Downstairs, Ramit had a talk with his parents. His mother pulled him into one corner of the house. His dad also came.

"Don't be too harsh on her. She's trying everything. She's pregnant but look how she kept standing because of you!" his mother said.

"Ramit, don't listen to your mother. Do this. Go and drop her off at her parents' home. If they ask what happened, tell them everything."

His mother elbowed his father. "Do you think he'll marry anyone after divorcing her?"

"Maa..." His wife laughed at his love and now his mother also thought he could not let that love go.

"Of course he should!" His father said to his mother and turned to him. "What are you whining about? This time I'll choose the girl for you. I'll choose someone who is very kind to you and the child."

His mother facepalmed.

"I'm still married, papa... I'll get going." Ramit peeped from behind the wall that blocked the three from the view of their room. The door to it was still closed and Geetha had not come out.

He quickly touched their feet and hugged them. His luggage strolled on the floor as he headed out.

"Since when is he such a coward?" Seeing his son running away, he asked his wife.

"Geetha is that hard to deal with. She is way more stubborn than him." In fact, she was thankful that Geetha was stubborn. She hoped the girl could persuade her son and they both could lead a normal life. If she agreed to the divorce and left, it would definitely leave an unhealable mark on her son and he may never move on.

∼•∽

By the time Geetha came out, satisfied with her luggage, the house felt a little empty.

She stood in the living room looking around lost. With a frown, she walked to the front porch. There was only one car, her father-in-law's.

He dared to leave without her! She walked back in and sat on the sofa with a stoic face.

She opened Google Maps on her phone to find her timeline of a particular day. But it showed up empty. Perhaps she had her location turned off that day when he took her to his apartment, right after Ria's wedding. But she failed to take notice of the area or the building name. Back then when he drove, she sat placing tiles on Reddit. After all, the event happened once every 5 years and Ramit was the one she was going with. She didn't feel the need to be vigilant and completely immersed herself into making a peacock on the Indian flag while also helping in defending the border with Denmark.

She then opened her contacts. Who knew she would one day have to talk to that dimwit playboy, Abhay. She did not remember what she had named him. Nothing came up when she searched 'Abhay'. She scrolled through each of her contacts.

In five minutes she reached the last and 558th contact. Her memory of many people refreshed with the activity. She scrolled back up, yet she did not find it. She shut off her phone and sat brooding.

"Are you waiting for your cab?" Her mother-in-law asked. Her father-in-law also walked over albeit keeping some metres distance from her and folding his hands over his chest.

"Maa, how can I go without telling you?" She stood up and touched their feet.

Then she slowly said, "Maa... Do you know where Ramit went?"

"He said he was going to his flat, didn't he?"

Geetha sucked in a breath and asked, "Yeah... where is it?"

She had no other option than to ask his parents, as embarrassing as that was. Thanks to her habit of deleting every 'idiot' from her contact list whenever she felt they were of no use to her, she now fell into this inexplicable situation. She learnt her lesson. She was never going to delete another contact again.

This time her mother-in-law, having had enough, caught her ear and twisted it, while her father-in-law did nothing new but scowl more at her from where he stood.

"Since you don't know, just stop pestering my son!" he shouted after breathing heavily three times.

"I'm not pestering him. I'm trying to please him," Geetha looked at him with her neck twisted and her ear still in the hands of her always helpful mother-in-law. "Maa, tell me. Take pity on this clueless wife."

"Tsk!" She left the girl's ear. She booked a cab for Geetha as she looked into the phone curiously taking in the address. "Message me once you've reached."

Geetha gave a small, heartfelt smile and said, "Thank you so much, maa." Then she hugged her. "You are the best! I know what you are going to tell me, I'll be careful."

"Tsk!" Her mother-in-law shook her head.

Geetha looked back at the house once she stepped out. This was probably the warmest home she's ever lived in. She probably embarrassed herself way too much in front of them, but she could not help it. She did not feel the need to bother about her self-image in front of them at all.

∼•∽

Through the menacing traffic of the working day when everyone rushed to their work, it took her one whole hour to reach her destination. The driver got her luggage down and left her in front of an apartment. Now she had to get his flat number. Last time all the while he dragged her to his flat, her whole attention was on his hand. She was taken into the house while she kept on twisting her wrist to pull it out of his grip. She did not know the floor or flat.

She went in and asked the watchman which flat was Ramit's. He interviewed her until she was pissed before he told her the flat number. Quite a great security, she thought and walked into the lift. She opened her phone and texted her mother-in-law about her safe arrival.

In a few moments, she was at his door. She rang the doorbell once. After a few moments she rang it twice. Then she rang in thrice and pressed on it, unwilling to let it rest unless the door opened.

The door flew open soon and Ramit stood in the way. "Let me make it clear to you. I don't like you. Stop annoying me. Didn't I respect your choice and your wish to 'conserve your time and energy'? Why can't you do the same? Show me some respect and get lost."

