Adultery Priya Didi

[shailu4ever]

The air.


Priya walked into the kitchen without removing her sandals.

Her anklets didn’t jingle.

She didn’t hum, didn’t speak, didn’t look over her shoulder.

Ravi stood near the shoe rack, unsure what to do.

Part of him wanted to speak.

Say sorry, or was that wrong, or did I do something stupid?

But the words wouldn’t come.

His throat felt like it had closed around them.

From the kitchen, the sound of water.

She had turned on the tap.

Clatter of two cups. A spoon.

The faint click of the stove.

Tea.

She was making tea.

He watched from the doorway, half in, half out of the hallway.

She moved without pause.

Without effort.

Her fingers moved precisely, like they were trying to forget they had ever touched him.




- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

She didn’t say would you like some tea.


She didn’t even glance in his direction.

It was routine.

It was distance.

And that’s what made it worse.

Ravi finally stepped in

Quietly pulling out one of the chairs at the dining table. Sat. Waited.

He looked at her.

Her fair arms moved quickly.

She was wearing the same light pink top from the morning

But somehow now it clung differently.

He wondered if it was the sweat, or the silence, or just the guilt rising in his chest.

She poured the boiling water into the saucepan, added tea leaves. Milk. Sugar.

Still not a word.

He stared at the slow swirl of steam rising from the pan,

Trying to lose himself in it, trying to not remember the feel of her hip in his palm.

But his body remembered.

Too well.

When she finally turned, holding both cups, her face gave nothing away.


- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

She walked over.


Set the cup in front of him.

Sat in the opposite chair.

Still not looking at him.


And that silence, that exact silence, was somehow worse than if she’d yelled.

Ravi opened his mouth. Closed it again.

What could he even say?

“Thanks,” he murmured at last, almost childishly.

She nodded.

Still no eye contact.

Steam curled between them.

It felt like the only thing moving.

He wanted to speak again.

Ask her how the rest of the day was.

Say sorry. Or maybe you’re angry, aren’t you?

But even he didn’t know which truth to pick.

So they sat. Two people.

One moment between them.

And a chasm that didn’t exist yesterday.

He sipped the tea. It was perfect. Still sweet. Still warm.

And yet, something was broken.

Or maybe… just cracked.


And Ravi, for the first time in days, didn’t know if calling her “Priya Didi” would make anything better.

Or worse.




- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

The Evening Turns


Ravi waited until she was halfway through her tea.

She still hadn’t looked up at him.

His hand cupped the warm ceramic mug. He wasn’t drinking anymore.

Just holding it for comfort.

Like the heat could somehow thaw the strange cold between them.

He tried once.

“Didi…”

She didn’t respond.

He paused. Licked his lips. Voice low.

“I… I’m sorry.”

Nothing.

Not a flicker in her eyes.

Not even a twitch in the fingers holding her own cup.

She didn’t react. Didn’t sigh. Didn’t nod.

Just continued sipping her tea like the steam was more important than the man across the table.

That silence hurt more than any harsh word could have.

He wanted to apologize again, maybe explain, but just then, the front door creaked.

Amit’s voice came through, cheerful and casual. “Heyyy! Look who got off early!”



Ravi straightened in his chair.



- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

Priya stood and took both cups to the kitchen sink like nothing had happened.

Her steps were steady.

Her voice came out perfectly even.

“Welcome back. That was early.”

“I know, traffic was surprisingly kind. Finished up and thought, why not crash your tea party?”

Amit appeared in the hallway, tossing his keys onto the shelf.

He smiled at both of them, but the second his eyes lingered on Priya, he paused.

“You okay?”

She wiped her hands on a towel, turning back toward him.

“Just a small headache,” she said gently.

Ravi looked at her.

It wasn’t a lie.

But it wasn’t true either.

Amit crossed over and touched her forehead, concern softening his voice. “Migraine types?”

“No… just tired. I’ll be fine.”

Amit gave her a quick nod and turned to Ravi. “You guys ate?”

Ravi shook his head. “No. We were just about to think of dinner.”

Amit’s eyes lit up. “Perfect.

I’ll order something good.

Saturday night shouldn’t feel like weekday food.”




- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

He pulled out his phone and started scrolling. “Pizza? Thai? Or shall we do biryani?”


Ravi forced a laugh. “Anything’s good.”

Priya didn’t speak.

She sat on the sofa quietly, massaging her temples.

But Ravi noticed, her eyes weren’t fully closed. She was avoiding looking at him.

