~Anidita~ of Love and Desire

SS:1 Part:2

She was relieved and scared at the same time. Relieved, as she had finally been brought out of her mama-mami's home that held terrible memories for her; and scared, because she had been brought into another house, much bigger than the one where she spent almost all of her 17 years of life.

The house was magnificent; its every corner brightened with beautiful lamps, eye catching chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, royale furniture filling up the space. However, all this could not lighten the fear in her heart for whatever the house had did not matter. What matters is what it didn't have, that homely feeling.

She didn't feel at home. She never did. It's strange how she wasn't familiar to the feeling of being at home and yet she craved it. She had never found a home after becoming an orphan at the age of 5. Her father had died a month after her birth and her mother, driven out of her husband's home, had taken shelter at her Mama's hut at devipur. She lost her mother too a few days after she turned 5 and since then, she had lost her home.

Her mama was not a bad person, but he wasn't righteous either. Her Mami would taunt her, scold her and even beat her at every little mistake she made while her mama would sit quiet. Perhaps, all those years of accepting this injustice as her fate had made her the quiet, reserved woman she had become. The woman whom you could scare with even just a mere change of expression.

But she had also found a friend there, so it weren't all bad memories. Her Sampoorna didi was both her sister and her only friend. And Sampoorna had gotten married to her Saurabh Jamai Babu less than half a month ago. It was hard for her to let the girl go. She didn't know much about her Jamai babu, only that he lived in tulsipur, worked at the jomidaar badi there that belonged to the Roy Chowdhuries and that he was friends with the eldest son of the Roy Chowdhury household.

She had seen him, her Jamai babu's friend who was also known as the Chote Malik and Barrister Babu of tulsipur. And if she was to tell the truth, she felt a pull towards him since the first time she laid her eyes on him at the wedding functions. He had attended all of the functions, caught her staring a few times before she averted her gaze being embarrassed. He had even tried talking to her but those attempts had just resulted in him speaking about anything and everything and her glaring holes into ground while nervously nodding and humming here and there in the conversation. She called it a conversation although she wasn't sure if it could be termed as one.

And now, she was at his home. No, not as a guest. She was brought into the household as a, maid? She didn't know exactly. She just knew that a traditionally dressed man wearing spectacles had come to her Mama-mami's home, talked to them for a while, then with a sigh, he had given them a hefty amount of cash which she assumed was the payment for her. But was it possible to buy a human? She didn't know. She was then told by her Mami to pack her bags and leave with the renowned jomidaar of tulsipur. She did as told and now she was here, at the jomidaar badi.

The jomidaar babu that brought her here seemed like a kind man. He didn't treat her like a bought slave as she had expected him to. He had brought her to his home respectfully, without ever mentioning her status there or him buying her from her mama-mami.

However, she was still scared. What did the future hold for her? Why is she here? What is her fate now? These questions were roaming her mind as she stood in the middle of the hall, her eyes wandering about every corner until footsteps were heard followed by his voice.