Love after Marriage

by Chandra, Bhagya

  Roshni was put on the spot. Yes, she was supposed to go to the same conference, but she’d changed the plans after hearing Deepak would be there. She gathered herself. “Yes, bhaiya, I was supposed to go, but that got cancelled. I may have to go later.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Deepak, you return on Thursday, right?”

  “Yes, bhaiya.”

  “Roshni, why don’t you take Thursday and Friday off. Deepak has to leave on Sunday, and you can spend a couple of days together. What do you say, Deepak?” suggested Sashank.

  Deepak thanked Sashank for this suggestion. “Great idea, bhaiya.” He looked at Roshni. “Roshni, can you take a couple of days’ vacation? Let’s go somewhere.”

  “No, I cannot take any time off. The prototype design we are working on is scheduled to be released next week.”

  “Do you have a day in mind for the release? Can you release it Thursday so we can leave Thursday evening or even Friday morning?”

  “No, I cannot leave the team. Deepak, I will have to stay here.”

  Kusum brought hot parathas and served them to Deepak and Roshni and joined the family at the table for brunch. She was aware Roshni had been working long hours for the last few weeks, so she also concurred with Sashank that Roshni should take some time off.

  Deepak asked her again. He knew she was avoiding his company, and he needed to persuade her. He was very pleased everybody in the family was pressuring her. After some discussion, Roshni finally agreed to take Friday off. Deepak smiled and thanked her; he was happy.

  Deepak went to his room to get his luggage, and he suspected that Roshni was not coming to the airport. “Roshni, are you coming to the airport?”

  “I was not planning on coming,” was her reply.

  Deepak was not happy about this but did not force her.

  When she went downstairs, Sashank was waiting for Deepak in the family room and asked her, “Roshni bete, are you ready?”

  Roshni was startled. “Ready for what?”

  “Are you not coming to the airport?”

  Deepak overheard this as he brought his luggage downstairs and was delighted that Sashank bhaiya asked Roshni to come with them.

  “I was not planning on it. I think you can drop him off,” Roshni replied.

  At this time, Kusum came into the family room. “Roshni, come, let’s go. I can keep your bhaiya company, and you can keep Deepak company.” She asked Sashank if it was okay for her to join them, and Sashank happily agreed.

  Deepak was glad; he had no words to thank bhaiya and bhabhi.

  Roshni had no option but to go to the airport.

  Roshni and Deepak sat in the back, and Kusum was in the passenger seat. Sashank and Kusum talked about various topics while Roshni and Deepak listened to their conversation. Deepak enjoyed watching Sashank bhaiya – how much he cared for and loved his wife.

  Roshni and Deepak glanced at each other occasionally and smiled. Kusum watched all this and turned around. “Do you have anything to talk about or not? You have been sitting so quietly.”

  “We are listening to the wonderful conversation between you two. We are enjoying it,” replied Deepak.

  Roshni looked at him and concurred.

  They arrived at the airport, and Deepak unloaded the luggage. Deepak bid good-bye to Sashank bhaiya and bhabhi and then came closer to Roshni. “Roshni, I look forward to spending Friday with you. Please remember to take that day off,” Deepak reminded Roshni.

  Roshni nodded and agreed to take the day off.

  “Good luck with your design release. I hope all goes well.”

  “I think it will. Our team has put in a lot of effort, and all testing so far looks good. I am confident! But yes, it is better to be cautious and hope all goes well. If not, I will have to work on Friday,” she said sarcastically and winked at Deepak.

  “Well, then let’s really hope all goes well.”

  As he talked, he moved closer and whispered in her ear, “Roshni, can I hug you?”

  Roshni was embarrassed. First of all, why was he being so romantic, and secondly, for him to hug her in front of Sashank bhaiya and bhabhi. Oh no! He had done a lot of hugging in the last couple of days and now again…she was not ready.

