The smell of red roses filled the room. An hour ago they were received by Hirish the cook. Harish was a bit earlier than usual as he had some work in the evening. He had kept them on the table in the drawing room and had resumed cooking. Rajiv had already left for work after making himself a cup of tea. Ragini, his wife, was still in the shower when the bell rang. Early morning sex was now becoming routine and lacked thrill. This was for no one to sense or see.  After dressing up she came down and lifelessly looked at the roses sent by Rajiv, finished her breakfast and left for work. 

Rajiv Dixit, a paediatrician had a very busy life. In the morning he used to be in a government hospital and after lunch he practised in his own clinic till 9pm. Lunch was mostly home cooked food delivered by Harish at the clinic. Sometimes he ordered from his favourite restaurant and sometimes Ragini joined him to make it all the more worthwhile. Life was moving fast and good. After two years of private practice Rajiv had met Ragini during a fast food takeaway spree. Both were foodies and dating for almost three years thereafter led to marriage. After two years Sameer was born and the next 15 years were pure bliss. Ragini loved kids but did not try for another one. Sameer filled life beautifully. 

Being a lawyer was on hold for the first five years by choice for Ragini. She enjoyed motherhood. She never wanted to miss out on all those innocent babbles and softness of Sameer. She had longed to be a mother. She was a well-loved child herself and adored her parents. Rajiv was raised by his mother after he lost his father to throat cancer. Suhasini, his mother, was a doctor herself and it was easy to follow in her footsteps when he grew up. Rajiv had a unique fondness for kids and his profession was chosen because of this basic reason. God was kind and he was blessed with a darling son. 

House help was the best thing for the trio. Occasionally their parents visited them too and the bond grew to unknown depths. It was a hassle-free wedding back then. Liberated minds sealed the relationship and happiness kept flowing. When Sameer was six Ragini resumed working then little adjustments became mandatory. This way she brushed aside these pangs of doing nothing purposeful. Raising a child in itself demands so much and has a purpose. For her to raise the kid right has all the challenges but that was just not enough from within. She wanted to give more hence chose to get back to work. Rajiv nor either of the parents objected as it was a free world of choices and chasing dreams. 

Every marriage has quarrels and adjustments but after sometime when Sameer was ready to embark on the journey of studying abroad the schedule of making ends meet lightened a little bit. The couple’s romance got privacy. Love bloomed to a new high. Those years of accommodating earned a free flow now. Cozy evenings after work without any witnesses got the better of them. Popcorn and a movie at home with sweet nothings just sparked the latent desires. Family dinners happened more often. On holidays when Sameer returned to India trips materialised and moments with him charged the depleted spirits. 

Having sex in the morning became the norm as at the end of the day the couple used to sleep once dinner got over. Absence of Sameer pinched as years rolled. Another kid was out of question as Ragini was 42 now and Rajiv was 50. Conversations were less and they had just fallen into a pattern. Ragini always wanted more from everything from the very start but never demanded anything. Like a quiet spectator she observed and absorbed all. Rajiv was similar here too. There was no objection from Ragini thus he felt all is in place and hunky dory. Rajiv was too much into his patients. This way he wasn’t missing the absence of a second child. 

Everything was the same but still nothing was the same. Each day a new dimension of thought engulfed Ragini and Rajiv which both kept to themselves. Her clients in the court also could not foresee the switch. Most of the time Ragini was perked up on the surface. Rajiv was obsessed with his patients in a positive way hiding the fact that he actually missed Sameer at home and a probable sibling Sameer could have had had he pushed his desire a little. His vocal chords always couldn’t emit much as Ragini was so happy working. This was love that stopped him from conveying the need of the hour. 

Few weeks ago a happily married mother of two had approached Ragini for a property dispute. The case needed details and numerous interactions via phone, email, whatsapp as well as in person meetups. Earlier too she had many women clients but nothing ignited an interest as much as Yamini did. It was far from sexual but a kind of admiration for the way Yamini had a vibe around her just made the meetups more fulfilling. Strangely, Ragini used to think about her first thing in the morning. Yamini was the same age as Ragini but the former had an air of maturity and grace. She never looked like the mother of two kids. Good maintenance of herself camouflaged the ageing bits of Yamini. 

Ragini wanted to know more about Yamini on a deeper level. In her she saw the daughter she never had, a mother who felt more like a sister and a partner too who could give her thrills if she opted to walk on the unconventional path. The drift was happening within and time spent with Rajiv was becoming more of a duty rather than a romantic alliance she so loved earlier. She wanted to talk about it with her man but couldn’t. Rajiv too was living in a cocoon with nothing much to add to the chemistry they once shared. His patients occupied his mind and no one saw this coming but it was right there all under their noses.