Bruises| Abhira FF ✔️

CHAPTER 07

Third Person's POV

The lingering light was obliterated by the rapidly falling night. The once purple and salmon sky turned into a vast expanse of jet-black that engulfed the town. A canopy of luminous stars materialized amongst the ocean of blackness. Some were dull, merely flickering into existence every now and then, but there was an adequate amount of shimmering stars to illuminate the dark, moonless night.

He always liked the nighttime for some reason. He liked it because it hid his flaws, his imperfections, and his scars. He loved the darkness surrounding him. It led him through the night. Its calming presence made him slowly close his eyes, his head resting on the couch. The darkness made his soul run free.

He just went through a DNA test a few days ago for the first time in his life. Despite his heart denying the fact that he needed to do this test, his mind had some other thoughts. On the other hand, his lawyer also forced him to take the test because if he's really interested in taking in the girl, the DNA report can be a lot helpful.

After the first time he met Rhea, he never went to the orphanage again to meet the little girl. He didn't want to get emotionally attached to her. What if the results of the test are not what everyone expects?

He did feel bad for breaking his promise of visiting the orphanage again and meeting her, but at the same time, he didn't wanna get her hopes high. He didn't want to break that little heart, which has already been through a lot.

Taking the bottle of whisky in his hand to the television was a habit Abhimanyu was never prepared to break. After a day full of shit he just wanted to obliterate a few hours of stress-laced boredom.

The whisky turned down the volume of his thoughts. It brought him the memories of old times, and he let himself dwell in them rather than think. And that moment he was there and not, existing in two moments. Somehow, it steadied him, gave him the resolve to go on.

Flipping the channels on the television , with his feet resting on the centre table, he took another sip from the bottle. He finally put on a random movie, which he clearly had no idea about.

It was just ten-thirty but a few minutes into the movie, he eyes started becoming heavy. Before he could fully surrender himself to sleep, his phone went off.

"Speak!" he attended the call, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"The test results are here, sir!" it was his lawyer. He immediately shot up from his position.

"And?" his curiosity was on the edge, his heart beating faster like it was about to get ripped out of his chest.

"You're the father!" This sentence was enough to make his whole life upside-down.

"Hello? Sir? Are you there?" his lawyer asked upon not getting any response from him. Without saying a single word, he hung up the call.

He tossed his mobile to the couch as he ran his hands through his face in frustration. He picked up his mobile again and dialled a number.

"What the hell was so important that you couldn't resist till morning?" Neil barged into Abhimanyu's mini bar.

"Sit down first. Will you?" Abhimanyu motioned him to a stool in front of him. Neil shook his head before placing himself on the stool.

"Here." Abhimanyu poured some whisky into the glass and put it in front of him. Neil just looked at him.

"Trust me. You're gonna need this for what I'm about to tell you." Abhimanyu told him, and he took the glass.

"So, what's the great emergency?" Neil asked, quoting with his fingers.

"Do you remember Tara? Tara sharma?" he asked.

"Tara...." Neil furrowed his eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, don't you remember. She was my secretary a few years back." Abhimanyu said.

"Oh. Oh! That psycho-girlfriend of yours, who took drugs like a three-time meal." Neil took the first sip of the whisky.

"She's wasn't my girlfriend." Abhimanyu glared at him.

"Well, you guys used to hook up a lot." he shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever. I met her daughter." Abhimanyu said as he scratched the back of his neck.

"What? She has a daughter?" he asked, and Abhimanyu nodded.

"And where did you meet her?" Neil asked.

"You know when I took two days off from the office. I went to meet her at the orphanage." he replied.

"Wait. Hold on a minute. What's her daughter doing in an orphanage? Is Tara dead? Even if she is, why the fuck did you went to orphanage to meet her daughter?" Neil was a confused mess.

"Woah. Woah. Hold on. That's a lot of questions!" Abhimanyu chuckled.

"And I want you to answer all of them." Neil took another big sip of whisky.

"Turns out that girl is my daughter too." Abhimanyu told him and Neil immediately to spit the whole whisky on Abhimanyu.

"What the fuck, dude?" Abhimanyu yelled.

"No. What the fuck! She-She's your daughter. You have a daughter." Neil yelled, and Abhimanyu nodded.

"That's. That's fucked up abhi!" he ran his hands through his hair.

"Look I've everything under control." he tried to calm him down.

"You've everything under control? You can't even control yourself. God knows how many more children you have out there?" Neil yelled.

"Hey! Abhimanyu yelled in annoyance.

"Look. I'm gonna bring her home. I'm gonna upbring her." Abhimanyu told him, and neil looked at him with a wtf look.

"You. How will a person who's most of the time drown in alcohol take care of a little girl?" Neil asked, and Abhimanyu remained silent.

"Tell me. How?" He again asked.

"I don't know. The only thing I know is that she's just a five year old girl. And I'm all she has." Abhimanyu stood up from the stool.

"What do you mean? Where's Tara?" Neil asked, confused.

"She's in jail." Abhimanyu answered.

"Oh, fuck me!" Neil threw his head in his hands in frustration.

"You know what you're getting yourself into, right?" Neil  looked at him.

"Trust me. Let me do something good for the first time in my life." he told him.

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