  Before she could reply, he pulled her closer to him with his hands around her waist. She felt uneasy, and trying to pull herself away, she whispered into his ear, “Deepak, what are you doing? Everybody is looking at us. Please let me go.”

  “So what? Let them look. I am hugging my wife!” He tightened his grip around her.

  “Yeah, your wife,” she whispered sarcastically. “I am not your wife. Let me go.”

  Deepak finally let her go. He bid her good-bye and entered the airport to board the Bangalore flight.

  Chapter 16

  Bangalore Conference

  Deepak arrived in Bangalore and was welcomed by the company sponsoring the event. He was taken to a beautiful five-star hotel, which also happened to be the venue for the training and conference. He checked in and called Roshni to let her know he arrived safely. She was not available to pick up the phone so he left a message.

  There was a banquet planned for that evening to meet and greet the guests, so he changed into formal clothes and left for the banquet hall. The VP of R & D and marketing director of the sponsoring company welcomed him and other guests. Deepak approached the area for a soft drink, and he was stunned to see Sanjay, and Sanjay was shocked to see Deepak as well.

  Both of them shook hands and greeted each other.

  “Sanjay, so good to see you here.”

  “Deepak, what are you doing here? Does Roshni know you were coming here?” he asked.

  “Yes, she is aware of this trip, but I don’t think she knew it was this meeting.”

  Sanjay quickly looked at the agenda and noticed that Deepak was the guest speaker and also the trainer for this new technology and software. He continued, “It is sad she could not come. I wish she did; this would have been a great opportunity for you both to spend time together.”

  “Was Roshni supposed to be here?”

  “She was. Roshni cancelled this trip because you were in Mumbai. All changes were made yesterday morning,” Sanjay replied.

  “What!” exclaimed Deepak.

  “Yes, yesterday morning she talked me into coming to this meeting while she stayed in Mumbai, managing the project.”

  Deepak was not happy with Roshni for manipulating this. He was disappointed that she was not there with him. More importantly, this training would have really helped her, especially after she came to the US. Very unfortunate indeed! He decided to call her later to find out why she did what she did. It was apparent he was angry at her.

  After all the introductions were made and as the evening meet and greet went on, Deepak found out that one other guest speaker was not able to arrive until Tuesday due to a personal emergency. Deepak reviewed the agenda and met with the organizer for any flexibility to alter the schedule since the other speaker was arriving later than planned.

  After reviewing several options, it was decided that Deepak could do his training and presentation Monday through Wednesday. Deepak was very excited because this would give him an opportunity to spend one extra day with Roshni. The revised agenda was announced to the delegates, and he changed his flight reservations to leave Bangalore on Wednesday evening.

  Deepak went to his room and could not wait to talk to Roshni. It was 9 p.m., and he called Roshni on her cell phone. No response. He tried a few times, and she did not answer the phone, and he became furious. After several attempts, he was finally able to talk to her.

  “Roshni, why are you not picking up the phone?”

  Roshni sensed he was very anxious. “Excuse me, I was in the bathroom.”

  “You know I met Sanjay here,” he said. He could not wait any longer to vent it out.

  “Very good, I forgot to tell you he was attending the training.”

  “Yeah, you changed all the plans yesterday
morning, didn’t you?”

  Roshni was quiet for some time. She suspected Sanjay had conveyed all the details to Deepak.

  “Roshni, I am talking to you,” he said with a raised voice.

  “Why are you talking so loudly? Where are you?”

  “In my room,” he replied.

  Roshni sighed. At least he was not in a public place.

  “Roshni, why did you change your plans?”

  “Because you were going.”

  “So?”

  “So…I did not want to be at the same place with you,” she replied.

  “What?” he yelled.

  Roshni was calm. “Deepak, calm down, please.” She continued after a pause, “As per our agreement, I should be avoiding you as much as possible. Unfortunately, I could not avoid you here because we also agreed to act as husband and wife in front of our family, so we had no other option.”

