"May I come in, Geeta?", Sana asked knocking on the door.

"Yes Sana. Please come in.", Said Geeta taking off her reading glasses. She placed the book she was reading on the table beside her.

"I am sorry for being late.", Said Sana as she walked inside.

"Well.. you are still early. He isn't here yet.", Said Geeta.

"Nothing new to me..", smirked Sana.

Geeta silently observed her.

"So, what were you reading?", Asked Sana looking at the book beside Geeta's table.

"Oh!! A book by PoohBear called 15 Hours To Fall In Love.", Said Geeta showing her the front cover.

"Hmmm.. is it based on a real story?", Asked Sana.

"No.. it's a romantic fiction", said Geeta.

Sana chuckles.

"No wonder.. 15 hours to fall in love..",Sana shook her head in disbelief and a smirking face.

"Excuse me, Geeta.", Came a male voice who knocked on the door and opened it hurriedly.

"Oh!! You are here. Come in Sidharth.", Geeta invites.

"Sorry, I am late. Huge traffic on the way, you see?", He excused.

Sana chuckled sarcastically which made him glare at her. He sat on the couch beside her. While Geeta sat opposite to them on a single seater couch.

"What made you laugh?", He asked.

"Your excuses..", Sana replied.

"What was so funny about it?", He probed.

"What time did you leave the office?", Asked Sana.

"At 5.", Said Sidharth.

"Stop lying Sidharth. Your secretary, Lily said you left the office at 5:40pm. It's a 30 minutes drive from your office and it's 6:12pm. Now you know why I laughed?", Asked Sana.

"You are spying on me? Huh? On your own husband?", Asked Sidharth.

"When you don't have answers to my questions, you start accusing me. Nice way to escape, Sidharth.", Sana smiled painfully.

"I was working my ass off in office damnit! I had an important meeting to attend. I don't sit at home enjoying my husband's hard earned money and speak shit about him infront of a third person.", He said angrily.

"Important meeting. Only if you had thought that I was important as well, you would have known that even I have been working for two years now.", Sana replied.

"Okay guys. I know we are here to talk. So let's talk peacefully.", interrupted Geeta.

"What's there to talk, Geeta? She is here because of her parents. She wants a divorce from me. Doesn't that explain that she doesn't want to be with me anymore?", Said Sidharth.

"With you? Seriously? How many times were you with me Sidharth? You were never with me. If at all by the word, 'with me', meant to stay at the home built by you, sleep in the room which you call yours and on your bed then yes, I don't want to be 'with you' anymore.", Said Sana.

Geeta quietly observed both of them.

"So what do you want me to do? Leave all my work and sit with you at home the whole time?", He yelled.

"No, I just want to be with someone who thinks I am important as well.", Sana answered.

"Cool down both of you. I am a counsellor and I am here to listen to you. Could you please stop talking among yourselves and talk to me instead?", Said Geeta.

They both sat with their hands crossed at the two distant edges of the couch and looked away from one another in silence. Sidharth's jaw clenched in anger while Sana's eyes filled with tears.

"Drink some water you both.", Said Geeta.

Sana picked up the bottle and took a sip borrowing sometime to cool down.

"No, thanks.", Said Sidharth still fuming in anger.

"Please..", insisted Geeta.

Sidharth picked up the bottle from his side of the table and squeezed the cap a little hard spilling some water. Sana turned and looked at the splatter of water while he looked up at Geeta who was calm.

"Sorry..", he apologized to Geeta.

Sana passed him some tissue to wipe his hand and picked up few more to wipe the water on the table.

"That's fine Sana. You don't have to do that.", Said Geeta but nevertheless Sana had wiped off the table clean. In the meantime Sidharth had taken a sip of water and his anger too had subsided.

"How much do you see each other at home?", Asked Geeta.

"Not much. He comes late from work.", Said Sana.

"And in the morning?", Asked Geeta.

"When I wake up she wouldn't be at home.", He said.

"Because I got to work.", Said Sana.

"Which she never bothered to inform me.", Said Sidharth.

"I tried but you were never there.", Sana explained.

"Okay, please talk to me.", Said Geeta to avoid them from fighting. They both fell quiet again.

"So what about weekends?", Asked Geeta.

"He works on most of the weekends or plays golf with his business partners or attends business parties.", Answered Sana.

