"Please ask."

"What is the real reason behind your divorce? Are you in love with anyone? Are you going to marry anyone after your divorce?"

"It is not so. I am not in love with anyone. I am not going to marry anyone after divorce."

"Is he is in love with anyone? Does he want to marry anyone after divorce?"

"I don't think so. So far I know he is not interested in marrying anyone."

"Is there anything else? Is he is ill-treating you? Cruel to you? Torturing you? Is there any particular reason for taking divorce?" looking curiously into the face of Prameela, Malathi asked her.

"No, nothing like that." With an indifferent expression in her face Prameela said.

"Then why this divorce? For whose sake? To whose benefit? In my opinion that you both are so desperate to take divorce only to satisfy your egos. And with that strong desire you both just have forgotten about Mounika."

"I never forget about Mounika. I am working as a government lecturer and I can look after her welfare so well." Prameela said with a firm voice. "Mounika not likes her father much and she has no problem whatsoever to stay with me." She easily lied.

"You never can give her the love of her father. That deficiency remains like that to her forever."

"There is not much father and daughter relationship between them both" Prameela lied with ease again. "No problem. I can manage my life without husband and Mounika manage herself without father."

"Is there no chance at all that you can change your decision? Is it is not possible to you both remain as man and wife for Mounika's sake?" with desperation Malathi asked her.

"Just impossible! You are asking for the impossible."

Malathi remained silent. She understood that she could not change her decision at all. Suddenly there was some sound and she turned back and looked. There was a tall and handsome person.

"He is my husband, Sudhakar." Prameela said with a small voice.

"I am very glad to meet you sir." Malathi said with a smile.

"She is Jasmine's mother." Prameela said.

"I guessed that much. There is lot of resemblance between mother and daughter." Sudhakar laughed. "I am feeling very happy that you came to our home."

"My daughter Jasmine also has come. She and your daughter were talking in your daughter's room." Malathi said.

"That is what they both would do whenever they meet." Sudhakar said. "Jasmine and Mounika are very close friends."

"They both made me and your wife also so close friends."

"Is that so?" Sudhakar laughed once again.

"Alright. Now we want to go to our home. I feel very happy if you and your wife" looking into the face of Prameela, Malathi said "Come to our house on one day."

There was a sudden change in the expressions on the faces of Sudhakar and Prameela. "We do try." He said.

Then Prameela said "Just wait. You both are going to take some tiffin and coffee. You have come to our home for the first time. I cannot let you go without taking atleast some tiffin and coffee. When I came to your home I said that I make you both taste my dishes."

"That is absolutely not necessary...." Malathi tried to say something.

Prameela went into the kitchen without bothering with Malathi's protestations.

"Jasmine" Malathi said rather loudly. "We have to go home now"

Hearing that Mounika and Jasmine came out of the room. Mounika ran happily towards her father.

After sometime Prameela came there with tiffin and coffee and offered them to Jasmine and Malathi.

"Your dishes also taste so good. You proved yourself an expert in preparing food also." Jasmine said.

"You are just trying to make me happy." Prameela smiled.

After finishing them while chitchatting with the other three there, Jasmine and Malathi came to their home.

***

"That was what we both have talked. It surprised me a lot that Mounika's mother felt intimate with me and shared her decision to take divorce with her husband. But it depressed me a lot that she is so desperate to take divorce and I just cannot see a way to change her decision." Malathi said.

"How pathetic! What should we do now? How can I stop them from taking divorce? I made promise to Mounika." Thinking deep, Jasmine said.

"When it comes to your promise, it is appearing to me not just you but even God also cannot do anything. She is that much desperate in taking divorce. But why she is desperate like that for taking divorce I cannot understand."

"What?" Jasmine looked curiously at her mother.

"Yes, I have asked her whether she is in love with anyone and wanted to marry him after divorce. She said 'no'. I asked her whether he is thinking to marry anyone after divorce. She said 'no' to that also. I asked her whether he is ill-treating her, cruel to her. To that also she said 'no'. I asked her whether there is any other particular reason for their divorce. She said 'no' to that as well. For what they are thinking for divorce I cannot understand."