The silence in the room had taken a new shape.

And Amit, cheerful and oblivious, kept tapping on his phone.

“Okay done. Food in 30. No one moves till then,” he declared

Stretching out. “I’m going to shower quick. You guys chill.”

He disappeared into the bedroom.

And once again, the room shrank into silence.

Ravi stole a glance at her.

Her eyes were on the table now.

Her expression unreadable.

She didn’t speak.

Didn’t scold.

Didn’t ask why he’d done what he did.

But somehow, that quiet burned more than any slap ever could.

He wanted to go over. Say more. Explain himself better.

But something in her posture said: not now.

Not here. Not with Amit just a room away.


Not when things had already begun to shift.

So he sat back.

And waited a something to change.




-- oOo --

.

[shailu4ever]

Saturday Night


The dining table was neatly set by the time the food arrived.

Amit had ordered biryani, kebabs, and some sweets from a place he loved near Bandra.

The bags came warm and fragrant, the aroma briefly breaking through the quiet air of the home.

But even that warmth didn’t last.

Priya took the packets into the kitchen and began plating everything,

Moving with calm precision, rice into bowls, kebabs arranged just right, curd in small glass cups.

Her fingers were graceful. Her movements effortless. And yet… Ravi noticed.

She didn’t look at him. Not once.

“Smells good,” Amit said, rubbing his hands as he joined her,

Helping her carry the plates. “Ravi, you’re going to love this chicken. It's soft like butter, man.”

Ravi smiled politely. “Looking forward to it.”

He sat, watching as Priya set the last plate in front of him.

Not even a glance. No word. She didn’t ask if he wanted extra raita like she used to.

She took her seat beside Amit.

Dinner began.

Amit carried the conversation, as usual.

Something about an awkward meeting with a junior architect, a joke about a guy who left his pen drive in the washroom. He laughed. Ravi chuckled along.

But his eyes kept flicking toward Priya.

She ate slowly, neatly, her eyes always on her plate or Amit.




- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

She responded when spoken to.


Laughed gently at one or two of Amit’s stories. But Ravi noticed the difference.

She didn’t join in.

She didn’t tease him like she used to.

She didn’t pass the water to him without being asked.

Once, he reached for the salt and his fingers brushed hers by accident.

She flinched.

A fraction of a second. A twitch.

But he felt it like a slap.

Amit didn’t notice. He was too busy recounting a hilarious miscommunication with a plumber.

Ravi forced himself to eat.

But the biryani sat heavy in his mouth.

Every grain felt like it was dragging through sand.

After dinner, Priya wordlessly gathered the plates.

Ravi stood, trying to help. “Let me…”

She didn’t respond. Just walked into the kitchen.

He followed with a couple of bowls. She took them from him without a sound.

Not a “thank you.”

Not a look.

Just silence.



- o -


.

[shailu4ever]

Amit called out, “Hey Priya, leave it, yaar. Wash tomorrow. Come sit for a bit.”


“I’ll finish up quickly,” she replied. Calm. Smooth. But the words weren’t for Ravi.

They were only for Amit.

Ravi stepped away.

He stood near the window for a moment, staring into the black outline of the city.

The lights in other flats. The occasional bark of a dog. Somewhere nearby, a couple laughed—loud, carefree.

He turned away. Walked into his room. Closed the door softly.

He sat on the bed, palms on his knees, heart a knot.

What had he done?

The feeling of her hip in his hand hadn’t left him. The way her body had stiffened.

The way she moved away, cold and quiet.

And now this,

This long, unbroken silence. 

Her beauty still haunted the space between rooms, but her warmth was gone.

She hadn’t said a word since that ride.

He lay down, staring at the ceiling. Shadows flickered as headlights passed the windows.

He had crossed something.

Something invisible.

And now… she was nowhere near him.

And what scared him most wasn’t her anger.

It was her absence.

The quiet was louder than any shouting could be.

In the next room, he heard Amit laugh again. 

Priya said something, muffled. 

Then footsteps.

The bedroom door closed.

The night settled.

And Ravi lay awake, eyes wide open, wondering if he had just broken something he never had the right to touch.




-- oOo --

.

[shailu4ever]

Four Days of Silence



The days passed, but nothing changed.

Sunday, Priya stayed mostly in the bedroom.

The door remained half-closed.

When she did step out, it was only for water, or a soft-spoken response to Amit.