  “Roshni, forget about the agreement. Do you know you missed a golden opportunity with the training I was doing here with this new software?”

  “Yes, I am aware, but at certain times we have to set our priorities straight, and that is what I did,” she replied to the point, very direct.

  Deepak knew her enough to believe she would not compromise in this matter. It was better to let her go now and deal with it when he returned to Mumbai. The new agenda was in front of Deepak, but he decided not to share it with her. He was worried she would change her plans on him.

  Roshni was aware he was upset because of her change in plans but decided not to argue with him anymore. Both of them abruptly said good-bye to each other and hung up.

  Deepak paced back and forth in his room. “How could she do this? She missed such a great opportunity.”

  He was worried that if she continued to do such things, he would lose her. What should he do now? Past conversations came back to him and made him uneasy.

  He forced himself to think positive and brought back the wonderful moments of Roshni’s birthday, their time together, him hugging her, etc. There is hope, and I am going to win her back. How long will she continue to do this to me? She will have to accept my love and me. This will happen, he thought, consoling himself.

  ~ ~ ~

  In Mumbai, Roshni relaxed on the sofa, and she was unable to sleep. She went into a depressive mood. These incidents happened more often since Babuji had passed away. Her visit to Babuji’s house that morning and her weeping, leaning on Deepak’s shoulder, bothered her. Why did I have to lean on him? What did he think of me? How could I become so weak?

  She went back to the conversations on the wedding night, how her life changed and her dreams were broken to pieces in a moment. Her thoughts bothered her.

  He did not want to commit to a stranger; how could he say that to me? We were already married, and how could he say that he was worried about committing to me? Why did Deepak have to do that to me? Our relationship is over. I have communicated this to him already. But why is he being so romantic with me on this trip? Why does he want to spend time with me? Is he pretending? What is he trying to prove to himself and his family?

  Him being romantic brought a slight smile to her face, but she forced herself not to get carried away with these thoughts. She had to be strong and not give in.

  What if he’s playing one more trick on me to get Sashank bhaiya’s approval for his second wife? He does not appear to be such a person, but I know nothing of him!

  These thoughts made her uneasy. She became restless and could not sleep that night.

  ~ ~ ~

  Monday was a bright morning, a normal day, and Roshni was busy at work with her team, performing more testing. It was lunchtime, and Roshni’s cell phone rang. She wondered who would call her at this time and picked up the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Roshni, it’s me, Deepak.”

  “Hello, Deepak.” She never expected him to call. She continued, “How was your presentation?”

  “I had one this morning. It went well, and I have one later this afternoon. How are you, Roshni? I was a little upset with you last night. I am sorry!” he apologized to her.

  “It’s all right. I suspected you were. I was very upset too.”

  “I’m glad we didn’t talk any further. We would have ended up arguing with each other.”

  “Yes,” she continued after a pause. “Why are you calling me now?”

  “It’s our lunch break. We finished lunch, and I had a few more minutes before I went back to my presentation, so…I called you.”

  At this time, a team member walked into Roshni’s office with a question. Roshni asked her to wait. “Deepak, I have somebody in my office. She wants to discuss the testing we’re doing. Can I talk to you later, please?”

  “Sure, I’ll call you in the evening.”

  “Okay, Deepak…I am sorry too!”

  Deepak smiled, and they hung up after saying good-bye.

  He still could not get over the fact that she had changed her plans on him. There would be more of these instances, and how would he work around them? What should he do so she would spend time with him? He could not force her, their relationship was impaired, but he had to think of options to spend more time with her. He believed only then would she be able to see his real self and his personality.

  He wondered if he would ever be successful in winning her back.

  He had developed feelings for her, and life without her seemed unrealistic to him at this point. But he had a long way to go before she forgave him! He was worried as time ticked away, and the date December 14th flashed in front of him. He took a deep breath and reassured himself, “I will bring her back no matter what!”

  So thinking, he walked out to join Sanjay for dinner.

