Read with BonusRead with Bonus

Call from his grandfather

One year before, in Toronto, Canada…

In a luxurious villa, a party was going on. Loud music was clearly audible from outside the villa. A very handsome young man was dancing gracefully with a beautiful girl in the quick beats of the music. They were the center of attraction and everyone was encouraging them by whistling and clapping.

Just then the man felt a jolt in his pocket. He stopped immediately to take out his phone and grimaced to see the number. Raising his hands, he exclaimed, “Guys, guys… lower the volume, Dad is on phone.” Within a blink, the loud music turned off and he answered the call “Yes Dad.”

“Come home quickly.” He heard his father’s ice-cold voice.

Frowning, he replied, “But, today is my day off.”

“Atharv… I won’t repeat it.” With that, the phone disconnected.

Holding the phone tight he cursed loudly “Shit… shit…”

The girl tapped on his shoulder and asked shooting a suspicious gaze at him “Is everything alright?”

“I got to go home now. Do you want to stay here, or shall I drop you?”

She hooked her arms around his neck and said, “Drop me home.”

Pulling her cheeks and looking at her lovingly, Atharv said “OK, my love.”

They both came out of the villa and got into the Porsche. Ruffling his long hairs, Atharv started the engine and the car swiftly exited the villa area. On the way, the girl asked, “Why did uncle call you so urgently?”

“No idea.”

“Can I go with you? I am really worried.”

“Tina… don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” Glancing at her he continued “I will call you at night, OK?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, Tina pouted and looked away from him as though she was not happy with his response. The corner of his lips curled up to see her puffy cheeks. Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a luxurious apartment. Atharv got off the car and opened the door for Tina. Casting an unpleasant look at him, Tina came out of the Porsche. Closing the door, Atharv looked at her and couldn’t help but pull her slightly pink cheeks. “My love, don’t get angry. You know Dad’s nature. He always loves to give orders and I am sure a huge responsibility is waiting for me.”

Sighing, Tina said, “OK, I got it.” Then she smiled sweetly and continued “I will wait for your call.”

With that, she tiptoed and kissed his cheek. He smiled widely and kissed back on her cheeks. Saying “Goodbye” they parted away.

Nearly after one hour, Atharv reached his villa. A woman in her early fifties was waiting for him standing beside the door. She was wearing a yellow saree with golden edges which made her original fair skin brighter. Her beautiful big eyes crinkled as a wide smile appeared the moment her black watery eyes landed on Atharv. He smiled back at her and said “Mom, you look so happy. Did Dad give you a surprise gift?”

For a few seconds, her sweet smile disappeared from her face and snapped “Shut up, you crook.” Then slowly her smile resumed and said “There is a good news. Your Dad is very happy and so do I. Come in, we are waiting for you.”

Raising his eyebrows, he looked at his mother and asked “Is that so? Then I can’t wait to hear this good news.”

They both entered the villa and saw Om Ahuja sitting on the couch placing one leg on the top of another. Om Ahuja cast a frosty gaze at Atharv and asked “Why are you late? Do you know how important is every minute? When will you learn to value the time, Atharv?”

Atharv rolled his eyes and winced before started saying “Dad, today is my day off. You promised me that I can do anything on Sunday, then why this fuss now?”

Waving his hands, Om sneered “Well, now you learned to argue with me.”

Shrugging, Komal said “Om, come to the point. Tell him the good news.”

Running his hand through his long hair, Atharv sat down on the couch beside Om and said casually “Yes, I am eager to know what the good news is.”

Om Ahuja looked at him knitting his eyebrows and ordered “First, cut your hair. Your hair is longer than the hairs of many girls. It came till your shoulder.”

Annoyed by his statement, Atharv groaned and exclaimed ruffling his hair “Dad, this is my swag and it’s cool you know. And more of that, Tina likes it. I won’t cut it.”

“Atharv…” Om Ahuja roared as if he was not at all happy to hear him. Inhaling deeply, he started saying “Your grandfather called this morning. He told us to go back to India. In the next two days, we are going there. Before that I want your hair to be cut short.”

“What?”

Atharv stood up instantly and looked down at Om creasing his eyebrows tight. He couldn’t believe his ears. He was 26 now, but during these years he never heard anything from his grandfather.

Om Ahuja and Komal loved each other since college and got married, but his grandfather didn’t accept their marriage because Komal was from a lower-middle-class family. For him, she was not eligible to be a daughter-in-law of the Ahuja family. Virendra Pratap pressurized Om to divorce Komal but Om refused to do so, and he cast him out of his family as well as the business out of anger. He never contacted them after that incident. Om Ahuja came to Canada with Komal and started living with her. After a long struggle, he managed to start his hotel business in Toronto, Canada, and lived his life happily with his small family. After nearly 30 years Virendra Pratap called and asked Om Ahuja to come back home suddenly. Om Ahuja got emotional and couldn’t refuse his father and agreed to him without a second thought.

Infuriated, Atharv shouted “Why should I go there? He never called us during all these years, never cared whether we are alive or not and now out of blue suddenly he called us to go back? I won’t go.”

He turned back and was about to leave but he heard his father shouting “Halt… I am not telling you. This is my order and you have to obey me. Do you get that?”

He swung his hands up in the air and turned to look at his father, then said “Why are you forcing me, Dad? I don’t like that old man. Did he know anything about me? Did he know how old I am? Did he ever call to bless me on any of my birthdays? Then why should I go to meet him? If you want then you can go, but don’t expect anything from me.” With that, he walked away from there and directly went to his room.

“Atharv…” He heard Om calling his name from his back in fury, but he didn’t pay any attention to him.

Om looked up at Komal who was standing beside him for a long time without a word. Helplessness was written all over his face. He was aware that Atharv was not happy with this and somehow Atharv was not fully wrong. During these years Virendra Pratap not even called them once let alone showing love and care to them. In this situation, Om didn’t want to force Atharv against his will but at the same time, he also didn’t want to disobey his father as this was his chance to reunite with his family. He wanted to show Atharv how his family was and how huge was their family business. Komal understood her husband’s wish. She nodded and said “Don’t worry. I will talk to him.” She then looked up at the second floor and walked to his room.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter