Anupama had ordered and GK had agreed that Anuj was to take the next week off to focus on his health. While his recovery seemed to be on track, there was still a lot of fatigue. Given the fact that he'd barely managed to wiggle his way back into their good books, and that he was still dependent on them, he didn't dare argue. He didn't believe in pushing his luck.

It was one such afternoon. After having served Anuj his lunch in his room, and having ensured that he was sleeping, Anupama was relaxing on the living room couch. She was reading a book she'd borrowed from his bookshelf, Agnigarbha - a collection of short stories by Mahasweta Devi. While the original was in Bengali, Anupama held a Gujarati translation.

The story she was reading was titled Draupadi. It revolved around a tribal rebel named Dopdi who is accused of being a Naxal, picked up by the police, gang-raped to extract information, and then asked to cover up. Dopdi, however, rips off her clothes and walks towards the officer, her nakedness a symbol of defiance, daring the authorities to peek into their own souls.

"ANUPAMA!" She hastily looked at the wall clock in the room. It was 7 pm. Vanraj's dinner time. She'd been quietly laying down in her room, unwell, running a temperature. She hadn't told anyone in the house about her health. Leela would only find a creative way to blame her parents and her upbringing for her mild temperature. She needed to rest, and she didn't have the energy to listen to taunts that she was certain would get flung her way.

Her neighbour had been kind and had handed her some medicines through the bedroom window. The medication had made her drowsy and unknowingly she'd taken a nap.

On hearing Vanraj's voice, she'd tried to quickly get up. But her head had spun, forcing her to sit down on the bed once again.

Before she could make her way out of the room, Vanraj had come looking for her.

"It's 7 pm and maharani here is taking a nap," he'd commented sarcastically, on seeing Anupama sitting on the bed.

"I'll lay the table."

"No need. I already had dinner outside."

She looked at him stumped. If he'd already had dinner, why was he looking for her?

He looked at her and looked away. Admiring himself in the mirror, he said: "There are others in the house who are waiting to eat dinner. If you'd only care..."

She shook her head and made her way to the living room, only to be told by her mother-in-law that she'd become lazy and that the dinner tasted terrible.

Nobody asked her how she felt. Nobody asked her what was wrong. Nobody cared. Nobody treated her as a family member. To the Shah family, she was a living, breathing robot.

*****

She'd just finished reading the story when the doorbell rang. It was Sheela who opened the door and hesitantly let in the AK Group's General Manager, Vijay Mathur.

"Yes Mr Mathur?" Anupama asked, placing her finger inside the book before closing it, and crossing her hands in front of her.

Vijay seemed unsure. Ever since Anuj had fallen ill, every phone call, and message to the landline and Anuj's cellphone had been thwarted by Anupama. His core staff was wary of her, something both Anupama and GK had found secretly amusing. Like other members of his team, Vijay, when he'd decided to make a trip to Anuj's house, had counted on not bumping into Anupama.

"Ma'am," Vijay cleared his throat, shuffling his feet, showing her was nervous about this unexpected meet. "I need to urgently meet Mr. Kapadia. I have some important documents that I need him to sign."

Anupama looked at the file. It was bulging, with papers sticking out from the sides. She'd been living with Anuj long enough to know that he would never sign anything without reviewing it personally. And this file would take at least three hours to review.

"I'm sorry Mr. Mathur, but Anuj Ji is resting right now. He should be back at work next week. I'm pretty sure this file can wait until then."

Vijay wrung his hands. Another week. Anuj's illness had already placed a spoke in their operations. Many of their projects were waiting on crucial approvals from Anuj. He knew the amount of pending work Anuj would have to deal with, once he was back. Anupama didn't. So he tried again.

"Ma'am, it's just one file. It won't take Mr. Kapadia more than 10 minutes to sign the required pages."

Anupama gave him one of the looks she reserved for her students who were being particularly difficult. She'd also learnt a few new tricks by merely observing the way Anuj dealt with tough negotiations.

She folded her hands across her chest and waited to hear if he had more to say.

"Ma'am, I wouldn't have come here if this wasn't urgent."

She nodded. And waited.

"Ma'am, I understand that Sir is sick."

More nodding.

"And that he is resting right now."

Anupama continued to nod.

"Ma'am, it's a government contract and unfortunately with these, we need to work to their deadlines."

Anupama walked up to him, opened the file to check the deadline. It wasn't due until the end of next week.

Vijay realized her train of thought and tried once more. "Ma'am I know the deadline isn't until next week. But Ma'am once Sir is back at work, there are two hundred other things that require his attention."

That momentarily made Anupama think.

"Has everything else been done?"

"Huh?" Mr. Mathur looked perplexed.

"Is this the last thing you need on this contract? Anuj Ji's signatures?"

"No Ma'am, there's some more work to be done..."

"Then I suggest you finish doing that. Bring this file in, when all he needs to do is verify and sign."

He nodded, understanding that there was no way he was going to be allowed to interrupt Anuj. As he thanked Anupama and turned to leave, she called him back.

"Mr. Mathur, Anuj Ji's work is taking a toll on his health. Why don't you hire a PA to help ease some of his workload?"

When Vijay looked perplexed, she elaborated. "Hire a personal assistant for Anuj Ji, someone who will take on some of his work. He needs to get a good night's sleep, EVERY DAY. I would hate for him to fall sick AGAIN, delaying things AGAIN, at work."

As Vijay nodded and made his way out, she smiled at what she'd done. Anuj was rubbing off on her in more ways than she wanted to admit. Living with him, she was becoming somewhat like him.

She liked that. She looked up to him and admired him. If only he remembered her from their college days....

*****

When Mohan told GK that Mr. Mathur had arrived with a large bulging file demanding a meeting with Anuj, he quickly made his way out worried that Anuj's recoupment would get cut short, again. He was pleasantly surprised to see the way Anupama tackled Vijay Mathur and sent him back.

He knew why Anupama was here. He also knew that her days in the Kapadia household were numbered. But a faint hope began to find a space within his heart.

GK was getting old. And one of his constant worries was leaving Anuj alone in this world. Anuj had no idea what loneliness felt like. GK did. As you get older, your soul starves for companionship. And Anuj, he was special. His soul needed someone special. His soul needed Anupama. He'd been honest with Anuj on the press conference day when he'd likened Anupama's characteristics to Gayatri. Gayatri had been GK's lifelong friend who had helped him get through some of the worst phases of his life. If nothing else, he hoped Anuj and Anupama could share that friendship.

He turned to look at Kanhaji. The lamp in front of the idol was burning rather brightly. He folded his hands in front of the idol and prayed: "You know what's going on in my mind. I don't need to tell you. My son is lonely. And a father can never replace a life partner.

"Kanhaji you sent Anupama into his life. Please find a way to keep her there permanently.

"Dhyaan raakh jo."