Ten days later, Bengaluru

Nikhil parked his car in the side alley and hurried to the Coffee shop. He felt much better now that Ajja was back home, and he himself had started  with his treatment under the Chest Physician whom he had visited in the Hospital, under Poorvi's supervision.

He found Rohini seated in an open booth towards the back, by a window. She signalled to him with her hand and smiled as he wove his way through.

Nikhil smiled. Though Rohini had visited Ajja in the Hospital on and off, yet it was refreshing to see her outside that sterile environment. To be with her in an open space once again. They had lots to ponder about. Once he settled down, they ordered for coffee and some light food and the head waiter scurried away.

"Ajja?" she asked.

Nikhil beamed "He is back at home. He will take time to recover but Doctor says, he has a good chance. We have hired 2 male nurses to take care of his needs and medications, while I am trying to spend maximum time with him as well."

Rohini nodded her head - "You know I would like to visit him. I couldn't be of much help in the Hospital."

"Maybe you could visit ..." Nikhil started but stopped as the waiter arrived with their coffee and snacks.

As they sipped their coffee in relative silence, their eyes found each other, a thousand thoughts running through their heads.

"Everything feels so weird, so different" Rohini said after a while. "I feel like I am floating somewhere ..."

"I owe you explanations" Nikhil said. "We certainly didn't get much time in Binsar, I had to rush back the next day."

Rohini shook her head - "We both do. That is explain, and try to make some sense of everything that had happened."

She thought of how she had returned to her old apartment in Bengaluru only to find it fully spic and span, but lacking something. She had always loved staying in that apartment earlier and had often yearned to be back, while in Binsar. But now, the very same apartment felt foreign ... the pines and sauces of Binsar called for her. As did that sapling ... 

... Rohini had realised then that she would now forever be stuck in limbo between the two places, each intimately woven into the sheer fabric of her existence. It would not be easy to give up one for the other.

Questions ran through Nikhil's mind as he peered at her from the top of his coffee mug. She was lost somewhere and he somehow knew she was thinking about the child, the very child about whom he yearned to know more.

As if on cue, she looked straight at him - "I didn't know about the baby then Nikhil. Otherwise I would have called. I guess I must have conceived the last time we were together, before you went to US, three weeks before the engagement."

She looked away, trying to quell the tears in her eyes -

"The follies of the heart. Without you, I was so broken and lost that I couldn't even fathom what was happening. And those nightmares did not make it easy either, here as well as in Binsar. And when I kind of realised that my body was preparing itself for motherhood, the accident happened and then it was too late."

Nikhil covered her hand with his and squeezed her fingers, his eyes clouding. If things had indeed gone ahead as planned, they would have been proud parents by now.

"I am so sorry Nikhil. I took you to that ground without preamble, without preparing you for the news. I was so angry with you the whole time ... " Rohini's outburst caught Nikhil unaware.

"That morning, I had mulled about whether I should share that part of truth with you, and nearly decided that I shouldn't. But the devil in me pointed out rather sarcastically that you had the right to know alright. If the child had survived, you would have been the Father"

By now, both of them were literally struggling to hide their tears.

"Our child paid the price for our foolishness ... and we couldn't help in any way" her words faded away.

"Will you come with me to Binsar to visit the baby once again? It is all alone there ..."

Nikhil slipped out of his chair and slid into the seat beside Rohini, on the sofa. Rohini rested her head on his shoulder as his arm went around her, and he held her close.  They sat there in silence for a while and moved away only when the waiter arrived with more coffee.

As she stirred the cream absent-mindedly, Rohini wondered aloud - "Why did Nisha Bhabhi do all this? From what you had told earlier, your Brother leads the organisation, is the MD, et al?"

"Honestly I don't know Rohini" Nikhil ran his fingers through his hair. "She doesn't accept that she was a part of the plan, though there is no way that she is not involved. Otherwise, how would the others know about my travel plans and all? On hindsight, everything has been so convenient right from the word go.

What I personally think is this. Since childhood, I have been least interested in business and stuff, though I did complete my MBA, while simultaneously pursuing my interests in music.

Ajja did know about it and he gave me a long rope, hoping that one day I would return to be a part of the entire process. Which i did, after things fell apart earlier, and I was trying to assimilate myself into the corporate world.

Nisha Bhabhi had always liked Barkha because probably she realised that Barkha is kind of greedy, and would be easy to keep her under her thumb. She didn't feel threatened then. When we broke up after the debacle in Switzerland, I had been bitter and spiteful. And I wanted to be away from everything. A corporate career, the family attachments, the shares, the properties and all ... they meant nothing to me. And it all suited my sister-in-law fine.

And then suddenly you came along and things started changing. I became more and more involved as I got to understand and respect you, and I started realising that all women are not the same ...

Ajja too witnessed the changes and got me further engaged in newer projects and I did my best, though being less experienced, I stumbled every now and then. Ajja's attention that had been on Abheek all this while had now shifted to me ... Abheek felt himself sidelined, and he was definitely not happy about it. 

Though there is simply no comparison, I feel my brother and sister-in-law resented my involvement in the business, because truthfully speaking my brother had worked hard to pull the company to where it is now. They could however not say anything to Ajja as Ajja pushed me to excel and take up responsibilities ... and hence they kept quiet.

Barkha soon entered the picture once again, and this time I had taken you home to meet Ajja. I think Nisha Bhabhi started her plotting then, once she saw us together, realising very well that we were in love, and that this time if something happened, I would not survive. At least emotionally.

And that she could not control you once we were together. For her, it was a game of one-upmanship, to prove her mettle that she still controlled everything ..."

His sigh filled the space around them. He looked at her sharply

"You remember Rohini I had met Barkha in US the first time I went there for work, just after I proposed to you? Now when I think of it, I feel that was also a ploy. The entire plot had started unfolding since then, but we hardly realised. Otherwise, how would she have landed upto in the same city as I was in? Of course, at that point of time, she said that she had been visiting her cousins there, and I hadn't thought much about it."

Rohini turned in her seat to look at him.

"I had gone for a drink, and she had turned up in the local pub, saying that she was there with friends and cousins for a drink. She had indicated towards a group of women, but I had kinda not concentrated. I wanted her to be gone.

She was partially drunk by then. Sensing my mood, she had mentioned causally that she was in touch with my sister-in-law and that she wanted to be family friends again. I had sent her back to her group, stating firmly that there was no way we could be friends; though she could well be in touch with my sister in law, for all I cared. 

I had wanted to tell you about this confrontation Rohini that night, but Madhukar Uncle's call came and we lost the track. I am so sorry for not telling you everything earlier Rohini"

"No, no, no" she vehemently shook her head, as she slid into his arms sideways, her tears spilling over. "I am sorry Nikhil for not believing ... for letting my head rule over my heart"

End of Part 55