YOURS TRULY

Part 21

***

Sitting on the bench outside of the main building of Lalbazaar police station, which was the headquarters of the law enforcement department of the city, Ipshita was smoking a cigarette as she sipped on a teacup. The incidents of the past few weeks were flashing through her mind. Shuvro was now home, but was still weak, at least in her mind. Her father was under her watch all the time even when she was not home. Her battle with her mother was now at an interval as the sole purpose of both, the mother and the daughter became the recovery of her father.
Under the scorching care of two ladies, Shuvro's life had now become insufferable. He couldn't even move without their queries. Tears gathered in his eyes looking at his food chart. To see any colour other than off white, fading yellow and green of boiled food, daal and vegetables he craved like a Jacobin cuckoo bird. But every time he would open his mouth to say something, Tulika would shut it with a piece of fruit or some words describing how childish he was sounding.

Ipshita was halfway through the cigarette when the sound of his brother's voice came from afar talking to someone else. Quickly taking some small puff of smoke she inflicted it on the ground and putting it out with her shoes, tried to kick the cigarette's butt away. Fanning her hand in front of her mouth and washing it with gurgling water she tried to defuse the smell but as if smelling like a hound dog Rubel stood in front of her.

"Really? You're trying to hide the smell of cigarettes with water, from a police officer?" Rubel appeared with a scowling face and a grumpy voice.
"I -"
"It's a harmful habit Ipshita!"
"I have cut back. I promise davai! I just - lost control seeing everyone else here smoking." Ipshita explained in a small voice. Her dadavai yelling at her was not something she could take well. "I don't smoke otherwise, not even one a day. It's just -"
"Na, khabi keno? What is the need of smoking anyway? Get a patch! Don't you remember what happened to baba! It's an awful habit!" Rubel ran his fingers through his hair. The hideous frown on his forehead kept Ipshita from saying anything as she kept looking down. Running his eyes across her face Rubel sighed, "Anyway, kheyechis kichu? Let's go have some lunch. I heard some words about this new restaurant around the block, from some of my colleagues. What say?"
"Okay." Quickly the sister nodded sighing in relief at the diversion of the topic of the conversation.

"What brought you this way though? It's not your office area." Ratul asked hopping inside Ipshita's car.
"I - needed to buy some of the medicines for baba." Putting on the seat belt across her torso she chirped. "The medical shop in our locality doesn't have those in stock so, I came looking for them in Dhanwantary."
"Arey! You could have told me, I would have-"
"It's fine dadavai! I have a car, it's not that much of a situation."
"Yeah but - anyway, did you get them there?"
Ipshita nodded to Rubel's questions and pointed at the gloves compartment.

By the end of the discussion, Ipshita's car rolled in front of a newly formed urban looking traditionally decorated restaurant. After parking her car the brother and sister duo went inside.

*

"Artriya?" Rubel asked, flipping through the menus of restaurant, with a frown on his forehead.
"Yes, she had a shoot or something around here, so hearing me coming this way too, she asked if we could get lunch together. So..." Ipshita mumbled unmindfully typing on her phone screen informing the woman in the discussion about the location of the restaurant.

Artriya was Ipshita's school friend along with Riti. She got discovered at one of her college fests by a casting director who was an ex-student of the college. The girl became a household name after getting cast as the female lead of a Bengali soap opera and a few modelling assignments and now was trying to get into the film industries.

"Uhm - so will you be ordering after she comes or -?" Rubel asked again clearing his voice. The scowl that spread across his face was trying hard to overcome the rush inside him that had emerged just by the utterance of the name.