Ajnabi, The Unknown

10- Manthan In Trouble or Trouble In Manthan?

Please kindly vote and comment if you're enjoying the story. 

In-line comments are appreciated and loved. 

Kabir felt a headache coming. 

He rubbed his forehead and took another sip of his coffee and cringed. Who even liked coffee? And how did people even drink coffee? 

Then Kabir looked at his pending office work and sighed. No wonder working class drank coffee, consumed caffeine like coffee mended everything. It did. It gives you adrenaline rush. It increases the activity in your brain and nervous system. But it was messing with his body. Kabir needed sleep. But sleep was a long distant dream. 

"Holding head doesn't help in reducing headache, baba. You need to sleep for that. Last time I checked, you had a beating heart in your body, a working brain, and muscles that often ache when you over-exert yourself. Despite what you believe, baba, you need to sleep. You need sleep." Manthan said, taking the cup of coffee from Kabir's hands, and glared at him. 

Kabir looked at his oldest child in shock. He was still awake? He looked at the clock and sighed. Manthan was exactly like him. His carbon copy, if not the damn color print, with no, absolutely no changes.

"So do you. Soya nahi tu ab tak, Manthan?" Kabir asked Manthan, who shook his head and closed his laptop and pulled the files out of his hands and held his wrist, dragging him out of his chair and made him sit on the bed. 

"Manthan...."

"I have a lot of work to do as well, baba. And I was sleeping. Main paani lene aaya tha, aapke room ki lights on thi. If you can do all your work in one night, so can I. Saath main baith ke kaare?" Manthan asked, and Kabir glared at him, but Manthan glared back.  

None of them were scared of him. Kabir noticed. He should have made them fear him. Kabir laughed at the thought. Funny joke. Kabir can be anything but not scary for his kids. He was more like a best-friend, a very nurturing best-friend, who happens to lend his kids his last and middle names. 

"That's what I thought. Have this now." Manthan said, handing him a bowl of salad. Kabir sighed looking at the vegetables, seeds, nuts and even lentils. Who puts lentil in a salad? 

"I am not hungry, beta." Kabir said, and Manthan smiled at him. 

"I know, it will help to dilute the caffeine inside your body, baba." Manthan said, and Kabir looked at him, incredulously. 

"And the process takes time." Kabir argued, and Manthan rolled his eyes and stuffed a spoonful of salad inside Kabir's mouth and his mouth flooded with flavors. 

Manthan was such a good cook. Shame, he had no interest in opening any diner or restaurant. 

"Acha hai na? Kabhi kabhi chotto ki bhi baat maan leni chahiye. Vaise, what's stressing you out? You never work until late? Aaj kyu aise late tak kaam kar rahe ho?" Manthan asked, feeding another bite and Kabir sighed. 

"Tu aise hi khilane vaala hai mujhe? You know I am thirty and not three, right?" Kabir asked, though a part of him enjoyed getting pampered. 

Manthan smiled discreetly as he nodded his head and took another spoonful of salad and fed it to Kabir, and kissed his father's forehead. Kabir's eyes filled up as Manthan openly showered love on him.