My Destination, My Bondita

42 - Of Jealousy and Revelations

When Anirudh stepped out of Bondita's room, he ran into someone who he shouldn't have run into at any cost. 

"Anirudh? What were you doing in Bondita's room?" Sampoorna Maa asked, noticing his messy hair and his crumpled night clothes.  

"M - Me?" Anirudh stammered, closing the door to Bondita's room gently so that she wouldn't wake up. "I was getting something." 

"So early in the morning?" Sampoorna Maa questioned, "Well, where is it? What did you get?" 

"It - it wasn't there and I didn't want to wake up Bondita. It was... a book! An important book," Anirudh said quickly. "I needed it for a case." 

He could tell from Sampoorna's eyes that she didn't believe him one bit. 

"And anyways," Anirudh said, standing straight and running his hand through his hair. "Why are you up so early?"

"It's not that early Anirudh," Sampoorna said, shaking her head. "I thought you didn't want to stay with Bondita?" 

Anirudh frowned and asked her, "How is it any of your business?"

He could see that Sampoorna felt insulted by this. 

"She's still my sister,"  Sampoorna said. 

"Yes, the sister you mislead?" Anirudh asked, "You made her believe such terrible things about her menstruation. You made her hurt herself and stay caged in a corner, bottling up so many emotions!" 

Sampoorna furrowed her brows and folded her arms. 

"I can't forgive you for that," he told her simply, and then walked away. 

As Sampoorna watched him go, she turned to face Bondita's room again. 

When Trilochan Babu first disclosed to the family the news that Bondita was pregnant many months ago, Sampoorna had been very upset. She had been the one who wanted to give this family a child before Bondita. So when she found out that Bondita in her foolishness had misinterpreted her pregnancy, there was nobody happier than Sampoorna. 

The way that Anirudh always behaved around Bondita, it seemed like he would never accept her as a wife, although even Sampoorna was aware that there was a bond between the two of them. She just never thought that the bond would be such that Anirudh would be spending the night with Bondita in her room, and hiding this from the rest of the family members. 

Could it be that Bondita could really give this family a heir before her? 

"I can't let that happen," Sampoorna muttered, "At no cost can I let this love story of Anirudh and Bondita move forward." 

She stormed away from Bondita's room, deciding that she had to do something about this. 

When Bondita woke up, she thought to early this morning; how she had slept on her Pati Babu's lap and he kissed her forehead before leaving. She touched the spot on her forehead he had kissed and felt a faint blush appear on her cheeks. 

Everything was feeling so intense these days. 

She quickly got ready, excited to see him again. Even though they had only been separated for a few hours, it was already feeling like an eternity to her. 

When she went downstairs, she went to find him in the study. When she got there, she saw that Manika was there talking to her Pati Babu. 

The two of them were laughing together. 

Her insides burned with jealousy. 

She felt envious of the way that Pati Babu seemed to take Manika to the side and talk about things without her in the past, but today the feeling seemed even more intense. It seemed like just this jealous feeling was enough to make her cry now.