For the first time in his life, he said something so harsh. He said it to her. The girl he cared the most about. The woman he wished to spend his life with. And a very important friend. He laughed at himself in his mind. He really was killing his heart with his head and he could feel it. But what else could he do? Once, she did not care about him. Then he wanted her to at least acknowledge his position in her life. Now she acted so intrusive and still so uncaring about his feelings.

He was hurt. Why was there no consideration from her at all for his feelings?

"Can you let me in?" She hated being made to stand outside like that with her luggage. More so, the fact that he was shouting at her in the corridor.

Her eyes stared down at him even if she was shorter.

The look in her eyes made him feel inferior. It wasn't much different from the past. Those eyes were always condescending.

"If you hate me so much, why are you doing this?"

"Let me in, and we will talk."

Her eyes were now menacing on top of the contempt they held. He shut the door on her face. He was not killing his heart with his head. She was the one who was killing his heart.

She pressed on the bell again.

"Geetha, if you have some shame, stop bothering me. This is not your house. It's mine and I don't want you here. Okay?" He shut the door on her again.

"Fine..." she said softly as she slowly dragged her luggage back to the lift. She leaned on the wall for a while. Just now he was close to crying. Was she that bad of a person? She knew she offended people easily. Every time that happened, she had a clear idea of what she had said and she made a mental note to not say that again, most of which were blatant truths. But in his case, she could not understand the cause.

She sighed. Where should she go now? Her in-laws? Her father-in-law would throw her out this time. Her parents? There was no way she was embarrassing herself in front of them. Then there was only one option left. She entered the lift checking if the keys to her flat were safe in her handbag.

Right at the moment she touched the cold metal, her phone rang. It was an unknown number.

"Hello, ma'am! My name is Parvati. Are you really going to give 5000 rupees off?"

Geetha needed a moment to understand.

"Ah... Yes, ma'am. The offer is still valid. But only if you boil the milk by the day after tomorrow. You will have to pay starting that day, no matter when you actually shift."

"Okay, alright. We want to see the flat."

Geetha was surprised. She said all that to deter the woman from renting her apartment, since it won't look good if she took back the offer. She was not someone who'd go back on her word. But where was she going to live now?

"How many people are there in your family?"

"2 adults and a child, ma'am. We are near the location. Can you come now?"

"I'm on my way," she said to the eager woman.

∼•∽

After the call, she looked down at her luggage. "Fuck," she mumbled, as she walked out of the lift. She was going to lose face if she was to meet her tenants dragging such a big bag.

On the ground floor, the watchman looked at her weirdly. She noticed that the area was deserted. The headlights of the cars looked like eyes, but she knew there weren't any real ones. She walked forward with determination and said to him, "My husband and I had a small fight. He's not letting me in. Can you take care of my bag? I have some work." Good thing, she didn't take any jewellery with her. Since she was in a rush, all she packed were clothes, female sanitary products, which she remembered weren't necessary, and her make-up materials.

He seemed to be doubtful. "Are you really sir's wife?"

"Didn't I show you our call logs? Didn't the phone number match? Should I also show you our private chat log? Keep this safe," she said and left the building with just her handbag.

This place was rather close to her own flat. It was a 15 minute ride.

∼•∽

She met the family at the entrance of her apartment building. It was a couple, around her age, with a baby boy.

"Ma'am," Parvati called.

"Please call me Geetha." She stared at the two males before she took the three upstairs.

They introduced each other. Parvati was a software employee and her husband was a government official.

"Okay. How old is this building?"

"5 years."

As she showed them around the house, she answered the rest of the questions.

"We like the house. Any advance payment?"

Geetha looked at the woman. She had a caring husband, a babbling son who was off-putting but bearable and now a cosy place to stay, while she... had nothing. Her stare became more intense until it gradually turned into a glare. The boy turned his head away and hid in his father's neck.

Geetha quickly set her expression right and gave the woman a smile, "You like the house? It'll take at least a week for me to fetch some of my things, but the offer won't last that long." When she left for Paris, she could not take the minimal furniture she had. It was still lying here.

"No problem. All of those are in the bedroom. You can lock it until then. It will be fine. We don't mind."

"Why are you in such an urgent need?" She felt like the woman was robbing her roof.

"My husband's job is transferred. My son needs to start going to school too." It was the middle of the school year though. Geetha gave the man a look. He did give off the vibe of a hot blooded government official that did not bend to any greed. For such law abiding officers frequent transfer must be common.

"Alright, here. No advancement payment," she said and handed over the keys to the couple. This was a good thing too, she told herself. She was helping an honest public officer save some money and she could gain some sympathy with Ramit, now that she has rented out her flat.

∼•∽

By the time they settled all the other miscellaneous things, it was time for lunch. The family invited her but she declined, although she was famished. The kid did not seem to like her presence. Her introspection kicked in. She knew she got jealous and lost control for a little while and the little boy caught her in the act. Well, she had something new to learn now.

On the way back, she found a restaurant near Ramit's flat and had her fill. It was 1 P.M. She decided to walk back. It was a short distance and it gave her time to plan her moves.

∼•∽