IV

"Where on earth were you Rakesh??!!" Sunita's exclaimed, as she saw her husband at the gate, dragging his feet, "I was so worried, just look at the time!!" Sunita helped rakesh with his bag, as he threw himself on the sofa, "whats wrong, dear?"

"My company is shutting down, I have just 4 months to find a new job" Rakesh blurted out in a single breath. Sunita almost lost hold of the glass of water she had brought from the kitchen for Rakesh, but she gathered herself and said "Oh!! 4 months is ample time dear" Rakesh looked at her in disbelief "I'm sure, you will find a much better job that this one" said Sunita smiling. Rakesh exclaimed "what are you saying? are you understanding what I'm saying?"

Sunita smiled and said reassuringly "Yes, but I don't have any doubt on your capabilities, so why should I be worried about? Infact I think this is an opportunity for you to fare better". "Sunita, what about our home? where will we get money for that?" Sunita said, "I have full faith that my husband will get such a nice job that we will not have to worry about that either"

Rakesh understood Sunita was just just trying to make him feel better. But he decided to affirm her faith, he dedicated himself to finding a suitable job. He talked to the house owner about his situation and that he would need a little more time to pay him the money. The owner was not ready for extending the payment period and warned Rakesh he wouldn't return the advance, but after much persuasion he agreed to give Rakesh a few months time.

Rakesh had lost his appetite working hard towards finding job along with carrying on his current job. Sunita was very worried for him and started blaming herself for making rash decisions of buying the new house. She felt she was largely at fault, by not accepting the current house wholeheartedly and making Rakesh search for a new one, and that too so heavy on their budget. She felt guilty watching Rakesh working so hard without caring for his health. She started making sure he had his meals on time, thinking it as a small contribution from her end.

III

Since she had hinted her mother about planning her future, Sunita now used to get daily dosage  of dos and dont's from her. She sometimes used to snap listening the same stuff again and again, but then a smile used to grow on her face thinking about how wonderful the years to come would be.

Sunita and Rakesh desperately started to look for a nice home, somewhere they could see their children laugh and play and live!

For weeks their luck didn't favour them as budget was still tight, but one Sunday afternoon, Sunita's eyes got set at a little bungalow in a colony nearby the famous temple. Rakesh found the price a bit steep but as Sunita was determined to go for the bungalow he had to cave in.

                         

Sunita and Rakesh felt as if they had found their dream house. They also convinced the owner to agree to let them pay a token money of around forty percent of the price and then later pay the rest as Rakesh would get the advance from his company shortly. Rakesh had been saving since a long time and was happy he was able to use his savings for the best, he was able to make his Sunita happy.

Sunita was on cloud 9, she started packing and planning and dreaming how she would decorate her new home. Rakesh laughed "Sunita dear, the advance is not even sanctioned yet and you have started packing!" Sunita said "I don't want to live a day longer in this society, I am tired of these deserted streets....I just want to run away to my dream home." Rakesh hugged her lovingly and started helping her pack.