Let Go

"Now tell me, how is it made?", Asked Angeli

"It's good but could have been better", Replied Anushtha sarcastically.

 "Com'on don't tease me. I know it's made delicious and you loved it.", Said Angeli

Anushtha held hands of Angeli and said, " You have magic in your hands and I loved it. Why don't you open a restaurant after completing your studies."

Angeli is a college student and fabulous at cooking. She lives with her mother at her house left by her grand parents for her and her mother. Her mother Rekha, a cashier at a local bank had single parented her. Angeli had won many cooking contests at her college. There was a whole shelf in the lobby of her house decorated with her trophies. Every relative from her mother's side loved her. Whenever they visited her and her mother she welcomed them very warmly; unlike other teenagers she wasn't playing with her phone all day and with headphone on ignoring what other people were saying. She was a simple and solved girl.

It was afternoon and the temperature outside was very high. Angeli was lying on her bed with fan on when somebody knocked on the main door of her house. It was unusual to have a visitor at this time of the day because the temperature was at its peak at this time of the day. As Angeli opened the door she saw a middle aged man probably in his forties with stubble beard on his face and black shades. She felt a strange feeling as she saw this man.

"Angeli?" Said the man excitably

How does he know my name? Thought Angeli. 

"I'm sorry I don't know you and how come you know my name?" Asked Angeli

"It's all my fault, If there is anyone then it is me who should be sorry. Infact 'Ashamed' I should say." Said the man.

"I'm sorry but I can't understand anything what you are saying Uncle! Please come clear." 

"I don't know how to say this to you." Said the man

"What you wanna say, say it. You're are scaring me. Is my mother alright?"

"Unfortunately I have no idea how Rekha is" Said the man

"How do you know my mother's name. Please tell me who you are?"

"I'm your father!" Said the man

"What are you talking about, are you in your senses Mr.?" Asked Angeli "Please leave"

"Wait a minute. Look" he said as he took a picture out from his wallet.

Angeli saw the picture. It was her mother, baby Angeli and the same man but clean shaved and a lot more younger who was standing in front of her in that picture.

"Please sir! I'm not feeling comfortable. Lemme call my mother"

"I can understand beti"

"And please don't call me that" replied Angeli and shut the door on him. She called her mother and told her everything.

"Invite him inside" Rekha said to her nervously. "But" 

"No questions Angeli. Just do what I said to you."

"Alright but please come faster" 

"Don't worry bacha I'm coming" Said her mother to Angeli.

Angeli opened the door "Please come inside." The man came inside "Thank you" he said

"Please have a seat" said Angeli and left the room. She bought a glass of water and kept it on the table in front of the man.

Angeli messaged Anushtha to call her as she needed a reason to excuse herself from there. But Anushtha didn't checked her message.

"All these years I missed you so much." Said the man "You have grown up so big" he said with tears in his eyes.

Angeli didn't know how to react to this. So she listened quietly what his father was telling her.

"I hope if you will ever forgive me."

"Save it for my mother. I'm not buying all this crap." Angeli broke her silence. "How did you come here, what did you think before coming back? That you'll say some sad words and shed some tears and we'll forgive you and accept you."

"If only you could change my childhood memories I might forgive you."

"Can you do that? Can you alter the memory where everyone's father came for parents teachers meet except mine? Can you show yourself now to those kindergarten kids who asked about my father?"

"Do you even know anything about me except my name? It was not like I never wanted my father to receive me after school excursion like everyone else's. I'm a human not an animal, just like my mother I needed love and support of my father too. I wanted you to support me, to be my motivation, to teach me lessons of life, I always longed the protection of my father. I wanted to ride your back and climb on your shoulders."

"Now why are you here when I had long given on these expectations. There's nothing you can do for me now." Angeli went silent after uttering these words. It looked she was all bottled up to this moment. 

The man froze and didn't replied anything and kept his gaze down. 

"What do you want know? Why are you here? We don't need you know?" These questions echoed inside the man's mind. He had no answers for these questions. He had only prepared for one question, "Where were you?" But Angeli didn't want to know that. 

Rekha opened the door with her key nervously and quickly saw her husband, his eyes down and filled with tears. 

"Are you alright beta?" Asked Rekha to Angeli ignoring the man.

No reply came from Angeli instead she excused herself and left upstairs inside her room.

P.s: Sometimes it's not good to try so hard to hold on to relations that are meant to apart. By forcing them into your life you only make the life miserable for you and the people who are with you at the end of the day. In a nutshell we should accept and learn to let go.

Thank you,

Adnan.