Brain?

Mmh

Brainy brain?

Mmmmhh

Oy brain?

What?

Now might be a nice time for you to say something

Can you shut up please I am still trying to comprehend

COMPREHEND WHAT, YOU IDIOT? RYAN SAID THAT HE LOVES YOU AND WANTS YOU TO BE HIS GIRLFRIEND.

Mmh, when the whole world was watching. Oh my god Riya, you must have done something really bad to piss off fate. It never seems to leave you alone when it wants to be entertained.

Yaa about that can we, maybe I don't know, talk about how I am the 'center of entertainment to God' some other time? Because right now I should be planning a murder.

Good idea and your motive is also very understandable

1) Ryan told the world, not you, that he is in love with you

2) He said he gave you the day off, only for you wake up this early and go back to work

Wow. I envy you. NOT. Do you want to know the best thing you can do right now? SLEEP.

And that was what I did. I slept. Do not ask me how I slept with my blood boiling and murderous thoughts parkouring in my head, but I did. And this time I was smart enough to turn my phone off.

But I guess the world outside was smarter because three hours later I was harshly woken up by a loud banging on the door. The person on the other side was pounding and I had to rush because any minute now my faithful front-door will be hanging by its hinges.

"Who is it?" no one answered. I guess my 'guest' believed in actions speak louder than words. I opened it and the pounding stopped.

The fist of my 'guest' stopped midair and was looking at me with a face that had absolutely no emotions, just like I remembered from our last meeting. Nothing changed about him except maybe more grey hair and a few more folds under his eyes. I moved a little, to let him enter and as expected the first thing he did as soon as he set his foot inside was examine my place.

He must have been in a rush because he dressed casually and the last time I had seen him like this was when I was nine or ten. This was the man that carried me on his shoulders to the first day of my school. The same man who taught me to ride a cycle, the same man who had a knack for sneaking in chocolates for me (without my mom's knowledge). The very same man who told me never to cry when I got hurt.

And also, the same man who after few years thought that the love and care he showed can be replaced by money. The very same man who loaded my bank account on every birthday to make up for his absence. Also, the same man who was not interested in what I did or studied or if I ate or slept. This man was responsible for me growing up all by myself when I wanted my parents the most.

It had been six months since I last saw him and I wanted to stay strong so I just pushed back the tears which were threatening to fall. If there was one thing I learnt from all my growing years, it was that people took your tears as a sign of weakness. And this very man taught me those words.

"Your cell phone was switched off," he made his way to my couch and sat down and looked at me with a minuet expression that looked like disappointment. "I had to drive all the way here to discuss the issue with you."

"I am fine DAD, thank you for asking," I dragged my kitchen stool and sat in front of him. I smiled at him and wished he could see how broken I was, through my smile. But who was I kidding, he was not there to see my real smile for the past thirteen years, how on earth will he be able to tell the difference.

It looked like he was struggling with something. He remained silent for some time and continued as if we haven't paused since he last spoke.

"Your mother and I woke up this morning and were watching TV," so he is here to discuss about my 'apparent boyfriend' issue. It looked like my father was boiling from the inside but was trying to look calm.

"I am so very disappointed in you Riya. What were you thinking? Him? Ryan or Crayon whatever his name is. Him? Riya? It was not very long ago I heard from someone that this guy runs more bars than his actual business and you love him?" he stood up and now his anger was crystal clear.

"I will never support this. You are not working for him anymore and you are coming home with me right now. You can pack the necessary stuff and the rest can be given off to charity. I can't stand here and see you like this. This is what you left us for?" he said in a low but clear voice.

"I wasn't really thinking Dad because what you watched on the TV is a lie. His name is Ryan and he is not my boyfriend and again what you heard about him is a lie too. I am not coming anywhere with you and I am going to continue my job, even if you are disappointed. The place you call 'home' isn't 'home'. So, no, I am not coming with you and finally I did not leave you guys for this. You know why I did."

"You are as stubborn as I remember, nothing's really changed. Has it? Only now, you have a boyfriend I will never approve of. I have had enough of this nonsense Riya. You are coming with me, even if you don't think of it as your home anymore. There are people waiting for you to take over our business, we have all the money anyone would kill to have. You have your mother and me waiting for you to come live with us and there is an eligible man waiting for you to accept him as your husband" by now my dear father was breathing loudly and shouting. I was watching his every twitch and move.

