35

A loud slap echoed inside the big mansion. Arthur’s mother, Rosa got to her feet and walked towards her husband’s study room. She did feel strange to see her son, Arthur at home early in the morning. But she had simply brushed it off without giving it much thought. But she was beyond curious to know why her son came home first thing in the morning. He had returned from vacation yesterday night. And the tight slap sound that resounded from her husband’s study room gave more reason for her to get nervous.

She unlocked the door and entered the study room without knocking. There stood her son with a bright red mark on his cheek and her husband who was fuming with anger.

“What happened? Why did you hit him?” she asked her husband while walking to see her son’s face.

“Oh, ask your son what great kind of achievement he has done,” Arthur’s father spat out.

“What did you do, son?” she asked Arthur. But he stayed silent.

She then turned back to her husband, “Tell me, what has my son done?”

“An extra marital affair! Be proud of him,” Rosa’s face turned pale. She looked at her son with confusion. She was sure that her son would not be a reckless man.

“Are you not the main reason for it?” Arthur said to his father.

His father came forward to hit him again but was stopped by his wife.

“Don’t hit him. Can anybody tell me what is really going on here?” Rosa screamed, losing her patience.

Arthur goes home tired from everything that happened since morning. He was not surprised to be summoned by his father first thing in the morning. But he did not know that his mother would take the news pretty well. Although she felt bad for Emily, she was glad to know that her son has someone whom he loves a lot. She also felt bad for getting him married to Emily. When her husband talked to her about Emily, she had fallen in love with the sweet girl and wanted her to be her daughter-in-law. But little did she know that her son preferred men. If only she knew, things would have been different and probably better.

After Arthur spilled everything in front of his mother, she told him to talk to Emily first and then decide what he wants to do next.

Here, he was now, at home. Emily was nowhere to be found but Amity was watching the cartoon on the television.

“Hey, baby,” he said taking a seat next to her.

“Hey, papa, you have come home early today,” she said hopping onto his lap.

“I did not go to work today,”

“Why? Did you bunk?”

He chuckled, “Yeah, kind of.”

“Tell me, something papa. I am already bored.”

He thought for a second and said, “Then I will tell you a story.”

“Ok, tell me,” she said giving all the attention to her father.

“So, one nerdy guy went to study in a university far away from his hometown. And there, he made a lot of good friends and one among the friends he made caught his attention very much. Those two boys shared a very special bond and immediately became close friends.”

Arthur looked at his daughter, she was very attentively listening to him, so he continued.

“And then their friendship progressed and they became lovers. But the nerdy guy’s father did not like it. So, he separated the boys and brought his son back to his hometown.”

“His father is a meany,” Amity said.

“Hmm. He is.”

“And then what happened?”

“Then the nerdy boy joins his father’s company and works hard. Later he gets married to a beautiful girl and they both have a daughter.”

“Did the nerdy boy love the beautiful girl and daughter?”

“Yes. He loves them more than his life.”

“But what about the boy he loved in college?” Amity asked curiously. She was too much immersed in the story.

“He loves him too. He will always love him,”

Amity nodded her head in understanding.

“Do you want to know who these two boys are?” he asked her softly. She nodded her head with enthusiasm.

“Arthur and Ethan,”

Just then, they heard a vase falling down. Arthur did not have to turn back to know who it was.