Chapter 20
R achanna had a few important meetings with some clients visiting the facility so she had to be at her office on a Saturday. Unfortunately, the day-care was closed that day and Bhanu was also out of town. Thankfully, Anirudh stepped in and offered to babysit Asmee.
Anirudh had not been Rachanna’s first choice as she knew he always went to play cricket on Saturdays. She was hesitant to ask him to give it up. But Anirudh was only too glad to skip his cricket match to spend the day with Asmee.
Asmee too was excited to spend the day with him. That meant she would play all day long. She packed a big bag with colouring books, art supplies, a couple of board games and a few toys.
After they had their breakfast, Asmee and Anirudh spent the entire morning playing Xbox. He showed her the few tricks that she had missed. She was a quick leaner. It was not long before she started to defeat him in the races.
After lunch, Asmee settled down in the living room to do some colouring while Anirudh sat nearby, reading a book.
“It is so much fun with you, Uncle,” said Asmee, all of a sudden.
Anirudh smiled. “I am having a great time too.”
“My Saturdays are generally boring. My mom makes me study. I can only play after four in the evening.”
“That’s too bad,” replied Anirudh, occupied with his book.
“But you are cool!”
Anirudh laughed. “Thank you.”
“Do you remember, a long time ago, my mom said that you were a bad person? She insisted that I should not talk to you.”
“She did?” Anirudh asked, his eyebrows shooting up.
“Yes. But she likes you now.”
Anirudh laughed. “Hmm…I really hope so.”
“I wonder what changed her mind. Was it you helping me get that apple out of my throat?”
Anirudh frowned as he thought for a while and then shook his head. “Hmm…no! No. I don’t think it is that.”
“Then?”
He looked hesitant. Then, he leaned towards her and said, “Well, it is a secret. Do you promise never to tell another living soul about it? Including your mother?”
Asmee’s eyes went wide with excitement. A secret! One that she had to keep from all the adults! How thrilling!
“Yes, yes. I promise!” Asmee replied in a high pitch.
“God promise? You will never tell another living soul?”
“No, I won’t tell it to anyone else!” Asmee promised, excitement shining in her eyes.
Bringing his mouth very close to her ear, he whispered, “I cast a spell on her. Sshh! You cannot tell anyone.”
Asmee’s eyes widened further. “You did?”
He nodded. “Of course. That is why she likes me now.”
“Aah! That is…that is…awesome. Can you teach me that spell? My math teacher hates me. I can use the spell on her.”
He shook his head as he moved away from her. “Nah. Maybe in another year. You need to be at least ten to learn the spell.”
Her eyes grew wide with excitement. “That’s wonderful. I will be ten this November. It is only a couple of more months.”
Anirudh looked at her in surprise. He shook his head and said, “No. You are eight now. You will be nine this November.”
“I so am not! I am nine. I will be ten this November.”
“This November?”
“Yeah,” replied Asmee, nodding her head. “November 21 st . My most favourite day.”
Anirudh’s face paled. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I am sure. I know my own birthday. It is the most important day of the year. And this year as I am turning double digit, my mom has promised to throw a very big party! She has promised me a trampoline, a magic show…”
Anirudh paled as he stopped listening. He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair.
Asmee looked at Anirudh with concern. “Are you alright? Are you sick? Are you nauseous? I told you not to eat so many sweets.”
“No, no,” replied Anirudh, hardly listening to what the child was saying. He got up and said, “Give me a few minutes.”
He then walked into the restroom and splashed his face with water. When he looked at his reflection in the mirror, his eyes hardened. Rachanna had some serious explaining to do.
***
When Rachanna came to pick Asmee, she realised Anirudh was behaving distant with her.
“All okay?” She asked, collecting Asmee’s bag.
Anirudh nodded but did not meet her eye.
“Any issues? Was she mischievous? Or…”
“No. She was a doll. I had a great time with her,” said Anirudh curtly.
“Then, what is the issue? You don’t look well…” she asked, concerned.
