When she reached the building, she went to the watchman. "Did my husband go out or is he in there?"

The watchman felt uncomfortable answering all her questions, but he said anyway, "He didn't come down," and walked a few steps to show her Ramit's car.

"The sun is bright outside, I'm so tired. Can you please give him a call and tell him? I'm also pregnant."

The watchman looked surprised. "You should announce it to him yourself!"

Geetha was confused. Could he not see her? She had a very obvious bump. She decided not to pay any mind to his idiocy.

"Heh! He knows! He won't lift my call. Also tell him I'm hungry. Tell him I didn't have a proper breakfast in the morning," she said. That time she threw some spoonfuls into her mouth and waited for him to let her pack.

The watchman seemed to understand better this time. He was going to entertain her one last time. He called Ramit and relayed whatever Geetha fed to him.

"What did he say?"

"He said okay."

She waited for 10 full minutes, until all of her patience ran out.

"Call him again."

This time the watchman denied saying he could not disturb any resident like that. He also pushed her luggage to her, clearly wanting to get rid of her.

She pulled her luggage to a wall and sat on it. Her thoughts frequently went back to the harmonious family she had met. She put her head down.

Soon her head started to ache. It was a bad decision to take a stroll under the burning afternoon sun.

When the pain increased and she started having trouble breathing, she called him. He cut her call right on the first ring. She sent him a message. 'Please let me in. I don't feel good.'

He replied. 'Then why are you still here?'

'I have nowhere to go.'

Inside the apartment, Ramit laughed out loud. She had nowhere to go now?

'I'm really not feeling well. I'm starving.' Another text came in.

His anger had just cooled down. He really didn't want to talk to her at the moment. But he decided to check on her anyway.

He went downstairs to find a bright pink ball, that was Geetha, on a pale travel bag. Her head was on her knees and she covered herself with the pallu of her saree.

As he walked close, sat up straight, perhaps hearing his footsteps, and smiled at him. He did not know what she was smiling for with the tired face she had.

He bent a little to observe her. Her forehead was perspiring.

"Get up. Let's go in," he said with a frown.

Once she stood, she again draped the pallu around her hands. "Are you feeling cold?"

"I might have a fever."

"What did you do to get a fever?" he asked as he pushed her luggage. His mother would think it was his fault that Geetha got a fever if she knew.

Geetha was on the verge of asking him to stop talking. It was becoming difficult for her to concentrate with her headache. She also felt like she was losing her balance. "I'll tell you once we're inside," she said with care.

When they were in the corridor of their floor, he said, "Just because I am letting you in doesn't change anything. I'd have helped even if it was anyone else in your place."

She looked at him as her consciousness slightly dipped into oblivion. She squeezed her eyes and opened them back. She didn't understand why he was stating the obvious. "I know. You are the kindest guy I've ever known."

Ramit didn't say more. He knew he shouldn't have talked to her. Just how worthless was he that all of his actions get taken for granted?

The moment Ramit closed the door, she said, "I've rented out my flat."

She looked around and thought that the house layout was perfect. But it was messy. Much messier than the last time. There was no way she was going to live here if she did not sort out everything. Parts of the house were clean and other places were just chaotic with an assortment of objects, that had nothing to do with each other, lying together.

"Why? You don't need your space anymore?"

"Not really. Nothing seems more interesting than you now." She did one thing at a time, with a lot of interest in it. This time, it was him. Until she found a resolution to this, she could not move on to another task.

Ramit scoffed. What an imperious woman, he thought. He was blind to the bone to have fallen for her. He laughed at his sad self when her cold hand caught him, bringing him back to this world.

Geetha was about to say something when her head became messy. Her eyes were closed as she tried to balance herself. Right before she collapsed, he caught her by the waist.

Ramit felt her forehead and it was unusually hot. For a moment he was confused. He did not know she could fall ill as well. This was the first time he saw it. During highschool, she would even jump around on her period as long as she had her dark sweater to tie around her waist and cover her hips.

The first time her period came was at school. Her mother had told he about it beforehand, so she managed on her own. But her mood was so low, she topped talking to everyone, including him, for an entire week. When he begged her for the reason through those days, she finally told him when they were alone about how frustratingly messy it was to have a period and how she hated missing the PE. The next week, it was his turn to go mute out of embarrassment. After that first time, she never missed PE though.

He carried her to his bed. He was going to take her luggage to the other room and let her be in there. But now that she was sick, he decided against it.

As fate would have, right when her butt touched the bed, she woke up. He froze. "It's the first time I felt dizzy. The world around me really spun, you know?"

He slowly laid her on the bed and walked out in silence.

Since she was hungry and was running a fever, she had to eat and take medicine. He thought she would give up after a while and go to her own flat. He only cooked for himself.

"What are you doing?"

Ramit almost jumped out of his skin. He did not know when she sneaked into the kitchen.

"Go sleep. You'll fall again."

"I want a fever tablet. Do you have it or should I get it?"

"It's in my bag. The same box. Eat first."

"Oh, are you cooking?" She saw the pan on the unlit stove. She wondered what he was going to make. All the raw materials must have turned stale.

"Only because you're sick."

"Just a little fever," she said and burped. Even after all the walking, it seemed she was full.

"You've already had your lunch?" Ramit asked slowly.

Geetha was silent. "I was hungry. I ate a little. I'm not hungry now."

