"15 kilos of fine basmati rice,
10 kilos of mutton,
5 big Calta fish, the biggest in the market, it's a Roy Chowdhury affair afterall,
and yes, don't forget to knock the Shyam Goyala for milk."
Trilochan finished reading from the list and handed a bunch of notes to Lachman.
"Take that dumb Gobindo with you... And, don't bargain. The Roy Chowdhury's aren't meant to bargain!"

He sat down on the royal blue velvet couch that he had newly installed in the master bedroom. Since, Kshitija's incident, Trilochan had been sleeping in one of the guest rooms adjacent to the master bedroom. However, his lion's pride was hurt when Bondita jokingly mentioned about he being scared.
Within a day, he had all the furniture and accessories thrown out from the room and then he redecorated it tastefully with Bondita's help.

"It's already 5:30 in the morning and these two aren't yet awake." He was moving his leg restlessly as he looked up at Lachman once again.

"And why are you still staring at my face? There is one... Eagar to take responsibility of the whole world and then sleeps like a baby... And, here I am, wrecking my head over the menu and guest list... Now, don't stand like a stone statue and do me the favour of going at once!

"Zamindar Babu..." Lachman muttered. "Um... I was thinking of... I mean the car... It would have been a lot faster!"

Trilochan stared at him for a minute.
"Oh yes, car. Sure. Advantage of working in a Zamindar house. Take the car and go." He smiled proudly.
"Hey wait, take my car. Anirudh's one needs a wash and Bondita's red Bentley is... Well, I think Koeli and she was planning something... You don't waste time... Go... Go...!"

Lachman left instantly leaving Trilochan pacing back and forth restlessly, looking at his watch at frequent intervals.

"Why these two aren't yet awake... Maa Durga... Shameless these two are becoming! I prayed to you to get them together, not to get them glued to each other all the time!" He let out a sharp sigh.

"Koeli.... Koeli.... Come here at once if you are alive!" He called out loudly, loud enough to wake the entire household.

"Yes Maalik" Koeli came running from the kitchen at once.

"Koeli, it's 5:45 am already. The guest would start pouring in... Please go and wake Bondita and Anirudh." He commanded her.

"Maalik... Well... Actually..." Koeli murmured.

"What Koeli? Speak clearly!"
Trilochan roared.

"Actually, both of them are awake."

"Awake? But where?" Trilochan furrowed his eyebrows and asked her again.

"Ga... Garden!" Koeli fumbled.

"Garden? What are they doing in the garden now?"
Trilochan looked visibly surprised at her words.

"Maalik... You see it for yourself." Koeli pressed a smile in her lips and left, pulling the end of her saree to cover her head bashfully.

"See for myself! In the garden... Alright, I'll definitely go and see!" Trilochan murmured to himself as he walked out of the room, fuming with a suppressed rage, making a sharp 'tap tap' sound with his foreign walking stick.

The sun was mild and pleasant, and the fresh morning air greeting Trilochan Roy Chowdhury with a cheerful calmness. He looked at the soft blue sky and inhaled the fresh air sharply. His ears were greeted with a pleasing chirpiness of two voices, laughing and giggling in the garden.
Trilochan paused and adjusted his glasses.

In the lovely green garden, it was Bondita who was running across, screaming without any inhibitions, without any restrictions, like a free wild horse full of life, and behind her chased Anirudh, laughing and jesting like a free flowing river. He had held a garden hose pipe that Gobindo uses to water the trees. Cold water gushed out from the pipe, splashing everything around, as he chased Bondita playfully with it...

There was a liveliness, a freedom and boundless love that Trilochan felt as he gazed at the duo with teary eyes.
'This is what living should be like!' His old heart told him. There was no scope of sentiments such as vanity and pride in it... It was an effervescent free flow of pure emotions!

"Kaka... Kakaa... Move away...!"

Trilochan was suddenly brought back to reality by Anirudh's sharp scream.
He quickly turned to see Bondita running towards him.

"Kaka... Bondita is trying to hide behind you... Move!" Anirudh laughed out loud.

"KakaSasurji... No... He is chasing me since morning! Don't go... I can't run any longer!"
Bondita came near him and held his arms firmly with her wet hands, dampening his freshly ironed sleeve.
But, Trilochan didn't pay a heed to it.
He smiled broadly and held up his hands to resist Anirudh.

"Bahu... Hide, hide quickly."
Trilochan gestured Bondita to hide behind him as he quickly looked around, picking up a water filled bucket that lay near.

"Kaka...." Anirudh yelled joyously. "This is sooo unfair!" He lifted the pipe up infront of him, drenching him completely along with Bondita, as Trilochan splattered the content of the bucket on Anirudh.
A mildly viscous murky liquid dampened Anirudh from his head to toe.

"Yikes! Kaka... What was that?" It's not water!"
Anirudh spitted out some liquid and rubbed his face, wiping the excess liquid from his face.

Trilochan narrowed his eyes and held the bucket close to his nose, inhaling the stench.

"It's manure water... For the garden... I guess!" He remarked, bursting out into loud fits of laughter.

"You means cow du...!"
Anirudh didn't complete the sentence and Bondita started clapping in glee.

"Serves him right KakaSasurji! I just woke him up... And, since then he's been chasing me!" Bondita laughed merrily.

"Kaka... She woke me up at 4am and that too by pouring water into my ears!" Anirudh remarked as Bondita darted her tongue out at him standing behind Trilochan.

"Yes... Because he was sleeping like a Kumbhkarn!" Bondita laughed again.

"Oh is it so!" Anirudh held his hand out and started to chase Bondita again, trying to bind her in his stinky arms. They circled around Trilochan as he finally spoke out to stop these two in their playful jest.

"Alright... Enough, both of you... It's 6 am now! Do you know what today is? Suresh and Mira would be here in an hour alone with their mother. The guests would start arriving in another two hours at most. Please behave yourself, you two!" He patted Bondita's head gently, turning back towards the house as Bondita shouted again.

"KakaSasurji... He's doing that again! I'll go inside with you!"

She made faces at him, following Trilochan inside the house and Anirudh stood there smiling at her suggestively.

"Bondita Roy Choudhury... Let the night come... Then I'll show you what it is to run from me!" He murmured as he unbuttoned his night shirt and tossed it on the ground. Picking the hose pipe up he started spaying water on his body, cleaning himself from the stinky mess.

Bondita turned around once, before vanishing behind the door inside, and their eyes met.

Anirudh was completed drenched, his muscles flexing seductively under the sprinkler as droplets of water dripped down his ripped body muscles.

Bondita gasped at the sight and murmured.
"Anirudh Roy Chowdhury, let the night arrive, I'll show you what it is to tease me like this."