This Time, Her Turn [Completed]

Chapter 12

At night, the helpers had cooked some soft dinner. All the four ate in silence.

Later, Geetha lingered around the dining area. Ramit was in the lawn with his father. Her mother-in-law was taking her medicines.

When she saw her mother-in-law walking towards the TV, she joined her. "Maa."

His mother looked at her and nodded, asking what she wanted to say.

"Last time we spoke he became more angry," she said in one sentence.

"Wait another week then. He'll forget everything."

"It... doesn't seem like he'll forget anything."

"He's usually not stubborn. If he is, it's a do or die." That was how her son defied them and studied numbers and nonhuman languages and started a business she did not know how to explain to the other ladies. Then without telling them much, he left the country only to get a shoulder broken. Tsk.

Seeing her face the TV the entire time, Geetha was not ready to end the conversation without a solid answer to her problem. "What should I do then?"

She sighed. "Your mother and I were very close friends when you were kids. I won't say much to you, but if you are going to be the reason my son would be sad, I'll ask you to leave.

"You are pregnant and I don't want you to stress about anything. But I have kept quiet for so many days," she said and sighed. "Don't think too much. You know where you were wrong, don't you? Everything will be alright." She smiled.

Geetha could not smile though. Forget about a solution to his silent treatment, she now had another problem. She basically had no clue how to keep herself in the house, although it did not seem like her sweet mother-in-law was serious. She looked down as she waited for the men to return inside.

Ten minutes later, she was still sitting looking at random people arguing on the TV without enough context. If it was a news debate, she'd be having fun. But it was a daily serial that her mother-in-law loved.

She looked out into the lawn and saw them still sitting on the swing and the bench, talking. She said goodnight to her mother-in-law and went upstairs.

Inside the bedroom, their luggage was lying in a corner. She had forgotten she had to sort them out. She put away all of his and her clothes which she had packed earlier that day.

What remained were the bags they packed on the night of the attack. She started with his briefcase. It was filled with files and documents. She decided to set it aside for him to have a look before moving anything. When she was closing it though, she caught sight of something in one of the pockets. It was the clip of a certain pen she had lent to him. She took it out and indeed, it was that very old pen.

He had come to her classroom looking for her during the lunch break. He said he had a test and his pen was out of ink and the one he kept as backup was lost. She asked him why none of his friends lent him one. He replied saying Abhay was absent because he could not study for the test. Abhay was his best friend during highschool, and the only classmate Ramit sought help from. That guy really faked a fever fearing the test and the lost pen was in fact lost in his bag.

She gave her pen to him and later borrowed one from a classmate herself. She smiled at the memory. His introversion had been extreme during his puberty. He became so shy in front of girls, including her.

She looked at the blue fountain pen in her hand. She would give it back to him when he would drop the matter of divorce. Back then fountain pens were a fad at school. She had broken so many of those nibs and had gotten her books dirty a few times. Even her skirt got a tiny stain. Ramit was worse at using them, but this one has endured till now.