Anushka's world had just shattered into bits. She knew she needed to bring herself together, mend the broken pieces, but she was too weak, too young and too fragile. She as if was caught in a web of thunders and lightnings, dusts and stardusts. She just wanted to hug the man who stared helplessly at her right now, the man she had never before seen in her life, the man whose constantly downrolling tears now made her heart numb, her throat dry, and her eyes, a river.
Her father.
*****
Almost six hours earlier
Anushka sat in the immense drawing room of the Oliver Mansion, looking around. The room was heavily decorated with antiquities, and like Joy's, this building was wooden too, but enormous.
It was Sunday, so Joy had decided to meet the Olivers at their mansion, stating everything he wanted to. The door was opened by a servant who was too glad to see Joy, hugged him back and went inside to call the mistress maybe. Joy had asked Anushka to sit at the sofas and he himself went inside an adjacent room which very likely was a library. Anushka smiled within. Bookworm in its true sense.
Almost five minutes later, Margaret Oliver walked in.
Anushka immediately stood up. Joy too had heard the footsteps.
Margaret seemed extremely startled at first ,but then a smile crossed her face seeing Joy. He came forward.
" Joy... "
" Thought of visiting this place after a long time aunty... " , Joy smiled.
" why...why...why don't you visit more often Joy? We would be so happy! "
Anushka knew from the beginning that this woman was good at heart though extremely interfering maybe. But her eyes showed a strange goodness, a strange calm. She however always felt Joy never liked anyone of them much.
Margaret looked at her.
" Shelly... are you fine now darling? "
Anushka looked at Joy through the corner of her eyes, who stared at his aunt.
She walked to her and was about to touch her feet, but then someone banged her head from within.
Christians don't touch feet.
She controlled the situation vehemently and kept standing. Joy maybe guessed what she was about to do. So he started speaking again, " Sir's home, aunty? "
" no... he has gone to the market. He'll be back soon.
Diana thought of joining her college friends today, by the way. " , Margaret said with a tinge of excitement. " they have a reunion today at college. She'll be back within a few hours though, she said. "
"... Dehradun right? " , Joy asked. She nodded.
Anushka felt so extremely relieved.
Diana needn't be faced. Joy must be so happy!
" you both sit. I'll bring coffee. Shelly, alright with sugar darling? "
" Yeah... sure!" , Anushka said after glancing at Joy once, who stared reassuringly at him.
Margaret went inside.
Anushka couldn't contain her excitement as they both settled down. " Diana's not at home! " , she whispered but her excitement showed.
" Keep calm. And don't get readily excited over unsure things. " , Joy whispered back, thus spreading water on her excited self.
Upset, Anushka got up and started walking around the room, examining little things with extra attention. Joy sat and kept staring at the process, while a smile lit his face slowly.
How did you just fit in so smoothly at the little empty place of my life, like a perfectly done jigsaw puzzle?
" Joy!!! What a pleasant surprise? "
Joy steadily got up as he saw Joseph Oliver enter the room with two big bags full of vegetables. He readily walked upto him to help.
" It's alright ... it's alright... I am so so glad you decided to visit your home again Joy... it's been four years and every time I had asked you to... " , Joseph kept talking as his eyes rolled from Joy to Anushka who stood smiling at one corner. And he stopped talking... his eyes fixed onto her. Joy noticed his eyes were swollen and reddish.
" ... she got well... so... we thought we should visit you and also... " , Joy started, but had to stop. Because the person standing before him was undergoing a drastic change in colour and expressions, from a calm to a terror.
Both Joy and Anushka couldn't gather what was happening actually... when Joseph Oliver chokingly uttered...
" A.a..a..anushka...!! "
****
" And I had always thought Christina was your daughter! I had always thought that... only!
No dad... she didn't leave because I said that I loved Joy!! She left because I threatened her to not claim my father though he was hers too!! And... Christina had always loved me. More than herself! She left without informing anyone, just because she was too good, and she believed that if she stayed, I would forever be unhappy! She claimed nothing dad! Although falsely believing she was your daughter she claimed nothing! "
Diana shouted on top of her lungs.
Joseph sat on a chair, his head hanging down. Margaret stood at one corner, helpless, hopeless.
Joy stood beside Anushka, horrified at the situation, and Anushka stood, freezed.
Diana sat on the floor before her father, wailing.
