The fiery darkness of the greyish night was evaded by the bright golden-yellow morning rays of the sun. Bondita opened her eyes first, only to find herself bundled up under Anirudh's arms. He was breathing softly, his face radiating a calm angelic aura. This was completely opposite to what Bondita had experienced last night, when his hands kneaded her soft body and his sharp teeth had nibbled her skin. Her face automatically curved into a bashful smile the moment she recalled the pleasurable torture!
She shifted her weight to get out of the bed.

"Ummm... Don't..!" Anirudh groaned in sleep.

"It's morning... I need to get up..." Bondita hushed.

"Not now.." he growled softly this time.

Bondita took a deep breath as she stretched her neck a little to look at the wall clock.
"It's ten... Barrister Babu.." she almost screamed. "Suresh Da would be here with Mira in any moment now."

Her words startled Anirudh, as he quickly let go of Bondita and sat up on the bed.

Bondita was waiting for this opportunity. Without wasting any time, she got down from the bed and started to giggle loudly.

"What's the matter?" Anirudh looked quizzically at her as she pointed him towards the clock.

Anirudh groaned.
"Seven!!" As he fell back on the bed covering his face with Bondita's freshly abundant soft pillow.
"You'll pay for this tonight Bondita!" His voice was muffled by the pillow as he turned around closing his eyes again.

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

Anirudh had wrapped a soft grey Kashmiri shawl around his shoulder to elude the chills of the morning breeze. Underneath, he wore a plain white cotton kurta teamed with a pair of pajamas. His jawline reflected a slight hint of stubble which made his face appear more manly.
Bondita was sitting beside him in the terrace garden as she helped him with the freshly brewed morning coffee.
Anirudh's eyes were glued to the newspaper and Bondita couldn't help but gawk at his overall masculine demeanor.

"What are you looking at?" Anirudh questioned without moving his eyes from the newspaper.

Bondita's face was flushed at his words.
"Not looking... Umm, thinking actually." She fumbled with her reply.

Anirudh didn't look up. Instead he smiled silently at the words.

"And how do you know I was looking? Bondita raised her brows in a tease. "I thought you are reading the paper."

"My eyes are everywhere Bondita... Especially, I don't need to look at you to see you!" He remarked as he folded the papers, keeping them aside.

"The Omniscient one!" Bondita mocked softly.

"Here here... Someone is feeling particularly brave this morning." He leaned a little forward towards Bondita. " Where was this bravery last night?" He teased her.

Bondita couldn't reply. She lowered her eyes bashfully and asked him softly.
"How are feeling now Barrister Babu?"

"Better...!"

It was then that they heard a sharp honk that reverberated through the chirpy serenity of the radiant morning.

"Mira..." Bondita smiled as her eyes widened in excitement.
"Let's go down..!" She remarked getting up swiftly from her seat.

Anirudh followed her suit as she turned around to look sharply in his eyes.
"Just one request... Don't make her cook here!"

Anirudh shrugged his shoulders amusingly as they both climbed down the stairs to welcome the duo.

"Suresh Da..." Anirudh greeted him warmly extending his hands towards him.

"Anirudh, how are you feeling today?"

"Perfect! Thank you Dada... Your Quinine worked." His eyes exchanged a sharp meaningful glance with Bondita as he spoke the words.

"Where is Mira, Suresh Da?" Bondita came forward and asked him enthusiastically.

"Here." Suresh smiled as a pale young girl appeared into sight. She was probably hiding behind Suresh's large frame, intimidated by the grandeur of the place.
She was wearing a simple white saree with thin red border, her bare shoulders were devoid of any blouse and she has wrapped the lose end of the saree around her. There was no festivity in her appearance, only a pair of red and white bangles adorning her wrists, as she clutched a small bundle of clothes to her frightened breasts. Her hair was open, flowing down to her waist and her face was peevish with an unknown anxiety.
There was a bright red dot, neatly sculpted in the middle of her forehead as a strain of sindoor was visible on her head.

"Mira...." Bondita called out lovingly as she extended her hands towards her.

Mira's head was bowed down a little. She was afraid to look up and get acquainted with her new surroundings.

Bondita reached forward and took her in her arms.
"Don't be afraid Mira... I'm here... Do you remember me?" She asked.

Mira didn't speak. She just nodded her head to let her know her affirmation.

"You have absolutely nothing to be scared of here... Barrister Babu and I will take care of you." Bondita held her chin up gently.

Mira looked up as she heard the mention of 'Barrister Babu' from Bondita's mouth. Her eyes searched around the hall room and her lips curved into a slight smile of relief the moment she saw Anirudh's bright face.

"Make yourself at home Mira. Consider us a family." Anirudh smiled brightly at her. "And trust me on this, you won't find a better sister and a friend here than Bondita."

