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Dry grey branches dimly lit by the orange of the sun and her hues flustered underneath it all. Her eyes were fixated on the bedroom window, lids blinking for a drop of rain like the cold current in the air. The man holding her hostage by the wrists was getting frustrated of the wait. This time, he didn't seek out a reply. He simply dropped his weight on her.
"Keep still", he whispered undoing her zipper. "It'll only take me two minutes". A glitter glistened in her crystal eyes. Then, it was desert again. His fingertips let go of her pulse but his touch assaulted her senses. Up, down, left, right- she couldn't tell what was happening anymore. His breath became hot against her neck. When tousled her hair in his palm, it flung like a lion's mane. She was trudging deeper into the thoughts of nothingness.
Suddenly, the cries of an infant interrupted his love making along with her mindless pondering. He took a second and resumed his pleasure. But she couldn't...her heart was racing, her eyes wet. She had to leave...her child was waiting.
"Ay", he pulled his hand away from her bosom and inspected it closely. "What is this?" He knowingly pointed his palm toward her.
"The baby...my...I should go...my..."
"Milk. I know", he pulled his body away from her. "Hurry back to the shower, I'll clean you up".
She nodded mechanically and she slipped on the dress he threw back in her hands.
*********************************
"Maid", he called from his rose colored bathwater. "Where is your madame?"
"She was feeding the baby and they both fell asleep sir".
"What? In the nursery?"
The maid offered a guilty trying not to upset her employer.
"Fine, I'll go see them after I am finished with work".
*********************************
As he approached the nursery door, he sighed to himself. He really didn't like going off at her. Then again, she did things like this to set him off.
With eyes half closed, he peeked through the move door to his daughter's room. "Sohi", the wall read in Hindi lettering. And he smiled hearing the crackling laughter lighting up the dark room. Two innocent voices nudging each other, rhyming like sonnets- mother and daughter.
He turned up a switch lifted the shadow cast on his woman. Beams of dust shone a new glow to her bare back. He walked toward her, hands in his pockets, proudly observing the effect his presence had on her.
Her breath still caught in her throat, she slowly turned to face him and smiled a faint smile.
"Cover up", he all but screamed. She instinctively lifted her dress off her hips and up to her chest, removing from sight the lips of her daughter on her breast.
"You are supposed to cover up when we aren't in the bedroom".
She didn't answer or give any visible reaction. But the child was visibly distressed by the commotion. She cried out for love and he lifted the baby off her mother's arms.
"Our Sohi is so smart. She knows daddy's here. Daddy will take care of the Kundra companies for you, all right? You grow up fast and then, dad will give you all the power in the world. Good girl".
He swayed the child in his arms and handed her back to the mother. "What are you doing up at 3am? I thought you were asleep", he finally asked what he came in for.
"The baby needs feeding frequently so", she stopped at this, conveying only as much as needed.
"Isn't there a nanny for that?" He didn't wait for an answer because he knew none was coming. "We're flying to Japan tomorrow. Pack light".
"What about Sohi?" she began setting out Sohi's clothes for the morning.
"Do you want to hire another nanny?"
"No, I want to take her with me".
"I am not paying for the nanny".
You aren't listening was what she wanted to say. Instead, she opted for the more conservative, "I will take care of my daughter".
"Your daughter...our daughter is being taken care of, here. You come to Japan and take care of me and the company. We need you in front of reporters playing the part".
He dragged her out before she was finished packing for Sohi.
"It's settled then. I'll buy you new stuff when we get there. Just come to bed".
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"You must despise him. I won't ask you why you haven't left him because that would be cruel. But I can just tell you must really hate him", a woman in the chief maid's apron started a painful conversation with her madame.
"No", the madame said after a long pause. "I don't hate him. I have no reason to".
"But the way he treats you Madhu...", the maid looked on flabbergasted.
"What about it? He doesn't hit me. He puts a roof over my head, food in my plate. He's the father of my child. He loves her and he doesn't go around town ringing women bed to bed. I don't need anything else".
"What about love? Do you love him? Did you ever?"
She smirked as if this line of questioning was a routine. "Life is so complicated Trishna...there are so many storms to prevail, so many mountains to climb that after a while, the love just blows to dust".
She smirked as if this line of questioning was a routine. "Life is so complicated Trishna...there are so many storms to prevail, so many mountains to climb that after a while, the love just blows to dust".
