Is Love Enough ??

Chapter 13

Kirti looked at the man who stood with his back to her. Tall and proud.

Her father had always been a tall man. He was almost Maan's height. Almost. Maan still topped him by a couple of inches. In pride, however, they were both equal. Come to think of it maybe her father topped over Maan in pride. She hadn't been expecting to meet Mr. Anoop Singh this soon. He didn't look enthusiastic to see her either. If anything, his expression had been worse than the one her mother had given her before he had turned around and presented his back to her. His face had had a dispassionate look as if he didn't think she was of any consequence. And his eyes had been condemning, full of anger and hatred. Briefly so, this was what she had seen on her father's face after two years of no contact. And how she had viewed him. He had aged. Since the last time she had seen him. Lost weight as well. Lines around his eyes and mouth had increased in number too. And all this she had caught before he had turned away. What had he seen? What was he thinking while facing the wall, away from her? She knew what she had been doing. She had been busy comparing the man she remembered from the man she had caught a glimpse of. The picture she had kept in her head of her father. He had always been strict in certain aspects but he had also been caring. He had laughed so many times at their antics even when their mother had been yelling at them to behave. She remembered the worried man who used to wait outside the gates of their house if ever either of his daughters got late coming from college or from a friend's house. She remembered the gentleness with which he had tended to s****es and wounds she had gotten while playing. The man who had calmed her fears anytime she had been afraid of something.  The man she saw today wasn't the same person. Was it this easy to forget all of those memories? All those emotions? Was it this easy to cut off from your own child as if it was a bad limb? Even with a bad limb that was cut off nobody ever forgot its place within the body, said the mocking voice in her head. Maybe she had been hoping in vain. Maybe she had been way too optimistic. He hadn't even asked if she was okay? Or if Maan treated her well? As if what he had said all those months ago, he had started believing in it too. 'If you step out of this house Kirti, you would be dead to me'. Maybe she was dead to him.

She had been summoned to her mother's room right after Suraj had brought her lunch.  She had asked if others had had theirs and he had been reluctant with talking about it. And she hadn't pressed. Maybe he had gotten a solid scolding as to why he had allowed her to enter the house when it had been made clear to one and all that she wasn't allowed back. No matter what. And she didn't want Suraj to face any more brunt on her account. She had found it in herself to smile and he had left, looking relieved. She hadn't felt like eating after all that had happened since her return but then not eating wouldn't solve anything, she had thought. Now that she was here she will just have to deal with whatever was thrown her way. And for that she would need strength. Starving herself won't help. So she had eaten. A little. She had just finished when Suraj had come to tell her that her presence was required in her mother's room. Not sure why, she had gone, and knocked before she had entered. Memories of her life in this house, in her mother's room, in the lobby that connected all the rooms upstairs had chased each other inside her head. She had had a brief second to compose herself before she had gone in. The second she had entered she had known her mother wasn't alone. There had been this strange tension in the air. That was when she had realized her father had returned.

Now that she stood there, she was suddenly unsure. The why's and the what's started doing rounds in her head. It was obvious her father had been told about her return. Her mother's pensive expression didn't do anything to lessen her uncertainty. The woman was as tense as tight string to a bow that would snap any second. Had they decided she should leave? If that was the decision, had Anika been informed? How had she reacted? Why couldn't her parents give her one chance...just one to say her side of the story and then decide? She needed to calm down. Control her wayward thoughts and with an effort she did exactly that. She still loved them, even if they didn't. And their dispassionate attitude pained her. But she kept her expression neutral, at least she hoped it was that way.