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“Oh, okay, let me go and help her.”
As she began to leave, Deepak took hold of her hand and pulled her towards him. Holding her around the waist, he stared into her eyes. “Did you eat?” he asked very lovingly.
Roshni was nervous. Unable to respond to this gesture, she simply replied, “Yes, we never expected you today; otherwise we would have waited.”
She pulled herself away from him. They heard Kusum call Deepak for dinner; the food was warm and ready. Roshni asked if Deepak wanted to freshen up and change. He nodded and agreed to meet her in the dining area.
Chapter 17
Deepak in Mumbai after the Conference
Roshni was downstairs near the dining table, waiting for Deepak. She told Kusum bhabhi to rest and she would serve Deepak and clean up the table. Deepak arrived all changed and fresh. He pulled a chair next to Roshni and sat. Kusum joined Sashank and Akash in the family room to watch TV.
Roshni began to serve Deepak and slowly she tried to move away from him, but his response was quicker. He grabbed her hand and asked her to sit next to him. She was uncomfortable, but she sat next to him and served him food. Deepak enjoyed the food, and a couple of times he tried to feed her, but Roshni was definitely not in a mood to entertain this behavior of his.
After his dinner, Roshni cleaned the table, and Deepak helped her. She resisted initially, but then gave in. She could not stop admiring his willingness to help her.
Her thoughts went back to the comment he’d made a few minutes ago: “You are here working alone. How can I relax outside with them? I don’t like it. I will be here to keep you company.” She smiled to herself. She liked this gesture!
Everybody retired to their rooms, and so did Roshni and Deepak. Roshni asked Deepak to sleep on the bed while she slept on the sofa. Roshni was mentally exhausted and went to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Deepak relaxed on the bed but couldn’t sleep. He pulled his pillow up to support him as he leaned back on the headboard. He quietly watched Roshni: her beautiful dark and long hair, silky white skin and her features. She was physically very beautiful, but her personality – her composure and maturity, honesty and openness, her being very loving and caring – all these qualities made her really beautiful. She was financially independent. If needed, she could live a very lavish, modern life, but she chose to be a simple Indian girl brimming with Indian values. She had everything a man could wish for in his life partner!
As these thoughts captured his mind, unawares he slowly moved towards her. He came to the sofa and knelt in front of her. He raised his hand and gently stroked her hair without disturbing her.
He watched her closely and whispered, “Why do you have to pay for what I did? You had no clue of my expectations of a girl or my ideas regarding a marriage. You are so innocent and are paying for this stupid, immature mistake of mine. Why?” He looked at her. “There was no need for you to sleep here on this sofa so uncomfortable. Why are you going through all this for this family? I yelled at you, and you listened to me quietly. Oh, Roshni…why are you doing this? You have so much patience!”
He had a tear in his eye. Wiping his tear, he bent down closer to her. “Roshni, I am so sorry!”
He continued looking at her. “Roshni, I always respected you, but now…I enjoy talking to you, I feel like spending time with you…and…and I want to spend every moment of my life with you. Please give me an opportunity to eliminate the doubt and mistrust you have in me.”
With a sense of guilt, combined with appreciation and gratitude for what she did, he wiped his tears and moved away from her and walked back to the bed. With good thoughts of the experiences during this trip, he went to sleep.
~ ~ ~
On Thursday morning, Roshni woke up early, feeling fresh and well rested. It was a bright morning with birds chirping, loud temple music, and the morning sun rays piercing through the window. Deepak was still asleep, so she quietly closed the windows so the bright light and the music did not bother him.
She got ready and came to her babuji’s picture and asked for his blessings, as she was ready to release her design that day. Then she went to the pooja room, and as was her routine, she cleaned the room, lit the oil lamp and the incense, and prayed to Devi Maiya and Shirdi Baba for their blessings with the release of the design.
Kaki had made chai the way she preferred – fresh ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. A fresh cup of chai in the morning was refreshing. Roshni was getting ready to leave when she heard Deepak come down. Roshni brought him chai, and as he enjoyed the chai, he asked Roshni if he could drop her at work. Roshni was hesitant and made some excuses, but to no avail, she had to give in.
Roshni had brought her babuji’s car after his death to Sashank’s house. She asked Deepak to take that car since Sashank would need his vehicle. By this time he had become familiar with driving on Mumbai roads and also remembered the directions to Roshni’s office, so he did not need any help with navigation.
As they drove, he asked, “Roshni, do you want to keep this car?”
“Yes, I will need it in the future, and I would like to keep it…as a good memory of Babuji. In addition, it is good to have one extra car in the house.”
Deepak nodded. “Makes sense.”
They arrived at her workplace, and as she got out, he called, “Roshni.”
She turned around, and with a smile Deepak said, “Good luck with your release today. Please convey my best wishes to your entire team!”
Roshni smiled in acknowledgement. “Yes, I will. Thank you.”
~ ~ ~
After returning home, Deepak had breakfast and went to the room to clean up and also gather his dirty laundry. Looking for shirts, he opened the closet and noticed his clothes on the top shelf where Roshni had left them, ironed and folded.
