"Barrister Babu, I need to talk..."
Bondita barged inside the study, only to find her husband speaking to someone, the newly installed black telephone receiver pressed to his left ear, and with his right hand he was unmindfully ruffling pages of a half read book, his eyebrows furrowed in a worry, his face drawn. He was standing infront of his study table, and Bondita paused at once with a frown.
Whom was he talking to?

Bondita walked inside, and Anirudh raised his tired eyes to look at her, mouthing a silent frustrating sigh, and as Bondita neared his chair, he just sank into it, pressing his forehead with his free hand.
Bondita touched his head lightly.

"No... No, yes... I understand..."
.
.
.
"Absolutely not, and you won't do any such thing..."
"Hm..."
.
.
.
"Hm... I'm listening..."
"No... I told you a hundred times Candice..."
"Hm.."
.
.
Bondita frowned further, now that the speaker on the other side become cognizant to her, and yet she remained silent, trying the gauze the context of the one-sided conversation.

"Exactly... I'll wait for him... "
Anirudh spoke again, a little restless this time, and Bondita touched his shoulder to calm him down.

"Don't you give me those threats Candy, you and I both know how it ends..."
.
.
"Absolutely..."
"No..."
.
.
"My word..."
"Hm... Goodnight."

Bondita heard the entire conversation, and then slowly moved infront of Anirudh and moved her hand from his shoulder to his tightened jaws. Anirudh immediately held it back and pressed it to his forehead, his throbbing forehead.

"Why did she call?"
She asked softly.

"I don't know", came a staggered reply.

"What was she speaking?"

"Nonsense."

Although she had a lot to ask, but the conversation didn't proceed beyond this monosyllabic exchange, and Bondita let out a soft sigh and started to press Anirudh's forehead with her tender fingers.

"How is Kaka?"
He asked, his sleepless voice sounded tired to her weary ears, her husband's agony not hidden from her vigilant observation, and in reply she let a soft sigh before speaking.

"He's awake. Eaten. Better."
Bondita tried to smile, in assurance, and Anirudh let out another sharp sigh of relief at her words.

"Candice? Was it?"
It was Bondita's turn to ask, and Anirudh just closed his eyes and nodded, pressing her palm more to his forehead.

"She's threatening to reveal things to her husband." Anirudh almost groaned.

"But won't that mean jeopardising herself too?"
Bondita asked, and Anirudh nodded again.

"But, she can do worse, go to the press and put rape charges on Batuk. It'd be a death sentence Bondita... A sure shot death sentence."
He held her hand and rubbed it on his eyes, as if to wipe away all worries, all of his weariness, and Bondita leaned forward on his face and placed her free hand on his head, running her slender fingers gently through his silky hair.
A touch that had always managed to soothe his senses, no matter what.

"Don't worry Barrister Babu, we'll find a way." She hushed into her husband's ears.

The biggest asset of companionship is perhaps the feeling of being safe, the feeling of comfort, and Anirudh felt the same in Bondita's company, everytime, even when they weren't together.
And it was this comfort that gave him strength to fight, to face the world, to met challenges without turning away. For, he knew, she'd always be there, watching his back.

Bondita was caressing Anirudh's head, standing close behind the chair where he sat, and the warm comfort of her touch finally made him smile in content.

"Bondita..." He called, and in response, she just hummed an yes.

"You came to say something, didn't you?"
He asked finally, and thinking for a few seconds about how to start, Bondita finally started to speak slowly.

"Barrister Babu, do you remember that girl who came to meet you at the court after your win?"
She placed the question, and Anirudh frowned for a moment and then nodded.

"Umm... Batuk's friend? That bright young lady..." Anirudh paused, "I can't quite recall her name though, Why?"

"Mahamaya. Her name is Mahamaya Lahiri."
Bondita replied calmly.

Anirudh turned to look at his wife, the name Mahamaya invoking a strange flutter in his heart.
Wasn't this the same name that his uncle was murmuring in his feverish deliriums?

"And?" He asked instead.

"And she happened to be Batuk's fiancee." She paused again, letting her husband sink into the revelation. Anirudh stood up at once.

"Kakasasurji, apparently, had send a note to you through Batuk about this engagement, seeking your approval, and yet Batuk chose to not inform us anything about it."

"Why a note? Why not a call?"
Anirudh swallowed the words, his forehead forming creases of worry, and Bondita sighed at the sight of her husband's newfound affliction.

"We're at the police quarters Barrister Babu, we weren't allowed access to telephone calls, remember?"
She added.
"But what worries me is why did Batuk not mention anything about her when he was already engaged?"
She pulled a chair and sat down, and Anirudh strolled thoughtfully towards a bookshelf to the left and kept the book back that had lay unattended on his table since that afternoon.

"Who told you all these?"
He asked, and in reply Bondita stirred up in her seat and called out, raising her voice a bit than usual.

