“What a disgusting lie I had concocted. I have read the news of some rape or the other every day since then. I hear about their pain, helplessness, and I feel such loathing for myself. How could I have trivialized it like that? The shame of it all, Mukundo Babu! I had fallen in love with you. But you deserved better than me. I hated myself so much that I could not have imagined anybody loving me any longer. Much less you…”

“I blamed myself for trapping you. I thought how desperate you must have been to get rid of me that you resorted to lying. Even when Boudi told me that you weren’t married, I didn’t think it was for me. But I could not even for a moment hate you. I pined for you…”

She folded her legs up and buried her head in her knees. As she convulsed with sobs, he gently wrapped his hand around her. Gradually he pulled her in his arms, and she lay down hiding her tear-stained face in his chest.

“Do you… really love me?” he asked.

“Yes,” she spoke into his chest.

“Say it, Piyali, please.”

She looked up, “I love you, Mukundo Babu. I have loved you for as long as you have thought that I didn’t.”

He bent his head and pressed his lips against hers. She responded immediately and nibbled on his lower lips. He thrust his tongue inside his mouth practically taking her breath away for a few moments. When he finally withdrew, both their eyes were moist. “I will never let you go again,” he said, “Irrespective of what mischiefs you come up with. No chewing-gums around, I hope!”

She smiled and he planted another kiss on her forehead. They remained in each other arms for a while, when Sumedha stirred in sofa. Piyali sat up quickly and shot a glance at her. She had only turned in her sleep. She relaxed and smiled at Mukundo.

“There is just one more thing I want to know…” he said.

“Ask away!”

“Rohan – you called him a swine? Why? Did he… did he hurt you?”

“After meeting you and telling you the truth, I told him to not call me up again and blocked him. I knew that I had never loved him, never could love him. I had only been flattered by his perusal and had once again mistaken it for love. For a few days, I lived with the guilt of breaking the heart of two good men. But part of that guilt washed away, when I got a call from Sonali soon after. She had called to warn me to not speak to Rohan if he called or tried to meet me. He was on a run. He had been found with a minor girl in Haldia, not in an innocent situation obviously, and had to flee to avoid getting lynched or handed over to police. And all this when… he was already married. His wife lived with his parents in his native village.”

“Oh God!”

“So, I had not only misunderstood my feelings. I had also mistook lust for love, scheming for concern, and aggression for passion. He intended to hurt me. So – yes. A swine. But he could not. I always thought that it was your love that protected me.”

He hugged her once again and mumbled, “Thank God!”

Sumedha stirred again, and this time she woke up.

—

That evening Mukundo shifted to Piyali’s house.

“It will be much more convenient than me and Sumedha commuting between guest house and my place all the time. There are two rooms. I and Sumedha can sleep in one.  There will be no inconvenience at all,” Piyalis argued forcefully, even though Mukundo hadn’t resisted even once.

In another couple of days, he was well enough to take short walks around the campus.

“I like Darjeeling. The air is cleaner and it suits me better,” Mukundo remarked.

“I like it too. It has none of the bitter memories of Kolkata.”

“And Sumi, I think, doesn’t hate her school. Only staying in hostel.”

They smiled at each other. Mukundo added after a pause, “I think we could settle here instead of going back to Kolkata. I could get a job in one of the colleges here.”

“You will be over-qualified for any college here.”

“Piyali. I would be happy teaching in a school too. That’s not what I care about. I only care about yours and Sumi’s happiness now.”

“Your Baba and my Dadu would both be disappointed, if you didn’t join a prestigious university.”

“I have waited for much more than a year that my Baba wanted me to wait. He can’t dictate anything else to me now. And Your Dadu, I am sure, has better sense than that.”

“Baba!” Sumedha had caught up with them by then.

“Sumi. Won’t it be great if we settled down in Darjeeling? You won’t have to change your school.”

“But we must get a house outside the campus. Else I will feel like I am still in the hostel.”

Mukundo and Piyali laughed. Sumedha also grinned after them.

– The End –