there anything we can do now Akash?" she asked with hope in her eyes looking eagerly into her husband's eyes.

"The only thing we can do is, just hope for the best Ani," he said and stood up leaving Anu and her thoughts for herself.