Non-erotic Bonds of Love by sfraza
#12
Chapter 12


Aditya was shocked; his near perfect daughter was summoned to the Principal’s office. How could this have happened?

She with a couple of other girls were being threatened with termination. They had been caught corresponding with some older boys outside the college. The principal was not going to tolerate such rubbish in his college.

Aditya cajoled and pleaded with the college authorities. Then shamelessly he pulled out his trump card; his wife had left him, and Anjali was under immense stress. She was handed over a week’s suspension with a strict warning. The father and daughter drove around the city in silence. He did not ask her what she was doing and why she was doing it.

He told her the truth. Your mother and he have separated due to differences they could not resolve, and he was sorry.

Anjali looked out of the window. This was nothing she had not already guessed. Besides she had expected scolding and anger.

“I will need to deactivate your Facebook and twitter account”, he added firmly.

“You are not taking away my Facebook, this is crazy. I told you I was not even involved. Rashmi my friend was, and I got dragged along with her”.

“You are too young to have it anyway. Don’t make me take away your laptop too, Anju” Aditya reasoned with her.

“Ok fine take it if you think it is going to stop me”

Aditya sighed she did not even try to deceive him.

“You need to focus on your studies”, Aditya pressed on her. Silence again.

Aditya realized It was not going to be easy to convince her.

Rohit was another cause of worry for him. Something that did not stare at his face, but he thought it was much deeper and needed more attention than Anjali. He had been too harsh with him and it had sort of become a habit after Neeta went to the USA. The devil may care boy had withdrawn into a shell. It was an invisible shell. Something that was so imperceptible that if you did not look properly, you may miss seeing it completely. He still played for hours wildly down in the colony with the other boys. He was polite and did not back answer when Aditya scolded him. But he did not listen. Aditya was sure he did not listen. He would do exactly as he pleased. He was stubborn to the fault, and completely independent. If he was hungry he would help himself in the kitchen. If Aditya did not lay out his clothes on the bed, he would take it from the cupboard himself. He would not snuggle up to his grandma and grandpa like Anjali would and talk college or friends. He would be on his own. As is the nurturing, softness inside him had gone away with Neeta as well. Both the children were going out of hand. And it was of no priority anymore where they lived or where they study. Their souls were being destroyed, and he could not do this to them.

That night Aditya picked up the phone to call Neeta.

Neeta had chosen to settle in Delhi for some time. She was not sure how Aditya would handle her coming to Bangalore; she simply waited for an opportune time to contact him, when he called. He calmly explained the situation to her and told he wanted help. She asked him to send Anjali to her for the week. She will try to get through to her.

He thanked her and then he added quietly. “How have you been doing.” Neeta sucked in her breath, did she dare ask?

“I am good, really good. You can send Rohit too, I am sure they will be better off together, since summer vacations are coming up it won’t do them much harm to stay here.”

He agreed. Then she asked him, “How you have been doing”

“I am having a crush on the twenty-year-old junior in my office. I think I am going to flirt with her”.

Neeta almost dropped her keyboard on the ground. It took a moment for her to realize he was joking and she burst out laughing.

It was hot and humid in Delhi. The Yamuna was nothing but a stream of foul-smelling water, and smog rolled up in the air permeating the atmosphere. There was dust everywhere. The notorious Delhi weather ensured not many pedestrians could be seen during the day. But during the evenings when it was cool, and the heat had gone down a notch lower. Neeta would walk on the footpaths in South Delhi tree laden avenues. Delhi was ruthless and brutal, crowded as hell but still it had history, good roads, and some beautiful buildings.

Neeta waited impatiently for Anjali and Rohit to arrive. She shuffled from one foot to another, anxious to get their first look. When they appeared at the gates, she broke into tears which she was unable to hide.

The children were embarrassed. There was no previous joy in their heart when they had come to USA to meet her. That separation was a holiday, this seemed like a punishment. There were no protestations of love, hugs, and kisses. They had been through a lot since then. They have seen their father break down in tears at different times, an unnatural and dreadful silence that hung at home in the evenings.

The silence that seem to permeate even this meeting.

Neeta tried to be jovial as possible. Her cheerfulness appeared fake even to her.

“I have planned the whole week”, she told them happily. We will first make a tour of Delhi and then spend two days in Agra visiting the Taj Mahal, what do you guys think?

“Why did not papa come”, Rohit asked. Neeta told him something about him being busy.

“It is a lie, Rohit, he is never going to come. We are not going to see them together.”, Anjali blurted out maliciously.

Rohit was quiet. Neeta was sure she was supposed to say something, but she did not know what.

“It is not a lie Anjali, we live apart, but we are still together. In the next visit I will ask your Papa to come too if you want”, Neeta told her. “Why do you have to live apart”, Rohit questioned further. “I would like you to live together as before”.

“We have different stuff to do”, Neeta tried to be ambiguous about it, “I missed you guys, I really did. And I want to be together with you as much as possible, please let us try to have fun now and whatever time we have together. I will try to spend more time with you, I promise. Meanwhile, we just must live with this arrangement. You can always contact me on call and on Facebook, on WhatsApp. Anything.”

“It is not enough” Anjali declared.

