The sound of a slap resonated through the house which now sat in stunned silence .
"Papa" she whimpered at the who now stood rather shocked himself. He had never hit her before.
When he had held her as a baby he had promised never to do what had been done to him. But somewhere along the line he had forgotten to correct her and now this is where they had ended up. Looking at his tear eyed daughter he
Wondered if she even cared as to why this all had happened
His wife instructed the girl to go to her room and then stood near him.
"Please...sit ..your BP..." She mumbled. He looked at her for a minute before nodding and walking to him room.
The girl watched them from her room, her cheek red and burning. How could he do this to her? His own daughter!
The memory lay fresh in her mind as Jp walked towards Charu's house, her ears picking up the loud voices.
"I want that girl out out of my house in two days or else both of you can find another place! How dare you come back home drunk an-" Charu's mother seemed angry, it was justified, you cant overstay your welcome after all.
The rest of the words blurred as Jp sighed and walked back out the gate.
The sun set and with it came the rains. Light but steady, they kissed the scorching streets of Chennai.
Sitting on the pavement the girl inhaled the smell of the rains. As the rains got steadier, people disappeared and soon enough the road was empty.
She looked up at the forgiving sky as it opened its floodgates, wondering for a second if she shouldn't just go home, but no, he had kicked her out; his own daughter. And she wouldn't return not until she had done what it was she had set out to do.
---------------------------
"Sir, I go...dinner on table. I no come tomorrow sir"
Aarav looked up " what..why ?"
"festival on tomorrow." She smiled as she tied her dupatta and wore her sandals.
"Oh ...okay enjoy your festival. Here, for the kids" he smiled and handed her some money. She smiled in return and thanked him once more in her broken English before leaving. The house was blanketed in silence almost immediately.
Aarav looked at the dinner and then at the giant clock ...seven. Too early for dinner? But he was hungry...
Oh well! He sat at the table and served himself the food.
The empty house echoed with the sound of cutlery. He grimaced as a bit fell on the teak table. He liked keeping the things in his house in good condition. It had been given to him during his parents divorce and he had grown up in this house. His parents had moved abroad many years ago. So the house was his by all rights.
The rain beat down on the windows as he sat and ate in silence. The tap in the kitchen was leaking against, he noted as the sound of water droplets echoed. The food seemed bland...perhaps it was just the ambience.
His phone buzzed and he picked it up,"Hey Adi... No, I wasn't busy tell me"
He shoved a spoon of food in his mouth as he heard all that had happened, struggling not to laugh.
"Give me this girls number. I'll call her and take the interview myself... By tomorrow I'll tell you if she's good or not. Yeah they won't mind. And yeah use nail polish remover for the marker... " he grinned, "you're welcome, Okay then ...bye"
He waited for the number to come. Why he wanted to do this immediately He didnt know ...or perhaps he didn't want to think about it .
"Hello? my name is ... No ...yea...I Didn't call to tell you my name ... you have an interview tomorrow right? I was wondering if you're free . we could have the interview tonight ..what do you mean?"
He winced as she began shouting. "What?! No! I didn't mean in that way. I own the band and I was free so...yeah...yes. Okay....okay 9? Okay...thank you. Bye"
He blinked. Why had he thanked her? Aditya was right, she was rather bossy.
---------------------------------
"fine, I said I'm sorry! Look you never told me about it he interview before" the man sighed.
"Anna!(brother in Tamil) who are you talking to?" A smaller girl tried pulling the phone from his hand. He slapped her hand away before she could touch it.
"Shu! I'm not talking to anyone!' He got up and walked out to the balcony as the girl began crying
"Mama!!!! Anna hit me!" She wept and melodramatically fell to the ground. He rolled his eyes and silently signaled for her to shut up this was the issue of having siblings that were nearly 15 years younger to you.
"Madhav! Stop troubling the child! Who are you talking to?" His mother began walking down the hall.
Madhav cursed internally " I'm talking to Aarav ma. We have a gig soon!"
"Yea yea you sit and talk to Aarav even at 1 am. I notice you! You think I don't know ?" she scolded him and walked back to the kitchen.
He scratched his head and shut the balcony door.
"Sorry " he muttered "sisters are annoying"
Smiling as the voice on the other side consoled him, he leaned on the railing, the rain had dissipated and a cool mist had settled over Chennai, the coastline was clearly visible, something he was thankful for.
"When do we get to meet again?" he asked, watching the small waves lap against the sand, "yeah? Saturday?"
"Madhav! milk is over! Get it and come before your father comes. I told you to get it earlier itself why didn't ..." His mother instructed, trailing off at the end.
He sighed "okay I have to go. I'll text you later ...love you" he whispered and blushed softly as he kept the phone.
"...you never listen to me..." his mothers voice jerked him back to reality.
"Yea ma I'm GOING WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING?" he walked in to the house and got ready to go buy milk.