Next day, In the morning when Akash woke up Varsha is already in Kitchen helping in the preparation of breakfast. He freshened up, got ready for office and came down for breakfast. After breakfast is arranged on the table, Varsha walked toward the stairs leading to her room.Grandma called "Varsha dear! Aren"t you having breakfast today? Where are you going?" Everyone is already on the table and the younger ones are running to take their favourite seats. Other elders also looked toward Varsha who turned back and faced everyone hearing Grandma.
She found everyone looking at her and she said: "I am not feeling very well and also not hungry much." She laughed and said "Maybe I ate too much yesterday. I will eat some fruits later. I will just rest a bit for now."
Grandpa looked at her and said "No problem. Just go and rest well. Let us know if you don"t feel better even after taking rest." He along with everyone noticed her pallid face and understood that she is not feeling well. Only Akash knew the reason why. During all this time she avoided looking toward him.
Varsha smiled and said in a low voice "Yes, Grandpa!" and she turned and walked up to the stairs. Akash looked at her back until she entered the room. Everyone started their breakfast but Akash could only swallow halfheartedly due to the restlessness he felt.
Breakfast is almost finishing and Akash wanted to go away from home and get busy in office work. He remembered her crying and pale expression and felt guilty. He wanted to ask Ira to check on Varsha but could not. He finally could leave the breakfast table relaxed when his mother asked Ira at the end of breakfast "Ira! Check on your sister-in-law and see if she has a fever. If she has a fever, go with her to see a doctor" and Ira affirmed.
When Akash is leaving, the maid brought his lunchbox. It was Varsha who brought his lunchbox to him every day but she is still in the room and he felt strange taking it from the hands of the maid. Whatever this feeling is but it is not good because he did not like this feeling. Finally, he shook his head to remove all the thoughts in his head and left for office.
Akash attended a meeting in the morning and went into his office room to work on some papers. He felt distracted whole time thinking that Varsha is not feeling well. He is sure that the reason is the way he said things to her yesterday. She must be sad and unconvinced about the way she got treated by him. He also remembered her sob and sniffles and how she was trying to hide her crying from him. He felt frustrated and threw away the paper in his hand and picked up his phone to call Ira.
Ira picked up her phone after a few rings and said "Finally there is a day when my beloved brother called me. But the sad thing is I am in college."
Akash scolded her "Stop your blabber. Tell me, did you check on your sister-in-law? How is she now?"
"Oh, I thought you called for me. Why don"t you call sister-in-law if you are concerned about her?" Ira asked mockingly.
Akash could imagine her expression from this side and asked in a stern tone "Come to the point you demon. If she is not feeling well, how can I disturb her?"
Ira laughed and said "No fever. Just not feeling well, so she stayed at home to rest."
Akash wanted to ask more but Ira hung up the call. He opened mouth to ask but did not get a chance to speak. He put the phone away frustratingly. Within a few minutes, his phone beeped and he saw a text message from Ira. He picked up the phone and read the message which says "I am not your messenger for your wife. Do not call me to ask about sister-in-law, call her to ask about her health." He could visualize the evil smirk on the face of Ira when he read this message.
Even in the afternoon he could not concentrate on the work and he always felt compelled to call Varsha but he held himself back. He still wanted to know how she is doing but no way to find out. He could call his mother or aunt to ask but he felt he could not show his care toward Varsha to those family members.
Today the weather is good. The day is sunny but not hot. Varsha went into the garden in the afternoon and looked to sit at her usual spot beside the stream. Ira has gone to college and other kids are also gone to their schools. Uncles are also busy with their work of business. Other elders are resting and taking their afternoon nap. Varsha is not feeling well and her mood is gloomy due to how she felt about yesterday. She removed her footwear and sat on a rock and put her feet in the flowing stream to feel its coolness.
Varsha looked around and remembered how good it was for the last one month. She felt happy when Akash praised her cooking once. She also laughed when he asked her once what she is reading and ridiculed her for reading such childish and unrealistic romance novel. She smiled remembering how happy she was every time when she thought that Akash was paying attention to her.
Varsha remembered how eldest uncle said that he does not consider her a member of this family. She also remembered how Akash did not even listen to her when she was feeling so gloomy. Thinking of all this, the sweet memories of last month felt like a dream. She felt like crying again to cast away the gloominess in her heart. She felt her tears flowing but did not wipe them away. She wanted to let all the sadness go away with these tears.
In the office, Akash is feeling extremely depressed due to not knowing whom to call to know about Varsha. He remembers her tears when he scolded her for complaining. He felt angry and frustrated with himself for pouring his grouchiness of work on her. He just wanted to be at home and look at her and see if she is doing fine. As for how would he talk to her and cheer her up, he will think of all that later. Finally, he pushed everything on his schedule for the next day and left for home around 3:00 PM.