Since that day, they had not spoken to each other. While Geetha stepped out of the house everyday for vegetables or groceries, Ramit stayed cooped up in one single room. He went out to get his food into his room and that was the only time she ever saw him. He did not even eat with her. He completely stopped taking any medicines either, despite her leaving them at his door. He had shifted his clothes too. She'd hear him talking sometimes and it seemed to be about Hidden.

On the seventh day Ramit got ready and drove away without a word to her. She also did not say anything. She knew he would ignore her anyway. So what was the point?

At night, he returned well after 9:00 P.M. while Geetha was lazing on the couch watching the TV. She had had a lonely dinner like everyday. "Did you go to the office?" she asked. Once again, silence was his reply. Where were they going staying mute like this? They were simply wasting time. Oh, how she hated that!

"How long are you going to keep silent?" Even if he was acting like this to get back at her for not talking to him when you spoiled her ticket, this was enough. She did it once. He did it countless times and for such long periods.

When he did not give any reaction, she turned off the TV and got up from the couch. "Behave like an adult. What fun do you get out of this? You've made me wait enough. Now speak."

He turned around and parted his lips, but pressed them back together and turned away. Geetha gave the back of his head a dead stare and strode to him and stood in his way.

"What?" He snapped at her.

She took in a breath and said, "I have no job now so how about I help out at your company? Do you have any positions open?" She was an MBA graduate in International Business Management and Hidden was an international business. Daily she listened to him when he was on the phone and it seemed like work was hectic on his side. She could earn some money and see how he would keep silent when they would be working alongside each other.

"There's nothing that suits you!"

"Of course there won't be anything that suits me, but I suit so many jobs, alright?"

While she sounded like a complete narcissist, Ramit knew she was right. She may have only spent a couple of years in the corporate world but she made sure she learned everything she could. That was how she already had one promotion at her previous work at what many considered an age too young. Moreover, reading and learning was such a favourite hobby that she had even ignored him. She was confident in her knowledge and skills.

He glared at her but she looked on at him, waiting for him to speak. Finally, he said, "You can find a high paying job anywhere else."

"I want to work for Hidden." Since her life got so disrupted anyway, she should take this as a chance to explore new things and not just go back. To her this was an omen, her intuition told her. Moreover, he would have to speak with her this way.

"No. I don't like it. All you know to do is make enemies. Vyan is still sulking about that design sometimes."

What did he mean he didn't like it? Whether he liked it or not, she was still a legitimate shareholder. But she knew she did not have the moral ground to speak about them as she got them for free. "I told him it was a joke. Moreover, according to a study being blunt can actually help you make better first impressions. I tried to change it, but then I knew it could actually be useful, especially in business settings."

"Other's feelings don't matter to you, do they?"

She silently sighed. Forget about others, her own feelings did not matter to her. "I didn't say anything wrong. Do you know how many chocolates I ate that day?"

"You're too much!" Ramit bypassed her.

She caught him by the arm. "Geetha!"

"Yes boss, let's talk about my salary."

She released him. "Go freshen up and let's talk." She sat in what became his room.

Ramit took his sweet time in the bathroom. He knew she hated waiting. When he came out she was sitting at the same table they had their talk last time.

"Do you really not want to sleep together?"

Hearing her words, he looked at her incredulously. He went around her with his towel draped around his waist to fetch his clothes. He turned around to witness her openly looking at him, one side of her lower lip between her teeth. "Have some shame, will you?" he said as he quickly threw on a shirt and a pair of pants while he felt her gaze on his skin. He hated her, really. How can the bitterness between them not matter to her at all while being intimate?

"Get out!"

"Fine. I won't look." He was already dressed by then. Nothing was there to look at anyway. "I'll come with you tomorrow. I'll make myself familiar and then we can discuss what I can do. Don't embarrass me like last time and speak if I ask you something."

"Just who do you think you are!"

There was a pause. Geetha slowly looked down. Few more seconds passed by. Ramit calmed down. "I..." His voice was soft. He was scared he hurt her. The past few days, he tried to keep their contact to a minimum. He did not want to say anything, in anger or out of spite, that he'd regret later.

Geetha did not let him say it. She did not know what he was going to say out of so many possibilities. She did not want to guess and base her act on his reaction this time. She was afraid.

