Durga | ✓

31. His Confession

Rudra walked slowly towards her house. He had strange sensation in his chest, which he chose to ignore. Durga Nilaya was just a stone throw away from police station. He sighed. Durga will definitely ask me how I called police. Only Lord Shiva can help me.

You should better pray more fervently for His help. She had nearly sent Indrajeet to coma.

Coma...

He remembered how the doctor had told him that continuously hitting him on the same spot had caused immense damage to his spine and with few more strong blows, she would have sent him to coma.

Yes coma... she may look thin but she is very strong.

It is not about her strength... she vented out her pain and anger which she had been suppressing for past six years.

Rudra came near the gate of her house. He stood beside the wall and peeped from there.

Durga was not seen. He strained his eyes when a hand tapped his shoulder. His face was pale. He was brave enough to turn around. To his dismay, the detective was standing behind him. His was pale.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sir, the way Durga bashed Indrajeet, I am scared to go alone."

"D-don't be s-stupid. She w-won't harm u-us. Anyways I am her b-boss." stammered Rudra.

"You are her boss in the office."

Rudra shrugged. He didn't want to admit but he felt the detective was right. They walked together and gently knocked the door. Durga opened the door. "Sir, I was waiting for you to come."

Rudra gulped. She wasn't waiting for you to come. She was waiting for you so that she can bash you.

Durga looked at the detective curiously. "And who are you?"

The detective was scared. He couldn't tell his name. It was against his policies. He chose to be silent. Durga thought that he might be Rudra's friend and walked into the house. Taking a cue from his silence, Rudra spoke, "He is a private detective hired by me. To keep an eye on Indrajeet."

Durga stopped on her track. "What? A detective... to keep an eye on Indrajeet? What is this entire scene about, Sir?"

Rudra signalled the detective to leave. The detective left her house. They sat on the sofa. Rudra could sense that numerous questions were arising in her mind. He said, "I know you want to know how I managed to call police, why I had hired a detective and such things. Before that you have to listen to my story. Then you can judge me."

Durga gave an understanding nod. Rudra smiled weakly. "You must have come to know that my parents had died when I was very small. My uncle took care of me."

"Sir, I am sorry."

"It's okay Durga. It was an accident. My uncle was everything to me. He helped me pursue my dream in spite of the severe opposition faced. In Mysore University, I found Akshad Sir as my guru, my idol and my inspiration to become an archaeologist.

I used to stay in hostel with Ramaiah. Everything was fine until one of my friends had committed suicide. It was very disturbing and shocking. I called my uncle and narrated him. I told him to come quickly.

He panicked and boarded the bus. Unfortunately, it was raining that day and the bus toppled."

Durga gasped. She placed her palm on his shoulder. Rudra acknowledged with a nod. He wiped his tears and laughed. "You know what the funniest joke was? Except for my uncle, everyone survived. Even the ones who were seriously injured were, thank Lord Shiva, alive. I feel that if I would have been little strong then my uncle would have been alive.

I managed to cope up with this and soon established my own company. I was satisfied with the way things were working out. Suddenly, Akshad Sir came to meet. A year ago."

Durga looked at him with wide eyes. A year ago... Appa was here with Indrajeet... but he had told me that he was coming here on some important work.

"He came to me and told that Durga is in great trouble. If she comes here then I must give her job. I had accepted it. Sir had given me your photo to identify you; in case you would come here. I was very puzzled with the turn of events.

I waited for eight months thinking that Akshad Sir might come here or might contact me. On getting no response from his side, I hired a detective. He told me that Akshad Sir had died."

Tears escaped from her eyes.

"The detective couldn't collect much information. Till the time he came with your article on Kamakhya Temple, you had left Bengaluru. I was kicking myself for not paying attention to this matter. The next day you came for the interview."

Durga sighed. Even before his death Appa had thought so much about me. He wanted to see me becoming independent. He took help of Rudra Sir.

Durga looked down.

Rudra took her soft palm and placed it on his rough palm. "When I first met you, I honestly didn't know that you were going to be this important to me."

Durga looked up. She looked puzzled with thousand of emotions whirling in her body. Rudra continued, "As the month passed slowly, I saw a change in me. I had decided that I will never change for anyone. But Durga, you changed me. Be it telling lies to see a smile on your face or protecting you from Indrajeet, I actually fell for you before I even realized I did.

I knew that you are a very strong woman. I had no doubts about it when I saw you hitting those three men."

Durga smiled. A strange sensation in his chest, which he had been ignoring for a while, suddenly increased. He chose to ignore it again, not wanting to spoil the moment.

"Honestly, I always wanted a life partner whom I will be able to respect. When I saw you hitting Indrajeet for your self defence, I knew that I had found my life partner. I wanted someone with whom I can share my emotions. Today, I have told you that truth of my life which I had never wanted to share. Durga Rao, I can't promise to fix all of your problems, but I can promise you won't face them alone."

Durga looked at Rudra. "But Rudra, I am a divorcee."

"That doesn't matter. In fact I cannot consider that marriage where sacred vows are not respected. You respected them but Indrajeet never respected them. In that marriage, you have only suffered."

"But Rudra, I can never conceive."

"Durga." Rudra sighed. "We don't need a child to complete us. I love you for what you are. Not for what you can give me."

The tears of joy didn't stop. She cried and smiled. The emotion which Rudra had suppressed now, he had finally emoted. A wave of uneasiness surged in his chest. "Durga can you please get me a glass of water?"

Durga nodded. She went to kitchen to fetch a glass of water. No sooner did she came from the kitchen than the glass in her hand fell down.

She screamed. "Rudra!"

***

What do you think could have happened to Rudra?

Thank you for reading.