His Favourite Book

Chapter 53 - No Going Back

[Sinha Mansion]

The same morning, a phone rang in one of the rooms of the Sinha Mansion. Under the muffling blankets on the kind-sized round bed, moved the sleepy figure of the person to whom the room belonged. Drishti.

"Hello?" She picked up the phone, her husky voice reaching the other side of the call.

"Good morning, ma'am," the other person initiated the purpose of his call.

"Get to the point." Drishti was still sleepy and not in the mood for unnecessary greetings.

"Yes, sorry ma'am. I'm here at the orphanage with the bicycles as per your order. However, the owner of the orphanage only accepted ninety-eight out of the hundred bicycles. The staff said that one person was not available at the moment. They couldn't even make any contact with the person for days. So their bicycle could not be handed over."

It was a call from her manager. As soon as he had begun speaking, Drishti had gotten off her bed. While listening to the other side of the call, she picked up the tumbler that was filled with her specifically curated morning drink. She wore high-waist trousers and a solid robbed button sleeveless tank top. Sipping from her tumbler, she carefully listened to each word spoken by her manager and stood beside the huge window at the other end of her room.

While her gaze was fixed on the gardener working on their lawn, her crystal clear words fell on her manager's ears. "I want all the hundred bicycles to be respectfully handed over to the deserving person. So stop with the shameless excuses."

"But, ma'am-"

"It's your job to handle the shortcomings. I want it done by this afternoon." Her final words pierced through the phone before she cut the call and admired the morning breezes.

"Lovely day. Should go out." She excitedly put away the tumbler and went on to get ready to attend the university.

'I should inform Aashna about the donation being successful! Today in the college. I don't think they would have more than one class today anyway!' She thought in the car while on her way to the university.

Drishti Sinha was a student of Diploma in Creative Arts and Design for the duration of 1 year, at the same university as Aashna, Muskan, Kartik, and Abhimanyu. However, even before she had her degree in hand, she was already a well-established Fashion Model, with a worth higher than half the industry could afford. Luxury fashion brands, targeting celebrity customers, would approach her for their promotional content. Her career was in full bloom and she was usually found on Modelling sets and photoshoots rather than the university.

- X - X - X - X - X -

The University's main gate glided over the wheels to clear the entrance and make way for a traveller bus to exit. The Geography department was going for a study field trip. Exams were coming up and so were the deadlines for the final assignment submissions and practicals. For the same reason, a study trip would, for them, make a good topic for a lengthy, soul-sucking assignment, just the way an education system demands.

The loaded bus left the gates while the excitement-filled screams of the students sent loud, shivering sound waves all over the area. The emotion of joy emitting from the screams suddenly switched to that of terror when the bus driver fiercely pulled the brakes. Inertia worked its way and within no time, all the students and the professors fell forward.

"AYE IDIOT! WISH TO DIE OR WHAT? MOVE! OUT OF THE WAY!" Everyone heard the bus driver yelling and immediately shifted their attention to the cause of the sudden screech of the tyres.

Abhimanyu was zoned out. Standing in the middle of the road with his bag dangling off his right shoulder, his not-so-attentive gaze was fixed on the ground. Before his brain could register the driver's words, his left elbow was pulled and he was dragged to the side, leaving way for the bus to continue moving.

"Sorry, Kaka! Sorry, everyone! You can leave." Drishti said, putting an end to the driver's rage. She turned to Abhimanyu, who was already staring at her with his dead eyes. Obviously, it was time to scold him. "WHAT THE F-"

"They kicked me out." Abhimanyu's lips emitted something Drishti would have never even guessed in her wildest dreams.

"Wh-"

Muskan after conversing with their professor, came down searching for Abhimanyu. While her eyes were scanning the premises, on her ears fell a loud screeching of tyres from the main road ahead. She ran over, only to see Abhimanyu with his head hung low, talking to Drishti while both stood on the footpath. Their backs were facing Muskan who was still inside the University's bordering wall, listening to their conversation through the wired fences.

"My parents. They kicked me out of their house." Abhimanyu confirmed.

"What- What does that mean??"

"It has one meaning. Stop asking foolish questions."

"BRO! Are you in some 2017 boyband fanfiction?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY-" Drishti still couldn't believe his words.

"I was kicked out. Is this a time to joke?" His eyes flattened upon hearing the dumb reply. "The news of me not clearing the first round of the research competition reached them. They think that I'm taking my and my family's life lightly and that I can't do anything any further if I keep failing at such low levels. They said that they didn't care if I lived with them or not. That they have decided to stop investing their money in me and I could leave the house if I wished. I left. No, they forced me to leave. They didn't say it clearly but obviously, that was what they meant. They think that research is a stupid field. And I-"

"Woah halt there!" Drishti interrupted him. "Never seen you speaking for so long and so fast." Drishti muttered by herself and continued speaking to him, "Okay, I get it. So what was the point of standing in the middle of a busy road like that?"

"What is the point of living anymore anyway?" Abhimanyu spoke in a subliminal voice and turned around to leave.

"What even- HEY! Where are you going to go now?" She called him.

"No idea. I don't want to return to this place."

Drishti got a call from her manager once again. "Wait, stop!" She held Abhimanyu's arm and picked up the call. "What now?"

"Ma'am, we managed to get some details about the person. We'll leave to deliver this bicycle there."

"Obviously. That's what you call me for? Just do the work and be done with it, god!" She hung up the call in annoyance and again spoke to Abhimanyu, "You're not going anywhere. I'll do something about it. Stay here in the university meanwhile. God knows whatever you'll get into if you stay outside."

Drishti pushed him as he conformed and left to wander inside the university's premises. He did not have the energy to talk back to her.

'That is not how you reply to suicidal thoughts...' Muskan thought as she saw Abhimanyu walking up to somewhere no one knew. Not even him.

Muskan had more than one thing to be upset about. She didn't even get a chance to take care of him as her professor had expected. "It doesn't take a lot of time for the Authoritarian parents to become neglectful and uninvolved parents." The Professor's words had already turned into reality. Indeed, it didn't take long for the change to happen. There was no going back.

- X - X - X - X - X -

[The ChaiScript BookCafe]

Aditya, the second employee in Girisha's cafe, was busy mopping the floor. Aashna had informed him about Khushi's whereabouts and as expected, he was equally worried and disappointed about how things had turned out.

Lost in his thoughts, he accidentally banged himself against a shelf and a few books fell on his head, making him hiss in pain while rubbing his head.

The cafe's door chimed as someone entered and saw him caressing his head. "Uhm... are you okay?" The person said.

Aditya quickly turned around to see a stranger standing at the door. "Yes. Uhm, I'm sorry but we're closed for a few days."

"No, I'm not here for that." The man said.

His intentions took aback Aditya. He looked around to see a carrier truck standing right outside the cafe.

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