YOURS TRULY

Part 27

The name written in beautiful cursive with golden ink on the lid of the wooden box with curving all over, sitting on the living room coffee table caught Ipshita's eyes. Throwing herself on the shoulder of the couch and having a sigh of fatigue from the day of work she leaned in and grabbed the box. 

' Abhijit weds Olivia'

The beautiful golden words on the box stung her eyes.

'Dear, friends and family,
   I Suvendu Bagchi son of late Sabyasachi Bangchi and late Alaka Bagchi, invite you to the reception of our only son Abhijit Bagchi's holly matrimony with Sodpur's Amalendu Paul's only daughter Olivia Paul on the 11th day of December of this year.'

Reading this much a soft sad smile played on Ipshita's lips pulling up the left side of her thick lips.

"Ipu!"
Her mother's voice calling her name made her look up. "I forgot about getting rid of this." Taking the invitation card from Ipshita's hand quickly Tuli said with a frown on her head.
"Maa, Abhijit is getting married." Still playing with the same smile on her lips, Ipshita said looking at her mother.
"I know." Sitting down on the couch beside her daughter while staffing the card into the box Tulika nodded.
"Maa, are you still mad that I broke it off?"
The daughter's soft murmur of the question made the mother look up at her face, trying to fathom the amount of hurt the invitation might have caused. But the daughter being the total impression of her father refused to give anything away but her eyes. Smiling, mother cupped her daughter's face tracing her hair gently with all the affection and care she could gather and whispered looking into Ipshita's pleading eyes "No. Not at all." before taking her in her arms.
Snaking her arms around her mother tightly and inhaling that beautiful smell of her 'Maa' Ipshita mumbled, "He is marrying on the same day Maa."
Tuli was hoping for her not to notice that, but the reverse of reality made her eyes shut with hurt, anger towards the Bagchis and the feeling of inability to protect her daughter from this. She cursed herself for not dumping the cards into the waste as soon as she read them.
Sighing before planting a kiss on Ipshita's hair as she rubbed her forearm she whispered against her hair, "I know. I know."

...

"What type of psychotic asshole does this? The moment I saw the engagement announcement on FB I could barely compel myself from sending him a hateful message. What on earth?!!" Artriya growled through the charcoal mask on her face. Her peeping eyes through the black layer of the charcoal looked mad as the layer of the mask hardening around her mouth made her voice throaty.

The fleeting moments of the last rays of the late October Sun were playing around the city. Winter was starting to mystify the streets and nights. Durga puja had just ended still the smell of Night-flowering Jasmin and Burflower, had surrounded Bengal soothing the post-Durga puja-depression in every Bengali's heart. Roads of Kolkata still had the placards of the advertisements of sponsors of the puja pandals and the whole race of Bengali was trying to overcome the pain with the thought of Lakhsmee and Kali puja and Christmas in mind.
Intending to get rid of this sadness, Artriya had dragged two of her friends to a spa where she was being offered a discount price in exchange for some celebrity exposure.

"Why are you even following him anyway?" Riti scrunched her nose holding back laughter at the voice that came out of Aratriya while scrolling through the profile of the woman Abhijit was marrying.
"Yes, that is the bigger problem here!" Artriya snapped back glaring right back at Riti's head.
"We don't even have a problem to compare." Riti shrugged looking at Artriya before shifting her eyes to Ipshita and asking, "Do we?"
"How -"
"No. You are right." Ipshita interrupted Artriya's agitated words. Looking up from the freshly painted red toenails Ipshita shrugged Looking at her friends with black face, "I broke the marriage off. He can do whatever he wants. How is he an ashole for marrying someone?"
"Within one year? You broke the marriage last December it's October now, even one year hasn't passed!!" Ari again howled through the mask.
"Okay what you saying is true, but stop sounding like an ogre." Unable to hold back Riti pointed out earning another glare from her friend. Ipshita couldn't but chuckle distantly looking down at her palm.
"Shut up Ri!"
"But yeah, I have to agree," quickly dodging the topic Ritika looked back at Ipshita, "Some massive ego must have you hurt Ipshita Sengupta, for him to jump up and fix the date on the same date on which you two were supposed to get married." She nodded chuckling sadly pilling on Artriya's logic.
"Yes! Exactly! Who- what kind of...person does that?"
"A person who is determined to win a challenge."
"Exactly -"