The next morning there was a huge quarrel at Ador's home. It was like a verbal battle of accusations thrown towards Ador from Unma. Ador understood her sibling's pain and humiliation. She promised Unma that if there is a next time, when Dev tries to meet her, she will make it very clear to him regarding how important Unma is to her. Ita and Kir were unhappy. It had been many years there was no quarrel in the house, that also due to an outside element, a boy. Ador too felt low and closed herself in the room for introspection of the situation, her past life and her present.
During her college years, there was a guy called Jeev, who proposed love to her during her second year of college. It was her first attempt in finding out about love and infatuation. She had asked for some time to ponder on the matters related to heart. Jeev had agreed, since he knew Ador would agree. They started off being good friends first and when she used to meet him without any inhibitions, he took the next step forward. In the valleys of Sikkim, when they went for their first official date, they walked hand in hand, feeling all silly. Ador was blushing and Jeev was smiling foolishly from ear to ear. They ended the date with mutton dimsums. a delicacy of the hills. Then came half yearly examinations and both were busy studying. Ador always wanted to excel in studies, so during study break, they did not meet. Post the examinations both Jeev and Ador met, they were excited that the exams were over, and it was time for Ador to accept him as a part of life. As usual they met in a restaurant serving mutton dimsums, Ador's favourite, during dusk. Prior to eating, Jeev started being all romantic and gave Ador a rose. She was enjoying his pampering. Then suddenly he pulled her close and kissed her on the lips. It was a small peck first, then when Ador did not stop him, he started to get deep. He planted a wet kiss. Ador had her eyes closed during the first peck. but when his saliva touched her, she felt all jittery, vomitting types. She stopped him, then and there and went to the washroom to clean her mouth. When she came back, she was all furious. Why did he use saliva??? "eeks" ,she said. Jeev felt hurt, he said, he too was unaware that he was full of saliva. She called it quits. Ador was angry, she went back to the girls hostel. Jeev went back to his , and was sad and gloomy. The next morning, at college a rumour spread that Ador was a lesbian.
First it was just a talk between classmates, then it spread to seniors and juniors of college. Ador became furious , when she came to know about what her friends were saying behind her back, and had a verbal spat with Jeev in front of the whole class, post which she despised the company of guys. Two and a half years passed this way and she left college with good grades, back home and then to the plains of Bengal in search of a job.
Though she had a lot of male colleagues at work, but she kept her distance from them. Then Dev happened. She felt hurt when post their first meet, they were not in touch. Now, though Dev made the first move and kissed her, and though she did not feel a thing like those described in romantic novels called love, she wanted to give herself a chance. Ador wanted to make Dev, only hers. The word "lesbian" was ringing in her ears. She wanted to get out from the shackles of her past. " I will make you, mine, Dev" she promised herself.