"Bhargavi.... Bhargavi come inside once, will you?"
Her beckon made Anirudh turn to the door too, and in no time the young girl came at the threshold, fiddling with her long braids pulled infront, the fat black rimmed spectacles balancing dangerously on the bridge of her nose.

"Ye...yes Boudidi?" She hesitated, stealing a glance at Anirudh's tall majestic frame.

"Tell Dada Babu all about Mahamaya and Choto Zamindar Babu." She commanded the girl, and Bhargavi gulped twice, probably relaying the events in her mind.

"Umm... We came... From... From that big hotel. Then Choto Dadababu went to Calcutta once to find about Mira Didi's son, and then... And then he... they came back... And Boro Zamindar Babu said he is to be married to Mahamaya Didi."

"And?"
It was time for Anirudh to ask, his deep gaze becoming profoundly thoughtful.

"And... He... I mean, Choto Dadababu argued with... With Boro Zamindar Babu, and finally agreed. And then Mira didi tried to make him understand... No... I mean..." Bhargavi paused, gulped nervously, and both Bondita and Anirudh frowned at her flushed face.

"Tell us Bhargavi, what's scaring you so much?" Bondita's voice was softer, and before the girl could speak, she got up from her chair and approached forward, patting Bhargavi's shoulder into a gentle confidence.
Bhargavi looked up and started to speak again.

"Choto... Choto Dadababu told that Maha Didi wants to go to Dhaka to see Dhakeshwari temple, and Boro Zamindar Babu said, alright... Go if that's what you wish... But, not before ashirbad ceremony... And so... So he agreed for it within a day."
Bhargavi paused and looked down, her eyes searching the carpeted floor nervously, and Anirudh walked back to his chair and sank down.

"What did Mira Didi tell Choto Dadababu, Bhargavi?" He suddenly asked, and it shook the girl to the core.

"Noth... nothing... Just... Just to listen to his uncle... And... And get married."
She fumbled.

"And why would suddenly she have a say in Batuk's affairs? And why would even Batuk listen to her?" Anirudh's eyes were becoming narrower and the look of it took away the color from Bondita's face.
Bhargavi felt her heart leaving her body right there.

"No... It's not... She won't say... I... I don't in now Barrister Dadababu... I just want both of them to be happy." She blabbered the words and stood frozen, and staring at her whitened face for a minute Anirudh banged his fist on the table, startling both the girls in the room.

"Bhargavi, two more questions." His voice was grave, and Bhargavi nodded her head and swallowed a hard lump, her throat feeling dryer than a desert.

"Mira too went with Batuk and Mahamaya, hasn't she?" He asked and Bhargavi half nodded her head in approval.

"And, you... You were at that big hotel with him that night... Did you see any white lady with Batuk?"

The question was abrupt, and the way it made Bondita gasp, it made Bhargavi feel as if breaking a sweat.
As of once, Barrister Dadababu was asking her about someone who wasn't her dear Mira Didi!

"Yes, I have... A pretty white lady... Candice... I... I had even called her when we were here."
Bhargavi blurted out, and both Anirudh and Bondita's jaw dropped at once.

"You! Called her?" Bondita stressed on the question, dumbfounded, and elated to give this useful information, Bhargavi smiled brightly at her.

"I did... Choto Dadababu was very sad, and was hurting, and hence I called her telephone from this telephone here, and I told her how mean of a woman she is!" Bhargavi paused for a second.
"Choto Dadababu deserves far better, the best actually." She added shyly.

"What?" Bondita gasped, and looked at her husband, but Anirudh deep eyes were thoughtful as ever, his arms folded to his chest, observant.

"And at the hotel?"
Anirudh's cold yet low voice startled the girl again.

"She... She left by evening... Candice... And Choto Dadababu was crying... Crying a lot... And she, she didn't even turn around, not even once." Bhargavi spoke slowly, and the last words formed pearls of tears in her own eyes.
Anirudh's gaze hardened further.

"He... He was crying? Batuk? For Candice?" Bondita almost jumped from her seat, and stood up, as her widened eyes turned towards her husband for answers, as always.
"Barrister Babu... What's... What's happening here..." She gulped and breathed out the words at the same time. Bhargavi too looked dumbfounded at her expression.

"Continue Bhargavi." Anirudh just spoke softly, a soft sigh of helplessness escaping his lips.

Bhargavi cleared her throat.
"Then Choto Dadababu shouted on us, me and Mira didi... And, then left." She paused thinking about the incidents as they took place.
"We hadn't eaten the entire day, and then Didi asked one of the uniformed man for some food... He gave us kheer... A lot of it... And it was tasty." She paused again.
"And then Choto Dadababu came back at night... And he was still crying. Didi fed him kheer, and then made him sleep... I was there too. And in the morning, we started for Tulsipur... And then..."

"And then?"
Bondita asked, and Anirudh had already closed his eyes, uninterested to hear anything further.

