Anidita : The Flaming Flambeau

CHAPTER 3 : Part 4

Anirudh's p.o.v

I dared a look to my back, clutching the silver bordered pallu of the pink Saree I was wearing close to my face with a mischievous grin. There stood my Bondita – with shocked eyes and frozen limbs. Yes, that's right. Your Pati babu's back in his old avatar!

"Aur yeh... yeh kaun hai?"

The lady's voice interrupted our staring session and I looked back at her half-heartedly. Can't you leave us for some minutes? Never mind.

"Kaun Malkin?" Roopa questioned.

"Ap?"

Bondita's sound was hardly audible. I swear I heard a shiver through it. I turned in her direction again, smiling smugly at her.

"Tum ise janti hai?" Laya questioned from behind me.

Bondita gave a look to Laya which I couldn't quite decipher. What was that? Blankness? Helplessness? Pity? Sympathy? I don't know... I'm not sure.

"Bondita Malkin aur mere jan-pehchan toh bohot purane hai, kyun Malkin?" I chimed.

Her eyes snapped to me in utter disapproval. She wasn't happy about this. And there's nothing more pleasing to me than that single fact.

"Ap Bondita ko keise jante hai?" Laya enquired on.

"Keise nahi janti mein! Meine hi toh Malkin ko khilaya, pilaya, sikhaya. Yahan tak ki inke liye churaya bhi. Hai na Malkin?" I wriggled my brows.

"Bas Pati babu! Ap baki sab ko ulloo bana sakte hai lekin mujhe nahi! Yeh batayiye, ap yahan kya kar rahe hai?" she exploded.

"Pati babu?" Laya murmured to herself.

Taking a look around the room, Rudhira and even her mother have narrowed brows and squinted eyes at Bondita's addressal to me.

"Mein kyun bataun tumhe?" I changed into my usual voice, earning astonished gasps from everyone.

"Ap kyun nahi batayenge mujhe?" she crossed her arms and challenged.

"Tumne mujhse kehkar ghar choda? Tum mujhse kehkar yahan aayi? Agar tum bina bataye itna sab kuch kar sakti hai toh mein kyun nahi?" I too crossed my arms, challenging her equally.

A few minutes passed wherein we just glared daggers at each other standing in the middle of the room. The silence was eventually cut off by Laya's interruption.

"Yeh toh sach mein Dada hai" It was more of a statement to herself.

"Ek minute..." Rudhira showed both her hands and examined me closely.

Then her head snapped to my side. Oh-oh, not fair!

"Agar ap Anirudh Dada hai toh..." she trailed off, her eyes widening more at every passing second "Batuk?"

Her eyes wandered up and down his figure – um, his figure draped in an Orange Saree actually. They lingered a bit more on the wig and the accessories and then, her lips quirked up in a bright smile, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

Behind me, Batuk groaned in obvious frustration. When I first announced my plan among us, he objected so strongly that I almost felt he would reject the offer. However, he obliged at one condition – the others shouldn't know that it was him. He propelled me to lie to them that it was some other woman I brought with me for the mission. Anyway, his plans got completely shattered when his wife identified her husband. Can't mistake a wife's intuitions, can we? Turning to his mother-in-law, he smiled sheepishly and folded his hands.