IshRa FF Beginning Again

Part 2

A few days earlier in Delhi
Raman unlocked the front door of the house and was hit once again with the staggering sound of silence. For a moment he stood in the doorway hoping that maybe this time, today he'd find his wife on the other side. But as always there was nothing, just emptiness and silence.
"How did I find myself in this mess?" He thought. "Empty days, lonelier nights and a future that doesn't look much better" Raman knew the easy answer. He'd lied to Ishita and it had blown up in his face.
Sometimes he blamed Ishita for her part in it. If only she believed in him and their love a little more then everything would have been alright. Usually those thoughts came in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep and the only sound he could think of was the slamming of the door as Ishita walked out. But when he was honest with himself Raman knew he had caused this mess. Sitting down on the couch Raman leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment "Darling, you work much too hard. You need to try to relax" he could hear Ishita 's voice in his head and for just a moment imagine her fingers rubbing along the back of his neck and then down his back. He quickly cut the thought short because he knew if his mind stayed on that path he'd find himself reaching for a bottle of something very strong to kill the ache in his chest.
Not for the first time Raman wondered where Ishita was and what she doing. She had told him not to come looking for her and so far he'd kept to that agreement. Raman had hoped with a little breathing room Ishita might change her mind, but that didn't appear to have worked. Raman hadn't heard from a lawyer yet but he was afraid it was only a matter of time.After another long night of restless sleep filled with dreams of happier times, Raman made a decision. If anything could be done to save this marriage, he was going to have to take a direct head on approach to the situation. Raman knew the first thing he had to do was locate Ishita . He'd already asked Mihika and she'd refused to tell him anything "if Akka wants to contact you she will. She just needs time to think" He heard the same thing when he talked to Bala and Vandu and even Amma and Appa. He called his mother, who had been with his father and siblings for weeks with Sheila Bua in London. The conversation with His Mother had ended with a stern lecture about what he had done and how disappointed she was in him. He even ask Mihir, but he did not know where Ishita was, because Mihika did not trust him in this matter, But he promised if he heard from Ishita to try to find out where she was. There was only one person left to try, Paatti... Raman suspected that was the first place Ishita would go. Whether she was still there was a different story. The biggest obstacle was trying to convince Paatti to tell him where Ishita was. Raman grabbed his phone and quickly dialed the number. It rang several times and just when he was about to quit and hang up a voice answered on the other end "Hello" Raman nearly fell out of the chair. It was Ishita. "Hello" she said again. Raman hung up. If Ishita knew he was calling she'd probably hang up on him right before bolting out the door. Then he would never find her.
Raman decided since he now knew where she was the best solution was to go Chennai. Finally on Monday night he found himself on a plane leaving Delhi Airport headed for Chennai.

To be continued...