14-12-2018, 01:23 PM
She now continued, "Second reason is, I don't like to throw out any guest like that. Since you've NOW told me that he's 'bullying you', the proper thing to do is let me observe it, and if it's true, I'll agree with you. But we can't do that RIGHT NOW, right?"
I sighed again. It delayed the decision, but at least, she accepted my story as plausible. It was a positive thing, but I didn't really want to delay things. I didn't see how Kavita would agree to throw him out immediately, though.
As I gathered my thoughts, there was another pause.
Kavita then continued, "The third reason is practical. Your left hand is in a cast for 2-3 weeks, maybe longer. How do you plan to get to work for the next 2-3 weeks or however long your arm will be in the cast?"
I hadn't thought of that till then.
I wouldn't be able to drive our car, till my arm was out of the cast.
Kavita volunteered, "I could drive you to work, and drive back. Then, I could drive to pick you up, and drive back again. That's twice as much driving for US, and a lot of driving for me."
She paused, and then continued, "I don't mind doing that, Manu. But it's not like I sit idle at home without much to do. YOU know that by now, right?"
I gulped as I realized how true this was.
Over the last two weekends, I had touched the surface on how much Kavita did at home. The stuff I had done over the weekend, she did, every day, and more.
And doing just parts of it had worn me out, each time.
She took my expression for assent, and continued, "And I don't like driving in rush hour traffic, you know that, too."
I queried, "What should I do then? Should I take time off, Kavi?"
"Can you take time off, Manu? I thought you told me things were a little rough at work lately. You didn't even want to take tomorrow off, from your conversation with your boss."
It was true. I didn't feel comfortable taking time off, at this juncture.
"What do I do, then, Kavi? Should I find a carpool or something? Take an auto-rickshaw to work each day?"
"No, dummy. You can't find a carpool at such short notice. And taking an auto-rickshaw each day will cost a lot, and you know it. Especially if your arm will be in a cast for longer than 2-3 weeks. You need a short term solution. And I already found one for you."
I looked at her, puzzled.
She continued, "Prem will drop you off at work. And he'll pick you up in the evening."
I stared at her. This opened up a new line of thinking for me.
If he was going to be picking me up in the evening, he couldn't have ANY time alone with Kavita in the evenings. Unless on a Saturday when I had to work, he simply couldn't be able to be with Kavita, alone.
Unless he "sent me out on an errand" after we got home, this would greatly limit, if not eliminate, the time he would get to spend alone with Kavita.
There seemed to be a silver lining in the cloud.
I nodded and grudgingly conceded, "Good point. Nice of him to offer that, Kavi."
She sniggered and said, "He didn't offer it. I suggested it, and asked him to do it."
I sheepishly muttered, "Oh, I see."
I added, almost as an afterthought, "That was smart thinking on your part, Kavi."
She smiled sweetly at me, and said, "Thanks Manu."
She continued, after a pause, "He wasn't willing to do it, right away. He complained that it went somewhat out of the way for him. But I convinced him to agree to it, making him feel guilty about your arm."
She smiled as she said this.
I thanked her gratefully again, and said, "Thanks Kavi."
She spoke up once more, as though to close the topic, "I could have taken up Prem on his offer this morning, and asked him to leave. I didn't think it was right. He certainly has some share of the blame for today morning's schoolboy fight. But it isn't ALL his fault, and besides, this would be a bad time for us to throw him out. I hope you see that now, Manu."
At this point, it seemed somewhat settled that Amir wouldn't be thrown out: not immediately.
"We can wait for 2-3 weeks, and see if your arm recovers in that time. I can also observe Prem's behavior in that period. If he bullies you without provocation as you said, we can ask him to leave once your arm has recovered and is out of the cast, OK?"
I nodded my head in assent.
There was a longish silence, as I contemplated where to pick up the discussion next. We hadn't explicitly discussed Kavita's infidelity, yet.
I sighed again. It delayed the decision, but at least, she accepted my story as plausible. It was a positive thing, but I didn't really want to delay things. I didn't see how Kavita would agree to throw him out immediately, though.
As I gathered my thoughts, there was another pause.
Kavita then continued, "The third reason is practical. Your left hand is in a cast for 2-3 weeks, maybe longer. How do you plan to get to work for the next 2-3 weeks or however long your arm will be in the cast?"
I hadn't thought of that till then.
I wouldn't be able to drive our car, till my arm was out of the cast.
Kavita volunteered, "I could drive you to work, and drive back. Then, I could drive to pick you up, and drive back again. That's twice as much driving for US, and a lot of driving for me."
She paused, and then continued, "I don't mind doing that, Manu. But it's not like I sit idle at home without much to do. YOU know that by now, right?"
I gulped as I realized how true this was.
Over the last two weekends, I had touched the surface on how much Kavita did at home. The stuff I had done over the weekend, she did, every day, and more.
And doing just parts of it had worn me out, each time.
She took my expression for assent, and continued, "And I don't like driving in rush hour traffic, you know that, too."
I queried, "What should I do then? Should I take time off, Kavi?"
"Can you take time off, Manu? I thought you told me things were a little rough at work lately. You didn't even want to take tomorrow off, from your conversation with your boss."
It was true. I didn't feel comfortable taking time off, at this juncture.
"What do I do, then, Kavi? Should I find a carpool or something? Take an auto-rickshaw to work each day?"
"No, dummy. You can't find a carpool at such short notice. And taking an auto-rickshaw each day will cost a lot, and you know it. Especially if your arm will be in a cast for longer than 2-3 weeks. You need a short term solution. And I already found one for you."
I looked at her, puzzled.
She continued, "Prem will drop you off at work. And he'll pick you up in the evening."
I stared at her. This opened up a new line of thinking for me.
If he was going to be picking me up in the evening, he couldn't have ANY time alone with Kavita in the evenings. Unless on a Saturday when I had to work, he simply couldn't be able to be with Kavita, alone.
Unless he "sent me out on an errand" after we got home, this would greatly limit, if not eliminate, the time he would get to spend alone with Kavita.
There seemed to be a silver lining in the cloud.
I nodded and grudgingly conceded, "Good point. Nice of him to offer that, Kavi."
She sniggered and said, "He didn't offer it. I suggested it, and asked him to do it."
I sheepishly muttered, "Oh, I see."
I added, almost as an afterthought, "That was smart thinking on your part, Kavi."
She smiled sweetly at me, and said, "Thanks Manu."
She continued, after a pause, "He wasn't willing to do it, right away. He complained that it went somewhat out of the way for him. But I convinced him to agree to it, making him feel guilty about your arm."
She smiled as she said this.
I thanked her gratefully again, and said, "Thanks Kavi."
She spoke up once more, as though to close the topic, "I could have taken up Prem on his offer this morning, and asked him to leave. I didn't think it was right. He certainly has some share of the blame for today morning's schoolboy fight. But it isn't ALL his fault, and besides, this would be a bad time for us to throw him out. I hope you see that now, Manu."
At this point, it seemed somewhat settled that Amir wouldn't be thrown out: not immediately.
"We can wait for 2-3 weeks, and see if your arm recovers in that time. I can also observe Prem's behavior in that period. If he bullies you without provocation as you said, we can ask him to leave once your arm has recovered and is out of the cast, OK?"
I nodded my head in assent.
There was a longish silence, as I contemplated where to pick up the discussion next. We hadn't explicitly discussed Kavita's infidelity, yet.
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