The Bias

Chapter 17

Rita and preeti had just witnessed the entire scene. The calm in the room was chilly. Like it could freeze the blood in their vessels.

"Mom...",Preeti spoke to break the silence.

"It was her? Right. Ria's senior at the college?", Rita spoke looking back at her son.All her life she had ran away from this,but !

"Mom lets get inside. ", Preeti said walking over trying to pull her up by her shoulders.

Rita was reactionless of a moment and then she jerked her daughters hands away in a quick harsh moment.
"Ria uski beta jaisi hai! What is wrong with him. He cannot be my son!", she was appalled.

"Mom!", Preeti felt the gravity of situation. It wasn't that simple.

"Preeti ,poori zindgi Maine isko jo nahi bnne diya, yeh wahi hai.He is indeed his fathers son! He is his fathers son!"Rita was terrified of what she had seen.Her ideal, cultured, responsible son was after all subject to all primitive instincts like all other men.

Preeti followed her mother back in a hysteria. All the way while going up Rita had kept ranting.She reached the sitting area,asking a staff member to get her water."

"Mom please chup hi jao,Ria sun le gi? Kyu baat ko bada rahe ho?"

"Ria sun le gi. Sune na , usko bhi pta chale what her ideal Maama is doing. Usko pta hona chahiye that hes been sleeping with a  girl of her age."

"Calm down mom! Baad me baat karte hai na!",Preeti spoke when she felt Rita breathe heavy. She was too old too take any form of stress.

"Kahi ka nahi chorega hame !Just imagine the Deshmukhs come to know of this.They will rip all our reputation apart!",Rita could not stop . She felt like a volcano had come to life. Old buried stories and the ghosts that lingered in there had surfaced. The turn of events was going to have repercussions. Blood was about to stand against blood.

"Naani, whats wrong ? What girl are you talking about? Kya hua hai? ", Ria had walked downstairs just as she had heard the loud noises.

"Call laga usko, call Siddharth and bula idr usko? "Rita spoke getting up from end of the couch and walking over to the other side and sitting there.

Ria did as told, she picked up her phone and dialed her uncle.

Ria walked over to her grandmother and sat down on the floor . She placed her head into the woman's lap "He's not picking up the phone.Bolo ge kya hua hai?"

"Kuch nahi hua hai beta , you go upstairs and sleep!",Preeti spoke attempting to keep her daughter away .

"Sidharth has been seeing that girl . Your senior from college. Jo idr aai thi that day!",Rita spoke.

"Has been seeing whom!",Ria thought she had heard something wrong . Obviously that could not be true. Siddharth was supposed to marry Arya.Where did this new girl come from.

"Ria go up stairs! ", her mother intervened

"Shehnaaz?", She questioned this time getting up from the floor,looking into the eyes of her mother.

"Oh my God!. Is it her?"

"Do you want tea?", she said walking over to the kitchen counter."I have been having a bad headache.".Though she had driven all the way to see him, his presence strangely could not calm her down. She felt nervous and anxious, but in a different way.There was no fear associated with the feeling.

Sidharth took the couch in the open kitchen-hall arrangement. It was thickly cushioned off white colored luxury couch covered in mohair velvet.He could smell the luxury off the place he was sitting in.He roamed his eyes around,and then at her.The way she dressed or behaved or even lived, did not seem too proper of the society she was born into .She wasn't disorganized, but the stark opposition to it. Every thing around the palce was so neatly put into the place, nothing seemed out of order.There was not a single utensil out of place,but she ,she seemed different. A bit improper to the setup.