Short Story 3: The Scandal

I am Marita. I stay in India & work as a house maid in many houses.
What I see in every house is unique always, the people, my saab and memsaab (whom I prefer to call bhaiyya and bhabi), the kids, their house, their kitchen.
Somehow I am very particular of how the kitchen of the house looks, it gives an impression of the family & the whole house.

Well, that is a generic idea. Today, I want to talk about the Bhaiyya & Bhabi of the 10th floor. They have q very beautiful house, Bhabi is very pretty, I love the way she dresses up & the way she keeps her house, especially her spic & span kitchen, beautiful steel & brown.
She is nice to speak to too, mostly cheerful & fun with Bhaiyya
They keep buying exotic groceries every month, I find the bills while sweeping.
Yes, I am inquisitive & nosy.
I love to see, shopping bills, those weird online boxes and their bills.

Bhaiyya, on the other hand looks shy and silent, he doesnt talk much. he is always busy with his phone or computer or switching channels on the TV. He seems sweet and nice and very much in love with Bhabi, I can say because of the look in his eyes.

A week back, while I was sweeping the house clean, I found a dust laden photo under the bed.
At first, I didn't recognize the picture, on looking closely I realized its Bhaiyya in that picture with a woman, a pretty woman whom I don't recognize. Bhaiyya looked way much younger than now, also that girl in skimpy outfit. It looked so scandalous, the way Bhaiyya is hugging her.
I was stunned.

This shy looking Bhaiyya, is cheating on my innocent Bhabi.
From then on, I couldn't see Bhaiyya in the same light, he looks so villainous to me and Bhabi has started to look like a victim.
I just cant get this out of my head. I can't sleep in the night after knowing the truth.
How could he?

Should I tell this to Bhabi? I am sure she will ask for an evidence. I can show her that picture, Its well hidden in my bag.
Bhabi is a nice woman and she deserves to know about her husband who acts all pure and devoted.

After contemplating for a week, I finally broached the subject today morning.

"Bhabi, Can I say something"
"Sure Marita, You look tensed, anything bothering you?"
"Yes Bhabi, actually its not about me that is really bothering me"
"So, is it something at home? Are your kids well?"
"yes Bhabi, they are. But, something is not well here"
"Here? Whats wrong here?"
"Its...well...hmmm....Its..aa...Its.."
"Say Marita, What?"

Gathering all my courage, I close my eyes and say "Well, Its Bhaiyya"

There is a long pause,

"What...happened to Bhaiyya"
I still haven't opened my eyes, I knew I can't face the look on Bhabi's face and I start ranting, not wanting to stop
"He is having an affair and I have the proof, I knew this a week back, but I couldn't come to you sooner"
"Proof? What proof Marita?"
I slowly open my eyes to see Bhabi, standing by the kitchen counter. I open my purse and pull out the scandalous picture and hand it over to Bhabi.
Bhabi sees the picture, and there is a huge pause again, heavy silence was hanging in the air. Those few seconds felt like hours.
Then Bhabi tore her eyes from the picture, looked at me and started laughing like a mad woman.

I knew I shouldn't have shown the picture to her. Now, this nice woman couldn't take her husband's infidelity and had gone mad. Its all my fault. Poor Poor Bhabi!
Bhabi is holding the kitchen counter and still laughing hard.

In between her laughs, she calls out to Bhaiyya, to which he comes
"What is so funny Sheela"
Bhabi, gave the picture to Bhaiyya. I was sure that he is going to get a shock & deny everything but instead he smiled.

I was confused with such a reaction.
Bhabi then came close to me, took a few breathes to normalize herself and said "Marita, that picture is me & Ramesh. It was taken 4 years back when we were honeymooning"
Bhaiya, stood there looking confused. Bhabi told him that she will explain everything to him later.
"Thank you Marita, for looking out for me & also for this picture and don't worry Bhaaiya is a very nice man"

I felt so stupid. S.T.U.P.I.D
I learnt my lesson
I should never judge anyone if I know nothing about them.