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Rakesh pressed the phone to his ear and listened to a series of unanswered rings. He ended the call and glanced at his watch. Nine-thirty a.m. Last night, he’d called Sheetal twice to let her know he had taken her advice about the doctor and would start taking better care of his health.
He paced the office and then called again.
“Hello? Rakesh? Is that you? I was going to call this morning but I overslept.”
He pressed the phone closer to his ear. Something didn’t feel right. She sounded too casual. Too carefree. “I called last night. Where the hell were you?”
“Here. In the room. Where else would I be?”
Attitude? “So, why didn’t you pick up the phone?”
“I was asleep.”
At ten? “You never sleep early.”
“I-I was tired from all the packing. You won’t believe what happened yesterday. Yash and I....”
She ranted on about some afternoon snowstorm and how she and Yash took cover in a dingy restaurant. Then some bullshit about freezing weather and the greedy school principal. Going on and on.
“How is Yash?”
“Fine. He’s grown. A little taller. Smarter. Chatty. I didn’t realize how much I missed him.”
“We wouldn’t miss him if he was home.” First Pushpa. Now Sheetal. Both out to keep father away from son. “I saw Dr. Kishore yesterday.”
“What did he say?”
“If you were here and not in Mansali, you would know.”
“I told you to see him last week when I was there. You didn’t listen. And now when I’m away you go on your own and conveniently blame me?”
“If you were here, I wouldn’t be alone.”
“Rakesh, you knew I was going away for the week. You gave me the tickets yourself and didn’t even book a room for me. I tried calling you several times but you didn’t pick up the phone or bother to call back.”
“I told Reshma to.”
“You leave my hotel reservations to a member of staff? Couldn’t you do this one thing yourself?”
“Reshma handles all my travel arrangements. Besides, I was tied up with work.”
“I’m not your client. I’m your wife. I go out of my way to do everything for you and you don’t even have time to....”
She was not going to let this go.
“Do you know how much trouble I had at check-in? They—”
“I’m getting a series of tests done this morning. More blood work and CT scans.”
A split second of silence hung between them. “Is it serious?”
“We’ll talk later. You leave today.”
“I know.”
“You sound.... Never mind.”
“I missed you.”
His attention drifted to the Raigun skyline.
“Oh, and I forgot to tell you. Yash got a lead role in this year’s spring concert. He’s a compeer and—”
“Give me a call when you’re thirty minutes from the station. I’ll be there to pick you up.”