Journey along a stormy path

5. Unexpected call

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Raghav's cabin,
Next day
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The lilac wall was illuminated by the rays of sun that fell from the transparent glass opposite to the huge mahogany desk. The cabin manifested power and authority.

On the wall certificates of excellence were laminated elegantly. Amidst them was a quote handwritten by Raghav which read "Human spirit is undeniable! unperishable! Unparalled! with his signature on the right hand side of it.

The odour of the room changed to wodden musk and greek shore essence as Raghav walked in and comforted himself on the chair and leaned on his mahogany table. He was supposed to appoint a new personal secretary. A group of people waited impatiently
as he ordered to start the interview process.

After what seemed like an eternity, Raghav zeroed down on three attendees for the post. It was lunch hour and he kept walking towards the canteen. He saw Shriya with her group of interns discussing and chatting away.

He decided not to intrude and ate alone. As he returned back to his cabin, he went through the profiles again. He decided that the last girl he interviewed is the one.

A girl in her early twenties dressed in green trousers walked in and said "Thank you sir! I am looking forward for working with you!"

"You are most welcome Sanjana" replied Raghav. The rest of the day passed by monotonous. Shriya looked at Raghav busy lost in something and decided to go home early.

As Shriya walked in to their house, she found it empty. She was informed that Arihaan had swimming class today and will be late by his teacher. Looking around she found herself jobless. So she decided to cook for her husband and surprise him.

After spending about an hour in the kitchen. Shriya was happy with the way her Biryani and raitha turned out. She quickly went to the room and took a shower and dressed in a comfortable violet long frock.

As she searched for her hair dryer, her eyes fell on a document. She chose to put it in the draw but the name written on it forced her to open it.

"Aravind Bharadwaj" was written in bold. She opened despite herself. Pages and pages of his pleading for mercy were typed and yet Raghav rejected each of them with a red pen in his own handwriting and bold signature. Shriya was confused. She felt this man was innocent and Raghav was behaving very harshly to him unessacarily. She decided to talk about it to Raghav.

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An hour later
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Raghav walked in tired. He relaxed and flexed his muscles on the Sofa. He let his arms rest on the broad cushions. Shriya walked in with two cups of coffee. She sat on the opposite side.

Raghav gave a tired smile to her. He picked up his cup lost in thoughts and dropped it on himself. Shriya hurried quickly and placed a wet cloth on his burnt chest.

"What's wrong with you Raghav? Why are you lost? Is there something bothering you?" She asked worried. He smiled and made her sit beside him. He gently ran his fingers through her hair and said "Sweetu! I wanted to talk to you".

Shriya wanted to talk to Raghav as well but she chose to listen to him first. "Sweety! I was planning on moving to India. I know it cannot happen immediately. We have commitments here and I am building a team to work effectively and finish them".

Shriya was surprised as she said "Raghav! We are doing well here! My career graph is on a good trajectory here. So is yours. Why would you decide against it?"

Raghav smiled and said "Sweetu! Nanna is getting old. He cannot manage everything alone. If he has to do his duty perfectly as a minister he needs all our support. Mom is also planning to move in with him. I feel it's my duty to render my services to him. We both can as well practice in India".

Shriya felt whatever Raghav said was making complete sense but her gut feeling said otherwise. They could easily get a job for their profiles. She suddenly said "What about Duggu? What if Lucky would not move with us? Will Duggu live with us? Will he be able to adjust"?

Raghav smiled and said "He has to adjust Sweetu! He is after all growing up. You can't keep pampering him by putting his needs above everything else".

Shriya suddenly felt bad. She knew everything Raghav said was correct but she cannot see her baby boy struggling. Raghav held her face in his hands understanding that she was feeling bad.
"Sweetu! I am sorry! But he needs to accept the fact that we are his parents and he needs to live with us".

He continued "Are you fine with moving back to India?" Shriya smiled and said "Absolutely!" She too placed a palm on his hand and said "Please don't stress out Raghav. We will figure out everything together".

Meanwhile Raghav received a call from his father. Govardhan Reddy said "Sunny! I have picked up Arihaan from school. I wanted to spend time with him". Raghav mumbled "Okay nanna" and kept the call.

He went to check out on his beautiful wife as Biryani smell enticed him towards kitchen island. He walked inside to see Shriya adding mint leaves on it. He gently hugged her from behind and spoke in dangerously low voice in her ear "Shall we watch a movie?"

Shriya blushed knowing exactly what his words meant. They soon moved to dining table and Raghav chose not to look away from her while she served food. Shriya sat on her chair and he decided to feed her. In a swift movement he made her sit on his lap and fed her. Shriya could feel her heartbeat race. She had lost appetite and did not feel like eating at all. She was constantly blushing but as he fed another spoon she began to cough and rushed towards the wash basin.

She emptied everything she ate and was coughing profusely. This was the third time she vommited in the day. Raghav held her hair behind as she puked all the water as well. He was worried. The Biryani was fresh and tasty. He was worried that she is pushing herself offlate both at work and with Arihaan. She needed rest.

He began shouting "What is this Sweetu? Are you even bothered about yourself? Why are you stressing and over working". Shriya felt she should see a doctor as she had been feeling weak off late.

"Are you even listening to me?" Raghav spoke when she got a call. Raghav's anger shot up as he was against taking work calls at home. Shriya pleaded with her eyes and took it anyway the next words from the other end were
"Hello! I am Aravind Bharadwaj".

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A/N:
Hi people!
I have had really rough times during this pandemic with my family affected. Thankfully we are through it. I couldn't update this story.
A special thank you to @_Madhurima_ for supporting me through these times.
To all those who waited for the update. Sorry guys!
Please do share your thoughts.
What do you think will happen now?
Who is Aravind Bharadwaj?
Any guess?