  ~ ~ ~

  Deepak and Sanjay returned late after dinner; it was past 9:30 p.m. He was tempted to call Roshni that late but decided to call her the next morning.

  The next morning, Roshni again did not pick up the phone. He made several attempts, and there was no response. Deepak was annoyed. “Why is she not picking up the phone?”

  His first interpretation was she did not pick up intentionally; then he brushed away this thought and several other reasons came to his mind: her work, the testing to release the prototype design, she being tired, etc. He was so preoccupied with thoughts of her that he desperately wanted to talk to her but was unable to.

  Finally when he did talk to her, it was a major download of his feelings and his concern for Roshni, not realizing that he was annoying her with this behavior.

  Roshni listened to him very quietly, then said, “Deepak, I’m tired. Let’s deal with this tomorrow. Bye!” She hung up the phone without another word.

  “Dammit! I have been waiting to talk to her for so long, and now she is annoyed and does not want to talk to me.”

  It was past 8:30 p.m., and he wanted to call and check on her. He called and apologized for his behavior. Roshni listened to him and rolled her eyes and thought to herself, Yes, you should learn to think before you speak.

  It was unbelievable; how could she be so patient? Every behavior of hers made him admire her more!

  This was Deepak’s weakness; he could not handle stress very well. He had done it to her on their wedding night and now again…when it came to handling stress, he was fire and she was water. Deepak yelled, shouted and blurted out things he should not, but Roshni was very calm and composed. She accepted everything. Deepak had seen enough of this behavior of hers; he tormented her and regretted it later. Roshni was gradually becoming aware to this behavior of his.

  His inner monologue started, Why did I do what I did? This is the second time Roshni experienced this from me. What must she think of me…an immature person who is arrogant and ruthless. No, no, I don’t want her to think I am ruthless and arrogant. I have to change! I cannot react to her in this manner. This is unacceptable!

  He was making attempts to win her back, but this type of behavior would take her away from him!

 
; ~ ~ ~

  Wednesday was Deepak’s last day of training the IT professionals. He looked forward to his flight back to Mumbai that evening. He was already dreaming of his time with Roshni, how he would apologize to her and what he would do to please her.

  Roshni woke up thinking of the telephone conversation. She had a dilemma. How would she react to him when he arrived tomorrow? She had already taken Friday off, and what would she do with him that day and Saturday? She was not enthusiastic about spending any time with him, but…

  She was not aware that he was arriving a day earlier.

  Deepak completed the training and was ready to leave Bangalore. All along at the airport and in the plane, he thought of Roshni, all his focus was on her, and he had to be extra careful dealing with her.

  ~ ~ ~

  In Mumbai after dinner, Sashank and Akash were in the family room while Kusum helped Kaki with the cleaning in the kitchen. Roshni was tired and was in her room. She changed into her nightgown and relaxed on the sofa, reading a magazine.

  At about 9 p.m. the doorbell rang. Who could it be? Akash opened the door and saw Deepak at the door. He was supposed to arrive on Thursday, so everybody wondered what happened.

  After a brief conversation regarding his stay in Bangalore, Deepak looked for Roshni. Kusum mentioned that Roshni was in the room relaxing, and she also checked if Deepak wanted to have dinner. He agreed and left to freshen up.

  As Deepak entered, Roshni noticed, under the edge of her magazine, somebody walk inside the room with a suitcase. She closed the book and was dazed to see Deepak standing in front of her.

  Sitting up, she asked, “Deepak, when did you get here?”

  “Just arrived. I spent a few minutes talking to everybody downstairs, and here I am.”

  “Oh.” She stared at him. “And how was your meeting? Did you have a good time training?”

  “The meetings and training were good. It would have been more enjoyable if you were there.” He smiled.

  Roshni lowered her eyes and was silent.

  Deepak moved closer to her and sat next to her on the sofa. He held her hand and very lovingly said, “Roshni, I regret yelling at you yesterday. I did not mean to.”