My Mother's Obsession

Episode 2

I'm Divya, a psychiatrist by profession and, over the course of my career, I have dealt with many people who have strange and unusual problems. However, one case in particular disturbed me more than any other.
There was a family of three who lived next door to me. They were a married couple in their 60s and they had a son who was about 25 years old. The son was what we call Mama's boy. Somebody who is introverted, reclusive and isolated. Someone who has withdrawn from social contact depends mostly on his mother. Since, we were neighbours he would meet each other a lot. Soon, I learn that he was good man with a kind soul. He was looking for a job and I was also in need of assistant, so I hired him. He was good at everything. He was funny, caring and laborious. It was hardly a matter of time when I began to develop some feelings towards him. Many a times he would treat me dinner & would say loveliest of things that would make my heart flutter. Even my parents said that we would make a lovely couple.
One such evening he proposed me with a ring and asked my hand for the lifetime. We also went to their family for seeking permission. His father blessed two of us that day. That was the last I ever saw him. I heard that her mother disagreed, so he locked himself away in his room to avoid me. I didn't hear about this directly from his parents. I just assumed they didn't want to discuss it. It was an embarrassment. He left the job too.
As the days passed, their son went out less and less. Eventually, he never came out of the house at all. Every night, from his bedroom window, the furious voice of his mother could be heard screaming and shouting at him.
Whenever I met the poor woman, she smiled and said hello, but the strain was showing in her face. She became pale and haggard. It had been almost six years since anyone had seen the son. One day, the father knocked on my door and asked me to come to his house.
He knew I was a psychiatrist and since we were neighbors, I decided to do what I could to help the family and my lost love.