X - XXIV / VII I Think Of You #AtoZChallenge

‘This box of 24 chocolates is me, for the next 24 days. Eat one daily, I'll be before you have the last one.’

‘If you will come before I eat them all up, does that mean I can eat them all right away and you won't go?’

‘You know I have to. It's for less than a month, and I'll be back before you even know that I went.’

‘I don't think so. How can chocolates replace you? Humans can't be replaced by objects, so don't go!’

‘I'll miss you a lot. I’ll be back soon.’

And he left. I tried staying home and worried for a while about something bad happening to him during this trip. A friend suggested pizza a while later and I went out shopping with her after eating to divert my mind for a while from those destructive thoughts.

I returned home late at night and found a brown wrapper on the sofa. When I picked up the cushion, There were lots more. I knew it was my brother who emptied the box full of chocolates. I was upset already and this brought tears.

‘Why did you eat my chocolates?’

‘I saw them on your bed. If you didn’t want me to eat then you should've hidden better.’

‘You ate them all? How could you do that? At least tell me where’s the box!’

‘I think a few were still there when I gave the box to mom,’ he went back to watching House MD.

He didn’t even act like he was feeling guilt. He was trying to imitate House and I was the one made to suffer for the sake of his entertainment. Why are brothers so mean? 

When I went into the kitchen searching for my mom, I saw the box there. With egg yolk. Apparently my mom needed some container to prepare a new homemade egg yolk hair mask. She saw my brother holding one and used it. My chocolate box. I thought the day was bad when he left in the morning. It just turned worse as hours passed by

.

I went into my room, cried a bit and called my boyfriend.

‘Do you know what happened to the chocolates?’

‘You ate them all?’

‘No, my brother did. And my mom put egg into the box. I think this is the worst day of my life.’ I started crying again.

He thought he was consoling by lecturing about how I was overreacting and it was just a box of chocolates. He promised to send me the exact same kind later. That made me feel better. The next few days I spent watching movies and read some books. Soon I was at the airport waiting for him to return.

‘Hey sweetheart, look what I brought!’

The same chocolates, except a dozen or so of the boxes. I felt happy that he tried to cheer me up and remembered the incident in spite of his hectic schedule.

‘You know my parents said it was my fault for not locking it up properly. I wouldn’t have felt so bad if I lost money or gold. It was a gift from you. I should’ve taken better care of that box.’

‘I don’t understand why are you still talking about that incident. You know the reason I brought so many of these boxes? Because I didn't want you to start about how evil your brother is and how your parents blame you all the time routine. Stop talking about it, please.’

I stayed silent throughout the trip back home. It gave me lot of time to think about some important things, like having an unsupporting partner. If I felt bad about something, he did nothing but say I overreact, all the times. Maybe I do overreact at times; isn't he supposed to support me at such times, instead of shutting me down? I felt this way since long, all the time he was away, I thought more about the chocolate box than him. I didn't know anymore if I was in love with him or in love with the feeling of loving him.