“Paritosh! How nice. Weren’t you supposed to come back tomorrow?” Mouli was lucid.

“Yes. But the last day of the seminar was cancelled. So, I came back.”

“That’s great. Where is Rupa?”

“She is still at the institute. I came to meet you.”

“Of course. I am so happy to see you. A week these days feels like years to me. So much changes. I have gotten so much worse that I was a week back. I hope you don’t have to travel much in the days to come, Paritosh. Rupa gets completely lost without you. She has been miserable recently.”

Paritosh sighed. Her misery was not because she missed him. It was probably the dread of seeing him again. But he would put her out of her misery. If she was regretting her decision to be with him, she needn’t be.

“She went out with friends over the weekend, and yet it looked like she was more annoyed than happy about it,” Mouli added.

“Friends? Sunidhi?”

“Yes. Sunidhi. And that friend of hers. Aditya. Then there was Rohan. You would know him, right?”

“I do. How do you know him?”

“Used to know his parents long time ago. He and Rupa had gone to the same school for a while. He has visited once in a while with Rupa.”

“Hmm… Anyway. Don’t worry about her, Mrs. Banerjee. She’d do all right.”

“I am not worried. With you–”

“With me, or without me, she would be fine.”

“Paritosh. What are you talking about?”

He stayed silent for a while. Should he bother Mouli about it? Who was he going to talk to? His heart was breaking into thousand pieces. It was one thing to suppress his love, his emotions on his own accord. It was another to have it trampled upon by the one he loved.

“Paritosh. Is something the matter, son?”

That motherly concern encouraged him to open up. “I think she has been having second thoughts about our relationship, Mrs. Banerjee. And I don’t blame her for that. I had always been worried about our compatibility. And–”

“Paritosh! What are you… Look. I know she has a past. And it might make you nervous. But she is not fickle, Paritosh.”

His eyes became moist, “I won’t ever think of her in such terms, Mrs. Banerjee. She is… she is going through more than what I would ever want her to go through. And I was happy to be by her side. But this relationship was a mistake. It is better if you also accept this. Don’t tell her anything, please. Don’t try to make her feel guilty or anything. I know how to let go.”

“If what you feel is true, Paritosh, don’t be a saint. I will find out from her, of course. But if she does this to you–”

“Don’t! Don’t say anything you will regret. She might come back anytime now. I will go home now, Mrs. Banerjee. I haven’t been there at all since landing. Please take care.”

—

“Rupa.” Mouli came to the hall to find her daughter slumped on the sofa looking miserable.

“Mom?” she was alarmed, “Why did you get up. Nurse is there if you need something. Or you could call me.”

“I am fine, Rupa.  But why are you so upset?”

“No, Mom. I am fine. Why would I be upset?”

“I am not that weak already that you can’t tell me about your problems. What is going on? Have you been missing Paritosh?”

Rupali stayed silent.

“It is something else. Tell me, my child. My speculations are depressing these days. I might assume the worst.”

“I made a mistake again Mom.”

“What mistake?”

“You too were wrong this time, Mom. Dr. Khanna…”

“What about him?”

“He is married and is now divorcing his wife.”

“Did he tell you?” Mouli asked. She was surprised on two counts. That Rupali did not know about it. And that she should react like this.

“No. I was at his place the day before he left. For dinner. And I found the divorce papers lying on his table. Must be because of me. This is horrible, Mom. I don’t want to be the other woman, the home-breaker.”

“Did you talk to him?”

Rupali shook her head.

“You should.”

“Mom. All this is so wrong. I don’t know what to do, what to say.”

“Rupa. I can intervene, but this really isn’t for me to do. This is something you must do yourself. You cannot run away from things. You must sit down like adults and talk it out. Do you understand me?”

Rupali suddenly felt very irritated, “Yeah. I understand you. You are trying to make sure that I can mend by heart-breaks on my own after you, right?”

“Don’t talk like that Rupa,” Mouli got tears in her eyes, although she tried to control them.

“Oh God! I am sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry. I will talk to him right away. Please don’t cry. Please. I am going to meet him.”

—

Paritosh looked dishevelled when he opened the door for her. He stepped aside to let her in. Rupali looked around the house and felt a heart-wrenching sadness.  The other night she had come in thinking about how all of this would be a part of her life sometime soon. And now…

“Sit down,” he broke the silence with polite words.

“I’m fine,” she replied trying hard to keep her voice cold, and not quivering.

“I had read the note.”

“What note?” Rupali had completely forgotten about it.

“Rohan’s note. Mistakenly thinking that I had the right. But you must go where your heart leads you.”

“You are accusing me of cheating?”

“Rupali!” his hurt was evident in his voice, “I am not accusing you. I just want to tell you the truth. Your happiness is most important. And if it lies in Rohan, I am not going to hold you back.”

“Stop it, Dr. Khanna. Don’t say those grand things. Don’t make it about my happiness. Let’s just stick to the basics. Don’t divorce your wife because of me. I can’t have that on my conscience.”

“What are you… How else… Wait! You… you didn’t know that I was married?”

“How could I? You should… That was the reason behind all your hesitations, wasn’t it? You should have come out clean, Dr. Khanna. You should have told me the truth. I might have been love-struck. But I am not so selfish that–”

“Wait. Rupali. Don’t jump to conclusions. We… we need to talk. Let’s go to your home–”

“Why my home? Tell me whatever–”

“Your mother needs to be in this conversation.”

“What has Mom got to do with any of this? I really don’t want to involve her further in this mess.”

“We must go. Are you driving?”

She gave up, “Fine!”

—

“I don’t understand you, Mrs. Banerjee. You hadn’t told her anything. And you encouraged me to… Why would you do that?”

“Paritosh. You didn’t want your colleagues to know. And I was just being discreet as you had asked me to. That’s why I did not tell her.”

“But afterwards? When you knew about…”

“In a relationship there is no place for a third person, Paritosh. I’m sorry that that there has been a misunderstanding. But I think it is better that you two learn to deal with these misunderstandings and learn to communicate on your own. It’s better to know how to sort out such issues right now, rather than later in your relationship.”

“Is someone going to tell me what the matter is?” Rupali interrupted sharply.

“Tell her, Paritosh,” Mouli said and left them alone.

Paritosh sighed and said, “Sit down Rupali. Please.”

She obliged.

—

To be continued