"But all you want to do is stay in this petty place you call 'your home' and work for that alcoholic and not only work but also have a relationship with him?" the way he said the last 'him' anyone would have thought my father was talking about a fly or dung beetle.

There were a lot of things I wanted to yell.

Riya don't.

"I am not, for the last time, coming with you" I enunciated every word clearly. "He is not my boyfriend and I am not going to take anything from you. Not your money or your business. I am not marrying that human faced robot who knows only to make money and grow his business. And lastly I am sorry..." I said nodding "I never knew that were waiting for me to come live with you at your house. I always thought it was just mom, why did I ever think of something like that?" I pondered a little while and continued,

"That's right, you were NEVER THERE TO TELL ME HOW YOU FELT. EXCEPT THAT ONE TIME SIX MONTHS AGO WHEN YOU ASKED ME, NO ORDERED ME, TO MARRY THAT CURRENCY FACE. You cannot ignore me for a dozen years and then order me to do things I don't want to do. Filling my pockets and the house with money doesn't make you a great dad; you need to be there to tell me how to spend them, you were supposed to be there when I needed you. You were supposed to say, 'I am proud of you' the day I graduated not send keys to some flashy car with a note which read 'congrats'. I am never going to take that money or business which took away my father from me. That place isn't my home. It used to be a place where my mother, father and I lived happily knowing we loved each other even if we didn't have to say it every day. Fourteen years ago, it turned out to be my only companion in all the years I have been to school and college. It was a place that stood still even when I cried my eyes out and complained about all the things that happened to me. Even if I come with you, that place will remind me only of the desperate things I did to gain mom's and your attention. I don't call it home anymore."

Suppression of bad feeling is like a time bomb, only it is more dangerous. One bad thought when suppressed gives rise to a hundred more and when given a chance to explode they come out in the worst form of horribly formed sentences and cause damage that cannot sometimes be repaired.

Silence in the room was getting to my nerves. My father spoke nothing and I was seething. How could he speak to me after six months and the first thing he could talk about is his disappointment in me? I did not take a penny from him the minute I left the house, ever since that fateful day everything I owned from my flip-flops to my apartment, was bought with my money. I did not expect a felicitation but I at least wanted him to be proud of who I turned out to be. I was that girl who was always in a protected environment. I always had people doing things for me; I hardly ever made my own bed. Now I have moved past all of that and built my life brick by brick. I am a twenty-three-year-old still dying for one word of appreciation from my father. Sometimes I pitied myself and the other times I was just angry that it had to come down to this. And there was no one in this world I could share these feelings with, until now.

"I am sor..." he cleared his throat and tried again "I am late. I should go; I have some work to do." with that he started walking towards the front door. I watched him walk away like always. Another sack full of sad feelings added to the already existing mountain of them.

What? Why that look? What were you expecting? You thought you would pour your heart out; shout out your sob story and immediately the two of you will be holding hand and weeping, saying sorry to each other? I warned you, I blinked the red buzzer and told you not to tell how you feel. Did you listen? No, and see where you are. You never learn, do you? People don't care about your emotions or feelings. So, stop smothering them with your problems.

He waited for me at the door, so I followed him out and got into the elevator.

"Riya? Do you not want to marry Aaron or don't want to marry at all?"

Marry at all. Because I plan on not falling in love, I am scared to trust someone, I fear failing, I am scared of rejection or being ignored and my worst fear is that he might turn out to be just like you.

"Just Aaron,"

What was that?

Following your suggestion, don't want to pour out my feelings and cause a scene here.

"Is there someone else Riya?"

No

"Yes"

What are you talking about?

This way I can escape from the next mammon, my father thinks is suitable for me.

"Just please don't tell me that crayon's name."

"No, it is someone else. I only like him; we are not very serious as of now."

Just then the elevator dinged and the doors opened. My father walked out with a frown on his face and I stood still in the elevator thinking of all the lies I had to come up with. I looked up to see the most bizarre scene unfold before me.

~*~*~*~*~*

Ok, first things first.

I am extremely sorry for the delay in chapter update, I was travelling.

Welcome and Hi to all of our Japanese and Australian readers.

Because I am sorry for not updating and also happy for hitting the 500+ reads mark, I am posting two chapters :)

Thank you each and everyone of you for reading.

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