Ravi sat in the living room,

Flipping through channels he didn’t care about, listening for footsteps that never paused near him.
________________________________________

Monday, he left for work at 8:30.

She was in the kitchen, already dressed, her hair still damp from her shower.

She didn’t turn when he said goodbye. Didn’t wish him luck.

Didn’t even acknowledge the sound of the door closing behind him.

________________________________________


Tuesday

He worked from home. The silences were longer. Closer.

He could hear her bangles faintly from the kitchen, smell the tea she brewed. But not once did she offer him a cup.

They passed each other only once that day, near the corridor.

She shifted to the side so he could pass.

No eye contact.

Not even a glance.

And Ravi, with his laptop open and emails unread, couldn’t remember the last time a Tuesday had felt this long.
________________________________________

Wednesday, she helped Amit pack for a short client visit. He left that night.

Priya and Ravi were alone again, but the walls felt thicker, the air heavier.

She stayed quiet. Kept to herself.

Even her footsteps had grown softer.

Like she didn’t want him to hear her at all.

By midnight, Ravi lay in bed again.

The same ceiling. The same ache.

Four days.

Not a word.

Not a glance.

Just the quiet punishment of being forgotten.



-- oOo --

.

[shailu4ever]

Wednesday Night – The Whisper


The room was dark, but Ravi hadn’t closed his eyes in hours.

The fan above clicked faintly with each slow rotation.

His laptop sat shut on the desk, blinking silently.

From the street outside, the occasional sound of a scooter or a faraway dog filled the silence for a second, only to leave it deeper when they faded.

He turned again on the bed.

The sheets were crumpled. One pillow had been kicked to the floor.

His body was tired—but his mind wouldn’t stop turning.

It had been four days.

Four days without a single word.

No glance. No smile. No small joke between them.

She moved like he didn’t exist. As if he had never sat beside her for tea.

Never held the door. Never made her laugh that day she dropped sugar into her curry and blamed him.

And yet… she was everywhere.

The quiet sound of her anklet brushing the hallway.

The rustle of her dupatta outside the bathroom door.

The faint scent of her shampoo that lingered near the kitchen.

Everything about her stayed.

Everything but her.

[shailu4ever]

He stared at the ceiling again. 


The shadows moved across it like slow waves.

He knew he’d crossed a line in that auto.

He knew it wasn’t right.

But she hadn’t shouted. Hadn’t scolded. Hadn’t even asked why.

She’d simply vanished from him. Without going anywhere.

She didn't tell her husband too.

And that, that silence, hurt worse than anything else.

He turned to his side and buried his face into the pillow for a moment.

His throat felt dry.

His heart was heavy in that specific way it gets only after midnight, when the world is asleep and regret grows louder than reason.

His voice was barely audible.

A whisper. A plea he didn’t even mean to say aloud.

“Talk to me… Didi…”

He waited.

Only the fan answered.

He swallowed hard. His eyes burned.

Then, as if catching himself, he shut them and pressed his hand against his forehead.

“Idiot…” he muttered to himself. “She’s not yours…”

But the ache didn’t leave.

It simply sank deeper, curling around the ribs.

In the other room, he imagined her asleep beside Amit.

Calm. Untouched by the fire that kept him awake.

And yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling.

That something had burned on both sides.

It was only a matter of when… and how it would return.




-- oOo --

.

[shailu4ever]

Thursday Morning: The Crack Beneath the Calm


The morning was too quiet.

Ravi sat on the edge of the bed in the spare bedroom

The pale slants of sunlight on the floor doing little to warm the heaviness inside him.

He hadn’t slept. Not really.


His eyes had closed, but his mind had been replaying that moment in the auto again and again.

Her silence afterward. The look she didn’t give him.

And the part that haunted him most?

He had felt her.

And for a second, she hadn't moved away.

That was the line.

He got up, pulled a T-shirt over his shoulders, and walked out.

The apartment was gently awake. Birds outside.

Pressure cooker whistling from the neighbor’s flat.

A distant bell ringing from a home pooja.

But inside their home, just the rhythmic clink of a spoon against ceramic.

He stepped into the kitchen.

She was there, back to him, gently stirring tea, her hair loosely pinned up,

Long earrings swaying just slightly.

She wore a soft beige top and dark blue track pants.



- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

Simple. Yet there was something quietly arresting about her. Even now.


Maybe even more now.


Ravi took a breath. “Priya Didi…”

She didn’t turn.

“I want to talk,” he said gently.


