Legs When Walking (Book 3)Chapter 2: The Question That Breaks a Smile
830 Words
Legs When Walking (Book 3)
Chapter 2: The Question That Breaks a Smile
“Someone asks—‘Why are you laughing?’
And suddenly, that special moment stops.
We either get irritated… or try to answer.
But the truth is—some smiles were never meant to be explained.”
---
Morning in Kolkata carried its usual blend of warmth and noise, but for Bhabotosh Chakraborty, the world again felt slightly distant.
He walked.
Same road.
Same rhythm.
Same quiet escape.
And again… that smile appeared.
It came without permission—slow, meaningful, almost like a secret shared between his heart and someone unseen.
---
“Why are you laughing?”
The voice came sharp.
Too sharp.
The smile vanished instantly.
Bhabotosh blinked, as if pulled out of a dream too abruptly. In front of him stood a middle-aged man, curious eyes mixed with mild annoyance.
“You’ve been smiling to yourself for the last five minutes,” the man continued. “Anything funny?”
Bhabotosh stared at him.
For a second, irritation flickered in his eyes.
Not because of the question—
But because of what it had done.
It had broken something.
---
That moment.
That fragile, beautiful moment.
Gone.
Just like that.
---
“It’s nothing,” Bhabotosh replied shortly, trying to move past him.
But the man wasn’t satisfied. “Nothing? People don’t smile like that for nothing.”
This time, Bhabotosh stopped.
Turned.
And there it was—
That subtle anger.
“You wouldn’t understand,” he said quietly.
The man frowned, slightly taken aback. “Then explain.”
Bhabotosh almost laughed.
Explain?
How do you explain a feeling that doesn’t even have a name?
How do you explain a smile that belongs to memories, emotions, and something dangerously close to confusion?
“You ever think of someone,” Bhabotosh said slowly, “and for no reason… you just feel… lighter?”
The man hesitated. “Maybe.”
“And then someone interrupts,” Bhabotosh continued, his voice tightening, “and suddenly you can’t even remember why you were smiling?”
Silence.
The man had no answer.
Because there wasn’t one.
---
“Exactly,” Bhabotosh muttered, and walked away.
This time—
No smile.
---
From a distance, Trinetra watched everything.
Every expression.
Every pause.
Every flicker of irritation.
Her lips curved slightly.
“Still fragile,” she whispered.
She had expected this.
She knew exactly how to break him—not physically, not directly—but through something far more subtle.
Moments.
Interruptions.
Questions.
Because sometimes, the smallest disruptions create the deepest cracks.
---
Elsewhere, Makim leaned back in his chair, listening to a voice note.
A recording.
Bhabotosh’s voice.
“You wouldn’t understand…”
Makim chuckled.
“Oh, I understand perfectly,” he said under his breath.
He looked up at the man standing in front of him. “Keep people around him.”
“Why?”
Makim’s eyes darkened.
“Because I don’t want him alone.”
A pause.
“Not even in his thoughts.”
---
Back home, Putha noticed it again.
The difference.
The absence.
“Where’s your smile today?” she asked gently.
Bhabotosh looked at her.
For a moment, he tried to bring it back.
But it didn’t come.
“It got… interrupted,” he said.
Putha frowned. “Interrupted?”
He nodded. “Someone asked me why I was smiling.”
“And?”
“And I couldn’t answer.”
---
Putha walked closer, her gaze steady but searching.
“Why didn’t you tell them?” she asked.
Bhabotosh hesitated.
Because the truth sounded wrong even in his own head.
“Because I don’t fully know,” he admitted.
That answer didn’t comfort her.
It unsettled her.
---
“You never used to hesitate like that,” she said quietly.
“I still don’t.”
“You just did.”
---
Silence filled the room.
Heavy.
Unspoken.
Dangerous.
---
That night, Bhabotosh walked again.
But this time—
No smile came.
He tried.
Waited.
Hoped.
Nothing.
Just emptiness where something warm had been before.
And strangely…
That hurt.
More than he expected.
---
From the shadows, Trinetra stepped forward slightly, watching him struggle with something so simple… yet so powerful.
“A single question,” she murmured, “and everything changes.”
Her phone buzzed again.
“Proceed?”
She typed back this time.
“Not yet.”
Because breaking someone completely—
Takes patience.
---
Far away, Makim looked out over the city lights, a slow grin forming on his face.
“Smiles are dangerous things,” he said softly.
“They reveal too much.”
He paused.
Then added—
“And when they disappear… that’s when the real story begins.”
---
Bhabotosh finally stopped walking.
For the first time in days.
No thoughts.
No smile.
Just silence.
---
Some questions don’t seek answers…
They steal moments.
They break feelings.
And sometimes…
They reveal cracks we didn’t know existed.
---
To be continued…
- Writer
