Trina squinted at the departing back of Anulekha, then shook her head and shrugged off her thoughts. She looked at her daughter, who was lying on the sofa like a rug. One leg was dangling on the side, the other was thrown over the handrest, head was falling off the cushion and her hands were raised above her head like Mahaprabhu Chaitanya.
Mrs Dey shook her lightly, "Ankita? Ankita!"
No response. Rather, Ankita twisted her body like a snake and continued to sleep. It was supposed to be an uncomfortable posture but that did not seem to affect her slumber. She was also snoring faintly.
Accepting defeat in waking her daughter up, Mrs. Dey got up and headed upstairs. Tanmoy had just taken a shower and was wiping his hair with a towel in one hand while operating his laptop with the other.
"There you are. Help me take your sister to her room. She's fast asleep on the couch."
"Huh? I just saw her sitting on the sofa. Like, five minutes ago." Tanmoy looked at her dumbfounded, with his mouth agape.
"Maa, is she a descendent of Kumbhakarana?"
Trina laughed.
Seeing her sleepy face, Tanmoy once had the idea of putting some ice cubes inside her uniform, but then deciding against it, tried to be a responsible big brother. He lifted her up without disturbing her sleep, and carried her to her room. Then, Mrs Dey changed her clothes after wiping her clean. Throughout this time, Ankita did not even stir and slept like a log.
When she finally woke up at night, the four of them had dinner together. Trina sat at the head of the table with Subhashish on her right. The empty chair opposite her reminded them of their daughter's absence, but they were still happy to dine with their son and youngest daughter. As always, Mr Chakraborty started serving them once everyone was seated. All of Trina's attempts to talk him out of it failed multiple times. He said that cooking for his family was his way of relaxing. Seeing them enjoy his preparations gave him as much joy as he got from curing an ailing patient.
Ankita eyed the dishes, drooling, "Ooooohhh Malaikari? I'm definitely gonna eat more today."
Tanmoy gasped and slapped his head, "Oh no no no, please don't. My arms almost broke while carrying you upstairs. I had to check multiple times to see if I really was carrying you and not a baby panda. Baba, see, I think I can hear the cracking sound of my broken bones. Even if not broken it is sprained for sure."
He looked at his hands cried dramatically with a pained expression.
"Owuf."
Ankita pinched his back, hard.
"Maa, look, Ankita is pinching me. She doesn't even respect her older brother anymore." Tanmoy complained, caressing the stinging spot.
Ankita scoffed and said raising an eyebrow, "Respect? Do you even know what that word means? And since when did respect and you belonged to the same sentence side by side?"
Tanmoy pulled her hair.
Seeing their behaviour Trina sighed, "Finish your plate first. You can resume your fight later."
The two of them narrowed their eyes at each other and started eating.
Once they calmed down Mr Chakraborty cleared his throat and said, "I got an invitation from my colleague today, for his daughter's wedding. He invited us all. I had called Bibhabori but she won't be able to attend. She'll be busy with a training camp during that time."
Ankita's eyes lit up at the talk of wedding invitation, but her face drooped when Subhashish said that her sister would not be joining them. She was looking forward to finally meeting her elder sister. Tanmoy caressed her head in consolation.
However, Ankita remained upset the entire meal. Tanmoy tried to irk her but she refused to pay him any attention and stayed silent throughout. After dinner, Tanmoy knocked on her door.
"Wanna play a match?" He asked in a challenging tone.
Ankita shook her head.
"No? Are you so scared that you can't even speak?" He flicked her head.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Ankita stroked her temple.
"For bringing back your voice," Tanmoy replied without missing a beat.
Ankita scowled at him and walked inside, "...I'm going to sleep. Good night."
"Ooooh, so you won't be coming to my room right?" he dragged his voice.
"Well, I was thinking of discussing about going to the mall tomorrow, to choose a Lehenga while we play, but..."
He pretended to sadly think out loud, but from time to time, he peeked under his brows to observe Ankita's face. But the moment Ankita looked up at him, he went back to looking utterly dejected by her refusal to talk to him.
"But what?" She stopped in her tracks and looked back.
"Hm? Oh, you're still here? Nothing, I was just... Forget it. You wanted to go to sleep, right? Go, go. I won't keep you. Good night." He smiled and patted her head.
"Wait."
Ankita pulled his shirt just before he could step away, "Finish what you were saying."
Tanmoy smirked and turned around.
"Ah, I was just thinking if you would want to go Lehenga shopping tomorrow, for the wedding, but as down as you are now, I don't think you'll have the mood for it." He shrugged.
Ankita was in a dilemma. A part of her wanted to go while the other wanted to stay at home, sulking.
Seeing her complicated expression Tanmoy said, "What are you thinking so hard about?"
After another short pause, Ankita said, "Can we go shopping tomorrow?"
Tanmoy pretended to be surprised, "But didn't you say at the dining table that you won't be going?"
Ankita bit her lower lip and sighed with a faint smile, "I don't wanna go without Didi, but I also know that she's busy. I can't always expect her to throw away her duty and spend time with me. I'll go."
"That's my hamster!" Tanmoy said, ruffling her hair.
"Hamster?" Ankita tilted her head in confusion.
"When you gobble your food in one go, you do look like a hamster, like this." Tanmoy said, puffing up his cheeks, making a funny expression.
"What! What did you say?" Ankita charged towards him.
"Exactly what I said!" Tanmoy shouted over his shoulder as he took to his heels.