Geetha looked on as everything spiralled into a chasm. She did not fear that the rest would know about all of these things. She was ready to own up her mistakes. But as she looked on at him, she saw him driving a wedge too thick.

He added, turning to his parents, "She asked her higher ups to transfer her out of the country, any branch. It was not something that was out of her hands."

"You don't like kids, do you?" he said to her again. In her eyes there was confusion and they moved from one side to the other. They were searching for the right response. So much effort, he'd have appreciated it before.

Geetha could feel herself using a lot of neurons to deal with him. Why was he asking that? What should she say? Kids were more idiots than people. She hated dealing with idiots. But she should not say that. Seeing him wait for a response, she bluntly said, "I don't know what you are getting at asking that, but it is too late to think about abortion."

He gave her a smirk, which once again looked more like a self-loathing smile. "She kept the baby because I said I wanted it. That is the only reason she does not talk about the divorce now."

After some silence, he spoke again, "You don't have to take care of the baby. I will. Just sign the papers when the time comes."

Geetha stood with a frown, watching him as his eyes pierced into hers.

"Don't you have anything to say?" his mother asked her.

"What does she have to say? Let her go back and rest." Ramit's heart felt light at that moment. Over. Everything had come to an end.

His mom lightly hit him on the healthy shoulder. It was just a tap. "I am talking to her." She walked to Geetha and held her hand, leading her out.

Inside, Ashish, Ria's husband broke the silence with a little cough and gave an excuse, that he left his phone in the car, to step out. "What's going on, brother? Um... since when did you have all these differences?" Ria asked.

"Since the very beginning. It was still worth a try. Just not anymore," He smiled at her. He knew his sister looked up to his wife. She said she was a cool person. But she was a little more than that. She was a cold person.

"Hasty decisions are not good, Ramit. Just sleep and don't stress yourself."

"Once this is settled I'll be much less stressed, papa."

His dad sighed. "But how should we tell this to her parents?"

"That's her problem. If I'm cutting it off with her, why will I bother about her family?"

The room fell silent.

"What about you? Is everything going well?" His father asked Ria. The fact that his son kept everything from them and suffered alone left a mark on him.

"Yeah. Everything is going well. What will happen to us?" She said to her father.

∼•∽

Outside the room, at the far end of the corridor Geetha stood with her mother-in-law. The place near the parapet wall was somewhat secluded.

"Tell me honestly, who's child is that?"

"His. If he said we don't live together, that's the only thing there is to it, maa. I am not like that..." she said solemnly. She did not really mind such questions from him or his mother. It was a rational thought, after all. But she had to make sure her mother-in-law believed this fact.

"Well, that's the only thing I was concerned about. Rest of the things will settle on their own. No marriage is without problems. I'll talk to him later." The benevolence in the older woman's eyes was clear as she gave a reassuring smile.

Geetha's lips quivered. Tears started to spill uncontrollably.

"Oho, stop crying, stop crying. It's alright." His mother hugged her, patting her back.

Geetha hugged her back and cried for a while. She knew it was embarrassing. But that wisdom helped to form more tears. How embarrassing!

When she felt fine, she looked around. It was awkward to cry in a public place. "Maa, you've been standing all this while. Let's go in."

"You want to go in?"

She slowly shook her head. "Then let's go home."

Geetha was about to cry another round but she controlled herself. "Thank you." She said in a low voice. They left the hospital.

∼•∽

Inside the room Ria saw some movement outside. She went and opened the door. "Come in, found your phone?" She asked her husband, who replied in confusion, "What?"

"Your phone was in my bag. How did you remember it to be in the car?"

Ashish smiled awkwardly at the other two men in the room.

He was hesitating if he should tell them that the two women left. They seemed to be waiting for them but they left without a word.

"What is it?" Ria asked.

He shook his head. He was still a little shy around his in-laws.

After a minute he said, "Are you waiting for maa and di?"

Ria nodded.

"I just saw them leave."

"They left? Maybe they went to the cafeteria."

"No. Di was crying a lot. Mom took her home."

"What did she have to cry about?" Ramit said with irony.

After a little while he felt exhausted and fell asleep.

∼•∽

At home, Geetha's mother-in-law received a call.

She told Geetha it was her father-in-law asking them why they left without telling. "I told him to keep his son in line," she said humorously.

Receiving that much support was rather overwhelming to her. She cried another round. Her mother-in-law sighed and asked her, "Do you still not want to talk to your parents?" Any woman would call her mother and cry or complain when in such a situation.

It was a common question through last week.

"There was only one time I spoke with them after my marriage. It was when they knew I was pregnant. I really don't need to talk to them."