"Where and what did you eat?" he asked, putting away the pan.

"That restaurant on the other road. I ate thali, nothing special."

"Don't lie to me next time." He scoffed at her before he strode off into the guest bedroom. He had to calm down. When was she going to stop lying to him?

That night, upset, he slept on an empty stomach after warning Geetha not to knock on his door.

He thought and thought all night. What would happen to them? Was he being too harsh? What was all the change in her behaviour for? Why was he still in love with her? What should he do about his feelings? How to get rid of them once and for all? He had no answers to any of them nor could he come up with much of an explanation.

∼•∽

In the morning, by the time he woke up, his house was turned upside down. It looked good to say the least. But it no longer looked like his place.

"Woke up? You didn't eat and you didn't take your tablets last night," she said, sitting in the living room. The TV was running NatGeo. She seemed to be enjoying the plant show, without an ounce of bitterness. Nothing seemed to matter to her. It was as if he was the only one in their relationship. What difference was it from the time when he ran after her?

He turned away from the scene. His face was void of any emotion. When he saw that food was ready, he had his fill and went back into the guestroom.

As he was about to shut the door, Geetha held it.

"If there's something, just say it." Her tone was calm but the same could not be said for her eyes. She was holding in her anger. "Yes, I told a little lie. But did that even work? What did you lose?" He had only come down when she complained of her fever and said she was hungry. But in the end, he did not cook her another fill.

He removed her hand from the door and shut it.

He wanted to stay alone for a while. Half a day wasn't enough given how overwhelming she made him feel. A lie was still a lie. Last time she lied about her transfer. Should he wait for another lie just that big? Deep down he really felt it was better that they were on their own roads.

If he never started any of this, he'd probably still be laughing at her antiques as he had during highschool. They may be on the phone rather than facing each other though. It would still be beautiful. In the past he did not understand when he heard someone say that they would dare not confess to their friend, because they feared they would lose what they had.  How well he understood now!

He rubbed his head. He did not have a good sleep last night. He closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep, but his relentless thoughts did not give him a chance.

∼•∽

Outside, Geetha gave up thinking about him. She did not understand what his problem was. He was more sensitive than a venus flytrap. That sensitive plant closed its mouth only when two of its sensitivity hairs were triggered within 30 seconds. Here he was, with only one trigger hair and before she could confirm if she actually touched it, he already closed himself off.

She started her breakfast. She frowned when the spoon reached her lips. Moments later, her frown deepened. She sighed. She should not be angry with him. At least he ate the insipid food she made. Now it was her turn to swallow that tasteless thing down.

These kinds of mistakes rarely happened with her. There must have been too much in her mind that she messed up the proportions. She sat down and ate slowly. Making herself something again or ordering it did not seem like a good thing to do after letting him eat this, she thought, as she ate, occasionally closing her nose to lessen her sense of taste.

∼•∽

Ramit skipped lunch too. He only opened his door in the evening. Finding her sitting and watching the TV, which was running Discovery this time, he called her. She came to him with considerable speed. "Are you hungry?"

"No. Let's have a talk." He muted the TV, which was showing axolotls and salamanders. He asked her to come to the guest room, which was also his study. They sat across a table.

"I want to know something."

"Then ask."

"Why are you here?"

"Where else should I be?"

He took a pause. "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want from you? What do you mean?" she asked with a little frown.

"Do you see a change in yourself?"

"Yes. I was not good before. I'm sorry. How many times are you going to make me say it?" Every answer that came out of her mouth was solemn.

He laughed in his head at the irony. He did not think she was good now. "If you think you are good now, why are you?"

"I want us to be together, like a nice happy family." Like the family she rented her flat to.

"How come? Don't you have many things to do?"

Geetha rubbed her forehead. "I... I don't see them in conflict now. You won't stop me from doing those, you said."

"It's not because I said that. I said that long ago. But you have been acting like this since the accident. What is it? Guilt? Pay back? Or just random motivation?"

Pay back did not sound right. She was thankful. She was thankful he saved her life. She was thankful she had him in her life. "Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"None."

"Then what?"

"No reason," she said. But she changed it. "Because you are nice."

"I'm not nice now, am I? I was nice before!"

She averted her eyes. What should she say? Of course she had a ton of complaints against him. She then smiled at him. "You still let me in. You are so nice."

"Didn't I ask you not to lie?"

She breathed out slowly. "If you already have all the answers, why are you asking me?"

"So why?"

"You tell me. What is your problem?"

He took a deep breath. "My problem? Okay then. Look. Every time I asked to live with you, I was screaming that I love you. Who'd be so desperate, right? I've learnt my lesson. It's all over now. You don't have to live with me and I don't want to live with you either."

He paused and said, "I know you also don't like this deep down. I'm not a fool. I can see everything in your eyes. If it's guilt that's driving you, then know that what I've faced was my own undoing. There's nothing for you to pay me back."

Geetha stared at him for a whole minute, blinking slowly in the middle, as if she was trying to connect two completely unrelated subjects. "So now you are screaming that you hate me? What a roundabout way of saying that." Her tone dripped with as much sarcasm as her words.

"Seriously, Geetha?" He scoffed at her three times in a row. Then he went into his room and shut the door.

That night he slept on an empty stomach again. He truly dreaded seeing her face or witnessing her actions or hearing any of her damned words.

∼•∽