"I can't. What will people say?" she asked him.

"I think we are too old to think about that", retorted Rajiv.

Finally she gave in.

Rajiv along with the boys had gone to visit Mahadevan, who was shifted to a room. He was thrilled to see the boys and they talked for sometime. Before leaving Rajiv mentioned about Leena shifting to his home annex. Mahadevan asked the boys to go out and said, "I understand that it is the best decision for the time being. But keep in mind one thing, as long as she is not living as your wife, under your roof and your boys are not calling her Amma, she is another woman. Do you get my point?" he asked.

Rajiv looked at him in confusion.

"I used to like her and took special interest in her. Then later I came to know that she was your wife, and I did everything to protect her as the daughter-in-law of our family. Tongues started wagging in our office after that. So when she is living in your compound and working in your office, be respectful, don't defame her! If you are not understanding this, let me put in simple terms, don't let the world see your pent up hormones and desires. It doesn't take much to disrepute a woman, so be careful and be professional in the office", he whispered.

Rajiv gave an exasperated nod and said bye to his uncle and he and the boys drove back home just in time for dinner.

While having dinner, Rajiv decided to introduce the topic of Leena shifting into the annex.

"Amma, I had given permission for one of our staff members to stay on the annex until an alternative arrangement could be made", he said to Gomati.

"When is he shifting?" asked Gomati. It was rare for a staff member to shift to there, but it had happened before.

"Amma, she will be shifting tomorrow", said Rajiv.

"She? Its a woman? How old is she? Is she married?" asked Gomati.

"Amma, she is old enough to be their mother and no she isn't married" replied Rajiv looking at the boys.

"What? An unmarried woman, living in the annex? Are you crazy? Why do you have to be responsible? Can't you put her in a working women's hostel or a PG?" she asked.

"We have to give her security for sometime", said Rajiv, trying his best to find some reason. Even the boys were looking curiously at him. They liked their privacy, the only people who lived in their home apart from their grandparents were Mani chettan and his wife Janaki chechi , their servants who had gone to attend their niece's wedding. They lived in their quarters behind their home.

"Who is she?" asked Padmanabhan.

"Leena Mathews, the assistant manager from Mahadevan uncle's office. She will join us next week in my office", replied Rajiv.

"Oh, I get it", said Padmanabhan, turning to Gomati, "Its that woman who was assaulted in the stock room by the manager whom we fired, Vyshakh. Its our responsibility. Vyshakh came a couple of times and bothered her and the other staff after the firing. Maybe she feels threatened by him".

Rajiv was stunned. He did hear from Guruprasad that someone had bothered her, but did not know the details and felt an insane amount of rage coursing through his veins. He wanted to just go and phone her, but stopped because Ravi was looking at him intently. Once dinner was over he went back to his room and called Leena.

"Hello Leena. What happened with Vyshakh?" asked Rajiv.

Leena sighed and said, "Hi Rajiv, how are you?"

"Answer me please" said Rajiv impatiently.

"He was constantly making passes at me for a few months and about a month back he cornered me in the stock room. There were some crates of Bordeaux wine that came in and he had asked me to check the inventory because they were expensive. I did not know that it was a trap. He cornered me in there and tried to assault me. But a delivery boy came and rescued me", she replied in a matter of fact way.

"When were you planning to tell me?" he asked in an agitated voice.

"Rajiv, I have been shot at, kidnapped and almost murdered in the time we were separated. There are so many incidences that happened in my life. But most importantly, so many things happened in your life, you saw our children grow up, you saw them loose their baby teeth, you saw them go to their school for the first time, when they did well in their classes. You were there when they were sick, or crying or wanted somebody to hold them. There is a huge list of things that happened in my life that you don't know about. But understand that, the list of things that I do not know about is four times longer....." she sobbed and said. "I will tell you what happened to me, but you have to do the same".

Rajiv's eyes filled with tears. "I am sorry, I did  not want to upset you. I was just worried".

"I will see you tomorrow, Rajiv", she said and hung up.

The next morning was a Sunday. Rajiv thought that she would come early and was anxiously waiting for her to arrive. He had already got the annex cleaned by a person whom their security guard, Parthasarathy had arranged. But Leena arrived at around 10AM, by then their sons had gone out, only Rajiv and his parents were home.

Gomati had gone upstairs to Rajiv's room to talk to him while Padmanabhan was downstairs reading newspaper. Leena's red car had stopped in front of the annex after being allowed inside by Partasarathy.

Gomati went to the window to spy on the new occupant. The door opened and out stepped Leena, in a white, boat necked pirate blouse, blue jeans and red heels. She looked like how Rajiv had seen her for the first time 21 years back and stared at her wistfully. She still looked striking and sophisticated in western wear.

"Whose mother does she look like?" asked Gomati sarcastically.

"My kids", thought Rajiv, but did not say anything.

"She can't live here", said Gomati with finality.

"Why?" asked Rajiv.

"She is too... too...." Gomati struggled for a few seconds and finally blurted out the taboo word, "sexy".