"Fine. I am no one to you. Except, we were great friends once." She still did not look at him. "Don't deny that, please."

With silent shallow breaths she stood up and walked to the door. "Good night." Her eyes looked down. She left the room, closing the door behind her.

Inside, Ramit's shoulders slumped. He leaned back and fell onto the airbed he had ordered just a week ago. He put his elbow over his face and laughed at himself. It seemed they were going to act like there wasn't a more meaningful bond between them anymore. Who asked him to say that?

He turned to one side. He wanted them separate, didn't he? This was what it would probably be like. Who knew he'd be mourning his divorce so early even before their baby was born. It was the first time she did not look him in the eye when speaking to him. Everything seemed to be over. Everything seemed right and wrong at the same time. He covered his face as he cried out of frustration for a minute.

∼•∽

The next morning, his alarm gave him a headache. Rather, he had slept with a headache and it became intense with his non stop serial alarms. He sat up drowsily and dragged himself into the bath. He felt something was going to go wrong that day. His premonitions usually came true.

When it was time for breakfast, he held the door handle and twisted it after a moment. She was at the table, waiting for him like the past few days. He felt stiff facing her.

"Good morning. Eat with me today," she said softly.

With the frown he sported all night, he took a seat in front of her. The meal was silent. When she reached for a dish, he caught it too at the same time. "I'm sorry. You first," he said quickly. That was when she finally looked up.

"Here." She served him and then herself. His eyes were back on his plate. When he had caught her eyes just then, his heart finally settled.

"Today we have a meeting regarding funds with the Journalism Association. Emma and Dal would also be there."

Geetha was a little surprised. This man had a heart of gold. She felt her nose tickle. Why was she so weak? She fought back her tears hard. She nodded. She could not leave him like this. She had to teach him not to be all naive and innocent.

∼•∽

When they were walking to his office in the company, Ramit rubbed his head. It was still aching a little. "Here." Geetha offered him chocolate. She was already having one unable to take in the cursed appearance of the place.

He took it calmly. The meeting was scheduled at 10 A.M. They had half an hour more. As Ramit, Veeru, Emma and Dal were having a meeting, she left his messy office, feeling left out of their squad.

When Geetha was leaning over Preethi's cubicle to look at her screen, three men arrived in suits. Ramit invited them into the meeting room. Two of them went in followed by Veeru. If it was a 2+2 why did Emma and Dal fly all the way over, she thought, looking at the couple who was waiting. They looked a little tense.

"Hi, Emma." Geetha sat beside them.

"Hey."

After another five minutes, Geetha asked, "Why did you have to come over? You're not even meeting them."

Emma turned to her. "You know nothing, do you?"

"First day at job."

"What job?"

"Yet to be decided."

"You're funny." Dal joined their conversation.

"Not as funny as your name." She got a glare from Emma for that. Dal gave out a hearty laugh.

"So, what do you two do for a living?"

"Nothing much, I work as a programmer. Then we have the profits from here," he said.

Geetha nodded and looked at Emma. It seemed she crossed her. "Emma is pursuing a career in music. She's a violinist," Dal said, "What about you?"

"Nothing other than Hidden for now. Anyway, what's with your visit? Did something happen?"

"To put it simply, the capital is eroding for the sake of maintenance. We sure got a huge ROI on the leak, but we won't sustain for long without another leak. You and Ramit and Em and I hold 52% combined. They said the presence of all the major shareholders is required."

Geetha nodded and waited for him to continue. But he did not. She felt she was being treated like an stupid child.

She said, "You don't have to put it so simply. My last job was in Financial Management. Please tell me more. I can understand."

Dal shrugged. He had already said whatever he could without looking at the files. After all, the Indian laws were too complex to understand and many aspects of the issue at hand seemed to do with the law.

Emma asked, "What did you study?"

"MBA. In International Business Management, and in Finance." Although she proudly mentioned 2 specialisations, she knew the first certificate was good for nothing since it barely aligned with her taste. The first mistake she committed in her adult life was choosing that. But that's something she was saying with hindsight. It was not right to beat herself up for that.

After some silence Geetha asked them again, "Who oversees the accounts?"

Emma and Dal looked at each other. "We have meetings every other day to discuss those. Ramit's assistant does the work actually."

