On the completely different part of the city, Adam and Preethi were sitting side by side on a beach. It was one of the remote beaches just outside the city. So there were not many people around. Both were quiet as they listened to the sound of waves crashing. It was already late evening.

Between shopping, lunch, and bickering the day flew by. SO they decided to come here to get some quiet. And of course, Preethi seemed like she wanted to say something the whole day. But she kept swallowing the words whenever Adam tried to bring it up. But as soon as the reached the beach, Adam became completely quiet as if he was giving her the time to sort her mind out. He just sat there beside her without making any noise.

"Sridhar.." Preethi, at last, said breaking the silence between them.

"Uh??" Adam looked up confused.

Preethi looked at him and explained, "That's my ex-husband. Akil's dad. He is.. or rather he was my professor at the university."

Adam looked at her shocked but then, in the end, remained quiet and let her continue.

"Me and him.. it was a love marriage. I was this na?ve little student and he was a dashing young professor. Things got way out of control in my head very fast. I was irreversibly infatuated with him. Even before I realized what was happening, I was giving him goggling eyes and shooting hearts. And the fact that it was wrong was like forbidden nectar to a rebellious girl." A short sad smile played on her face as she remembered herself all those years ago. She was exactly what you would expect of a na?ve barely 20 years old girl.

"I followed him around like a bee seeking a flower. I do not know if it was love or just an.. You should know.. every single girl in our university pined over him. So it was like a high when he agreed, at last, when I was in my final year. And once I graduated, we got married. Both our parents were not really what you would call orthodox. So there was not a really big fuss."

"And then, of course, my training started and I had to put really long hours of work. And slowly my priorities changed. We started spending less time together and for a time it was okay. It did not bother either one of us. Maybe I should have known then and there that things were not really right. I mean the kinda look I got from you after not meeting for two weeks was something I never got from him in our 7 years of marriage." Her voice was slightly self-deprecating. But she did not dwell on the subject for long. She did not even notice Adam's hands stroking over her head.

"You should understand.. I always wanted to be a doctor. And as callous as it might sound, I did not have any noble reason behind it. It was not about saving lives or doing service. I have saved lives mind you. But then the reason why I became a doctor was not that. It was a seer ambition. The ambition of a teen. Nothing more. So for a person like me, the job was first. But then something happened that I had never planed for. I had Akil.." And this time around, there came a happy little smile on her face.

"He was a bundle of joy and he changed my life.. He flipped my life over. The amount of joy I felt was immeasurable. Suddenly my world stood still and I started seeing everything differently. Being a doctor suddenly started being a lot more than just an ambition. And my priorities changed once again."

"But then.. I don't know how it started or why it started. We started fighting.. at first, they were small.. or more like I couldn't be bothered. But after a while, it got out of control. He started complaining about everything and anything and I started losing it." She paused and took a deep breath.

She then looked and Adam and continued, "I tried you know.. I tried really hard to keep it together. But between my job and Akil and his tantrum.. when Sridhar kept complaining.. I lost it. The fights got bigger and bigger.. we fought over everything.. From delayed laundry to staying late at work. After a while, it did not even matter who was right or who was wrong. He just wanted to complain and I just wanted to vent."

She paused and rubbed her hands over her face roughly.

"And at last, I drew the line when he said I wasn't being a proper mom to Akil. When he said that one line.. I just didn't want to fight anymore.. not with him nor for him. If he couldn't even understand what Akil meant to me after spending years with me.. it just didn't really feel worth it anymore. I mean.. I might have not been with Akil all the time.. but every single thing I did was for him. Even Akil understood that but he.. he never did." Preethi stopped after that.

Adam swatted over and put his arms around her wordlessly. There was no visible change in his expression whatsoever after hearing her. Whether he was pretending to be indifferent or if it really did not matter to him whatever she just said- Preethi did not know. But the arms around her shoulders were warm and she leaned on it.

Silence ensued between them but then there was no awkwardness in the air.

"Where is he now??" Adam asked, at last, breaking the silence eventually.

"Abroad. He got a better job and he shifted without a thought." Preethi said. There was an indistinguishable coldness in her voice.

Adam pulled her towards himself gently and placed a kiss on her temple and simply said one single sentence that summed up his opinion on everything she just said.

"He is an idiot!!"

Preethi blinked at him for while thinking he might add something to it. But then, Adam, being the man of few words, he did not really have anything additional to it. But then she couldn't really control the giggle that bubbled at the base of her throat. She leaned over and muffled her laughter against his chests. All her anxiety for the past week or from the moment she had met him.. everything suddenly seemed so baseless when she heard him.