"What about you? What do you do on weekends?", Geeta asked

"I go to an NGO called Little Bundle of Joy on Saturday. It's an orphanage for kids with special needs. On Sundays, I go to visit my parents.",said Sana. Geeta notices a subtle smile on Sana's lips while talking about the NGO.

"Hmmm.. so you both have been married for 4 years now. Has it always been like this? Please answer for yourselves first.", Asked Geeta.

"No.. it wasn't. We spent a lot of quality time together for the initial 1 year of marriage. I wasn't working as well. After a year, I started seeing him less and ultimately after a year of waiting, I chose to restart my career to keep myself busy.", Said Sana.

"I was able to give her time because at that time my father was running the business. After his demise, I got sucked into the business and it's responsibilities. It took me time to stabilise the work and later grow it bigger.", Explained Sidharth.

"Please don't hesitate or feel uncomfortable with the next question. How is the chemistry between you both? Do y'all share or enjoy intimacy?", Asked Geeta.

There was some silence in the room.

"Since we don't see each other much, we don't..", said Sidharth.

"When was the last time you got intimate with each other?", Asked Geeta.

"Almost a year..", said Sidharth

"Two months..", said Sana. Their replies overlapped as it came together.

"What? I don't remember anything..", said Sidharth in shock.

"You came drunk from the party..", said Sana.

"Okay.. talk to me.. Was it the same earlier as well? Were y'all not so much sexually active even before?", Asked Geeta

"No.. Even after I got busy with work after a year of marriage, we often made love until like 1 and half years back.", He said.

"Wrong Sidharth! Even after you got busy with work after a year of marriage, we often indulged in sexual intercourse until like 1 and half years.", She said.

"I said the same thing. And after that, you slowly started rejecting and then changed the rooms, so even I stopped approaching you.", He said.

"It's not the same Sidharth. We didn't indulge in making love. We just had sex. It was just a pleasure for the body and not the act of love. It never touched my heart and soul because you were not there for me after the act.", Said Sana.

"So Sana, was that a reason behind your withdrawal after a year and half from him?", Asked Geeta.

"I didn't wanted to be with a person who just wanted my body and nothing else.", Said Sana.

"Sana.. If I just wanted your body, I would have cheated on you for someone else's body in these one and half years when you rejected. You are my wife not some bloody whore who I would just use to sleep!", He yelled.

"Really? What's the difference between the wife and whore, Sidharth?", She asked.

"You enjoying my name behind yours, the respect you get in society for being my wife and the children which you will bear will have my name.", Said Sidharth.

"Huh.. The child in my womb didn't have that benefit.", Said Sana shocking him.

"What? Are you pregnant?", He asked looking at her with wide eyes.

"I was..", said Sana.

"Was? (Paused) You aborted my child?", He asked in rage.

"I miscarried!!", She broke down.

"Miscarried? (Chocking voice) How and when? Why didn't you tell me?", He shook her by her arms.

"A year and a half back Sidharth. (She screamed) I wanted to tell you that I was expecting a baby but you weren't there to listen. When I miscarried, you still weren't there, Sidharth. I wondered, of the two which news should I give you first? Then I realised, what was the use of telling it anyway?", She said with tear filled eyes.

He stared at her in silence for a while before plopping back on the seat beside her holding his head in his hand. Geeta was numb herself but she had seen much worst in her career as a counsellor so she held her composure.

"Sana, I think you are right in seeking a divorce from me. I will convince your parents.",said Sidharth.

"No.. Sidharth I won't suggest this. It's easy to break a relationship. We are all human beings. We all make mistakes. If everyone starts breaking the relationship like this then everyone will be alone in this world. Realising your mistake is the first step towards bringing change. Don't take a step back now.", Suggests Geeta.

Sidharth nodded his head in denial. Geeta looked around thinking of a way to convince them. Her eye caught sight of the book lying on the table.

"Fine Sidharth. You want to break it, go ahead but not at this moment. We have another session scheduled after 15 days. Take some time to think about it and the aftermath of the decision. In this period, I want you to spend an hour with each other every single day. That's 15 hours.", Geeta said.

Sidharth and Sana pondered for a while and both shook their heads in agreement after looking at each other.

_________________

Let's begin a journey of 15 hours..

To be continued.. ❤️❤️

Leave your reviews..

Cover credit to myself..