Geetha nodded. It seemed like she found her position. These guys were the funniest she had ever come across. They made collective decisions even regarding their bookkeeping. What was that saying? Too many chefs spoil the broth. But these were not even chefs. That's the main problem. Or was this a new trend in the startup culture?

"Let's hope it goes well." She left the waiting area and went back to Preethi's cubicle. Vyan was standing there too. They were discussing something.

Geetha sat beside them in the tea area on the side of the cubicles. She could see and hear them but she only understood half.

∼•∽

At 10:45 A.M., the men in suits left. Ramit was still inside. Emma and Dal went in and after a few minutes, Geetha went in too.

She saw their grim faces and sighed inside.

"It's okay. Let's think up something else," Dal said and Ramit nodded.

"What exactly happened?" Geetha asked.

Ramit shook his head. "I'll tell you later. Wait outside or go and sit in my office."

On one hand was his headache and on the other was a dead end they met regarding the Association. This matter had to be kept confidential. Even if Geetha had a huge stake, she was new and he did not feel comfortable letting her know.

Geetha was bewildered. They were talking about the same thing anyway, so why was he asking her to go out? She hated talking about the same thing twice, especially something that went wrong. With that consideration, she said, "I'll just listen then. I won't interrupt or ask any doubts."

Ramit slammed the files in his hand. "Please, Geetha!"

"I'm sorry, but excuse me," he said to the others in the room.

Geetha pulled her head back to properly stare at him when he approached too close to her. When he caught her wrist to take her out of the room, she held her ground as she looked at their hands.

"Come on." He pulled her till the door.

"Take that hand back." He really had a bad habit of embarrassing her in public. Did he really think she would allow herself to be dragged around? "Release my hand and I'll walk wherever you want," she whispered.

"I knew I shouldn't have brought you here. Didn't you say we'd be friends if not a couple? Then listen to what I say!"

She looked at his face with huge bewilderment. Why was he flipping her words? What is he going to achieve by that? She pursed her lips for a moment and explained word by word, "I said let's at least be friends."

"Chill out guys," Dal said.

Ramit walked off and went into his office.

"Did you two have a fallout?" Dal asked her.

Emma had something to say too. "Since when is this fight going on?" Her tone was mildly provoking.

Geetha caught the smirk. What difference did it make to this blonde? She chuckled. "Don't be so nosy." She smiled.

"Aren't you Indian women very dutiful to your husbands?" Emma asked, as she gave Geetha a once over. She loved mocking anyone that acted as if everybody else was beneath them. Geetha, she felt, was just like that.

Emma didn't seem to like the beautiful saree she selected for her first day at work at her husband's company. Geetha held her gaze and walked closer. "Are you saying that you, as a people, will never match up to us regarding love? Fine, be that way." She was yet to wrap her head around the concept of love, but that wasn't the point of discussion here.

Emma rolled her eyes and thought, look at how she proved her right.

Preeti joined in "Do you know how effective he used to be at work? Now he isn't even talking to anyone."

Geetha raised her brows. She had thought only she suffered the silent treatment. So her husband didn't discriminate against her. Instead he created an army against. Why was she being surrounded like this? She looked beyond Preeti. The employees may have had an ear on what was going on, but their heads were turned in the right directions.

"What's with you all? Do you have anything against me for becoming a shareholder?" What else could she derive out of the situation? The ones who surrounded were all shareholders of the company and Veeru. They made a total of 5 altogether. Who knew, maybe they didn't like someone who did not study at their college joining in. Or were the friendships made in college really for life? Now were they guarding him from her as his friends?

"Are you serious?" Emma said.

Geetha sighed. "Let's keep personal things out of here. Go tell him to be professional if it's haunting you so much." Geetha turned away, staring at all the disapproving faces. She really did not understand why he had so many female friends so suddenly. His brothers were angry with her, fine. But what did it matter to these two women! Emma was older than her, fine. What about Preethi? They were the same age. What gave her the right to lecture her? Was she pining for her husband? Didn't she have a hot hunk circling her all day? Why did she want a married man? That did not seem to have any logic.

Once she made sure there were no contenders trying to take her place, she thought back to the situation. She landed her stare on Veeru until he looked away. At least he was below her in the ranks. She did not bother with the rest of them.

∼•∽