Page 4 of No Boss
Abhinav didn’t answer.
“The Chauhan family has looked after Anand Mahal for four centuries now,” Rajendra continued. “Devendra sends me a report every month. Every single month, for twenty-eight years.” Something shifted in his voice. “I didn’t always respond the way I should have.”
“I’ll handle it,” Abhinav replied. “When things are…” he stopped.
The unspoken words hung between them.
“It’s not just about handling it,” his father pressed. “They’re not just caretakers. They’re the people who kept our history alive while we were busy making money. Devendra’s daughter, Meera, studied heritage conservation just to understand how to preserve it properly. That kind of devotion to something...” he shook his head. “You don’t find it often.”
Abhinav filed the information away.Chauhan family. Daughter named Meera. Handle appropriately.
They sat in silence as the sun began its long slide toward the horizon. Waves broke and pulled back. Broke and pulled back.
Abhinav watched his father’s profile, still sharp despite the illness, still recognisable as the man who used to fill every room he entered.
“Papa,” he asked quietly. “Do you really believe Kul Devi is watching over us?”
Rajendra didn’t answer immediately.
“I believe,” he took a deep breath before continuing, “that faith gives you something to hold onto when everything else is falling apart. The question is whether you face it alone or whether you face it with something larger than yourself to lean on.”
“Even if that something doesn’t actually help?”
His father smiled faintly. “Who says it doesn’t help? Your mother has the strength to sit with me all day. Naina lights incense and then she can smile through her tears. Maybe that’s what gods are for. Not to fix what’s broken, but to help us survive it while it stays broken.”
Abhinav remained silent.
His father reached out and patted his hand once. “You don’t have to believe what I believe. You just have to respect that some people need their faith to get through the unbearable.”
“Even when the unbearable happens anyway?”
“Especially then.”
The sun touched the horizon. Gold bled into orange, into red.
“Ready to head back?” Abhinav’s voice was soft.
“One more minute.”
So, they stayed. Watching the light change. His father’s breathing was now audible over the sound of the waves.
Abhinav thought about the diya. About his mother’s daily prayers. About a goddess thousands of miles away who was supposed to be watching over them. He thought about whatwatching over someone was even supposed to mean when it looked like this.
He didn’t say any of it.
Two Weeks Later
The end came on a Thursday afternoon when the nurse checked his vitals. Her face changed, and she stepped out to make a phone call.
Abhinav was in the study reviewing contracts when his mother appeared in the doorway. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t need to.
He closed his laptop and followed her.
The three of them gathered around the hospital bed. Sarita on the right, Rajendra’s hand pressed between both of hers against her cheek. Naina on the left, fingers laced through his, tears already falling silently onto her father’s hand. Abhinav at the foot of the bed, watching his father’s chest rise and fall, slowly, each breath shallow.
The doctor had explained this part. The final stage. How the body would begin shutting down. How the breathing would change. How at some point it would simply stop.
Rajendra’s eyes opened one more time. They moved across the room. Sarita. Naina. Then found Abhinav at the foot of the bed.
