Next morning Anjali woke up before her alarm went off, and got up to get ready for the day. She didn't glance at Aditya as she walked towards the bathroom.

Thirty minutes later she walked out, towel drying her hair and went to her dresser. She went through her routine mechanically, she dropped the towel on the chair, letting her hair air-dry. She turned to her dresser drawer and pulled out the matching bangles set, she put those on then she turned to the other drawer to pull out the matching necklace and earring sets. After she finished putting the jewelry on she brushed out her long straight hair, and parted it on the side.

She glanced in the mirror at Aditya's sleeping form and frowned. She glanced up at the clock and saw that it was almost seven, and he was not up yet. Should she go wake him? Then she became more worried thinking he might be sick or something. She had been aware that he had been awake most of the night, and wondered what had he been thinking about. She hoped everything was okay with his current project. She sighed, and thought, why do you care so much Anjali? She closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself. She glanced at her lord Krishna idol and thought why can't I stop worrying for him? Why can't I stop loving him? But as usual her god only smiled at her with that serene smile of his, and did not answer her.

Unknown to her, Aditya has been awake for some time now, watching her do her daily routine. He lay there and wondered how will he ever get it right with her. She has been very tense lately, there is something else going on beside their troubled marriage. He watched as she went to her closet and pulled something out of her drawer, and stare at whatever it was for a long time, bit sadly, she then put the object back in the closet slowly and closed it. By the time she turned back he was sitting up in the bed watching her.

She tensed more, when she saw him watching her. She quickly looked away from him and turned towards the dresser again. She took her sindoor box and took a pinch of it and applied it to her part, still watching him in the mirror. Her expressions were blank.

Few minutes later she left the room without saying anything to him, and so begins another day in their lives. The silence was killing him. She only speaks to him in front of the family now, when they are alone the silent treatment begins, and he was getting really tired of it. He knew it was his own fault for not apologizing to her when he found out the truth about the night of the party, but how do you apologize for breaking someone's heart not once, but twice, especially someone like Anjali, who is very sensitive and reserved to the point of being standoffish.

He sat on the side of the bed holding his head in hands. Nine months ago his mom had come to him, all excited, claiming she had found a perfect wife for him and a perfect daughter-in-law for Mehta House. Until then he hadn't thought about marriage, he had left all decisions in his mom's hands, knowing she had his best interest at heart. At the time he hadn't even dreamed that Anjali would comeback in his life, or that the girl his mom had chosen for him was the one who still haunted his dreams.

When he had come face to face with his future wife, she had been just as shocked to see him, as he had been to see her. Thank god his aunt had suggested he and Anjali talk alone before making any decisions.

She had been ready to back out of the marriage, but he couldn't let her do that, and break his mom's heart, so he had proposed a marriage of convenience. At the time he hadn't known what had made him do what he did, all he knew was that when he saw her, all the old feelings had resurfaced. He hadn't realized at the time his feeling for her were strong and ran deep.

He had been surprised by the Anjali standing in front of him. She had been so quiet and the pain and sadness in her eyes had taken him back. She was more beautiful than ever. She only wore saris now instead of the salwars she used to wear in college. She had been wearing a green sari in Bengali style, her long hair, parted to side, had been open and flowing on her back. She had on minimum makeup, with a small round green bindi.

He had asked her how she met his mom. She had stiffened at his question and told him she hadn't known it was his mom who had brought the proposal for her. All she had been told was that his mom and her mom had been best friends, and had lost touch with each other after their marriage.

It was his mom who had told him how she met Anjali at a charity event and had been very impressed with her. When she inquired about Anjali to some people she had found out that she was the daughter of her best friend, who was no longer in this world. She then made up her mind to make Anjali her daughter-in-law, and nothing and no one was going to stop her.

They had been married eight months and Anjali had blended into the family perfectly. Everyone loves her and she loves everyone. Within a month of their marriage, she had taken over most of the household responsibilities from his mom and aunt, leaving them free to spend their time how they wanted to.

There had been some tension between Anjali and his sister Kajal, but that had been resolved after the night of the party. Now they acted more like sisters than sisters-in-laws.

He was the only one to hold out in Anjali's fan club. He held on to his anger from the past, for one reason and one reason only. He did not want to fall for her again. He hadn't wanted to be vulnerable to another person like that. He was not the same easy going Aditya of college days, life had thought him few lessons and hardened him even more than he had been. He had refused to give up his rigid control.

What he hadn't realized was that life could not be controlled. Feelings could not be controlled. He finally got up to get ready for the day. For now he needed to concentrate on work.

When he came out of the bathroom forty-five minutes later he saw that his clothes were already laid out for him, and there was also a cup of tea sitting on the table beside his laptop bag. What surprised him was Anjali never failed to do her wifely duties, no matter what, she always had his things ready just the way he liked them. He didn't even realize when she took over taking care of him. It must have been within few weeks of their marriage. He should have known she would keep the truth of their marriage a secret. She never gave any indication that their marriage was anything but perfect. He was the one who, by his own actions, showed to the family that all is not well as it should be with his marriage.

If no one else, he knew his mom suspected that Anjali is not as happy as she appears to be. He needed to have a long talk with her, and clear all the misunderstandings between them, then move forward with their lives. There was so much she was hiding from him and he won't know how to help her until she tells him what has been bothering her lately.

He finished getting ready, drank the tea, grabbed his laptop bag and made his way to the dining room. Everyone was already seated, waiting for him to eat breakfast.

He greeted everyone with, "Jai Shree Krishna." His mom searched his face, for what he didn't know, but everyone else greeted him back with a smile. He sat at his place and watched as Anjali served him, she smiled at him for the benefits of others, but he noticed her smile didn't reflect in her eyes. He looked away, it hurt too much to see that fake smile on her face.

Anjali looked around at others and hoped no one saw him snub her so blatantly. Rest of the family was too busy eating to notice, but her mother-in-law was looking at her with sympathy. She looked away before her mother-in-law could see the unshed tears in her eyes.

Ramila glared at her son. She didn't know what had gotten in to him lately, but this is not how she raised her son. She is going to have to talk to him soon, before she lost Anjali. She needed to do something to bridge the distance, between her son and daughter-in-law that she had noticed for long time now.

"Anjali?" Hina aunty addressed her.

"Yes aunty, did you need something?" Anjali hadn't been paying attention.

"No, I just wanted to know if you were feeling better today. You had a slight fever yesterday. Did you take medicine for it?"

"Yes aunty, I am much better today," She glanced at Aditya and was shocked to see him starring at her in concern.

She turned back towards Hina aunty, she didn't want or need his concern. It was too little too late for him to show any kind of consideration towards her.

"Still, you should take rest after breakfast, I will take care of lunch today." Hina aunty said with concern on her face.

Anjali started to protest, but Ramila interrupted her. "Anjali, she is right, you need to take rest today. And Kajal will be coming home in two days, and she won't let you rest at all. She will be running you here and there, so just relax."

"Okay maa, but I was thinking we should get Kajal 's Rakshabandan gift before she comes back."

Vishal spoke up. "Yes, bhabhi  is right, we forgot all about Rakshabandan, and she is right about the gift also, if we try getting the gift after Kajal comes back, she will bug us to find out what we are getting for her." Everyone smiled at that, because they all new Kajal hates surprises.

Ramila turned to Anjali. "You rest for now, we will go this evening and get the gift. Vishal and Aditya can meet us at the mall this evening." They agreed to meet at five that evening.