“I am going to have to use your bathroom and take a shower,” Paritosh told Rupali after Sunidhi had left, “There was some problem in water supply in the campus today. And without a shower I am feeling like zombie right now.”

“Sure. I will just wash my face and then you can use the bathroom. You look so tired.”

“Don’t worry. I am not that tired. Take your time.”

“In that case, I will take a quick shower myself. I am feeling exhausted.” The emotional roller-caster became too much for her sometimes.

“Okay,” Paritosh said and made himself comfortable on her bed.

—

Paritosh was looking at a book lying on the table when Rupali came out of the shower. She was still patting her face dry with a towel, when she told Paritosh, “You can go, Sir.”

“Yeah,” he turned towards her and was stunned for a moment. Her fresh from shower look and wet, uncombed hair made his heart skip a beat. She didn’t notice her effect on him. She hung the towel from a hook on the wall and went towards the dresser. She picked up a comb, but was startled by Paritosh holding her hand and stopping her from continuing.

She looked at him surprised.

“Don’t!” he said softly.

“Sir?” she didn’t understand him.

“Don’t touch your hair. Don’t do anything. Just stay as you are. I will be back.”

Rupali gulped hard as he picked up his clothes and went to the bathroom.

She had actually not done anything when he came out. She was sitting in front of the dresser just as he had left her. He stood behind her and caressed her shoulders. She fidgeted and got up. He leaned in and smelled her wet hair. It drove both of them wild as she turned around and hid her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms tight around her and roughly ran his fingers through her wet, uncombed hair. She involuntarily kissed him on his chest and he lost his control. He broke the hug, cupped her face and attacked her lips fiercely. Both were panting heavily when they broke the kiss. He appeared slightly satiated and more in control after that.

“You drive me mad, do you know that?” he said holding her close.

“As if you leave me alone. I had started thinking you would never give in.”

“Really? That was bothering you? Not that you tried to seduce me ever.”

“How could I? I was so scared of you…”

“Scared? You? Of me?” Paritosh laughed slightly, “Rupali Banerjee! When exactly did that happen? And what were you scared for?”

“That you would be angry, if I tried to…”

“Tried to?” Paritosh felt like teasing her.

“Nothing. Let me go.”

“No way. Never.”

“It’s almost dinner time. You would be hungry. Food is ready.”

“I am indeed very hungry. But I guess I shouldn’t overeat in one go,” he said meaningfully, gave her a quick peck on the lips and then let her go. Rupali felt almost disappointed, but she still found it difficult to take matters in her hand. Too much respect? She wondered!

—

“Amrit,” Paritosh tried to get her attention after the nurse showed them into her room. She was sitting on the bed with her knees folded and was facing the wall away from the door. Although Rupali had wanted to meet Amrit, and she had meant every word of it when she had appreciated him not abandoning her, she was dreading the moment when she would hear him call her name. What would it feel like? Would he call Amrit the same way that he called her? After all, she had been his wife, legally speaking, until quite recently.

But the moment just passed. Rupali did not feel anything extra-ordinary. The moment did not make her insecure. She smiled inwardly at her irrational fears and decided to confess it to him once they went back.

Amrit didn’t respond to him. He looked at Rupali and shrugged, “Like I had told you.”

“Let me try to talk to her,” Rupali said and started moving towards the bed, but Paritosh caught her hand and stopped her. He looked at the nurse.

The nurse understood his hesitation. “Don’t worry,” she said, “She is not violent.” Paritosh let Rupali go then.

“Amrit ji,” Rupali sat down beside her and touched her shoulder. Paritosh was terrified, but Amrit was calm, “Look who has come.”

Amrit turned around and looked at Paritosh, then back at Rupali. She smiled in recognition, as Paritosh moved closer to the bed.

“She is beautiful,” Amrit spoke coherently surprising Paritosh, “What is her name?”

“Rupali. My name is Rupali,” Rupali answered.

“Nice name. Are you a Bengali?”

Rupali laughed slightly, “By name – yes. But I have lived in Mumbai most of my life.”

“Then you must prefer eating fish. Do you know how to cook chicken?”

