• Second Chances •

45. When It Rains

"Sir?"

Ram rubbed his eyes and looked up from the desk. Tarun was standing with a tray in his hand and a soft smile.

"Your coffee!" he said crisply.

Ram stifled a yawn and gestured for him to keep it on his desk. Tarun complied.

"Thanks!" Ram mumbled while kneading the back of his neck to stretch himself.

Tarun's thoughtful eyes rested on Ram for a moment longer. Ram was done with his work a long time back. He had packed all his friends home. But he was still at the office because Shubham was. And Tarun could never leave Ram alone.

"Sir?" Tarun picked up the small coffee pot. "I can serve it. Let me."

"No, it is fine..." Ram said tiredly. Then he told Tarun with a small chuckle. "It's for Shubham. I am not allowed to have coffee this late at night. Priya will kill me. That's why I am so sleepy."

Tarun grinned and acknowledged Ram's reply. Then with a small nod, left the cabin.

Ram yawned again. He was exhausted. It had been a long day what with meeting various police officials, charting out the next set of plans for their dream project, battling Mumbai's infamous traffic, surveying their other ongoing project and then finally, meeting the wedding planners for Shivina.

All he wanted to do was to go home and sleep. But he couldn't. He didn't want to. Ram suppressed a shudder as he remembered the day he had confronted Shubham.

A week back, Ram had gone ahead and asked Shubham to step down from his top managerial position in Kapoor Urban. Ram had expected a lot of fighting. Sadly, nothing of that sort had happened. While Nandini looked disheartened with his decision, she had actually supported him through and through. She told Shubham to accept what Ram had decided, learn the ropes, and prove himself to his elder brother.

Shubham had surprisingly gone quiet. Ram didn't know what to make of the lack of resistance from Shubham's side. He had started to come to the office as a regular employee. He had taken to diligently sticking to the office timings. He accompanied the other employees to site visits, sat for lunch with them and completed his files and tasks alike. And on days like this, Shubham would stay back to study the older projects that their father and Ram had completed.

Ram got up.

He picked up the coffee cup and walked towards the area where the employee tables were set up. From a distance, he could see that the light in Shubham's cubicle was on. Shubham was bent over and pouring over a file.

Taking a huge breath, Ram quietly kept the cup beside the file. He then chirped with excitement, "Table service! Coffee for the very fine and hardworking gentleman!"

Without a word, Shubham first stared at the coffee cup for a long moment. When he looked at Ram; he had to suck in a breath.

Ram was habituated to Shubham looking at him with anger, with unexplainable disgust and with cold indifference. What he had never seen in Shubham's eyes was hurt. Ram's heart twisted in his chest.

Over the course of this week, Shubham hadn't spoken to him at all. Not a word. Ram didn't know what to do. He had learned how to deal with Shivina and Shubham's tantrums expertly well. Even though they both were different in nature, Ram could handle them. What Ram couldn't deal with was this. Shubham looking at him like he had been betrayed, Shubham looking at him like Ram had disappointed him was making him rethink his entire approach.

In sheer panic, Ram had talked with Priya and his friends again. They were of the opinion that Shubham had no business making Ram feel like that. They all wanted Ram to stick to making Shubham learn the hard way. Ram remembered it all again. His dad would have done this too.