The Woman My Grandmother Loved.

Chapter Eleven

"Tell me every terrible thing you did and let me love you anyway."

Edgar Allan Poe.

Jha was certain the moment he landed in England that all of the Gods were in his favor. In this confidence, he had even told Bhuwan about it. Bhuwan had laughed and raised a sarcastic eyebrow, "None of us could have ever foreseen that."

When prodded, he had finally explained. "You were sick in love with her even before you realised. Everybody knew that. Except perhaps the two of you."

"Did she love me as well?" Jha had asked and Bhuwan had tried to evade the question. But when you're trapped in an aircraft, some things cannot be avoided.

"With Anita, I could never know. But she never looked at you the way you did." And he had apologized for being blunt.

In a rare display of emotion, Jha had remarked "It's the bluntness I love best in the two of you."

Although flattered, Bhuwan knowing no other way to express his brotherly love for Jha than by scorn had punched him against the shoulder and gleefully said, "Ah Anita and I, we're your sister wives!"

And when Jha had looked at him in disgust and left to use the washroom, Bhuwan had cackled at his own wittiness. If that bastard Jha was going to be his brother-in-law then he was going to make sure he regretted it every waking moment of his life. But joking aside, Bhuwan was pleased with the new development.

When Anita had had the accident, Jha had cursed the planet but now he was surer than he had ever been that the distance between them had been a good thing. He knew for a fact that they didn't have a lot of friends in Cornwall and that Anita's elder brother wouldn't allow her to follow him to London. He was certain that she must've missed him more than he had missed her. The silence, he believed must have given her ample opportunity for introspection and he hoped that in the search within herself, she had found him. He was excited and nervous and it even made Bhuwan keep aside his sarcasm and look at him with concern. But Jha didn't care, he was just glad to be able to see her and impatient to continue where they had left off.

When they arrived in the evening, both Anita and her pregnant sister-in-law were standing outside waiting for them. Pradeep was away for business as usual and both Usha and Anita had grown to care less for his absence. Clothed in a dress, much similar to the one that she had been wearing the last time they had met and a thin sweater over it, her hair falling neatly about her shoulders, Anita almost looked demure.

Jha wanted to laugh. If only, the world knew of the havoc she was capable of wreaking.

As the car pulled into the driveway and both the men stepped out, Anita squealed jumping straight into Bhuwan's arms not letting him go for a good five minutes. If that bothered him, Jha tried not to let it show, instead of exchanging niceties with Usha. When it was finally her turn to greet him, she grinned at him much like she used to earlier and pulled him into a friendly hug which didn't give anything away.

He was a bit disappointed; he would've wanted her to be a bit shy or a bit awkward. Anything to show that he had been on her mind just the way she sat on a throne in his. But Anita was jovial and casual as if they had never had the conversation and he hadn't sworn his love for her.

Dinner had proceeded with Bhuwan being his charming self and flirting good-naturedly with his sister-in-law, passing brotherly jibes and comments at Anita who returned them without much thought for his feelings. Jha was quiet for most of the dinner which was unlike him and it made Usha ask him several times if he was feeling alright. "Just a bit queasy." He said with an apologetic glance, aware that Anita was looking at him and careful to avoid her eyes.