29 Chapter 29

The next day Rohan woke up at 6 a.m. feeling very hungry. He hadn't had dinner the night before and his first impulse was to go and fetch something from the refrigerator to eat. To his surprise, he found the refrigerator fully stocked. There were chicken sandwiches, various types of fruits, cooked vegetables and pancakes! He blessed Sneha from the bottom of his heart because she had thought about him so well in advance. He grabbed two chicken sandwiches and ate them cold. Then he listlessly went back to the bedroom completely submerged in his ocean of melancholy. Recent events kept coming back to him over and over.

His situation was like a pet dog whose owner refused to give it shelter anymore. Rohan felt lost, he didn't want to go to the office and the newly created emptiness in his life was crushing him inside. He went over and over yesterday's incident. It wasn't his ego that was hurt, so what was it?

Once again he got out of bed and headed toward the kitchen. He prepared a cup of tea and considered going back to the bedroom but instead took his tea to the balcony. While sipping his cup of tea, he watched the ocean. The view was breathtakingly beautiful, as usual, but his indifferent interest in his surroundings affected his brain's capability to look at things through the eyes of the creator to see that beauty; he quietly sipped his tea and went back inside.

He planned to take leave from work. His world was spinning and there was no way he could get rid of that feeling. He searched for a solution and the next hour was spent moping, sighing and sulking while he tried. He started putting his thoughts together and everything started becoming clearer. He thought he knew how to proceed and decided to go into the office after all.

Rohan got up from bed with the strength of his convictions and got ready to go to work.

At the office, instead of going to his cubicle Rohan went to talk to his boss Mr. Gupta first. Mr. Gupta was preoccupied as he was dictating a letter to his secretary but indicated for Rohan to take a seat. Rohan patiently waited for him to finish and for the secretary to leave before saying anything. Mr. Gupta asked her to close the door behind her as he could sense that something urgent was on Rohan's mind. He didn't have a lot of work piled up today so he went ahead and allowed this unusual meeting.

"How are you doing, Rohan? You look like you've been decked by a left hook in the boxing ring," remarked Mr. Gupta.

"Sir, I have a huge favour to ask of you. Kindly listen to me before you decide anything," asked Rohan. After asking, Rohan went on to narrate his predicament and what his request was. It took about thirty minutes for him to explain himself and although he was prepared for the worst, he thought there was no harm in trying at least once.

Mr. Gupta listened to him quietly. He knew Stella wanted to marry Rohan but was not sure of Rohan's intentions of marrying her. When he heard Rohan had already married Sneha, he was happy for him. In his heart he knew Rohan made the right decision not knowing it was his parents who had forced him into marrying Sneha.

Mr. Gupta assured him he would do the best he could to help Rohan take care of his situation. Rohan thanked him profusely and headed toward his cubicle. Stella was waiting for him and was eager to know what the outcome was of Sunday's lunch. She thought Sneha would have become extremely resentful and was sure that the 'Sunday show' was enough to create the required rift between her and Rohan.

"Hi Rohan, how are you?" she asked in a chirpy voice.

"I'm good Stella, how are you?" Rohan replied with a smirk.

Stella mistook his smirk as positive reinforcement. 'My plan worked!' she couldn't help thinking. 'I think within a month's time Sneha and Rohan will get divorced and I'll marry him the following month.'

"I'm good Rohan, and I love you," she replied with a grin. After expressing her feelings, she turned away believing all her life's dreams were about to come true. She was elated and was not able to hide her happiness and 'walked on clouds' back to her office.

Rohan watched her leave. He was planning ahead and started packing to get ready to leave. He left his office at 10:30 a.m.; he had a flight to catch.