OTHER GROOM... the tale of the rejected guy...

Part 34

He looked up as the corner of his eye caught a movement at the doorstep. She was standing there with eagerness on her face that suddenly stumbled as she ran eyes around the room. The excitement, the urge and all those words which were aiming to get expressed - suddenly forming a lump near her throat was throbbing badly. She wanted to tell him all those she wanted to tell him.

He looked up at her face and he could tell she had something to say but before he could ask she quickly question.

"You are packing!"

The sentence came out more like an statement to herself, for herself, like a monologue, than a question.

"Umm..." Shuvro wasn't expecting the particular statement, he looked around and scratched his nape a little, defining the surprised tone in Tuli's voice. "Yah. Its an early flight." He explained looking in her eyes. The reluctance in him towards this trip was utterly visible "so I thought of finishing off early."

Tuli gave a node.

"You wanted to say something?" He asked taking a look of her.

She looked up cautiously. "Huh? No. I was just... I thought you went out to the pandal." She lied. She knew he was home.

"Oh!" He mused. "No. I was just here. Why? Do you want to go out...?" He asked looking at her more cautiously. It started drumming inside him and mouth became parched.

She looked up at him with a jolt. The two persona inside her was indulged in a battle and one's voice grew louder than the other. Her jaw tightened and coldness veiled on her eyes as one persona howled abuses at the other.

"No!" Tuli lied in a stern voice and stormed out.

She lied. Defeating all the former argues.

"Oh... umm... I will drop you tomorrow in my way to the airport." Shuvro screamed behind her as she walked out of the room.

The lump inside her throat, not being able to get out as if get formed something so hard as she walked back to her room. As it spread all over her chest making her feeling breathless painfully.

The dominating persona was not satisfied yet. It howled more as the pain spread and it felt like an iron fist was wrenching her windpipe.

'Why you don't you die you shameless whore!'

***

"You should stay for someday more Tuli. Can't you?" Mrs. Sengupta demanded looking at her daughter longingly.

As Shuvro's company sent him off to Germany, the idea of Tuli being in the house alone was eating him up. So he convinced Tuli to stay at her parental house for those days. Though he didn't need to pester her, she never said him anything. He had just suggested in his usual manner looking at her cautiously trying to read her while arranging the dining table for dinner with her as usually and she was quietly moving - not giving away a tad of intimation about the storm inside her, that was evoked by the information of his going away.

So at morning of Ashtami when at the way of the airport Shuvro had dropped Tuli to her paternal home plan wised.

After that the rest two days of Durga Puja had come to the end as Dasami neared.

"I must get home before the procession with the Durga idols starts!" Tuli answered in a stern tone to her mother while packing her stuffs.

Mrs. Sengupta smiled looking at her daughter. Atlast her daughter was getting into homely and the lady of the house act, she longed to see her in - she thought. But the mother's heart was not ready to let her daughter go so soon. She wanted to pamper her a little more. She had her married against her will, cause she knew her daughter needed some one to look after. But now as she was not living with her anymore the mother in her would act shellfish and question, 'what would have happen so bad? My baby would have stayed with me!' But she also knew what she did was for the best.

She smiled at her own thought. She wanted to take Tuli in her arms and look into her eyes asking her all those questions about her. She wanted to know about Tuli's life, her home, and how Shuvro was treating her.

"What is the reason of your hurry Tuli? Shuvro isn't coming back for ten more days." Mrs. Sengupta reached over and caressed Tuli's face cupping it and demanded making a 'motherly puppy eyes' "Stay with us for a while." as her lips pulled up a longing smile.

Tuli looked at her mother's eyes. Her heart squeezed painfully as she replied, "I never wanted to leave Maa, but as you had decided, it is better for me to not to stay here. Very pointedly you had me clear that it is not my home anymore."

The mother tiredly sat back after that as her daughter kept contemplating whether, and how much she just hurt her mother.

"And anyway, you were the one to tell the lady of the house should always stay at her house at the evening of Dashami." Tuli muttered with the intention of easing the matter looking at her mother.

***

"You don't need to cook for one person Chayadi, I will make an omelette or something!" Tuli sighed trying to disarm Chaya.

But Chaya was not some one to back down easily, she glared at Tuli. "You two are just the same. Shuvroda used to do the same after Borda Boudi's death. What is the meaning of 'one person'? Does one person get any lesser hungry while alone...?"

"Well no, but needs lesser items in the table, and that's okay..."

"No. You need proper food. Shuvroda warned me about this."

"For god sakes I am not sick nor a child." Tuli slapped the table. "You are not making anything, and that's final. Go home. Now!" She ordered glaring at Chaya.

Chaya glared back indulging both of them in a glaring war but eventually gave up.

She sighed in defeat, "Both are same. Equally stubborn!" She headed out grouching many things.

Tuli smiled on her own, hearing her.

*

At the dinner time Tuli came to the kitchen and turning on a radio channel she fished out eggs, onions and the spices.

She started beating the eggs as the RJ kept playing with her mind and then cooked animatedly hearing to the Bengali song that was feeling the room.

She stopped halting for a moment as realization hit her. She bit her lip as she understood that she was making omelette for two.

There was two beat up eggs on the frying pan getting fried. She had set the table for two and was about two take a portion rice for two.

Contemplating the situation she sighed and looked up at the room Shuvro slept. Putting Shuvro's plate back she came back to the stove and scrambled both the eggs. It occurred to her that the house was quitter. The two story house was seeming so lonely, it was haunting her...

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