“I am just tired.”
He did look tired and haggard.
She said, “I am sorry to dump her on you…”
“It’s not her. It’s something else…”
“Anything I can do to help? Do you want to come over for dinner?”
“No,” replied Anirudh, finally looking up to meet her eyes. “I need some time alone. I will call you.”
“Okay,” replied Rachanna, unconvinced.
Anirudh turned to Asmee and smiled broadly. “I had a great time. We should do this again.”
“Yes, Uncle, I loved it too.”
“Alright then…” said Rachanna even though she was hesitant to leave just like that.
“Bye,” said Anirudh, closing the door before she could say anything else.
Rachanna walked back to her house, puzzled about Anirudh’s behaviour.
***
The following week was hell for Rachanna. Anirudh was ignoring her. There was no doubt about it. He would not pick her calls. When she went over, he wouldn’t be at home. Or maybe he was at home and did not open the door for her; Rachanna could not be sure.
He did not call her nor did he come to visit her. And that terrified Rachanna. She was finally happy after so many, many years. She wanted it to continue. She loved Anirudh. And she wanted to be with him.
Why was he ignoring her? Was it something she’d done? But then, what had she done? It had started when she had gone to office on a Saturday. Did he suspect her of having an affair? She could not bear the thought. Was that it? Her heart went cold at the thought. She would not be able to bear it if Anirudh suspected her. She just would not. It would break her heart and she did not have the strength for that.
Or had something happened with him? Maybe he’d met someone. Someone who was young and single, someone who had never been married before or someone who did not have a kid. Maybe someone who was willing to marry him. The thought drove her insane. Was that it? Is that why he was ignoring her?
As thought after thought, possibility after possibility, drove her insane, one thing was very clear to Rachanna. She could not live without him. She loved him too much for that. And she would do anything to be with him. Anything.
She had been very lonely in her life and she had realised just how lonely only after meeting Anirudh. She missed a man in her life. She had missed the warmth that only a man could provide and the support that he extended just by being there. The safety that encapsulated her whole life and soul just by his presence. A peculiar masculine strength. She was not ready to lose him.
If they ever were able to get over this supposed spat between them, Rachanna decided to do something that she had lacked the courage to do till then. She decided to marry him. Because the week without him had made it painfully clear to her that that it was impossible for her to exist without him.
***
It was Friday night when Rachanna rang the doorbell at Anirudh’s. She was dressed beautifully in an electric blue saree that hugged her closely, showing off her curvy figure. She had let her hair down, having taken special pains to style it. It fell in beautiful waves on her shoulders. Her make-up was perfectly applied. The soft fragrance of gentle perfume wafted around her.
She held a bouquet of red roses in one hand. In her other hand, was a small cover with two boxes. One had a gold ring and the other had a very expensive watch for Anirudh. She smiled. If she was going to propose, she was going to do it right.
She had a small overnight bag near her feet. She had packed clothes for a couple of days. Since Asmee was at her grandparents’ house that weekend, she could very well spend that time with Anirudh. That would give her ample time to sort any issues Anirudh might have. It had to be something small and silly. Maybe he was just angry that she kept refusing his offer for marriage. Or maybe something even less inconsequential. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be something a proposal could not set right.
She grinned when Anirudh opened the door. He hardly looked at her before he turned and walked back in with a curt, “Come in.”
Rachanna was disappointed. All the pains that she had taken to look smashing seemed a wasted effort. But she consoled herself that he’d change his attitude when he realised that she was going to propose.
“I have a surprise for you,” said Rachanna, as she locked the door behind her.
“I’ve had enough surprises for the day. I don’t think I can take any more,” replied Anirudh, handing her a couple of sheets of paper.
Rachanna frowned as she took the papers. What was the issue? Did it have something to do with his previous company? Something to do with his brother? When she read the paper, her jaw dropped. They were the results of a paternity test.
“Anirudh! I…I can explain.”
