"Can you come back?" I asked Karthik when he picked up the phone.

"What happened, Kavya isn't everything fine?"

"No. Please come soon."

As I waited for Karthik, Amit approached me.

"While you are at it, I suggest you pack your items and move out completely. I am filing for a divorce."

"You are not."

"Oh yes I am. You better start now."

Could things get better between us ever, or should I just do as he said.

I was lost in my thoughts when Karthik arrived to take me back. I was not paying any attention to the surroundings, and stood there lost in my thoughts.

"Kavya... What is wrong? Why do you want to leave?"

"Amit wants to get a divorce." I blurted out.

"He wants a divorce? Are you kidding me?"

Well, that reaction was expected. That is why I had decided against telling me in the first place, stupid me, messed the whole thing up.

"I did not mean to say that."

"What? Let me talk to him. I am sure you can work things up. You guys just lost your kid, things can be hard. But you need to stick together to get through this."

"Try explaining that to him. I think it is a little too late bhai."

He demanded an explanation and I told him about the half-naked woman in my home. What I had not anticipated was for him to barge into the house demanding answers from Amit.

"How dare you do that to my sister?" Karthik asked as he held Amit by the collar. Amit was a lot stronger than Karthik. Pure rage, that was what made Karthik stand up to Amit like that. Amit in defence punched him hard on the face.

"Stop it Karthik, we should just leave."

"I must admit Karthik; she has much more sense than you. Listen to the woman and get out of my house."

Karthik kneed him in the balls and that came as an unexpected blow. He wriggled in pain.

"That is for cheating on my sister. You know what; she deserves a man, not a coward like you. She deserves someone who can be with her through thick and thin, someone who would not abandon her when a bad situation comes."

Karthik then punched him on the face, twice.

"Don't do this to anyone, ever again." Karthik then turned to me and continued "pack your bags Kavya, we should leave."

Karthik came to my room to help me pack. All I had to take were some clothes and books. Nothing else, there was nothing else, other than the memories of my son, in that house belonged to me.

Karthik carried my bags out for me. I spared a last look at the house, the one I had called home for five years. I had entered the same house as a newlywed bride; it was where I had my son, had lost my son. Now it was my time to leave. Amit had made it clear that he did not want me anymore in his life. What we had was long gone by now.

"We should go." Karthik said. I gave him a slight nod. We never spoke on the way back. I became more and more tensed as we got closer to home. Karthik understood my uneasiness.

"I'll explain everything to dad." He said to me as he parked the car in front of the house.

He did as promised.

"You are hurt." Gunjan bhabhi pointed out and took him to the medicine cabinet, dressing up his wound.

"You deserve respect, every girl does. You have your dad with you beta, we can get through this."

"Thank you dad. I love you."

"I love you too beta. There is no need to thank me; it is my duty to protect my little girl, no matter how old you are."

Karthik and Gunjan had to go back to Bangalore the next day. It was just my dad and I then. Things were going pretty well. Dad would go to the office in the morning; he had just a few months of service left. I would stay at home and cook, do the chores and stuff. In the night, I would just cry myself to sleep. Well, that was my schedule until the day the divorce notice arrived.

"Don't worry Kavya; we will get through this, together."

I thanked my family for their support. I had two choices in front of me. I could either file a joint petition for divorce and get done with the things easily or I could just start fighting my soon to be ex-husband, file a domestic violence case against him and make him suffer. My lawyer asked me if I planned to get married again anytime soon and when I gave him a no, he suggested making him suffer. I should probably have listened to him, but while making him pay, my pain was not going anywhere. Seeing him repeatedly would only add fuel to the fire. Therefore, we filed a joint petition.

The filing process was pretty straightforward. All we had to do was sign a lot of papers, then we appeared before the judge. We needed to have a separation of six months to obtain divorce. We were to attend marriage counselling in that duration and appear before the court after that.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" It was Amit.

I nodded in response. Karthik and dad were nowhere nearby. They would not have allowed him anywhere near me otherwise.

"I need to apologize for my behaviour that day. I should not have said all those awful things. I can never justify my actions. Losing Rishi was tough; no one can understand that better than you can. Things can never be the same again. That is why I decided to take this step. This I know would be the best decision for us."

I did not know know what to say. I hence settled for a simple "I understand."

"Thank you Kavya. Hearing that from you is such a huge relief for me, you would not believe. I am sorry again. Hope to see you around."

I wanted to say, 'Never see you around.', but I know I did not have it in me. Therefore, I just nodded, again.

PIC: Karthik Gupta.