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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.”
Roshni looked into his eyes. She tried to pull her hand away from him, but his grip was too strong.
“Roshni, sometimes I just lose control and say things. I was concerned for you. I was very worried because you did not pick up the phone. I should have known better than to disturb you, especially since you were busy completing the testing. My apologies!”
Roshni felt uncomfortable. She pulled her hand from his grip and stood up. Deepak expected her to respond to his apology, but instead she looked at him and asked, “Did you have dinner?”
“No, and I am hungry. Kusum bhabhi is warming up the food.”