As they both were talking like that, Sundar came there. "You mother and daughter are in so much serious discussion now also."

"If you refresh yourself and come here, we can share that with you too." Malathi said.

"Alright then." Just in ten minutes or so, Sundar refreshed himself and came there. Until then Jasmine and Malathi continued talking in themselves.

"Now share that important piece of information with me." Settling himself in the nearby chair to them, he asked.

"Do you know that Mounika's parents are going to take divorce?" Malathi asked him.

"I think my dearest daughter mentioned that to me." Sundar said. "It is really very pathetic to hear."

Then Malathi explained to him about their going to Mounika's home and talking with Mounika's parents.

"I just don't know why she is that much desperate to take divorce." Malathi said and hissed out.

"Mainly ego problems. In my opinion their opinions and natures are not matching. They failed to mingle with one another."

"It is alright if they are having no children. But now there is Mounika. Why they are utterly failing to consider about her? How much she needs both of her parents with her?" Malathi said.

"Some people are like that. They just cannot think about anyone else except themselves." Sundar said again.

"But the fact is" Jasmine said. "Both of them love and like Mounika a lot. They do anything Mounika wants. What all they cannot do is, they just cannot go along together peacefully to keep Mounika happy."

"What an unlucky thing for her." Sundar said.

"Dad cannot we help Mounika at all? Cannot we stop her parents from taking divorce?" looking pleadingly into the face of her father, Jasmine asked.

"How can and what we can do?" Sundar said. "Already your mom talked with her mother and you just heard what your mom said. I have not even seen that gentleman yet. How can I talk anything with her parents? We cannot help it. Only god can help that little girl."

"Don't say like that Sundar." Malathi said. "Your daughter has promised Mounika that she would stop her parents from taking divorce."

"Not just that. I further promised her that I do see that her parents live all along quite happily with her." Jasmine said.

Sundar laughed and put his hand around Jasmine's shoulder and dragged her near to him. "How you have made such promises? We have to consider our strength and limits before making big promises." He said.

"It is my weakness I just cannot remain calm while my friends are suffering for anything. To make my friend instantly happy I made promises like that to her. It is also my weakness that I always do fulfill my promises. So I have to fulfill the promises I made to her." Jasmine said with firm voice.

"But I am not thinking that they are such small promises at all." Sundar take off his hand from Jasmine and stood. "I have to do some of my office work at home now." After saying so he went into his room.

"I have work in the kitchen." Leaving Jasmine all alone there, Malathi went into the kitchen.

"I am also not free. I have to do my homework." Thinking in herself so, Jasmine went into her reading room.

***

"This is what happened between your mom and my mom." Jasmine said. "Your mom is so desperate in taking divorce. My mom asked all sorts of questions but could not figure out why your mom is that much desperate for divorce."

"My mom shared her views that freely with your mother?" with a frown on her forehead, Mounika asked her.

"Yes, she did." Jasmine said. "It is surprising of course that your mom felt intimate like that with my mom and said all that to my mom."

"Now what option has been left for us? How can we stop my parents from taking divorce?" With distress in her voice, Mounika asked Jasmine.

"Oh, don't lose hope. We can figure out a way." Thinking furiously Jasmine said.

"You always say it like that. But I don't think that there is a way at all to solve this problem."

"I am an incurable optimist Mounika. I am still feeling hope. Why you are seeing the negative point all the time? The two big positive points here are your parents are not in love with any other and they both are in love with you a lot."

"Once they are that much desperate in taking divorce" Mounika said "How these positive points are going to be helpful to us?"

"We shall see." Jasmine said. "You said you know the lawyer's name that your parents met. By this time he might have prepared some papers also. We are going to see him on this day evening itself."

"Alright" Mounika nodded her head. "But I am not thinking that would be going to be much helpful."

"There is no loss in trying at all"

(..........to be continued)

(I hope you enjoyedit so far. Please don't forget to rate and review it. I update the next chapteras early as possible.)