My Destination, My Bondita

64 - The Reappearance of Rakshak Babu

Anirudh looked at Vikram and then caught Bondita's eye for a brief moment, before she looked away, embarrassed. Anirudh also looked away.

When Vikram greeted him, Anirudh didn't respond. 

He just picked up the briefcase that had fallen on the ground, and then without a word, he left the living room. He had nothing he could say to Bondita now, or her friends. 

Anirudh hid himself in his study, and fell to his seat behind the desk.

There was some jealousy in his heart when he saw Vikram with Bondita, but how could he say anything to her? They hadn't spoken to each other for eleven months. On top of that, Bondita was topping all of her classes and she was studying very hard. 

She never told him about her grades anymore, when before she used to be the first one to tell him out of excitement. Now, he found out either through Batuk, or through a call from the school. If she had exams, then he would find a copy of the exam results on his desk, but she would never be found. 

How he wished to tell her "Shabaash Bondita" again. She deserved it so much. 

Now if she was studying with Vikram, how could Anirudh have a problem when she was doing well in school? She was older. She was almost fifteen, and her classmates were also around that age. If Bondita liked Vikram, how could he stop it now? 

His only wish was for her to be a barrister, but other than that he couldn't control her life. 

He felt his heart hurt as he leaned back in his chair, sad that one day Bondita used to rush to him after school. She used to tell him in great detail about how her day was. Now, he was not the closest man in her life anymore. 

Now, Vikram might have taken the place that Anirudh once had. Now Vikram might be the one who was in her heart and mind. 

It hurt him, but if that was who Bondita chose for herself, he would be happy for her as long as it didn't hurt her. After all, his love was never about ownership, but about freedom. 

Tears formed in his eyes, as Anirudh succumbed to the sadness that was spreading over his heart. 

Outside, the boys had come downstairs into the living room from Batuk's room. Bondita went in the kitchen to make snacks for everyone. 

Her Kakasasurji and Sasurji were outside the house. Sampoorna Maa was resting in her room, while Somnath was busy doing his own things. So nobody had an issue right now with Bondita hanging around with the boys. 

Although she was with Vikram for some time, explaining things that they learned in class, she didn't feel like staying here when the other boys were here. She was planning to give them the snacks and then go into her room.

While she was busy in the kitchen, the boys were discussing quietly about the magazine they saw earlier. 

"I brought the magazine," Bipin informed the four boys who were around him. 

"Here?" Batuk asked, eyes wide. "If Dada sees, he will yell at us." 

"Why? We can just ask your Dada! He must know about these things," Vikram said. 

"But that's boring when we can find out for ourselves," Bipin was urging, with the other two boys agreeing with him. "We can just look in here, and compare it with Bondita. We aren't doing anything to her."  

He had his bag beside him and indicated to it with his eyes.  

"No!" Batuk said, frowning. "It feels wrong!" 

It was at that time that Bondita came in the room, with a tray full of snacks. 

"Who wants hot snacks? I made this!" Bondita said proudly, bringing the tray in. 

Anirudh, who was in the study, wiped his tears and picked up a newspaper from his desk. It was an older newspaper, so he had no reason to read it now. He kept on having an unsettling feeling in his chest. 

Was it because of the jealousy he had for Vikram, that he felt uneasy about staying in the study, or was it something else? He didn't know. He just knew that he was getting restless here in the study. 

Anirudh went to the living room with his newspaper, where Bondita was about to start serving snacks. 

He went inside and sat down on one of the couches, bringing the newspaper in front of him and pretending to read it. 

Bipin and his two minions frowned when they saw Anirudh there. 

Bondita noticed Anirudh there, but she didn't look at him. Sometimes, they would be in the same room together, but they would behave as if they had a whole world of distance in between them. 

She bent down towards the boys, as they grabbed snacks from the plate. 

Anirudh peeked over his newspaper and noticed something. 

When Bipin was grabbing snacks, he nudged one of the other boys and indicated towards Bondita. With a frown, Anirudh looked to where Bipin was indicating -- her chest. 

While Bondita was bending, the part of her saree which was over her chest had come slightly loose, and showed a bit of cleavage. Not too much, but enough to get the boys staring lustfully and thinking. 

Anirudh felt his hands scrunch the newspaper, upset. 

Bondita herself didn't notice this, because she was still giving the snacks to the other boys, still bending down. 

Anirudh threw his newspaper to the side angrily. He lifted his hand to do what he was going to do next, but then dropped it. Then he lifted it again. 

Anirudh was in a dilemma, because what he was going to do was not in line with his thinking. Bondita had full rights to wear whatever she wanted, and the boys should be the ones to control themselves. However, he also couldn't handle them staring at her with that kind of look. 

So what he did next shocked everyone. 

Anirudh Roy Choudhary pounced off the couch and took Bondita's arm. She shivered when she felt her Pati Babu's touch after so long. Bondita looked up at him with surprise, while he pulled her back. 

Then Anirudh stood in front of her protectively, hiding her from their sight. 

Bipin and the rest of the boys gulped. It was only Vikram and Batuk who were eating absent-mindedly, not even aware about what was happening. 

"You boys... you..." Anirudh spluttered angrily. "I'll come back for you..." 

He took a deep breath and turned around, looking Bondita directly in the eye. She looked up at him and felt her cheeks burn. Anirudh just took her hand in his, making her heart leap. Then, with her still having no idea what was happening, he dragged her out of the room, upstairs, towards her bedroom. 

Her heart was thumping so loudly inside her chest that she thought it would explode. 

Bondita didn't know what her Pati Babu was about to do, but the idea that he would do anything with her, was making her blush. Anirudh's own heart was hammering loudly in his chest. 

Eleven months away from her, and now this. 

Everything came crumbling down, just like that.  

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