Bondita smiled back as Mira finally opened her mouth to speak. Her words were slow and soft.
"May I call you DIDI?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes, you may." Bondita replied as she held her shoulders to guide her inside the banglow.

"Koeli has prepared one of our guest rooms for you Mira." Anirudh remarked. "Go and freshen up... Koeli will guide you."

"Thank you Anirudh." Suresh thanked him heartily. "However, I need to talk to you about something?"

"Sure, let's go to the study..." Anirudh replied gesturing Suresh towards the direction.

"Bondita, you too..!" Suresh remarked.

"I shall join you soon." Bondita nodded her head as she went indoors guiding Mira tenderly.

"Koeli didi..." Bondita called out as Koeli rushed out of the kitchen.

"Koeli didi, this is Mira, she'll be living here with us for the time being." Bondita paused as she looked at Mira tenderly. "Also, she is expecting!"

Koeli quickly eyed Mira's sickly face as her gaze brushed her slightly protruding abdomen.

"Come here dear girl...!" She extended her arms to Mira. "Let's get you bathed and fed first."

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

The two men were already in a middle of a conversation when Bondita pushed the door open to enter the study room.

"Come Bondita, we were waiting for you." Suresh remarked as his tone turned a little serious.

"It's something about Mira that you would need to know." Suresh paused.
"Although she seems to have recovered from the physical hurt, her mind is far from being healed. She had undergone physical torture almost her entire life and the trauma is immense!"
Anirudh noticed a strange melancholy drawn upon Suresh's face as he continued to speak.
"Mira is five months pregnant, but her body is not showing up because of the fragility..." He paused again.
"And, any further trauma may turn out to be fatal for her, and this time, I would probably not be able to revive her back."

There was a pensive silence in room as the three figures sat quietly lost in the reflection of their own thoughts.

"Suresh Da..." Bondita spoke first, her voice laced with compassion.
"Don't worry... Mira will be safe here. And I promise I'll look after her." She vowed as her eyes teared up.

"Also, I didn't have the heart to tell her about the husband..." Suresh turned towards Anirudh and sighed deeply.

"I figured..!" Anirudh breathed the words softly in response.

The subtle quietude of the room was suddenly broken by an abrupt interruption... A squabble to be precise!
Anirudh came out of the study as he heard a familiar female voice engaged in an heated argument with Lachman and Gobindo.

"Kshitija!!"
Anirudh's muscles stiffened as he clenched his jaws trying to hide his obvious displeasure.
"What are you doing here?" He roared in a low voice.

"Babu... I tried to stop her, but she won't listen...She drove straight into the vegetable garden..." Gobindo joined his hands together in a plea as he informed Anirudh about her misbehavior.

Anirudh raised his hand up in the air as he gestured him to leave.
"No problem Gobindo... I'll handle this." He replied.

"Handle this?" Kshitija shrieked out.
"You want to 'handle' me now? Wow! The famous Barrister would like to 'handle' me!!" She roared the words as she pushed Lachman aside to enter the main hall.
Anirudh gestured Lachman to leave.

"Tell me... Why are you here?" Anirudh's voice was stern.

Kshitija laughed out loud.
Like a fanatic, she rushed towards Anirudh and spread her arms around him, wrapped him with all her might.
"Tell me you don't know why I'm here... Tell me once, and I shall believe you." She urged.

Anirudh didn't reply, instead he held her arms forcefully, detaching himself from the unpleasant embrace.

"You shouldn't be here." Anirudh replied sharply.

"I shouldn't? Where will I go then?
Why did you do this to us Anirudh? Why? Just because I loved you?"
Kshitija blurted out the questions in a breath as her eyes burnt in a glazing fume.

"Love?" Anirudh remarked. "You don't talk about love... Atleast, not after what you did to Suresh."

"I have NEVER loved Suresh..." Kshitija shrieked out loud. "You hear me... NEVER!! He is just a parasite living on my money."

"The illegally acquired 'black' money you mean." Anirudh's voice was hoarse as he cut each of his words in acute sharpness.

"How dare you!!" Kshitija roared.

Anirudh was quiet, however, Kshitija's words were meted with another repressed growl.

"How dare YOU!"
Bondita had come out of the study as she inched towards Kshitija with a fevered intensity as her hand raised in the air, landing a loud smack on Kshitija's face.
"Don't you ever dare to talk to him like that." Bondita roared.

Kshitija's body brewed with a raging anger as she looked up at Bondita with her venomous eyes.

It was then that Bondita shifted from her position to stand beside Anirudh, as a new figure emerged in Kshitija's incensed sight, stupefying her to the core.

"SURESH...!" She peered as her voice echoed through the walls of the Banglow.

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