A Loveless Arranged Marriage

Chapter 17. The Intetview

Previously, Deepa had met her ex-lover, Arul. Before their conversation, she was still in pain from her previous relationship. At Rishi's insistence, she finally spoke with Arul, and after the conversation, she felt relief from her pain. Four months later, Deepa took her UPSC prelims, and two weeks after that, the results were out. Deepa managed to pass the prelims.

Now, it was November 21st, and the winter breeze filled the room. The time was 10:56 p.m., and Deepa was in Rishi's house, sitting in the living room with a laptop on her lap. She was anxiously surfing the UPSC website, waiting for the mains results to be released in just four minutes. As the time drew closer, her heartbeat quickened, and she started sweating.

At exactly 11:00 p.m., she refreshed the UPSC website. A PDF document appeared. She downloaded it, and before opening it, she prayed silently. After her prayer, she opened the document and entered her roll number in the search box. She hit the enter button, and within a second, the search result showed: "1 of 1." Her name was highlighted.

For a moment, Deepa was frozen, her eyes wide in disbelief. She checked again to make sure her name was indeed listed. Realizing it was true, her joy soared. She screamed with happiness, tears filling her eyes. Just then, Rishi called her.

"Deepa, what about the result?" he asked eagerly. "I passed the mains exam, Rishi!" Deepa exclaimed. "Hey, that's amazing, Deepa! Congratulations!" Rishi responded excitedly. "Thank you so much," she replied, her voice filled with joy.

Shortly after, Arvind, Akshaya, and Ibrahim all called to congratulate her one by one, and Deepa thanked each of them. After ending the calls, she immediately dialed her father to share the news. He was overjoyed and, along with Ishwari and Ashwin, wished her continued success.

Later, her tutor, Rajiv, posted in their academy's WhatsApp group, announcing that three students had passed the mains exam: Deepa, Vasundhara, and Ansari Saad. Everyone in the group sent their congratulations. Deepa's former colleagues from her ex-company also reached out to wish her success.

After that, the months of November and December passed, and it was now January. The day was January 28th, and the time was 4:15 p.m. Deepa was in her room at Rishi's house, packing her bags. Twenty minutes later, she finished packing, and Rishi entered the room.

"Did you finish packing, Deepa?" he asked. "Yes, of course," Deepa replied. Rishi then asked, "Make sure you've packed everything—your admit card, resume files, etc." "Hey, don't worry about it. I've checked more than twice," Deepa reassured him.

"I'm just saying, because if you forget something, it could affect your interview," Rishi explained. "I have everything; don't worry," she replied. "Alright, fine. We'll leave at 5:15 p.m., so be ready by then," Rishi said. "Okay," Deepa agreed, and Rishi left the room.

An hour later, Rishi and Deepa were at Bandra Terminus, waiting for the train. They were joined by Rajiv (Deepa's tutor), Vasundhara and her family, and Ansari Saad with his brother, all waiting for the same train. Ten minutes later, the train arrived. All four boarded with their luggage.

From outside the train, Rishi told Deepa, "Take care of yourself. Don't be nervous at the interview—just be confident. And take care of your health." Deepa replied, "You take care of your health too." As the train departed, Rishi went to the parking lot to pick up his car. After reaching his car, he started driving back home.

The next day, Rishi woke up and went through his usual routine—working out and cooking. While cooking, he realized he had forgotten to reduce the amount of rice, as Deepa wasn't there. After correcting his mistake, he finished cooking.

During breakfast, Rishi thought of calling Deepa. When he did, she didn't answer. He assumed she was busy and decided to try again later. After finishing breakfast, he left for the office.