Fear & Love

Forty Six

The next day Gita didn't interact much with Anand. Gita went to her parents, relatives and Anand's aunts to give them the honeymoon souvenirs she bought for them.

Anand's aunts were pleasantly surprised when they received gifts from Gita. She got to know her husband had not once brought anything for his aunts. They asked Gita about the exotic locations they visited but when Gita mentioned about the local places, their jaws dropped and she could sense their discomfort. But since marrying into Anand's family, she was used to his aunts nature. They were into brands and valued high prized things. They spent more money on jewels and clothes. She didn't think of this as anything bad. She had a sense of understanding that these brands and luxury goods were a part of their lifestyle since years and liking these things didn't make them bad in her books.

She remembered her college days when her best friend, Shaina, hated rich brats. She believed they were just showing off. In the beginning, even Gita was uncomfortable in their presence but as she observed them, she understood that it was how they grew up and they were not necessarily demeaning others. Shaina used to tell Gita she wanted to pull out Gita's head for always trying to understand the other perspective. She used to always tell her, "Gitu, it's good to just hate people, sometimes." At times, even her mother was tired of Gita's empathetic and "wise old man" perspective.

She explained Shaina, "You know I love it when we gossip about fun and embarrassing incidents. But you go a bit far...almost hating them and that is not good."

Gita loved gossips about who proposed whom or more celebrity gossips but had avoided indulging in hate mongering.

Ironically, she got a partner who is not into any kinds of gossip but full of venom for some people, especially the aunts she is in company of.

Thankfully, Anand aunts loved the shawls she picked for them, after all the location was famous for its local produce worldwide.

They asked her to stay for lunch but she denied saying she wants to go to maternal house as well and distribute gifts. His aunts always advised her to wear some real jewels and flaunt it around like a Thackeray daughter in law, but apart from these small things, Gita found them really good. She knew what can irk Anand about their behaviour - may be their loud voice or their habit to gossip about the neighborhood but she didn't know why he detested them.

The night Anand came back from his office, Gita was on the bed replying to messages from her mother about the gifts. She knew Anand was watching her keenly. He was infront of the mirror removing his cuffs when he was observing Gita.

"May I know why you visited my aunts place today?" He asked, still looking at her through the mirror. The driver had the duty to send him messages regarding pick up and drop location for Gita's safety.

"You may not." Her short and savage reply surprised him. But he always gets his answers from people. His one glare and a strict 'Gitanjali' made her answer.

"I went to give them the gifts we bought." Gita replied coldly. Anand stopped removing his watch and turned back. While Gita was buying gifts, he didn't pay attention for whom she was buying. He just accompanied her silently and stayed away.

"You should have mentioned it to them that you bought it." He said clearly while lowly muttered, "I wouldn't have bought shit for them." With that he walked into the closet and went to freshen up.

Once he was back, he set the AC temperature to the lowest and sat on the bed.

"I don't want you to get associated with them. I do not like you visiting them." Anand expressed his displeasure over his wife meeting his aunts. How much ever, he expressed his displeasure, Gita never took it seriously and continued to be good to them which annoyed Anand.