In His Custody ✎ (MaNan)

✰ 20 - all in the name of love

Much love to all the people who are still here. Love you guys so much <3

⭒

Manish Malhotra

Bounded by the four walls of a luxurious office, I sat on an ergonomic rolling chair, swerving from side to side with a folder in my hands and a pencil between my teeth. I was meant to overlook the fine print of a half million dollar design contract three nights ago before passing it over to our official lawyer–Diyah–for a thorough evaluation. Fortunately or unfortunately, Diyah had taken some days off last week, and was still looking sombre in spirit when she buzzed in late this morning, giving me ample time to catch up with tasks that had taken the backburner.

Convinced that everything checked out on my first pass, I shut the binder and slid it across the desk for her to do the final rites before my signatures came into play. She reluctantly picked it up, dropping it twice in the process, then clutching it to her chest in a somewhat strenous manner.

"Is everything okay?"

The woman had been struggling to hold her tears behind and the mere concern in my question seemed to cause her to collapse in the chair in front of me, mercilessly sobbing as she hugged the folder. Panic-striken, I rose to my feet and made my way over, unsure of how to comfort my son's woman.

A part of me had a troublesome feeling that something had gone terribly wrong between the two and I wasn't to interfere in private matters between the couple, while the other fatherly side of me equated my affection for her on a similar scale to Mukti and was immensely sympathetic to her heartbreak, budding some resentment towards my detached son who barely felt the need to acknowledge another person's feelings. Even if it was his partner's.

I rubbed her back softly, as she leaned and sunk her temple into my chest, profusely upsetting me. They had had fights in the past, but nothing serious enough that she had resorted to solace through me. That only meant this setback had more at stake, and more deep-rooted grief. And undoubtedly, my son would not take the first step in mending the fragile bond. With her current state, it would be both unreasonable and apathetic to expect her to fill his shoes just so they could be together again. It was unfair to say the least. But would she be willing to do it?

"It will all be alright," I found myself saying, even though I didn't quite feel it ringing true myself.

"It will never be! He's shut me out and won't talk to me. I didn't know he was so repulsed to marriage, otherwise I never would have..."

Marriage, I gulped, feeling some heat flush my face.

I was partly responsible for his tenacious disgust and absolute disbelief in the term altogether, and my daughter had made it clear to me on multiple occasions by challenging me about it very openly. I should have known when to give up, instead of wallowing away in my zestful attraction for a young vibrant bundle of energy named Nyonika and holding on for eternity in the hope that love would be enough to sustain it all. Love is alone never enough, I should have realised that a lot sooner.

There were some glorious traits in Nyonika, no doubt, that I had wished to imbibe once upon a time. One was her unwavering ambition to succeed, by hook or by crook, in her career. That sort of tunneled vision had uprooted my sense of pride during our initial days together. I had a stable job as a real estate agent in a property development company, a chunk of inheritance and huge plans for our future that surrounded her presence in it. That had drawn her to me and propelled our wedding, short of a few months of dating.

Our plans were quickly cemented in stone, thanks to Nyonika's steadfast focus. Some money went into investing in SPACE, some into a place of our own while some was channeled into other business prospects. Around then, I was looking to welcome a new addition to the family. Bringing children into the picture had also meant restructuring what she and I envisioned for us, a compromise I was willing to go ahead with but she wasn't entirely convinced. Negotiating it with her turned out to be one of the most challenging things I had done in our relationship.