" When I was twelve, one night I happened to listen to you and mum's conversations.
You were crying and mum was pacifying you. I couldn't gather much, but all I did was enough.
' I soo want to let her know that I'm her father, but I just cannot face her with this truth. Her mother didn't even care to let me know she mothered my daughter! '
I couldn't bear to listen anymore. I was matured enough for my age. Enough! And this revelation about a father I almost worshipped, broke me to pieces... to pieces. I lost my sanity. I couldn't bear the fact that my father cheated on me, my father cheated on my mother, that he was someone else's father too... "
Diana's voice cracked. Joseph Oliver couldn't move his hands to pacify his daughter any longer.
Diana shot up and ran to Margaret, shaking her vigorously... " How could you bear such a betrayal mum?? How could you pacify a husband who cheated on you mum?? How could you? " Margaret shook but didn't say a word. She couldn't. She wanted to but couldn't.
Diana paced up and down the room...blabbering and choking, " those days I hated my father, a lot. A lot. Everything he did for me seemed fake. But neither did I talk to him about the things I heard, nor to mum. I just kept shut and started calculating.
Christina was brought much before I was born. And I knew I was a late born child of my parents. I don't know why, slowly I started believing that she was my father's daughter. She was the one, whom he brought home but didn't let know of the reason. I started hating Christina too... so much! "
Streams ran down Anushka's cheek. She felt Joy breathe hard beside her...but couldn't sense her own breath.
Am I dead?
Diana slowly sat down on the floor ...as if extremely tired.
" I don't really know if I was obsessed with Joy as much as I am now,I grew up this way as if I had to own Joy. He couldn't be someone else's too, like my father. I liked him back then despite him being twelve years elder to me, only liked. But maybe, at around fifteen, I came to understand that anyhow I had to snatch anything dear to Christina to myself. I knew they were close, I couldn't bear that... just couldn't!
I at first told Christina that she better move away from Joy... but she said, Joy was her friend, only! I was kinda shocked, maybe she lied, but I had to drive her away from this house! Far away!
I revealed to her what I believed to be true. She broke! But she left.
She left. She left for a lie. I hate myself. I hate myself! " , Diana slowly leaned on the floor, sobbing hard.
Seconds passed. Still. Then all of a sudden she jumped off the ground and ran towards Anushka.
Tremendously frightened, Anushka shot back few steps.
" And today, you drop in suddenly, claiming that you are the one I'm supposed to hate! You bloody..." , Diana almost pounced onto her.
" Diana!!!!! "
Margaret Oliver shook the room. " Enough! "
Diana stopped. She looked back. Her hands slowly released Anushka's shoulder, who kept shaking, and Joy who had almost ran to her immediately, stood, holding her terrified.
" Yes.. your father loved a Hindu girl in his high schools. But their relationship couldn't stand just because of a difference in religion. Yes... they had a daughter as a symbol of their love of whom your father came to know when she was thirteen. By then her mother, and her step father who was generous enough to marry a pregnant woman, had died in an accident. He came to know his daughter stayed with her maternal relationships, her grandfather who knew and hated Joseph would never allow him to take away Anushka.
So he distantly watched her. He would go to Chandigarh every weekend just to have a look at his daughter, and most importantly he never hid that from me. Never ever! Is that what you call cheating Diana?
Don't you see your father's love for you? How did you never trust us enough to say what you truly thought about Christina? You forever lied to us for these four years that you couldn't bear her because you loved Joy only. And despite loving Christina, your father never even thought of bringing her back because of you. And you believe your father is a cheater???? "
A pin dropping silence prevailed in the room. Anushka kept staring at Margaret, who had turned red. She looked at her now.
" Till yesterday he visited Chandigarh, and couldn't find you for more than a month there. Nor could he ask anyone around, being the shy and full of guilt he is. He cried all night yesterday.
He had only come to know, Anushka had left home because she didn't want to marry on her family's will.
Little did he know, his daughter resided houses apart in the same village, neither had I ever seen your picture, nor had he visited 'Shelly Montgomery' since she arrived. "
Diana slowly sat on the sofa, almost fell down rather and lost senses. Margaret ran to her... spilled water on her face. And shouted ... " Tudu... call Dr Matthews immediately! "
Here...Anushka stared at the old man who wanted to, but couldn't move to either of his daughters...shifting his gaze from one to another, with rivers down his eyes.
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