"Then nothing Bondita, let the girl go." He just breathed out the words and rubbed his throbbing temples.

Bhargavi hadn't waited any longer, and ran out of the place, recalling all the answers that she revealed infront of the renowned Barrister.
How scared she was! But not once did she reveal about her Mira's Didi's secret rendezvous with Batuk Dadababu.
She loved Mira Didi, and she loved Bat... Well, Bhargavi shut her eyes firmly as a cold shiver ran down her spine at the thought.
No, Batuk Dadababu was only meant for Mira didi... And she... She was only to be his well-wisher, a well-wisher whom he called a math nerd! A well-wisher who could do anything to make him happy!
Bhargavi smiled amidst tears as his thoughts crossed her mind.
"Where are you Batakrishna Babu? Where are you!"
She murmured in tears.

"Barrister Babu... What happened?" Bondita touched her husband's arm, shaking him into awakening, and Anirudh opened his eyes slowly at look at her.

"What?" He responded lazily.
"What do you want to know?"

"Everything!" Bondita looked at him expectantly, and Anirudh just chuckled at the sight of her large eager eyes, those dark long eyelashes fluttering at him in anticipation.

"Alright, then first... This little one is head over heels for your dear brother-in-law."
Anirudh smiled, yet a sadness had enveloped his eyes. He touched her chin and Bondita moved a little closer, disbelief lingering in her gaze.
"But this doesn't worry me at all." He paused thinking.
"I have to leave Bondita... I've to leave before it's too late."
Anirudh finally spoke in a hushed voice.

"Why? Where?" Bondita murmured fearfully, and in response Anirudh pressed on the wooden table and got up from the chair.

"Batakrishna indeed!" He chuckled in a sad distress.
"A beautiful hapless window, a witty unknown woman with a motive, an innocent teenage girl and a pregnant Bilaeti woman... My brother has indeed lived more than his name Bondita, a lot more..." He just sighed and prepared to leave the room.

"What do you mean? What about these women? Barrister Babu, what are you even saying?"
Bondita felt a tremor in her heart, unwilling to accept the connotation of anything that her husband had just hinted at. For her tender heart was incapable of accepting any vice related to the dear boy whom she had so affectionately called 'brother'.
Her brother by law indeed, but had it not been the law, she'd have still wished for him to be her family in every birth possible. Her dear little Batuk!

Anirudh walked out of the study in haste, and Bondita followed him around the house as if he was a Piper.

"Barrister Babu..." She called again, and this time, opening the door of his wardrobe, Anirudh turned around to face his confused wife.

"I have to go Bondita... I've to go find them before it's too late."
He hushed, placed both his hands on either sides of her shoulder.

"Them?"

"Batuk, and Mira, if my intuitions are correct." He spoke in a low grave voice, disheartened at his own words, and this little direct revelation made Bondita's heart tremor.

"You saying Batuk and Mira...!" Bondita couldn't complete as her lips trembled at the prospect of what her thoughts glimpsed in her mind.
"How can she....?" A hurting cry escaped her throat and Anirudh clasped her in his arms.

"How can he! Batuk knew very well about Mira's vulnerability... He knew very well how she felt about..." He swallowed, without completing his words and looked at his wife's flushed face, sobbing softly, her expectant eyes looking at him for an answer.

"But where will you find him?"

"I don't know yet Bondita. Paul has MeenaRani Debi's address, I'll start from there I guess." He sighed, pulling out a pair of hangers from the wardrobe, and Bondita promptly reached out to help him.

"And Candice?"
She asked, fearfully.

"First, Batuk will have to get rid of his make believe fondness towards Mira, if at all he has any... And then, we'll deal of Candice." He remarked fondly.
"If according to Bhargavi, Candice left Batuk crying at the hotel just a month back, then why would she come back with a four months pregnancy claiming Batuk to be the father." His brows were joined in questions, lots of them, and Bondita slowly started to pack his little imported leather case, stuffing it minimally with clothes.

"But the confusion still lies Bondita... A whole lot of unfathomable fog... " He whispered, as if to himself, and sank down on the sofa beside the wardrobe.

"What confusion?"
Bondita packed the last trousers inside and clipped it neatly.

"Who is this Mahamaya? And why suddenly she agreed to marry him? And why this sudden trip to Dhaka?"

"And why was Kakasasurji even speaking of her in his sleep!" Bondita added, and Anirudh looked at her blankly for a minute, and then shook her head.

"It's not matching Bondita... It's just not matching." He paused, and then got up with a firm intension.
"Just take care of Kaka, Bondita, and Rudhi." He looked at her with forlorn longing eyes.
"And take care of yourself... I'll be back with my nitwit brother in no time."
He sighed.

"Before your birthday?" She asked in a shaky voice, her glistening orbs widened at him for an affirmation, and the innocence of the sight couldn't help but made him smile even at the face of utter dismay.

"Before our birthday."
He smiled fondly.

.................................................

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