Heart is a Fool

Chapter 20: The Meltdown

Palak in Thought:

Palak relaxed at home after spending a sleepless night thinking of Ritwik and the year gone by. She opened her personal email to find a slew of messages from Aarohi. After reading through all she had tears in her eyes about how Ritwik struggled with his start-up, how he went through an inner journey and reconciled with his estranged mother. The last line caught her eye that inspite of all the rudeness that he showed, Ritwik ensured that Aarohi had a job and a lovable life partner. Ritwik the man beneath the facade of a hard nosed Khadoos was a soft ball. No one knew it better than Palak and that is what worried her the most. 

She wondered if Mamta Noon knew about Ritwik reconciling with her and his children ? Did she really pass on those cyclic drugs to Ritwik knowingly? Palak was completely confused between her first impression of Mamta, her anger for Geeta and what emerged later....

Ritwik at Work in Delhi

The next three days Ritwik was busy with the legal work related to his company and the shareholding structure between KKR, Palak, Rhea, Piya and stock options for his employees. He wanted to apply for passports for his daughters and realised that there was one very important document missing which he had to initiate right away. In between all this he managed to sneak an hour to meet Geeta over lunch who shared some interesting insights about his work. He had dinner with the family (Mamta, Vijay, Daadi and Aman) and informed them that this trip will be long, nearly 15 days and he was going to be traveling through hinterland to get things running on the ground. Vijay ranted in his usual style and both Mamta and Aman pacified him while Ricky convinced Daadi that his long gone Dadaji would be proud of him from heaven for what he was doing. 

Ritwik and Palak at Work

The one year away from Ritwik was easier for Palak than the 3 days waiting in anticipation to meet him. She rehearsed the speech in her head over and over again what she wanted to tell him. She reached office that day thinking that the careless Ritwik would saunter in by afternoon but to her amusement he was already there, poring over his laptop engrossed in a call. He had asked for a meeting that afternoon for a brainstorming session with some key members including herself.  During the meeting she presented the team's experience on the field ; the successes, the failures and what they could do further. Ritwik played the devil's advocate asking her detailed questions and frustrated Palak to the point that she was ready to throw the marker pen at him.

In conclusion she strongly recommended that they think of opening permanent health clinics which would be affordable for the masses and tie in with the government where possible. Ritwik was stunned by her idea and vision but not the one to give up quizzed her on the money needed, return on investment and observed her face turn beetroot red. She knew he was trying to needle her and tried to keep her calm through the other discussions. As soon as the meeting got over, she stormed out of the room feigning a call. Ritwik informed the confused team with a smile that Palak was his wife and at work they were just like any two professionals !!

Ritwik and Palak at home in Chandigarh:

Palak sent a message to Mrs Khanna that she needed to attend to her kids and excused herself for the day. She went home in an auto and slouched on the sofa muttering that Ritwik was back to his old ways to embarrass her. When Manjeet enquired about Ritwik; she slammed her asking her to go to office and take care of her beloved son-in-law who was acting like an obstinate ass. Ritwik quietly slipped in while Palak was ranting and went to the crib where Rhea and Piya were asleep. Piya opened her eyes with a smile and wanted to be carried and he immediately obliged. He realized her diaper was overflowing and got about changing her when Palak came in and stood right next to him.