Adultery Knowing My Wife, Knowing Me As Well - part III

[krish_999]

Chapter - Nineteen

I followed Desai’s car to Meera's office and ensured that she was dropped back safely. What I had found out at the restaurant had shaken my conscience so much that I did not want to assume anything. Life had taught me one thing. That it was foolish to believe things as per my assumptions.

I had thought the fifty lakh rupees sitting on my shelf was Desai’s last trick of desperation. I had thought he was out of his mind, out of ideas.
But he had not only manipulated me through deception but also had managed to trick Meera. My throat had gone dry in a few minutes.
"What are you looking at? I kissed you back. Isn't it enough?"
Meera's voice echoed in my head. She kissed him. She let him taste the softness of her lips for a few seconds. I cringed at the thought and it devastated me because it was a blunder on my part to let Desai have so much freedom with Meera. I should not have told her that I did not hate Desai anymore for what he had done to her.
I should not have asked Meera about her periods.
Desai had used every bit of information he had collected from me.
He had conveyed that I was excited to hear about her old night with Desai. I was sure she already had this doubt and Desai's statement merely would have confirmed it. He furnished the idea with a statement that I was expecting to see the chemistry between them.
"He's excited about seeing us together. I could see it in his eyes."
Why wouldn’t Meera believe that? I wondered.
Why wouldn’t Meera believe that I would be aroused to imagine what they could do in his place? Such things were hardly a secret between me and Meera.
Further, by stating that I expected them to indulge in unprotected sex on Saturday, he simply reintroduced me as a willing cuckold in front of my wife. I felt he might have got that idea because Meera had lovingly called me ‘my cucky hubby’ and I wasn’t’ offended.
And he added a nail on the coffin of my image as a husband that I agreed about using a pill after their unprotected night.
"I have already planned how to do it. I'll make you scream."
He had blatantly had promised her. It was not a challenge or aspiration. It was a promise.
I was sure Meera would find it hard not to believe a word Desai had told her.
 
I could not concentrate at work during the rest of the day. I spent my day expecting Meera's phone call. I was not going to escape her interrogation. I sat back in my office and pondered about my chances of surviving it.
She would start by asking why I did invite Desai to my house. I had no purpose to do that, except that I wanted Desai to come. She would ask me why I told Desai about our secret chats about Desai. She would call me a cheat. In her eyes, it was a betrayal from my side to reveal our bedroom secrets to Desai.
I thought about telling her about the recorder. But she would ask me why I did not tell her about it when I found out about it. What I was waiting for?
“I know what you were waiting for. You were waiting for it to happen. You were waiting to see how far I would go.” Meera would ask me and my past would do nothing good to defend myself.
I had waited in the past to see where things would go and I have ended up watching her have sex with other men. It would take Meera one second to assume that I was going back to my old days.
By the time I reached home, I was split in half. Half side of my mind told me to defend myself and say Desai manipulated me. The other half wanted me to accept it all and seek forgiveness.
“I don’t want to lose you again, baby. I love you.” I could say in the end. But I was almost sure that it wouldn’t help me.
It was one thing that Meera had gone for lunch with her without telling me and even let him kiss her. If I was a normal husband, I could have simply confronted her and accused her of unfaithfulness.
But I was not a normal husband. I was the one who got an erection when he heard the sound of my wife kissing another man. And that was my problem.
 
However, Meera did not ask me about anything. She came home and chatted with me casually, and went out for the evening walk with Sheetal. I noticed Sheetal giving me a prolonged stare but I was hardly in the mood to think about her. At first, I thought Meera was just holding it back.
But she remained calm even after her evening walk. She talked about her office events like nothing happened outside her office. Like she hadn’t gone for lunch with Desai. Like she hadn’t learnt those things about me from Desai. Like she hadn’t been kissed by him.
Her silence gave birth to one doubt. Is she ready for it? A lightning jolt went down my spine as I thought of Meera preparing to grant Desai one last chance. One last chance to enjoy her body in my bed. One last chance to torture her beautiful body as he pleased. One last chance to gift her an orgasm.
“I won't be stopping next Saturday."
I hadn’t forgotten Desai's last words of the evening. I spent the evening thinking about Desai going to bed with Meera and doing crazy things to her, making her scream with pleasure. My dick went dead during those moments, bringing me a sense of relief. I was glad that my body wasn’t enjoying the crazy thoughts.
 
