She nodded, “They relented only after I showed them Kirti’s wounds. They are still not happy about it.”

He looked thoughtful.

Suddenly she stood up.

“Karishma?” he also stood up.

“God! What was I thinking? This isn’t going to work out. I am mentally and physically a wreck. I am not even divorced yet. There is a child in question. And would you know what to do with people like my parents as your in-laws? This is an impossible dream. You and I both need to wake up!”

“Karishma!”

“I will leave now,” she started walking out, her pace brisk.

He ran after her and yanked at her hands.

“You promised!” he said desperately, “You promised to give it time. You can’t decide in five minutes.”

She looked at him helplessly, “It’s a mess.”

“You don’t run away from things. Nor do I.”

“It’s not your mess to deal with. And even if I start dealing with it right away, it will take a lot of time. You can’t keep waiting for me until then.”

“I made you confront this mess. It is now mine to deal with”

“No. You don’t want to–”

“Karishma. I admire your strength. It doesn’t mean you have to keep proving it to me again and again. It also doesn’t mean that you can’t take help. It definitely doesn’t mean that I won’t want to be by your side when you are going through an ordeal.”

“I just want my daughter to be safe. If I try to fix more, I may end up making things worse.”

“Fine. But just give me one week. Meet me. Talk to me. We will not talk about this. We will do whatever else we feel like. And then you can decide whether it is worth fighting for. I ask for just one week.”

She had calmed down by then. “Yes. I am sorry I was so abrupt. I will meet you, of course. I want to. But I have a lot of thinking to do.”

“Okay. That’s perfectly fine. I can live with that. For now.”

“I should still leave now.”

“Yeah. Okay. Take a taxi. No, wait. I will book you one. From my personal account, nobody in the office will know, don’t worry.”

“It’s not so late. It’s earlier than usual. Don’t spoil me!”

“I will have to. Else you won’t come around.”

The phone rang at the same time as the door flung open.

“Dada!” Soumen barged in, looking disheveled. Siddhartha stared at the phone which showed Mrinal’s number. “Oh. It’s just Karishma,” Soumen said, “Mrinal has gone mad. He won’t let me come in. That must be him calling.” Siddhartha disconnected the phone and looked at his brother. Karishma was glad Soumen wasn’t looking at her. She felt her cheeks growing hot and was sure that her face had turned red in embarrassment.

“Dada. It’s an emergency. I just got a call from home. Baba slipped in the bathroom. Mohan said he has called an ambulance.”

“Oh God!” Karishma and Siddhartha spoke in chorus. “How bad is it?” Siddhartha asked.

“I don’t really know, Dada. I was too flustered to–”

“You drive straight to the hospital. I will check with Mohan and see if I should go home first. Rush now.”

“Yes, Dada,” Soumen left immediately.

“Karishma, you–”

“Don’t worry about me, please. Why don’t you make that call and find out what you should be doing?”

“Yes. Right, thanks!”

He called home.

“He was in pain… What are you saying… He is not conscious… Where is the ambulance… Okay – I am heading to the hospital too…”

“Should I come with you?” Karishma asked as soon as he disconnected the call.

Despite his worries, he smiled, “It’s tempting. But not now. I am sending you a number and a code. You call them and book a cab with that code.”

“Stop worrying about me–”

“That’s what I am doing. I won’t have to worry if you use this.”

“I will. I promise. Please call me once you know what the situation is.”

“I will.”

—

The call came late in the evening.

“I’m sorry; I missed your messages,” Siddhartha said.

“Don’t worry. I was just concerned. How is your father?”

“He had passed out from pain. There is a fracture, so that has to be handled. Cast for at least a month and bed rest. But there is no other danger. He will be in the hospital for a week.”

“Are you staying at the hospital for the night?”

“Yes.”

“Have you had your dinner?”

“Yes.”

They fell silent, listening only to each other’s breath. He spoke after a long pause, “Could you take a taxi and come here for a bit?”

“Yes,” She replied hastily, “I will.”

“Kirti…”

“She is asleep. My mother can look after her if she wakes up. Else I will bring her with me.”

“I will be waiting. Give me a call once you reach the hospital. I will have to sign you in.”

“Okay.”

“And it’s quite late. Take a taxi by calling that number. Don’t–”

“I will. I don’t want you worrying about me right now. I will take a taxi.”

Her mother, obviously, didn’t believe her when she said that there was some emergency at work and she would have to go out that late at night. But she agreed to keep an eye on Kirti. So, Karishma called the taxi and left by herself.

—

When he saw her, he walked towards her with long, urgent strides. For a moment it looked like he would hug her, but he refrained. He just held her hands and pressed them. “Thank you for coming.”

“You are so stressed out. What is it?”

He looked embarrassed; then said in a resigned fashion, “Baba is my strength. And by extension my weakness. Seeing him unconscious unnerved me.”

“How old is he?”

“Seventy.”

“Fracture in old age is not good. But the doctors said he was out of danger, didn’t they? He would be alright.”

He nodded, “Honestly. I now feel silly for making you come all the way for no reason–”

She interrupted him, “I wanted to come and see you. The reason I didn’t ask myself was because I was afraid to intrude.”

He looked at her curiously.

She gulped hard and spoke again, “About this afternoon. Taking a stock of my situation worries me. But I am not playing hard-to-get with you–”

“No, you are not. I know that, Karishma.”

“Then ask for me. Whenever you need me.”

“How about all the time?”

She chuckled, “That may just make fixing every mess worth it.”

“Don’t worry about fixing everything. Let things take its course. And when the time comes, I can put the best lawyers on it.”

She smiled.

“And now you should get back. It’s past midnight. Is your taxi waiting?”

“No. I thought I would call one when–”

“I will do it.”

After making the call, he said, “Somebody will be here in fifteen minutes. I need another favor. Can you call Mrinal early in the morning tomorrow and ask him to reschedule my meetings.”

“You already didn’t take any meeting today–”

“I know. But I need to be here tomorrow. Baba may gain consciousness anytime.”

“There is nothing important on Soumen’s calendar. He can stay here–”

“That would be too much of a responsibility for him–”

“No. It won’t be, Sir–”

“Siddhartha!”

“Siddhartha! It won’t be. He looks up to you and he is terrified of you. That’s why he doesn’t come forward to take responsibilities. I think you should let him do it. And if he is nervous, I will be there with him too, I promise.”

He smiled appreciatively, “You must have been his mother in a previous birth. So, why don’t you call him instead of Mrinal in the morning and arrange all this.”

“I will arrange all this, but you need to make that call to him. In fact, I think you should make it now. And suggest him that he should ask me to take care of his meetings.”

Grinning, he gave her a mock salute and dialed Soumen.

—

To be continued