Her hands didn’t stop moving. But her silence pressed tighter.


“I shouldn’t have done what I did in the auto,” he said,

Stepping a little closer.

“I didn’t plan it… it was just one second. But that second, changed everything.”

“I’ve felt sick ever since. Not just guilty, Didi.”  

“Ashamed. Because I broke something between us.”


She stopped stirring.

Slowly, she turned to him. Her expression unreadable. Her eyes tired.

“Why didn’t you say this earlier?” she asked, voice quiet.



“I didn’t know how,” he said honestly.

“I kept practicing in my head… and then I’d see you and everything would just… freeze.”


She folded her arms lightly. “So you waited until I stopped speaking to you.”


Ravi nodded. He didn’t try to explain.


Priya exhaled, slow and long. “You know what scared me?”

She said finally.
“Not the touch. 
  Not the moment.


  What scared me was that it didn’t scare me. 
  I didn’t recoil. 
  I didn’t slap you. 
  I didn’t even look angry.”

 


- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

She met his eyes.


“Do you know what that makes a woman feel like?”

Ravi didn’t answer.

He couldn’t.


“I’ve been asking myself all week,” she continued

Her voice trembling slightly,

“what kind of woman does that make me? I’m married. I wear this mangalsutra. I wait for my husband to call every night. And yet…”

She stopped herself.

Her eyes glistened, but she blinked it away.

“I hated you for what you did,” she whispered. “And I hated myself for not hating you enough.”

The words hung between them like glass threads, fragile and sharp.

“I never told Amit,” she said quietly. “I won’t. I don’t want to break things more than they already are. But Ravi…”

She hesitated.

“…please don’t make me feel unsafe in my own home. That’s all I’m asking.”


Ravi’s head dropped. “You never have to feel unsafe around me. Never.”


They stood like that for a while.

Then she turned away, poured tea into two steel cups, and placed one silently in front of him on the counter.

“Let’s not ruin mornings,” she said softly, almost to herself.



Just then, Ravi’s phone rang.

Amit.



- o -

.

[shailu4ever]

He stepped aside and answered the call. “Hello?”


“Hey, bro!” Amit’s voice crackled warmly over the speaker. “How’s the work-from-home life treating you?”

Ravi glanced toward Priya, who had walked to the balcony, facing away.

“Uh… good,” Ravi said. “Quiet.”

“Cool. Hey, small thing, do you mind helping a girl in our building?”  

“Sirisha, I think. She’s in 2nd year BTech.”  

“Her brother asked me if someone could guide her with a small project.”  

“Nothing big. I told him I don’t have time, but you might.”


Ravi blinked. “Sirisha?”


“Yeah. Very sweet girl. She lives with her brother and sister-in-law in 401.  Her brother is my friend. I think she’ll ping or knock sometime. Just help her if you can?”


“Sure,” Ravi said. “No problem.”


“Awesome. Tell Priya I miss her nagging. And don’t let her work too hard today!”

He laughed and hung up.

Ravi stared at the phone for a moment

Then turned toward the balcony.

Priya stood there, her arms crossed gently

The wind tugging at a few loose strands of her hair.

He watched her silently, sipping the tea she had made.

Something had shifted.

Not healed.

Not broken.

But changed.



And behind her calm, 

Behind the fresh tea and composed posture

He could sense it.



She was still thinking about the auto.

And so was he.




-- oOo --

.

[readersp]

Introducing new characters!!! All the best!!! Keep rocking!!!

[shailu4ever]

Introducing new characters!!! All the best!!! Keep rocking!!!

Hi readersp

Thank you so much! 

Yes, so excited to bring these new characters to life!  New characters... New possibilities...  New Opportunities...

Your support means the world. Let’s keep the energy going!

-- Shailu

[Hotyyhard]

Wow ur putting soo much efforts for the readers much appreciated, very good updates and we are soo much engaged in the story nicely paced. ;)

[shailu4ever]

Wow ur putting soo much efforts for the readers much appreciated, very good updates and we are soo much engaged in the story nicely paced. ;)

Hi Hotyyhard

Thank you so much for your compliments and encouragement! ? 

It truly means a lot to know that you're enjoying the story and feeling connected to it. 

I have been putting a lot of heart into every update, and knowing it's resonating with readers like you makes all the effort worthwhile. 

The likes, comments and feedback I receive from you keep me motivated to continue writing.  That is the reward I see in writing.

Once again thank you for your  continued support.

Warm regards

-- Shailu