River & Desert

Part 6

After the intense confrontation with Mitali Pathak, Adhrit Sinha had no desire to go to work and exacerbate his already upset state. If he went into his consultancy firm with his present foul mood, he would undoubtedly reprimand a few gullible interns or even the entire office.

"I can't believe the audacity of that girl!" thought Adhrit as he clasped the steering wheel till his knuckles blanched.

The Sinha Mansion came into view, with its vast lawns and towering trees surrounding the three-storey mansion. After taking a sharp left turn, he hit the brakes with excessive force, causing the car to screech to a stop. The security guard gave him a salute and headed towards him to relieve him of his parking duties.

Upon exiting the vehicle, Adhrit gave the keys to the valet and thanked him, even though he was in a sour mood. It didn't take him long to get inside his home with his long strides. The impending severe headache signaled the nightmare he would experience later that day.

His paternal grandmother and elder sister were engaged in an animated discussion about him and the woman who was causing him frustration - Mitali Pathak.

"Hey, there he is. We were just discussing you and..."

"Ms. Pathak. I figured, Di. Unless there's something pressing, I'm going to rest for a bit. Can I?" he asked. Purvi and Shanti took his use of formal language as an indication of even lower patience than his already low threshold.

"Kaddu, there's something we need to tell you." Shanti, with a stance as nonchalant as her grandson's, suggested he might want to take the seat. Adhrit refrained from arguing, as both he and his Dadi were not in the mood for any disturbance.

After dumping his blazer beside him, Adhrit settled on the couch.

"What is this about?" he asked, rubbing his eyes before he rested his arm on the back of the couch. He pondered whether his Dadi had come up with a plan for his public marriage ceremony, even though it was just a formality to please her desire of witnessing his wedding. He let out a sigh, wishing that the topic of their discussion was not the one that was troubling him.

"We got a call from Dr. Singh. I had asked her to keep us informed during the entire surrogacy process. She informed us Mitali is a virgin and on questioning, she explained it could cause several complications in the future if we continue this as we had intended to," said Shanti, with almost professional indifferent face and a tone which revealed nothing about her thoughts.

"What course of action did she, or rather you, propose, Dadi? Di?" prompted Adhrit, his brain giving him warning signals about his family's thoughts.

"Kaddu, we think..." Under her brother's scrutinizing and challenging stare, Purvi stuttered and couldn't complete her sentence..

"You think?" Adhrit's raised eyebrow prompted her to continue her statement, as if he had anticipated what she was going to say.

"My suggestion is for you and Mitali to spend a night together. Caesarean section is not recommended without medical indication, and normal delivery is risky for a virgin."

"And you agree with her, Di?" he asked, turning towards his sister, who appeared consumed by a quandary beyond his knowledge.

"It seems like we don't have a lot of alternatives..."

"Choice?" shouted Adhrit, rising to his feet and glaring down at Purvi and Shanti for daring to suggest something as outrageous as they did. With a mocking gleam in his eyes, he huffed at them. "Do you believe this is an actual choice? Are you out of your mind? How can you suggest I sleep with her?"

"Don't get worked up, Kaddu." Shanti's calm demeanor persisted as she explained the reasoning behind their statement and urged understanding it.

"Dadi, what's the matter with both of you? I'm flabbergasted that you would suggest something so outrageous. We can select a better-suited girl if this creates problems in the future, but taking this path is not acceptable."

Self-respect was the most valuable treasure to the woman in question, as demonstrated by their arguments. She had high regard for herself, and she would never stand for anything that would diminish it, which was understandable.

"We tried to consider every alternative, Kaddu. Surrogacy by a third party is now prohibited under the latest amendment to the Surrogacy Act, and we may not offer financial incentives to a surrogate. Our contract is legal since we signed it before the amendment, but if we terminate it and search for another party, we'll be entering illegal territory."

Purvi's eyes pleaded with him to understand her predicament as she placed her hand over his biceps, but Adhrit shrugged her hand away. "We gave a lot of thought and zeroed upon this, Kaddu."

Purvi's soft touch had subdued Adhrit's anger, but he wasn't yet willing to accept their proposal. The desire to protect the fierce woman had filled him, unlike earlier when he had wanted to argue with her, and he acted on it.

"We shouldn't propose this to Mitali, Di. We wanted a surrogate, and Mitali agreed to take on that role. However, proposing something like this is disrespectful to her position and a hit to her self-respect, which is precious to her. Accepting this is out of question for her."

"Kaddu, what makes you so sure? Is it you know it or that you care for her?" asked Shanti, reading her grandson's mind.

Rather than trying to defend her from his family, who had forsaken their morals to accomplish their objectives, rage consumed him. Were they ready to forget their humanity for something as simple as a wish? Adhrit's patience reached its limit, and he left the ball in her court.

"Caring for someone is not a prerequisite for arguing for them, Dadi. The key to predicting someone's behavior is understanding their personality. Conscience knows the limits. If you think I am the one standing between you and your dream, and you are resolute in making it happen, then proceed."

He clarified that she wouldn't accept it, then walked out without waiting for his sister or grandmother's answer.