The Kashyup Redemption

xiii. Serpentine

Parth figured he was lucky. With Ankit and Kishore Agarwal both currently out of town ,Sanyukta staying at ISRC and Vidushi being a stranger, there was no one to ask him where he was going. He preferred it that way. Goodbyes had never been something he was comfortable with. Maybe it was because in his experience, nothing good followed after 'bye'. He'd text Sanyukta or she would call him and demand to know where he was. And when he would tell her home it would be the end of the matter.

Or so he hoped.

He'd dared to selfishly hope that he would catch a glimpse of Vidushi before he was out of the house. That the inevitable nature of the situation would make her less guarded of her true feelings. But that did not happen, and he was able to slip out of the Agarwal mansion with no one being any wiser of it.

The weight of the two suitcases he was carrying was nothing compared to the mental and emotional luggage he had in his head. Part of him told him what he was going to do in the years to come would go against everything he had stood for as a teen. Another part was relieved at the twisted form of stability this decision was sure to bring. He'd run from it once. Loathed it. Spat at its face. And now here he was. Running right back to it.

He took an Auto to the decided upon meeting spot, a sick feeling in his stomach.He remembered that one of the books he had read about assertive behavior said that a large part of being assertive was accepting the cost pay that came with a decision. There were no get out of jail free cards or any escape paths.

The screeching horn made him look up to see a red car. He did not bother to see what kind it was. The fact that it had a removable top told him it was expensive. It made his insides twist in a strange cocktail of disgust and envy.

"Parth." Namit's eyes were cold, his face stern. Formal "Back from the dead, aren't we?"

Before Parth could open his mouth and tell Namit about the coma, the older man laughed "Managed to get yourself into a coma did you? This is actually priceless. Like some kind of daily soap on TV."

Parth's hands shook. He would have fisted them had it not been for the luggage he was holding.

"What are you waiting for, a formal invitation? Get in the fucking car and tell me why of all time you've chosen to return." Namit got out of the car and opened the backseat door "Put those bags in. I haven't got all day mind you. Some of us actually have work to do."

Parth swallowed his anger, taking deep breaths like his mother had always instructed him to.

"Dad's taken the day off. That man is more married to the office than he is to my mother." Namit informed him.

The jab did not go unmissed. The fact Namit's mother was married to Parth's father and Parth himself was born out of wedlock.

Parth bit his lip. There was no way he would allow Namit to know how affected he still was by the fact. Instead, he focused on more pressing concerns. "How do you of all people know I was in a coma?"

Namit had the gall to chuckle. "I keep my eyes and ears open. Don't worry, you weren't in the newspapers or something. It is after all, my duty to keep tabs on my wayward little halfbrother."

Namit was really rubbing in the salt. He had always taken Parth's rejection of their relation personally, even when they were children. That Parth always introduced him as his cousin if the introduction was inevitable.

"There's things you don't know. Things you had better get used to. Like actually using your correct name. Like giving up that priest façade. Doesn't fool me one bit, bastard." Namit kept attacking him, waiting for him to snap. Using that word he knew Parth loathed.