23 Chapter 23

I'm going to wait for seven days before I take the last step to end this marriage." She was hoping for something that was never going to happen. "I will send you divorce papers after that.

"I packed the furniture…it was all I bought after saving money from all those years in service. I bought it thinking this was how we were going to start our married life but unfortunately that was just a wishful thinking... we should go our separate ways, the sooner the better..." By this time her voice was choked up and a tear ran down her cheek.

Her words were clear and bold; she was determined. It was as if she was going on her flight to freedom from tension and melancholy.

Rohan felt the ground slipping beneath his feet, he felt wobbly. "Sneha, don't go," he managed to say.

But Sneha had already made up her mind. She came up to him and handed over the door keys and gave him a gentle goodbye kiss on lips, then left 'their' home...

Rohan's world was falling apart, he had to stop her. He stood in there glued to the ground... limbs becoming heavy... gravity pulling him down... Tears welled up in his eyes but before he could act, Sneha was gone. He ran after her to block this disaster but her lift had already reached the ground floor. He raced down the stairs in hope of grabbing that slim chance of holding her back. By the time he reached the lobby, Sneha's cab zoomed past.

She was gone... He went back to the apartment filled with gloom. Yesterday's incident had shown its true colours and he couldn't blame Sneha for her decision. 'But how could she so curtly just wind it all up and leave? Didn't she think about me at all?' His mind was cluttered with all sorts of doubts and his head was spinning out of control. He held on to a nearby chair to keep his balance.

He went to his bedroom expecting that Sneha would have packed up the bed too, but it was still there and was relived. He lay down and rolled over with his shoes still on. The life and soul of the home had gone and his mind was not working in coordination with his body. He didn't realize it, but tears were dripping out of his eyes. But when he did, he thought, 'Boys don't cry!' He was taught that throughout his life by his parents, by his friends and by his colleagues. But that theory was over with today, he couldn't control his tears nor was he trying to.

'I think I've fallen in love with Sneha,' he lamented. Was this the judgment day for me?' Though he'd sighed with relief after seeing that the bed was still there, the memories came flooding back. He would watch Sneha from a distance while seated on the bed on the pretext of reading National Geographic that he still kept beside the bed on the table. Her rose perfume lingered in the bed and on the pillows. He grabbed Sneha's pillow and held it close to his heart. There was a void now that made him feel helpless and hopeless. Forlorn and misery had taken over his soul.