Adultery The Old Toothbrush by Trambak

[Ramesh_Rocky]

I was tired explaining all this.

I genuinely felt that it was time for Keya and others to go. I had no more answers to give.

But they refused to budge.

I didn't know what to do.

"Can I say something," A voice asked and everyone looked at her? Adishakti was speaking.

We were all quiet. The atmosphere had suddenly turned uneasy.

She looked at me and said, "There are things that I should say because you do not want to speak about it and I think it's time, to tell the truth. Else, we shall have them as our guests for some more time," she pointed towards Shobha.

All eyes were on her. I did not say anything. Shakti lowered her face as if gathering courage and then looked up. There was a strange energy in her demeanor and she started to speak.

"How I know about Aditya is not important. What is pertinent is that I know the story well. The outline given by Trambak is essentially correct but too sketchy. There are blanks to be filled in. Aditya had a torrid affair with a married lady. Initially, it was casual but later it became serious. Both were madly in love but were fully worried about the repercussions.

This lady had a grown-up daughter and had everything to lose. Aditya was also in a dangerous boat because he was newly married. Don't look surprised, yes, he was.

Aditya and Suhasini were caught red-handed. Interestingly, she did not deny her behaviour. The scandal was immense and two families were rocked like never."

Shakti paused a little and then continued, "Four and later five lives were decimated. Aditya's wife was pregnant then. The husband of the lady was a thorough gentleman, reconciled and forgave both of them. Still, Aditya lost his job since the organization he was working with had a zero tolerance for such things. Aditya's wife was deeply hurt and left him. She brought up her child single-handedly.

Aditya meanwhile tried reconciliation though his wife steadfastly refused to do so. The gap was too wide to be bridged. As the girl grew up, there were occasions where the wife and Aditya would meet and the little girl grew fond of him. This long period of separation of 10 years managed to somewhat smoothen out the frayed emotions and suddenly both realized that may be time had come to make amends. Both of them very tentatively started rebuilding and the child cemented their relations in a peculiar way.

That was 10 years back. Their life had a motion but the memories were too stark, too deep and too scary. It continues to remain so. Deep down the placid lake, there remains a monster ready to strike"

Shakti stopped and then said in a low voice, "That's all."

Avni spoke after some time, "You mean that the story is actually about Aditya and his wife and not Suhasini and her husband?"

"Yes," Shakti replied. "I was surprised when Trambak decided to write about Suhasini and her husband and not talk about Aditya at all. He decided to tell the story in his own way. He made Aditya irrelevant because deep down the pain, the tribulations and the final reconciliation was more important than the actual players." Shakti added.

"But you were sure that this won't work with us," Avni said calmly.

"Yes, I did. Because he had through his close proximity had instilled in you an intuitive mind that he calls his conscience and that is always open to scrutiny whenever he errs in explanation. So, When Ahana said that Keya and Karan were around, I instantly knew that this was the story that needed to be told." Adishakti said.

She then turned towards me and said, "Only you refused to see the truth."

I had nothing to answer.

Keya was surprisingly quiet. She looked up and asked Shakti directly, "We are used to explanations from him. This time it is from you. How come you know all this?"

Shakti looked towards me and said, "I know it because at least one of the characters in the story is here with us. He is partially hidden in my name. I was never called Adishakti."