“It really isn’t fair, Piyali, that Aporna should get to you, sadden you and snatch away my happiness once again,” Mukundo told her when she still seemed upset by the incident in the shop.

Piyali tried to smile. He was right. It was Aporna who had cheated on him. And it wasn’t a one-time slip of judgment. It was somebody whom she had known since college. She had wanted to marry him, but her parents hadn’t agreed. He wasn’t of their community. She had married Mukundo under pressure from her family, but had continued her clandestine affair with him. When it was exposed and Mukundo had asked for a divorce, she had been more than happy to agree to it. She was looking forward to her life with her lover. But that hadn’t turned out the way she had wanted. He was not interested in marrying her. His parents had already arranged for his marriage, and he wasn’t going to break it for the sake of a divorcee from another community. She had been devastated. Piyali sympathized with her sometimes, but there was nobody to be blamed other than herself. To have not valued a husband like Mukundo Babu! It wasn’t surprising that she craved to return to him. But Mukundo had been too hurt to ever consider the possibility.

“It isn’t her, Mukundo Babu. But the things she said…”

“She was just trying to hurt us…”

“May be. But… all those years ago… even Ahwaan had said something like that…”

“You never told me. What had he said?”

“That I have an unhealthy relationship with you and that I wasn’t really invested in him…”

“Even if that was true, how does it matter now?”

“If two people can say it, more of them will…”

“It doesn’t matter what people say, Piyali…”

“But it does, right? Why else had to kept silent for so long? It does matter to you.”

He sighed. “What mattered to me, Piyali, was what you would say and what Kaku would say if I gave even a hint of how I felt. I wasn’t thinking about the rest of the world for myself, but only for yours and Kaku’s sake. The worst thing that can happen to me now, if the world turned your head around. Don’t do that to me, Piyali. I can’t go back to the despair after having been given so much hope. Please!”

Tears filled her eyes as she hugged him tight. He comforted her and then gently pulled away from her. “Don’t do that,” he reminded her. She averted her eyes shyly.

—

The wedding was a simple affair as they had decided. Only close friends and relatives attended. Some of them accompanied them back to his house, where the gruhapravesh ceremony was conducted by them and the house-staff.  Despite the simple ceremony, Mukundo could see that Piyali was getting tired. The saree she had worn to please him and the jewelry were also heavy for her. So, he sent her to their room to take rest, while he and Mr. Banerjee attended to the guests and saw them off one by one.

After the guests departed, Mr. Banerjee came to see her. It wasn’t really a big deal, because they were all going to Bangalore in couple of weeks and they would be staying together. But she still felt emotional and started crying on his shoulders. Probably it was all the pain and stress that the father-daughter duo had borne over two years.

“What happened, Pihu? You are happy, right?” he asked with concern.

She nodded.

“Stop crying, then, child. Is something the matter?”

She shook her head. “Just that… Baba. Sorry for everything. I have troubled you so much.”

He laughed softly.  “That’s what kids are for, Pihu. Don’t even think about it. And now, everyone is happy. I am very happy. Mukundo is happy. So are you. Why bother about past mistakes on anybody’s part, my child?”

She smiled finally. “Be happy, Pihu. And…” he hesitated before proceeding, “Keep him happy. You couldn’t be in more caring hands. Never let him down.”

—

Piyali had changed out of her heavy wedding saree. But she was still wearing a saree, a lighter one, when Mukundo came in. She was sitting on the bed resting against the bedpost. Mukundo beamed on seeing her, while she nervously shuffled out of the bed, fiddling with her saree.

“Tired?” he came close to her and asked. If her eyes weren’t downcast, she would have seen how his eyes were shining. He was doubtlessly the happiest man on earth at that moment.

She shook her head.

“Good,” he held her, “Because tonight you need to answer for a few things.”

She looked up startled. But by now his eyes were looking dark and he had a strange, crooked smile on his lips.

“Answer for a few things?” she mumbled questioningly.

He nodded and shifted one of the pillows to reveal a book lying under it. Piyali’s eyes widened in shock. She had been wondering for a while where her copy of Fifty Shades Freed had disappeared – the third book of the fifty shades trilogy! Her throat went dry and she didn’t meet his eyes at all. What was he thinking?

“I… I’m sorry… Mukundo Babu…. I wasn’t…” she stopped. How could she say she wasn’t reading it? She was reading it. It was boring as a story, but had made a titillating read.

Mukundo climbed on the bed and pulled her after him. “Just saying sorry won’t do, would it? You will need to be punished for it.”

She nodded mindlessly, but quickly registered his words. She looked at him dazed. Damn! He was playing the game with her. Her mind clouded with confusion, even as her breath quickened. It was made worse when pulled a piece of cloth from under the mattress.

“That’s… my dupatta.”

“True,” he replied mischievously as he tied her wrists with it. She realized that it was only a piece of it. He picked up another one and blind-folded her with it.

“You tore it? I had been looking for it…”

“Buy another one,” he whispered in her ears, “And now shut up. Because I have a third piece from it too, which I can use to silence you.”

He made her lie down on bed and bent down to kiss her. On her cheeks at first.  Meanwhile, her confusion grew into panic. What was that book about? Gosh! Spanking, and paddles and crops… She didn’t even know what most of those things looked like. What had he planned?

—

To be continued