Barrister Babu: The Journey Ahead

Of Love Bites and Past Experiences

A little later that day, when Bondita was getting dressed again, she noticed a dark red mark on her neck. She touched it gently, frowning. 

"What's this?" she asked Anirudh who was busy buttoning his shirt.

He glanced at her and smiled. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, leaning into her ear and whispering, "Love bite." 

She turned to look at him. "What does that mean?" she asked, seriously confused by how this formed. "Does an insect give such a bite?" 

Anirudh chuckled and touched the mark gently. He leaned towards it and kissed it softly. 

"I gave you this bite," he told her, glancing into her eyes and smiling. 

Bondita still didn't understand. 

"How's that possible?" she asked. 

Anirudh laughed and said, "It formed because the pressure when I sucked on your skin caused a blood vessel to rupture." 

Bondita raised her eyebrows and gently touched the spot again. 

"Pati Babu, there's something I seriously need to ask you," she told him, and she grabbed hold of his hands. "You have to answer me very honestly." 

"Yes Bondita?" Anirudh asked. 

"How do you know all of these things?" she demanded. "From how to do everything, to even something like love bites. How do you know? Where did you learn this?"

He looked at her with amazement. 

"Pati Babu, I won't be upset. I just want to know. Was there ever someone in your life other than me?" she asked him, looking at him with deep intensity. 

"Whoa," Anirudh said, and brought her hands together, holding them both at once in between his own hands. "Did I ever get a break from thoughts of you that I would have a chance to have anyone else in my life?" 

Bondita felt her heart flutter but she shook her head. 

"I mean, before me maybe... Saudamini didi was there too," Bondita said, looking at him. "Or in London..." 

Anirudh let go of her hands and cupped her face, looking deep in her eyes. 

"Saudamini was just my childhood friend," he told her explicitly. "What I felt for her is nothing, nothing like what I have felt for you. Comparing what I felt for her, to what I feel for you Bondita would be a great crime. I never had any kind of physical relation with anyone except you."

She had tears in her eyes because even in this he was expressing his love for her in the most beautiful of ways. 

"As for how I know about these things. Let's just say I read a lot of books when I was younger," Anirudh said, his ears now turning red out of embarrassment. 

Bondita felt her lips curve upwards. 

"What?" she asked, giggling. "Books?" 

Anirudh nodded. He slid his hand into her hair and whispered, "Many kinds of books. Biology books because I genuinely had a curiosity... books that explain these things in an erotic manner, magazines..." 

Bondita gasped. 

"You read all of that?" she asked, eyes wide. 

Anirudh was flustered.

"Yes," he admitted, now feeling embarrassed. "When I was younger." 

Bondita with heated cheeks asked, "Do you still have those books?"