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?”