"Tsk! Why?"

"I don't know. That's just how it is. If there's something important, we text each other."

Her mother-in-law seemed to see the cause for the fallout between these two children. She wanted to call Shanti, Geetha's mother, and ask her how her daughter grew to be so detached. She sighed. Shanti was not just a friend now. She was an in-law. Telling her anything now would only escalate things. Moreover, she had a hunch Geetha would cry more should she do that.

"You said he lived here. Why did he say you didn't live together?"

Geetha looked up at her with guilt. "He lives in this room... I sleep in that." They were in the bedroom.

She sighed. "So you really didn't like him." Her son's marriage happened very smoothly. One night at dinner he said he had liked a girl for a very long time. Then he said she accepted him. Later he told them who she was. Surprisingly, they had known the girl. She was the one who called up her old friend and said, "Do you know that our children are in contact?"

"Who? Geetha and Ria?" Shanti, her friend and Geetha's mother, asked her, surprised.

"No. Geetha and Ramit." They talked for a long while, about the past and the future and about how happy they all were and settled on a date to get the two young lovers married. She looked at her daughter-in-law. Sure enough, this girl did not speak a word through the entire process. She was an obedient lady who'd greet them well and respond sweetly but there was something amiss. That something came to light now.

"I like him. Just... it's tiring to live with another person... but I'm not like that anymore. I just... I didn't feel safe with anyone around. Work was fine but at least at home, I wanted to be myself... I don't know how to say it... It felt peaceful without anyone." She put her face in her knees.

"He is a little different from you. He barely makes any new friends outside but at home, with us and those two boys from school, he is very close. I don't know how you grew up but if you continue to keep to yourself, you two better separate. People are different. Don't force yourself.

"I see the problem with you two but there isn't much I can say to him." In fact, what she wanted to say was that the girl in front of her was really different from the people she knew. She looked at the girl's bowed head. Should she have a talk with her mother, she thought. But she still felt it was too minor an issue to take to the in-laws.

Geetha nodded. She had always been a very meticulous person. She was extremely careful whenever she was outside with friends or in the presence of anyone in general. After many long years, this was a mistake on her part. Not just a mistake but the way she treated him would in fact count as a grave wrong. She knew it was unfair to him but she had so many reasons to justify herself, in the forefront, his agreement to her request.

"What should I do?" she asked, with a quiver that wouldn't leave her voice.

"Don't worry too much for now. After he has recovered a little, we will take him back to India. If you want to come, you can. I don't know what exactly happened between you two, but if you stick together for a little while, everything will be solved. That's how a marriage works."

"I will come back with you." She nodded and hugged the older woman again. It was only the second time she felt like there was someone she could rely on. The first time was when Ramit shielded her from all the attacks and the bullet. Being forgiven and being trusted even after so much... his mother, the lady in front of her, was the first to do that to her.

"You are going to make me worried like this. Pregnant women don't cry so much, tsk."

She wiped her tears but still had her aggrieved face.

∼•∽

The next day Ria and Ashish went back. After two more days of observation, Ramit would be discharged. Geetha asked for a transfer back for her job but they declined since it hadn't even been 6 months since her last transfer. For the time being she extended her leave.

Next was packing the luggage. Their bags which had been strewn across in the parking lot were returned by the police officers. Apart from that, she had just a few items to pack. At the moment her mother-in-law was also at the hospital, along with her father-in-law. Ever since that talk, she did not go to the hospital to see her husband.

She did not have much furniture in the house. The necessities had come with the house, like the bed and some home appliances. She looked at the little table Ramit had bought. In the end she decided to leave it along with others. What remained was the plant. She made a mental note to pack it before they left.

Next was to sort out Ramit's things. When she opened the cupboards, she found that only his clothes were left to be packed. It was the first time she handled a man's clothes. When she was packing his briefs, for some reason, she felt awkward and embarrassed. She shook her head, feeling a little lost and ridiculous that she had to arrange them in the bag twice. She almost never messed up a job that was this easy.

The next day, she did nothing but think.

She was going to face him soon.

∼•∽

A/N:

I have a few questions for you. Kindly answer them with no hesitation for I take criticism very well:

1. Finally, we've seen the bright side and dark side of both of our characters. Of course we are going to explore much more about them in the future. So how do you feel about Geetha?

2. How do you feel about Ramit?

3. Guess what's in store for them.

4. Please give me general feedback of the story so far.

5. How is the pacing? Has it slowed down too much or has it picked compared to the beginning?

That is all. Have a nice time ahead. Take care & bye-bye and I'll see you next chapter!