MANGO MILKSHAKE

Chapter 16

"Yaseen! Wake up.... Open the door! You'll be late." I fretfully knocked on the door.

"Five minutes more." Yaseen groaned in a raspy voice.

"I've something important to tell. Wake up or you're not getting any breakfast." I threatened.

"Ya..ya.. whatever" Yaseen opened the door looking a little annoyed and muttering some inaudible curses to which I rolled my eyes.

Morning air is still brisk and cool even though the day time has become really unsuitable for hoodies and sweaters. The rest of the state is still not out of the daze of winter but Kolkata is already sweaty and muggy. I shall  tell Yaseen that I want to go home.

"I'm going home tomorrow.." I announced out of nowhere causing Yaseen choke on toothpaste.

"Are you mad over something?  I can fix it. Don't leave..." Yaseen rushed out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his hand and a towel on his shoulder.

"Idiot! I'm not going for eternity. I'll come back after a few days." I sneered at him forgetting I was holding an egg to boil and it cracked in my hand.

"Eww" I cried out as the egg whites are now dripping on the floor from my hand.

"I see." Yaseen said as he laughed at my disgusted face.

"Stop laughing or I might reconsider and never come back." I pointed a knife at him.

"Whoa.. whoa..chill out." He surrendered.

I waited for him to get ready while the tempting vapour of food danced around my nose. I never realised until now that it has become my habit to wait for him, not only breakfast, I also wait for him whenever he has emergency night classes before test exams. I'm doing it out of  conscience, not out of fondness, at least that's what I want to believe. This growing malfunction needs to be cured especially when I've no idea what the other party thinks about me. You may love a man but you can never trust him with your emotions.

"Why aren't you eating?" Yaseen sipped the tea and sat on the chair in front of me.

"Nothing, I wanted to ask something." I noted that Yaseen hasn't even noticed that I was in fact waiting for him.

"What?" He asked. "You can go home, I'll not stop you."

"Not that. Don't even think that I'll ask YOU to go to my own home. I'm going home regardless." I said in a way that asserted dominance.

"Oh..oh.. I don't mean that way. I'm sorry.." his anxious frowning made me chuckle a little.

"A clear idiot that you're. I was asking about Mr Mehbub..." I laughed.

" Never have I been called an idiot by someone else this often. You're quite brave." Yaseen sighed though his face bore undeniable embarrassment.

"Maybe you should hang around less pretentious people. The thing I was as-"

"Oh yes, Mehbub sir, he's a wonderful person. He's like an elder brother. He's been working there for at least a decade now. Everyone loved him except a few people." Yaseen said thoughtfully.

"Ohh, why so?" I asked though in my head I already knew that I resemble those few exceptions.

"Because of his wife. He got a divorce with her. She kept saying nonsense about him without any proof." Yaseen said.

"He's divorced? What kind of nonsense?" Curiosity crept into me.

"Nothing special... I'm getting late. See you in the evening." He ignored my questions and started to gather his belongings to leave.