My Destination, My Bondita

54 - The Prelude to the Truth

When Bondita came out of the bathroom in her night saree, Anirudh smiled at her warmly. She just got in bed, without saying a word to him. Anirudh got in bed beside her and reached to hug her, but Bondita moved further along the bed, not hugging him. 

Anirudh frowned, his heart dropping when Bondita kept her distance from him. 

"Are you okay Bondita?" he asked her. 

"Good night Pati Babu," was all she said, closing her eyes, her back facing him. 

She was upset because of what happened earlier. He hadn't given any proper answers to her arguments at all!

"Do you want me to leave Bondita?" he asked her sadly, wondering if his presence was making her uncomfortable. 

She turned to face him and glared with wet eyes. Anirudh gulped, finding it hard to bear her sweet anger. It was true that he didn't like it when she was mad at him, but the way she glared at him with these eyes always made his heart melt. She looked very cute. 

He reached to touch her cheek gently and she continued to glare. 

"Bondita," he said softly, "Tell me if I am making you uncomfortable. Otherwise I'll go." 

She furrowed her eyebrows and simply said, "No!" 

Then she turned her back to him again, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks out. Anirudh lifted his head from the bed and glanced at her puffed out face and he smiled to himself. 

He felt a blush creeping up his cheeks again, but he ignored it and pulled the blanket over them. He made sure to cover her shoulders properly. As he did so, his fingers touched her arms, making her turn around and glare at him again. 

He tried hard to hide his laugh and just said, "Good night Bondita." 

She tried to move further away from him on the bed, but she was already on the edge. 

Then she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. 

Anirudh watched her with a small smile for a few moments, before he rested comfortably beside her, not entering the personal boundary she made for herself. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Even though hugging her was their normal routine, just being beside her also was good enough for him to sleep peacefully. 

Bondita also fell asleep soon. Even on a regular day, it didn't take her very long to fall asleep after all. 

The next morning, when Bondita woke up, she got dressed and went downstairs to look for her Kakasasurji. She had to seek permission to go on the fast. 

"Where's Kakasasurji?" Bondita asked Koeli Didi. 

"He's at the mandir," Koeli Didi answered. "He won't be back until later today. There's a program there." 

"Oh..." Bondita mumbled. 

"Choti Malikin, please eat some food," Koeli Didi insisted. 

"Bring it to my room," Bondita told her, knowing that she couldn't eat today because she was on a fast! However, she couldn't tell anyone about this. If her Kakasasurji wasn't here, then she had to fulfill this fast secretly. Nobody else would understand this fast of hers. 

When Bondita got the food in her room, she hid the thali under her bed. Then she went downstairs and managed to fill a kalash with water. 

She made sure that nobody had their eye on her, before she snuck out of the house. With a sigh of relief when she escaped, she walked quickly towards the jungle to complete the fast.