Anirudh was furious. “How dare you! How dare you do this? Asmee is mine?”
“Anirudh! Let me explain…”
“You cheat! You planned this with Samay, didn’t you?
“What?” Rachanna asked, unable to understand.
“Samay was not able to have a child. So, you both decided to fool some random guy into fathering a child. A child that Samay could claim as his.”
Rachanna was shocked. “No! No! What are you saying? No! Is this something someone can plan? Are you nuts?”
Anirudh snatched the paper from her hand and snarled at her, “That is exactly what happened, isn’t it? You both are so hard-hearted that I cannot put anything past you. You both are such a made-for-each-other couple. You thought you could trick me, didn’t you?”
“No! Anirudh! Please,” she replied, attempting to take his hand. “No. We never planned for anything to happen…”
Anirudh jerked her hand off. “Then why the hell did you not reach out to me? I have a child! A child! Don’t you think I should know?”
“I could not reach out to you. I was married…”
“So? What about my child? Am I supposed to live without even being aware about the existence of my child just because you were married to someone else?!”
“Samay was dying. I could not do that to him. I could not give him more pain. He did not deserve it.”
He brought his face close to hers and asked through gritted teeth, “But I did? I deserved this?”
“Anirudh!”
“I was without a purpose in my life. I was so depressed. I thought I had nothing to live for. But all the while, I had! I had a daughter. My own blood! And you kept her a secret! You kept her away from me.”
“I did not have a choice, Anirudh.”
“You could have at least told me when I moved here. You had a choice, but you did not do it!”
“I was planning to…”
“When? On my deathbed? You should have told me the moment you found out you were pregnant. Married or not.”
Anirudh glared at her in deathly silence before he asked, his voice dripping venom, “It was a simple choice. It was Samay or me, wasn’t it? And you chose Samay.”
“He was my husband,” wailed Rachanna.
“It was my child!” He screamed.
“Look, I did not tell you,” said Rachanna, trying to placate him. “It was entirely my mistake. I did not tell Samay too. He did not know. Please. It was not something we planned. I promise! Samay did not know. Before or after.”
Anirudh was silent for a few minutes.
“At any rate, it was not simple, Anirudh! It was anything but simple. Do you know the guilt that was wrecking my heart about this?”
“You wrecked lives! All around! You wrecked and destroyed lives. Guilt is the smallest of your punishments!” Anirudh shouted.
“I did not do it on purpose,” replied Rachanna, her eyes starting to water.
“You cheated on Samay! You cheated on me. And you did it all on purpose.”
“Not on purpose. No! Definitely no! It was a mistake I did one night. One single night. A single, drunken night…”
“No, it was not. It was not just that one mistake. Every day after that was a chance to correct that mistake. And yet, you did not do it. You did not come clean with Samay. You did not come clean with me! You chose to do this! You chose everything that you did. You chose to wreck everyone’s lives.”
“Anirudh…”
“Why? Why did you not tell Samay? Was it because you wanted his money? His wealth? Was that the driving factor?”
Rachanna looked at him, exasperated and shocked. “Are you kidding me? Do you honestly think that had anything to do with anything that I had done? Look, I agree to everything else. Yes, what I did was a mistake. But please don’t hate me, Anirudh. Please. I cannot bear it.”
Anirudh sat down on the sofa in the living room, his hand on his forehead.
Rachanna sat down next to him. “Look, Anirudh, let me explain please…”
“Get out!”
“What?”
“Get out! Get out of my home! Get out of my life! I am done with you.”
“Anirudh…”
“And know this, Asmee is mine. I am going to fight for her.”
“Will you please listen? I had decided to tell you. That is why I came here today. To propose to you and to tell you the truth…”
“I don’t care what you planned to do. I am only concerned about what you never did till now. Get out, Rachanna. Just get out and leave me alone!” Anirudh shouted. He walked into his room, banging the door behind him.
Rachanna sat there for many minutes, tears running down her face. Then, she slowly picked up everything she had brought with her and left his apartment.