But later in the night, my erection came back strongly as we went to bed. I felt she was waiting for me to kiss her. I was wary that the moment I did it, she would find my erection and she would react with an explosion.
I struggled hard to find sleep. I struggled hard to stay calm. I struggled hard to ignore my erection.
I found sleep only after paying a visit to the bathroom and resorting to masturbation. I came hard and quick, and I felt relieved instantly.
I slept with a pang of guilt, but I woke up with a sense of relief that Meera had spared me from the interrogation.
But the thought that the wind had turned completely in favour of Desai was sure to make my life miserable. The only thing that helped me stay calm was that she was not going anywhere for two days as it was the weekend. I had two days to think deeply about the situation and find a solution.
 
 
The water pipe in our apartment building had been broken for many days. We had complained to the maintenance in charge but all he did was tying it with a rag to stop the water leakage. The water leakage increased day by day and eventually it broke. On Saturday morning, we managed to get some tools and repaired the pipeline ourselves. But I injured my hand while pulling the broken pipe. Even though it wasn’t serious, there was blood.
When the maintenance in charge arrived, Meera gave him an earful in front of everyone. She said it’s for the fecklessness of people like him other people are hurting their hands and suffering. The man had his face red.
Even I was taken by surprise by her outrage.
“What happened to you, baby?” I asked when we returned to the house. “It’s nothing serious much.”
“I can’t see you being hurt.” Meera’s eyes were wet. She hugged me. “Not matter how small it is. I can’t see you in pain. All I have is you, Krish.”
I saw love in her eyes.
It was again one of those moments that made me realise how much she cared for me and loved me. It made me forget all my worries and hug her with all my love. She was my Meera. My lovely wife.
I was not going to lose her.
The incident made me confident about myself and our love.
I thought about Pawan’s request. I felt his struggle in life cannot be a reason to break my Meera’s trust, no matter what.
I am not going to impregnate your wife, Pawan. I said in my mind.
 
 
 As I thought about saving my ass from the danger, the first thing that came to my mind was Desai's money. Desai's confidence that it might work was needed to be broken.
I phoned him at noon.
"Desai, I am feeling like shit because of this stupid money. Why the hell I should keep it? Just come and take it. Or tell me where you are, I’ll bring it to you."
I said.
“I told you, Krish, there is nothing to worry about it.”
"I don’t want your assurance, Desai. Just tell me where you are. I am bringing it back to you.”
I said stiffly.
"I am in Mumbai, Krish. I’ll be back in a couple of days. I can’t take the money until then.”
His reply made me believe that he was betting too much on the money.
I shook my head in disgust as I felt insulted of being considered as a man who’d accept money for a chance to fuck my wife.
I doubted he was lying to make me keep the money. But I phoned a few guys I knew from his office, and they confirmed that Desai was out of town.
 
 Meera’s office had arranged a weekend party for all the staff. Meera was not interested to go.
“I don’t want to go.”
She had told me.
“Why? Your issue with Ashish is resolved, isn’t it?”
I wondered.
“Yeah, but we haven’t been acquainted enough to party together.”
“You won’t know him unless you meet him in a social event.”
“Social event?” Meera laughed. “It’s not his thing.”
I thought it was not fair to stay away from the office party which was organized for every member of their branch for putting up an exceptional performance. I told Meera that it was the duty of every staff to acknowledge the company’s gesture.
Meera thought about it and eventually changed her mind.
 