It took all the willpower of Rajiv not to laugh at her face, he just facepalmed.

Gomati turned towards Leena who was downstairs and said to Rajiv , "No wonder this woman is not married. She cares more about her looks and figure. Why ruin it with a husband and childbirth?"

"And you assumed that from her dressing?" asked Rajiv.

"What else? These kind of modern women don't value family at all. No wonder some man........" said Gomati.

"AMMA.........." said Rajiv in anger.

He took a moment to calm himself and said, "Please be careful of what you say about people".

Gomati looked at him in anger and said, "You don't lecture me. I have seen the world more than you".

In a clearly irritated voice, Rajiv said, "I am going downstairs to meet her and invite her for tea at 4:00 PM. Please behave", he said.

He walked downstairs in a huff and crossed the courtyard to where Leena was. She was carrying some suitcases to the verandah of the annex. Rajiv stopped near the boot of the car and waited for her to join. She came up to him. Since no one was within ear shot he started talking normally to her.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"I had gone to meet Mahadevan sir in the hospital", she replied.

"You know he is your uncle by marriage, call him that", he said.

"He told me specifically not to call him that", she replied.

"That rat...." Rajiv muttered, thinking "still he is trying to get with my wife!"

"Where are the kids?" she asked.

"Today is Sunday, they went out with their own friends", replied Rajiv.

"Is the room right above yours?" she asked.

"Yes and that is my mother in the window", he replied.

"She seems to be judging me", said Leena.

"Don't bother", he replied. "Just open the door and go inside and see the arrangements" he said giving her a set of keys.

She went inside and came back in a few minutes.

"The kitchen is too tiny. I can only make tea, coffee and instant noodles there", she said.

"About that, I will ask our cook to make food for you as well. But you will have to eat alone in here", he said in apology.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't want to be judged while eating as well. I would like to cook my own food though", she replied.

"Then there is a kitchen in the back that you could enter from outside. You could cook there. I have already placed a shelf and supplies for you just in case", he said.

"Thanks", she said with a smile.

Rajiv could not help but feel warm at her smile.

"I am inviting you for the evening tea with my parents", he said.

Instantly Leena's face clouded.

"Don't worry, I will be there. But dress more conservatively, not in a saree. Maybe salwar kameez? And don't say that your name is Angel and what Pappa did or your family name." he said referring to her father.

"Yeah, I could do that", she said thankful for the suggestion.

"Bye then, see you at 4" he said and went back to his room.

Until 4, Leena arranged her stuff and then cleaned up and dressed in a very conservative salwar kameez and was at his door at the dot of 4. Gomati had considerably warmed up to her when she saw her in that dress. She invited her to the living room where tea and snacks were arranged. Leena greeted Padmanabhan and Rajiv who were already there. They chatted for sometime about weather and politics and finally Gomati asked the question at the top of her mind.

"Why aren't you married? You are a good looking woman, I am sure you might have found some good matches", she asked curiously.

There was a considerable shift in the energy of the room. Rajiv and Leena got tensed up and Leena replied, "I am sorry, I do not like to discuss about it".

"Oh come on, is there something wrong in your horoscope? Oh, you are Christian, you don't believe in such things", she said.

Even Padmanabhan felt a little awkward at the discomfort of Leena.

"Amma, she clearly does not want to talk about it. Let us drop the subject", said Rajiv. He shifted the subject to their business and then they had an animated conversation between Rajiv, Leena and Padmanabhan. She impressed them with a very comprehensive knowledge about the market for luxury alcohol.

After she left Padmanabhan said, "I like her, she is efficient and intelligent".

"Still it seems to me that she is hiding something", said Gomati in disdain.

"Amma, she simply refused to tell, she could have resorted to lying", said Rajiv.

"I respect that", said Padmanabhan.

"I think she must have ran away with someone and it did not end well", said Gomati speculatively.

"So, just like me", said Rajiv quietly.

Gomati and Padmanabhan looked at him stunned.

Rajiv gave a sad smile and went upstairs.

It happened two days later.

Leena would sit every morning and evening to read in the verandah of the annex. Padmanabhan had said that reading was a mark of good upbringing. But the real reason was for her to see the kids when they went and came back from the school and college. On that morning, Rajiv had gone for jogging and he came back and started talking to Leena who came up to him.

"Hey, we have to go and meet Srikant and Anjali", said Rajiv.

"It has been ages since I have met them. Yes, when shall we go?" she asked.

"I will call them and ask, Anjali is too busy these days. You will be a surprise to them", he said.

Leena smiled in happiness and right at that moment, a leaf fell on her shoulder and Rajiv without thinking brushed it off her.

Gomati, who saw him doing that but heard nothing and so was in shock. She went inside and took her mobile phone and dialed, "Hello, Indrani....." she spoke into the phone.

"Hi Aunty, how are you?" a sweet voice was heard from the other side.

"Leave those pleasantries aside, if you want a husband come back at once", she said urgently.

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