Free Bankerupt (Ravi Subramanian) by Ravi Subramanian Page B

I’ll have to extend my stay by a couple of days at the very least.’
    There was silence at the other end. Cirisha could hear the silent hum of the air conditioner. ‘What about Nalin’s farewell?’

    ‘Could you please manage it without me? In any case he is moving to Boston. I will throw a welcome party for him when he settles down here. I really need to finish my pending work, Adi.’
    ‘Everything except your husband needs and gets your attention. Right, Cirisha?’ Aditya had never been so cold.
    ‘The cops screwed up our day yesterday. Today also seems like a washout. I have my work to finish. It has dependencies. There are other people who work together with me on a project. I can’t just dump everything and come. You know that.’
    ‘If only you show the same commitment towards home and me … Life will be so much better. But what can I say?’ Cirisha didn’t know how to respond. She kept quiet. After a long pause, Aditya spoke again, this time just murmuring, ‘I gave you the dates three months in advance so that you could plan to be here. Nalin has done so much for me. But, it clearly was not to be.’
    ‘I am sorry, my love. I wanted to be there. But …’ She had not even finished her sentence when Aditya interrupted her. ‘Forget it. Come whenever you want to. I’m feeling sleepy. Let’s talk later.’ And he hung up on her. Cirisha was surprised. A bit shocked too. Aditya had of late started getting worked up at her prolonged absence from India. She called him back. Aditya didn’t pick up her call. After trying thrice she decided to let it cool down before calling him again.
    Three days later, Aditya was at the airport to pick her up as usual. The drive from the airport back home was deafening in its silence. Cirisha had never seen Aditya like this. She tried her best to get him to talk. But he didn’t go beyond monosyllabic responses. After parking the car in the basement, he quietly followed Cirisha up to their apartment. Cirisha had a spare key with which she opened the door. The moment she opened the door she was in for a shock. The living room was full of bouquets. Dry wilting flowers that were beginning to rot. She looked at Aditya. He had crossed the living room and stepped out into the balcony.
    ‘What’s all this, Aditya?’ She found the rotting bouquets a bit strange. The place was beginning to stink. Her emotions were a strange cocktail of anger, frustration and curiosity. She turned to Aditya. ‘Flowers? So many of them? And why are they here?’
    No response.
    She walked up to the closest bouquet and picked out the card attached to it. ‘Dear Aditya, congratulations! May this be the beginning of a long and successful journey.’ What did that mean? Not able to fathom what that message meant, she walked up to the next bouquet. ‘Hey Adi. Congrats on your promotion to the head of investment banking.’ It was Nalin.
    ‘Adi!’ she yelled. ‘When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell me?’
    Adi was in the balcony staring vacantly into the darkness. ‘Adi!’ screamed Cirisha. She ran towards the balcony, knocking over a few of the bouquets in the process. Hugging him from behind, she stood in silence for a minute. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
    ‘Had you been here, I would have told you.’
    ‘When did you know?’
    ‘A week back. More than the farewell, I wanted you to be here when they announced it at Nalin’s farewell.’
    ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I would have made sure I was here.’
    ‘Let it be.’ And he turned.
    ‘Adi!’ Cirisha exclaimed. His eyes were red. They had fought often since their courtship days, but this was the first time she had seen him like this. She hugged him tightly in an attempt to calm him down.
    ‘It’s not about you not being here on this big day, when I received the most important promotion of my life.’
    ‘Then what is this about, Adi? This was one of the few trips where I have been away for three weeks. Else I always come