Passionate Love

Chapter 11

Priya stays there for a while, sitting on the sofa, lost in her thoughts, her mind focused on her husband.

After a while, Priya goes upstairs and sees Ram sitting on the bed, about to place his laptop on the side. Just as he's about to do that,

Priya calls out, "Mr. Kapoor?"

Ram turns his head towards her and says, "Yes, baby?"

"I'm feeling sleepy," Priya says with a puppy face.

Ram presses his lips together, smiling, and then spreads his arms invitingly, saying, "Come."

Priya looked at Ram with a mix of emotions, then averted her gaze and said, "Can I sleep in the adjacent room?"

"Why?" Ram asked, stepping out of the bed and slowly making his way towards her.

Priya looked away and said, "Don't you think Isha should be here? After all, she cares about you."

"Priya, please stop, yaar. You've been talking about this same thing for a while now, and you know there's nothing going on between Isha and me. Yet, you keep mentioning Isha's name," Ram said, sounding a bit frustrated.

Priya replied, "I didn't bring Isha into this; it was you. You were the one who brought her into our conversation."

"Yes, I brought her into the picture, but it was out of frustration because I wanted to spend time with my wife, and no one was giving me that opportunity. When I expected support from my wife, she didn't stand by me. I said those things in anger, and I know I shouldn't have. I understand it hurt you a lot, and I've apologized, but you keep bringing up this topic every chance we get. I'm sorry for bringing you here. I thought we could spend some time together, but I was wrong. I shouldn't have done that. I apologize. And yes, it's getting late. Let's go to sleep. If you don't want to share the room with me, that's okay. You can sleep in whichever room you want," Ram says. With that, he goes inside and lies down on the bed.

Priya continues to stare at Ram for a while, tears filling her eyes. After a moment, she turns and leaves the room.

As she walks away, Ram lifts his head and looks towards the door. He seems sad and gazes at the ceiling for a moment. Tears well up in his eyes, and a few drops trickle down his cheeks.

Priya goes to another room, but she doesn't feel comfortable there either. Her eyes are also filled with tears. She's upset with herself for the way she spoke to her husband, reflecting on their conversation.

She sits on the bed and starts blaming herself. She knows that Ram loves only her. She also realizes that she shouldn't have brought Isha into the conversation. But she finds it hard to avoid the topic, especially when she recalls how Mr. Kapoor mentioned that Isha appreciates him.

Unable to sleep, she lies down but keeps tossing and turning. Eventually, she sits up and looks into the empty space. Unable to find rest, she comes out of her room. Ram is having trouble sleeping too; he stares at the ceiling. Turning to his side, he places his hand on his forehead, appearing lost in thought.

Mr. Kapoor heard a sound and promptly turned on the bedside light. He saw Priya standing by the bed and asked her, "What happened?"

Looking into her eyes, he could tell she had been crying. Priya also looked at him and could see that Ram had been upset, likely crying too.

Ram asked again, "What happened, baby? Are you okay?"

Priya looked at him and said, "I can't sleep there."