It Wasn't Supposed To Happen

25

" Sorry jamai babu, sorry. I didn't..." She started but was cut in by Aniruddh.

" Its ok Bondita. You can go." Aniruddh didn't want her apologising to this pervert when it clearly was not her fault.

Bondita noticed the expression on her pati babu's face and decided to obey without questioning him, she already had too much on her mind. She happily left with Tapur who had reached her by now.

Aniruddh saw her leave. And he saw Chandrachur watching her leave.

" What are you looking at ?" Aniruddh had lost his temper but to a level he, to any on looker, seemed calm. Dangerously calm.

" Oh... nothing. I should have apologised to her."  His audacity. He had been shamelessly looking at Bondita even in Aniruddh's presence.

" Yes you should. For trying to make her fall."

" What are you saying Barrister babu ? I was just passi..." He had a smile on his face, trying to seem genuine with his words even after well knowing he was caught.

" Don't." Aniruddh said gritting his teeth. " I full well know what you did, have been trying to do. I have noticed the way you look at her."

"You must be mistaken. She is my my wife's sister, I could never think like that."

" I noticed you the whole breakfast and I saw how you tried to make an filthy attempt to touch her just now." Aniruddh was giving him a chance. No. Not to justify his disgusting act but for an acknowledgement. Acknowledgement that he had been caught and would not even think of repeating a thing like this.

Aniruddh was neither looking for an apology nor expecting it. Filthy men like Chandrachur knew exactly what they were. They had no sense of admitting the wrong.

" You are getting worked up over nothing. I am her jamai babu and she is my saali. You know how it is...!" He gave a yet another smile to Aniruddh but it was a shameless one. " You were just sitting with Tapur right now. You understand it...!"

Aniruddh knew not when he grabbed Chandrachur's collar. He pushed Chandrachur to the pillar right behind, eyes red with anger. Hands shaking with rage.

" NO...!!! ITS NOT THE SAME...!" He pushed him further into the pillar.

" Barrister Babu this is not ok...!" He made an attempt to act innocent.

" WHAT IS NOT OK IS THAT PEOPLE LIKE YOU EXIST...!" It was good that they were in the outer varanda and no one was near to witness them. And Aniruddh too, in all the loss of sense, had a grasp on the situation. He didn't want Bondita to know about the matter like this. His Bondita was not going to be getting herself in a middle of a fight and dirty drama.
Aniruddh lowered is voice which made him sound even more intimidating. It scared Chandrachur now.

" It is not ok that men like you destroy the purity of relations. You tried to pour your filth all over an innocent family relation. If you didn't have respect enough for it atleast you should have thought about your wife....!"

" Maybe the filth is in your mind Aniruddh babu. You are Barrister. You see everything with a questioning eye. Maybe it's just you who can't see your wife normally talking to some other man...!" Chandrachur tried to foolishly advocate himself in front of the Barrister. 

What was up with this man was all Chandrachur could think. He very well knew how Aniruddh and Bondita were not a regular couple. Aniruddh had no desire to touch his wife was the topic of hushed discussion of the uncomely evening gatherings Chandrachur  frequented. Aniruddh didn't want to touch his wife and Chandrachur just wanted to give Bondita what lacked in her marriage. And he had thought it would be easy since Aniruddh had no interest in her. He just wanted a reaction from Bondita, good or bad, he cared not. He knew she was too fond of her pati babu but it made it even more exciting and he wanted to test it. He thought could go away with doing anything without any hindrance.
Now backed up to a wall, collars about to be ripped off, it seemed he had missed something.

Chandrachur was too rotten minded to understand the relation such as of Aniruddh and Bondita.

"I will try to make your downgraded, backwards, uneducated and uncultured brain understand in words you would understand. She is my wife. Her welfare is my responsibility, who looks at her in what way is my business and I take it very seriously.
A man like you, who doesn't care about his own wife would not understand but still it would do you good to knock it into your head. Stay away from women you have no right to even look at. And stay away from my Bondita or you will live the rest of your life crawling and begging at feet of those women !"

Aniruddh let go of Chandrachur's collar. He wanted to punch him but held himself back because his doing so would make everyone aware of it..He turned away and left. He was not trying to hide what was happening but was thinking of the people in this house. He would leave the house in a few days but Sumati maa had to live here. How would she feel to live under the same roof with a man who had a bad eye on her daughter. And Tupur, his wife, what would she go through if she came to know that her husband was trying to make a move on his sister. Thakuma would blame Tupur to not be able to hold her husband's attention and Bondita for being too outgoing so as to attract men that too when she couldn't attract her own husband.

Aniruddh knew a man like Chandrachur had to be unmasked but he could not be rash about it. Feelings of too many people were at stake. This is why men like Chandrachur got away easily. It made him angry to the core. Why...??! Why was he in a situation like this...??!!

The air moving his dhoti in an elegant manner, hair flowing back and grim expression on his face, Bondita saw Aniruddh walking towards her looking particularly displeased and dangerous. She wanted to escape from there, words of her Chachi and Thakuma still fresh. She had no courage, no intension to face him just yet. And on top of it he looked like he could kill someone right now.

What happened...?!!

There eyes met and she knew the exit gates were closed.

Aniruddh wanted right there and then to march up to Bondita, and hide her in his embrace, away from the dirty eyes of the world. But he was full aware of his own foul mood. He knew he might say something that might be difficult to explain to her later. He didn't say all that to Chandrachur because he didn't trust Bondita or was jealous or thought that just because he was her husband, she couldn't talk to anyone else.

He said all that because it was the raw truth. Yes they didn't have a normal relation but that didn't give anyone else the right to look at her. Looking at any woman in that way was wrong but eyeing a woman knowing she is married had a way more vulgar tone to it. Having no regards or fear of Bondita's husband being there made Aniruddh's skin creep by the perversion that was in Chandrachur's mind. It made Aniruddh scared of what Chandrachur could do if he was not around for his Bondita to protect her.

This was all too much for him. As much as he wanted to be in Bondita's company to calm himself down, he needed to get his head together. He needed to talk to her about this and he needed to pick words carefully for it.

Bondita saw Aniruddh reach her, stop in front of her for a moment. She thought he might say something when he crossed her and walked away, probably to their bedroom.
She was glad and sad at the same time. She knew she wanted to follow hi because he looked really upset. On the other hand she wanted to think few things before she could go and confront him. Was there anything to even confront about ? What she came to know this afternoon was just pure facts, her history. What could she ask him ? What could she say to him ? She felt she was way too inferior to him to be even standing in front of him. If he came to know she felt lesser about herself she would get an earful of life time. All his efforts, his struggles, one way or the other, had one goal.

To never let Bondita be inferior to anyone, not even her pati babu.

But here she was, feeling hollow, weak thinking of what she was feeling this very moment could have been her whole life had her pati babu not decided to be his fitoori self that night years ago and filled her hair parting with sindoor.