Under The Pink Evening Sky

21 | back home

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Sana observed as Raju gave Mani a warm hug and asked her a few perfunctory questions. Nothing out of normal. Sana braced herself as their conversation came to a trickling end. His eyes turned to hers. Her mothers warm smile also faced her.

She managed a stiff smile. "Hello uncle."

"Hi Sana. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine." As fine as she could be when her mother had a boyfriend.

"That's great to hear. I've been looking forward to meeting you. Your mother has gushed and gushed about you."

Sana raised a surprised eye at her mother. "Is that so?"

"Indeed, Indeed."

Her mother intervened here. "Come one, let's sit at the dining table. We'll eat and talk."

Her mother quickly served the dishes she had cooked. It was as new to Sana as it was to Raju.

"This is my first time eating your home cooking, Madhu and I have to say, it's amazing."

Mani nodded, vigorously, giving a thumbs up. She had already warmed up to Raju. Sana said nothing, staring at her plate and eating in silence.

After a tense silence, Mani re-started the conversation. Both Raju and Madhu engaged in it while Sana sat silently and watched. She watched her mother's lingering glances towards Raju and a similar variety of his own. The lingering touches, the endearments, the affection. Nothing missed her eyes.

She said nothing. With a stoic face, she ate, unwilling to let the boyfriend gain any more points.

It was an unspoken rule to linger for about half an hour after dinner before going back home, when at a guest's home. This wasn't a stranger's house. It was her own mother's apartment but it didn't feel like the apartment she had grown up in.

Raju had made the environment different. The dull shades of the wall made the whole apartment seem dim. With his presence, somehow, the room seemed to have lit up suspiciously.

"Alright. I need to go back. I have work early tomorrow morning. I had best go to bed early." Mani announced, picking up her bag.

"Wait a minute, grab the-" Her mother and Mani hastened to the kitchen. 

Sana was alone with Raju in the living room. Her eyes stayed on her fingers, that fiddled with each other.

"I heard you were an investigative journalist before."

Sana couldn't help but meet his eyes quickly. Her mother had even confided about that to him?

Raju smiled. It was a compassionate smile, revealing not pity but a fatherly sense of sympathy.

"I was such a journalist once upon a time. The harassment that I faced was endless. Perhaps that is why I have a permanent pain in my shoulder and legs. I don't know." He paused for a moment, gauging her reaction.

She gave none.

"It's good that you left sooner. You figured out the field wasn't for you earlier than I did and that's a very good thing."

Sana looked away, her expression revealing that she was ruminating over his words.

"A lifestyle journalist is a lesser known title. But it's a job that provides a lot more peace to your life. At least, that's what I heard from your mother?"

Sana gave him a stiff nod. Raju nodded back, seemingly satisfied with ending the conversation there.

Once Raju had left the apartment, Sana watched her mother move around in the kitchen. It was something she was unfamiliar with. It was usually Sana moving around in the kitchen.

"I know, Sana." Her mother started, her tone soothing. "You don't need to feel so conflicted."

Sana watched her mother's expression. "Are you happy with him?"

Her mother turned to her. "I am."

Sana let her gaze linger a moment longer. Her eyes roamed over her mother's wrinkles and greying hair. "Okay."

"I know you're wary of him. He knows that too. He knows that it's not just him. You'd be wary of anyone who might want to join our family." Her mother's eyes turned a little more sad. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be."

"I should, child. I let you bear so many burdens you had no business bearing at that young age."

"You didn't have a choice."

Her mother accepted that. "I didn't. My profession was such. Sometimes, I wish I loved some other profession. Something that let me spend more time with my family."

A pause.

"Sometimes I wish my parents were here. I just wish I had something more of a support so you didn't need to carry all that load on your little shoulders."

Sana looked away. "It is what it is. The past is the past."

"Yes." A smile of regret was still painted on her mother's face. It sent a pang of pain in Sana's chest. "But I'm still responsible for that trait. In your childhood, you used to be much more welcoming of people. Now, you're wary and distrustful."

"In any case, you don't have to feel conflicted about being wary of him. It's okay. He is determined to earn your trust."

Sana looked up at the ceiling. "Did he say so?"

"I know so."

Another pause. Her mother turned back around.

"Do you want to stay the night here?"

"No. I'm going back."

Sana picked up her bag. She slipped her feet in her shoes. At the doorway, she paused.

"I'll come here the day after tomorrow. We'll...spend some time together."

Then, she left.

Her mother paused her scrubbing of the vessels. Replaying the words in her head, she felt a slow smile spread on her face. Her daughter has really grown up.

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