| You Have No Idea |

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝟺𝟸

By the time Saudamini reached her chamber, she was exhaling deeply. The veil was half undone from her head, her face appeared slightly warm. There was a terrible feeling. A terrible feeling that seem to strangle her throat.

'What do you have in you to love?' 

Her fingers quivered lightly as she pressed her palm on the wooden door. 

'What else, apart from your beauty, Saudamini? Why should I love you?'

Those words.....weren't words. They were like haunting fragments of her past. The door creaked open, as she entered, breathing. Her fingers buried into the cloth which she was holding, her gaze flickering to her husband.

Anirban was sitting on the study, penning down something on parchments with the study lamp on. She stared at his back for a while, feeling jammed on spot, her vision seemed to be dazing slightly in front of him. She clutched the bangle-cloth with both her hands, a bit tightly. 

"Arrey Mini?" Anirban turned around on his chair, raising his brows with a little smile; flinching Saudamini back to the reality. 

She blinked twice seeing him, her lips pursed down as she looked away slowly. She stepped in, closing the door behind with a gentle thud. She felt him sitting up from his chair, and pushing it back, and she gazed back at him.

Anirban's brows furrowed as he gazed at her for a while and then at the cloth of bangles in her hands, his eyes squinting a bit. 

"Kadambari Maashi gave," Saudamini couldn't believe that she spoke out in such a stable manner. Her voice didn't quiver a bit as she kept her gaze upon him, with her forehead creasing slightly, "Ritual, that's what she said." She exhaled, the last words coming as a whisper. She saw Anirban almost freezing near his chair. She stole her eyes from him, walking towards the almirah.

She opened the door of the cupboard with a slight jerk, and then the little drawer within. 

"Mini..." She could sense the dubiousness in his voice. Saudamini kept mum, knowing well that if one more word erupted further, she could lose it perhaps. 

She kept the cloth inside carefully, pushing the drawer shut and then closing the almirah.

"Mini, what happened?" 

What happened?

 She wished she knew right then what had happened to her exactly. But she was clueless. She just blankly gaped at Anirban for a while and then shook her head, "Ki hobe abar? Kichui to hoyeni. Kichui hoyeni..."(What happened? Nothing, nothing happened.)" 

Anirban squinted his eyes at her, tilting his head, "You...."

Saudamini wished, wished for once that her eyes had stopped making tears. For with another blink, a saline drop gushed out, trailing down her cheek to her chin. It fell down, wetting a tiny spot on her saree below her neck. She pursed her lips together, gulping deeply. Her face was flushed by now.

No.

She did not. 

She watched his lips parting, his face relaxing as he blinked, "Mini--"

"I have work." She mumbled the next moment, immediately wiping off the drop of tear from her cheek with her fingers, "I will be late." She tried to dash out, but collided against Anirban's chest almost instantly, making her jam there for a while as she looked down. She didn't, she didn't want to be seen crying. Not right then. 

"What did she say again....?" Saudamini saw his face contorting into a frown as he gripped her arm. 

"Mini?"

She breathed out.

What would happen if she told him? What would he do? Make her eat back her words?

Words one thrown, could they be taken back again? 

He would argue with her. She would argue with him. Over. She would be gone tomorrow. What will happen other than that? 

"Leave it. It's not the time, I am running late, please let me go." She shook her head wildly, trying to move away but Anirban held her and dragged her back, "I am not letting you go for now." He firmed a bit, holding her elbow and blocking her way with knitted brows, "First tell me what happened."

"What will do by knowing?" Saudamini spewed out, snapping at him, "Tell me what? Will you be able to do anything? No right?" She shook her head again, gulping, "Let it be, she will be leaving tomorrow." 

Anirban tilted his head for a while, "Mini-"

"It will be futile.....leave it. Again another issue, I don't want it. Please," She removed his hand from her arm slowly with furrowed brows, "Please not now, please!" She brushed past him immediately and dashed out of the room in a jiffy.

This wasn't the Saudamini he knew. 

★★★★★★★★★

A/N

🥺🥺🥺🥺Baby Mini 👉👈

BTW, this book is going to be a really long one, maybe upto 80-90 chapters 🙈🙈🙈maybe! Not sure--if I do the chappies long, maybe it may wind up less than that but I do need another 40 chapters to really get into the 'falling in love' part.

Signing off for today!

Nushkie