Meera left before seven o’clock for the party. I spent the evening watching TV after having two small pegs of whisky. Later I thought about Desai’s suitcase. Even though I felt disgusted about agreeing to keep the money for nothing, I wondered why he forced me to keep it. He could have easily taken it back. Did he think I would be tempted to own it for real if I kept it for a few days?
If Desai thought so, then it meant Desai was already thinking of me as a pimp. I knew Desai wasn’t a fool to promote that idea.
Is he going to play a foul game? I thought. I hadn’t counted the money. When he said fifty lakhs, I simply believed it. What if the actual amount was lesser than that? What if he later accused me of stealing his money?
I knew Desai was so cunning that he would do anything to trap me and manipulate me.
I opened my shelf and took out the briefcase. I kept it on the centre table in the hall and opened it. I checked the neatly arranged currency. It was exactly as Desai had told me.
Half of the offer to pimp my wife. I laughed at the thought. He was very close to making his dream true through his manipulation and friendship tricks. But offering me money was a big mistake from his side. If Meera came to know about his indecent proposal, she would slap him with her sandal.
This cash, which was enough to tempt a man to murder another, would be my trump card. I believed.
Because it was easy to murder than to pimp one’s wife.
I heard the doorbell, breaking my thought process and suddenly panicking me a little bit as I thought Meera was back. I hurriedly closed the briefcase and hid it under the pillow on the couch.
The visitor turned out to be Pawan.
He asked me if he could come inside. I knew why he was there for. I confirmed it when he closed the door quietly after walking inside.
“I could not bear the tension, Krish.” Pawan came to the subject straight away. “I wanted to know if you’ve made any decision.”
“I have made my decision already, Pawan. And I don’t think I am going to change it.” I said blatantly.
Pawan’s face became dull in a second.
He moved toward the couch and began to sit on it. As he moved the pillow he saw the briefcase.
“Oh, this.” I quickly grabbed the briefcase and smiled. “I forgot. One second.” After gesturing for him to wait, I took it to the bedroom and kept it on the shelf. When I returned to the hall, he was sitting on the couch, lost in thoughts.
“Krish,” he looked up. “I know what I asked you maybe too much for a loyal man to give away. It is tough to cheat on one’s loving wife, especially a woman like Meera. But my request is not to look at it that way. I am not asking you to have sex for your pleasure or my wife’s pleasure. I just want you to do the minimum thing required to impregnate her. It could be a punishment for you. But I am counting on it, Krish. If you really look at it as a punishment for yourself, your guilt may come down. Do you know why I fixed the day to be next Saturday? It’s because it is Sheetal’s most fertile time of the month. It’s the twelfth day after her menstruation period. Three days from the twelfth day are the most possible days for conceiving. So my thinking is that you only have to do it once, and just the bare minimum.”
I let out a sigh.
“Pawan, I know it’s grown too much into your head. You look at it as a solution but I am looking at it as a question. I don’t want to hook myself into it because I just can’t. I can’t…”
“Please don’t say it now.” Pawan got up, interrupting me. “I did not come to offend you or force you. Please take your time. Think about it for the whole week to reach a decision. I too have this one whole week to pray that you decide in our favour. I am not alone. We are together in begging you for this.”
 
I had nothing to decide. I was ready to repeat it after one week too.
But as time passed I could not stop wandering into the subject again. It amused me greatly that why everything was conveniently being placed on the big Saturday. It felt as if I was already being compensated by an unknown force for an inevitable humiliation I was going to suffer on the same day. I also felt that it could be the other way around too, that Desai’s plan was just an excuse to make me decide in favour of Pawan and his wife.
“I too have one this one whole week to pray that you decide in our favour,”  I remembered Pawan’s words.
I wondered if my destiny was making me help Pawan and Sheetal.
 
For the sake of thinking, I thought about giving in to his wish on Saturday. I would walk out of my house and walk into the opposite one. