1.3 | Cellophane

iii | alcoholic

key:

ishita / jai

i'm sorry but there's a question i desperately want to ask you

what is it now

why were you there at blue light the other day? i mean, there are so many other fancy restobars out there.

it's almost always empty at blue light. it gives me some peace. the other night was a nightmare but i desperately needed a drink.

can i ask why?

no

you're supposed to say yes, you asshole

no

you know my sob story. it's only fair i know yours

who's deciding this?

i am. i want to know what is turning a rich and successful businessman like you into an alcoholic

i'm not an alcoholic

you fucking bought a whole ass bottle of whiskey. i didn't even know they were allowed to hand it to you like that

i pay extra for it. and if i remember correctly, you finished more than half of the bottle that day

what are you implying?

maybe you are the alcoholic.

thank god. i thought you would ask me to pay you back for it.

because i have no money.

i know.

tell me why you were there, jai

do you know that the engagement with sahana was my second attempt at a marriage? first one fell apart because of me. i wasn't doing great and my parents forced it on me. with sahana, i had accepted it and i was trying but she asked me to break it off. two failed attempts is bound to leave a mark, right?

what kind of a mark are you talking about?

the bad kind. the beginning of rumors.

oh

people think there's something wrong with me.

that you can't make babies? no good swimmers in you? or that you're gay?

pretty much

is it true?

no, ishita, i am perfectly capable of reproducing. and i'm not gay.

but you know, so what if you cannot? it doesn't make you less of a man. why are people like this? they make everything a problem just to have something to whisper about

you don't have to comfort me

trust me, that's not my intention. don't think too high of yourself.

i just don't understand it

it's the way the world is

so what's happening right now?

there's a shit load of pressure on me to get married as soon as possible

i'm sorry i drank your alcohol. i didn't realise you desperately needed it

let's be honest. if you'd known, you would have emptied it faster

okay, let's not be honest.

good talk

my time is over? already?

i have work to do unlike you

ouch, sir, you're brutal

get a job and stop texting me

yes sir, right away, sir. your wish is my command, sir.

if only it was that easy, you moron

you fucking seenzoned me?

excuse me?

how dare you!

fucking asshole.