Page 70 of Love after Marriage

After a few minutes, Akash went to his room, and Deepak and Roshni went to their room.

Deepak was troubled, and was concerned for Satish bhaiya. Roshni held his hand and made him sit on the sofa, and she sat next to him. He was quiet. Roshni gently squeezed his hand. She was brave and provided him with strength and courage.

“I don’t even remember his face, Roshni. It has been so long, so many years… They never kept in touch with us, and we never did either, and now, all of a sudden…this phone call…”

He looked at her. “Here I was…I was having such a good time with you and a great time with everybody and was ready to leave on a high note…and this news…” He stopped.

Roshni placed her hand on his shoulder and provided the support he needed, and he acknowledged it.

“Deepak, let us be thankful that he is recovering and is home. Who knows what went on in his mind. This is not the time to ponder over the past events. Whatever happened has happened.” Looking at him, she said, “Can I tell you something?”

He was helpless and waited for her to speak.

“Sashank bhaiya is enraged, but I think he is anxious too. I think he should talk to Satish bhaiya.” She continued after a pause, “Deepak, it is late now, but tomorrow morning, after breakfast, let us go meet him.”

Deepak did not respond. He was confused.

She looked around, and all his stuff was scattered everywhere. “I will help you pack tomorrow morning, and then we will go meet him.”

Deepak agreed.

Roshni got ready to sleep on the sofa.

“Roshni, you can sleep on the bed…like we did in Lonawala,” he said.

Roshni did not make an issue of it. She had slept on the same bed in Lonawala, so she agreed.

~ ~ ~

After finishing her morning chores, Roshni went to have chai. Sashank bhaiya, Kusum didi and Akash bhaiya were already at the table, and a few minutes later, Deepak joined them. It was a somber moment. Everybody was quiet and thought of the phone call from the previous night.

“Deepak, this was a very hectic trip for you. Hopefully you had a good time.” Sashank broke the silence.

Deepak looked at Roshni. “Certainly, a good one. I hope Roshni enjoyed it too.”

“Deepak, are you done with packing? We will have to leave by 5:30 p.m. this evening.”

“No, bhaiya, I am going upstairs after chai.”

“Bhaiya, Deepak and I planned to visit Satish bhaiya after he packs,” Roshni said.

Sashank had not expected this but didn’t say anything. He was quiet and just shrugged his shoulders.

Deepak and Roshni left to finish packing. Items were scattered everywhere, and she volunteered to help him. She asked him to sort everything – which items were absolutely necessary and which items could be left behind. Deepak was very proud of her organizational skills. He smiled at her and started to identify items that needed to be taken and those that could be left behind. Roshni took charge and packed his suitcase.

Meanwhile, Deepak received a call from Vivek. Vivek asked for flight details from Deepak, and after talking for a few minutes, they hung up the phone. In the meantime, Roshni had done all the packing. She was able to accommodate all the items in the suitcase.

“Thanks a lot, Roshni. This is great. Yo

u are so efficient and organized. Thank you, thank you!”

Roshni looked at him and the items for his hand bag. “You should pack these in your hand bag. Do you want me to pack these as well?”

“No, no, I mean, I can pack them.”

He was worried she would see the passport copies, marriage certificate, etc. She wondered why he acted so strangely but ignored it and walked towards the bathroom to get ready.

“Deepak, hurry up. We have to leave,” she said.

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