Rupali grinned, “I eat everything. I can cook nothing. But my cook certainly can. Do you like chicken more?”

“I don’t care. But he likes it. His mother had told me,” she said about Paritosh.

“Rupali works at my institute,” Paritosh offered an introduction and also changed the subject.

“You are also a professor?” Amrit looked impressed.

Rupali nodded.

“Very nice. You will keep him happy. And he will also keep you happy. He has the heart of gold.”

Rupali and Paritosh exchanged an uncomfortable glance. How did she know?

“I know,” Rupali replied with an embarrassed smile; then asked “I hope you are not mad at me.”

“Not at all. I am very happy. It was so nice of you to come to meet me. You should have come earlier.”

“I will keep coming to meet you now. Okay?”

Amrit smiled and nodded.

Nurse informed them that Amrit’s doctor was in OPD and if he wanted to talk to him, he could go there.

“Appointment?” Rupali wondered.

“After all these years, he has become more of a friend than a doctor, Rupali. There isn’t much we need to discuss about Amrit. This is more of a personal visit.”

“Okay.”

—

“That was miraculous, Rupali,” Paritosh exclaimed after the nurse had left them, “Your presence got her talking. You know some magic or what!”

“I have a theory.”

“Shoot!”

“Sometimes it might be genuine, but she probably pretended to not know you at other times you visited.”

“Why?”

“Her way of asking you to move on. I think.”

“Have you been watching too many melodramatic movies?”

Rupali laughed, “I don’t know. I just guessed. She did not respond to you earlier, but when she saw me, she started conversing normally.”

“May be.  Hey, isn’t that Aditya?”

“Where? Yes – that’s indeed him. What is he… Oh! He was under therapy. I think we should avoid him. He may not be comfortable.”

“Okay…”

But Aditya had also spotted them and he sought them out.

“Hi Rupali. Prof. Khanna, nice to meet you, although I am not sure why here?”

Paritosh smiled, “Which doctor are you seeing?”

“Dr. Sondhi.”

“You are in good hands, then. Rupali, Dr. Sondhi is Amrit’s doctor as well,” he informed her.

“Amrit?” Aditya was startled by the name.

“My ex-wife. Unfortunately–”

“Amrit Kapoor? I mean her maiden name?”

“Indeed. How do you know her?”

“This is… I don’t know what to say. She is my cousin.”

“What!” Rupali and Paritosh were shocked and surprised.

“I want to… meet her,” Aditya said.

“Right, Aditya. But you will understand that I would be more comfortable if we talked before that.”

“Yeah. Right. Let’s go somewhere we can talk comfortably.”

—

Aditya and Paritosh exchanged some more family details to confirm that they were indeed talking about the same person.

“She my cousin from my father’s side, my real father that is. We used to stay in the joint family. I was five years old when my father died and my mother remarried. Amrit was six years elder to me and I was her favorite. She was the only one from my father’s family who maintained contact with us even after we moved in with my step-father. She would write letters to me, even when I was too young to reply to them.  Her maternal grandparents stayed in the same city as ours. Whenever she visited them, she made it a point to visit us too. We would play together when I was younger and became good friends as we grew older. We had this connection. She was the only one who seemed to understand my problem, though I never really discussed it with her. Perhaps her own issues, her seizures, had made her sensitive. Then she got married and I left home for higher studies. I lost touch with her. I was, myself, running away from my past. Even the good people came associated with bad memories. So, I didn’t try to contact her. Only recently did I ask my mother about her and she told me that she was in Mumbai. She did not know anything else about her.”

Paritosh looked guilty, “I am sorry, Aditya, that you can’t meet her in better circumstances. I had tried my best to get her treated. But it was too late. She has been there in that facility for over eight years now. Let’s go back and you can meet her. Today she looked better and was at least talking. She would be happy, if you met her.”

Aditya just nodded and didn’t reply. Rupali sensed stiffness in Aditya’s body language. Perhaps he wasn’t too happy about the fact that her cousin was in the mental health facility. She wondered if he realized how hard Paritosh had tried to help her.

—

To be continued