"I am dead."
Rajeev kept throwing worried glances at the door of his room while trying to gobble down his favourite Lindt chocolate. It must have been his fifth chocolate in an hour, and he was really worried about what would happen if she were to know about this.
His room was well-lit by the tender sunlight coming from the windows, and he was glad that he was farther away from that window. Would not want the sunlight to blind the view of the computer screen for him, but presently, he had other things to worry about.
"Kaddu beta, I am coming in.", his mom sort of knocked the door, and sort of pushed it in to enter his room.
She scrunched her nose as though trying to make out something, and when she did, she looked at Rajeev with her narrowed eyes.
Rajeev had till then gobbled down the chocolate and was ready to face his mom, but once he saw that particular knowing look on her face, and those scary narrowed eyes, he knew he was doomed.
He gulped at the prospect of what was about to come, when an idea struck him.
Diverting her attention.
"Mom yaar, don't call me kaddu. I am not a child anymore."
Kaddu - otherwise known as Rajeev, but this childhood nickname had stuck to him, and his parents would only call him that. Well, not their fault. Sometimes, you use a name so much that it sticks to you and becomes a habit of others, and there's nothing you could actually do about it. That was the case here. Much to Rajeev's relief, he had gotten them to call him Rajeev in public settings, but at home, there wasn't much he could argue about.
His mom came his way hearing those words.
"Trying to change the topic huh?"
She took ahold of his ear, and gently twisted it.
"Oww, maa.", Rajeev tried to free himself, but to no avail. Well, who can really fight a mother's strength?
"What oww? Don't be so dramatic. And tell me, how many chocolates how you munched on since the morning?"
"Mom, that, I, errr, uhm...", Rajeev hesitated.
She left his ear and gently rubbed the region which she had twisted.
"Kaddu, how many times do I have to tell you that eating these many chocolates is not healthy. And wait, I had taken away your stash just yesterday, when did you get these new ones?"
Rajeev was about to reply when she picked up a wrapper from the floor.
"Lindt.", she read out.
"That means you ordered them online right? When?"
Rajeev now had a smug expression on his face.
"I had scheduled the delivery for when you and pops had gone out for the evening walk."
"You are hopeless.", she simply shook her head, and started searching for his stash once again.
This was her routine - Rajeev would get chocolates and hide them, and she would try to find them and take them away. Hide and seek.
And Rajeev's papa would simply watch the show - enjoying himself.
Rajeev was a chocolate fanatic - to say the least. He absolutely loved delving into all and any of the chocolaty goodness, and had multiples stashes in multiple locations in his home. While, every sort and variety of chocolates would work for him, he particularly loved these Lindt chocolates which he was currently munching on.
Meeta and Gaurav Ranawat were cool in every way. Rajeev's wonderful parents. And as wonderful as they were, they were completely free from the clutches of the stereotypes of this society, and the conservative beliefs that were in place, and had raised Rajeev the same way.
YOU ARE READING
Yours, With Love
Romance"Why Radha?", his eyes glistened with emotions, with what he felt for her, as he caressed her cheek with all the love he beheld within. "Why do you tolerate so much for me?", his words were strained as he felt the lump in his throat increasingly ach...