Neeta knew it was not enough. She was living her worst nightmare. She tried pampering to all their whims and fancies. It worked somewhat. With the cunning known only to children, they guessed their mother was a little guilty and ready to give in to any tantrum just to please them. So, they used her, Neeta could see right through their maneuvers, but this visit was not about disciplining. It was about love and affection. Aditya’s purpose would not be served, or he may find them a little more difficult afterward, but she did not care.

Neeta took them to so many places, tried to give them so much fun that their resistance started melting. Anjali and Rohit were too busy visiting all the landmarks to have any serious discussion with their mother. She promised to come down to Bangalore eventually. She pampered them, indulged them. Questioned and prodded about their college, their friends even when met with sullenness. She did not know if what she did was right or wrong, she was there for them. And that is all that mattered.

Anjali was desperate too. Her reputation among the teachers was in tatters. Her old friends were themselves facing suspension some over a month. And none of the parents of other girls would let her hang with them. Her internet connection was taken away and time on the computer was strictly monitored by her grandfather who had forgotten his ailments for a while. Her father had found a female driver for her of all the things who accompanied her everywhere. She pleaded with her mother to talk to her Daddy to let her go off easily. Suddenly mother was the savior. Neeta promised to talk to Aditya on her next trip.

Aditya was not entirely kidding when he told his wife about his junior in office. Hell, she even reported to him two positions down the ladder. An ambitious young woman who was in her late twenties. She was a Mumbaikar and a big hit among all the guys married or single in office. She smoked outside during lunch with male colleagues, drank in office parties and flirted brazenly. From his glass cubicle, he could see at least 2-3 men idling near her chair at any time of the day. She was an absolute motor mouth. Her performance was exemplary though, and she was an efficient and smart worker which is all that Aditya cared for.

One day during lunch while he stood outside just stretching his legs, she came forward and offered him a cigarette and strike up a conversation. Her eyes danced around him, and she bantered with him in a way that made him feel nervous and excited. Maybe all men around her felt the same. Maybe it was the lure of his authority. Maybe he was just lonely. In the eyes of his friends, acquaintances and colleagues he was still a married man, whose wife lived apart. It was not an extraordinary situation. Many families in the IT company stayed apart due to job constraints. But the sanctity of marriage in Indian families was never questioned.

During an office party, Mohini had a drink too many and she requested some of her peers to drop her home instead of driving herself. Aditya to his surprise offered before anyone else could. She accepted. He could see through the corner of his eyes, his office workers sharing a snide glance amongst themselves.

Mohini turned to him in the car, her speech a little slurred. Winds fluttering her hair, eyes a little intoxicated, the perfect Bangalore weather adding just the right element of the romantic ambiance.

“Is your wife still abroad, Sir”. It was the lie Aditya had concocted to keep away unnecessary questions.

“You can call me Aditya. No, she currently resides in Delhi” he had not told anyone that.

“Oh Aditya”, she rolled his name on her tongue, “that must be so hard, to handle the kids yourself. “

“My parents live with me”, Aditya settled behind the wheel of the car deep into his seat, relaxing his shoulders, his body stretched against the car.

“That’s nice”, she paused “I do not mean to pry, but why cannot she get a job here, so much the better for you guys, do you not think so”

Of course, she meant to pry. Aditya could just shrug, and now answer.

Instead he told her,” Actually we are separated” and cursed himself for it.

The whole office will know of this by the next morning. What was he thinking?

“Oh, I am so sorry”, she exclaimed but she did not sound very sorry,

But to her credit she did not probe further. Aditya asked her about her family and she answered simply. She had been raised in the most cosmopolitan city in India, was exposed to a modernity not commonly seen in other Indians and maybe understood.

Aditya found out in a few days by carefully studying the reactions and faces of those around him that his secret was still a secret. She had not turned it into office gossip. Good girl. He wondered idly if he could go anywhere with her. Frankly he would be a frustrated middle-aged man if he made any moves. She will have to make one.

She did soon enough. Mohini considered herself crazy but there was something intoxication about attraction to a mature successful man. Maybe it was the lure of his authority. She was bored of the boys she usually met in her age group. She thought a little fling in this boring city would not harm her. She was still young enough to not take things seriously. She actively started pursuing him.

Next time when Neeta pinged him about the children’s next visit. He broached the topic to her. There was no one else he could talk to. He was still married in the eyes of the world chatting was so impersonal.

“A girl in office keeps asking me out, lunch, coffee even dinner. What should I do”

Oh God, he was serious. A sharp pang of bitterness, sadness, envy, guilt plunged her heart at the same time. She felt overwhelmed and confused by the barrage of feeling she felt. A small voice spoke inside. It has not been even six months since you left.

She tried not to ask about the girl

“Oh God, listen to you, you are such a dude. If you like her do go out”.

“I do not want to make an office scandal. She reports to me.”

“Then tell here you cannot go out with her since you are her boss. “

“What if she is just engaging in harmless flirting, then I will sound like an asshole. How do I trust her?”

Neeta winced at the word trust.

“Good question. Let me think about it and get back to you”

“Ok”

“Ok, bye”, he wanted to ask her, where was he? ‘The man’. He had gleaned from kids’ that she lived alone. But he did not question her. It was no longer his business. He still hated her, he had no desire to get back with her or even see her.
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Messages In This Thread
Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:51 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:51 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:52 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:52 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:52 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:53 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:53 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:54 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:54 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:55 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:55 PM
RE: Bonds of Love by sfraza - by pastispresent - 06-03-2019, 06:55 PM



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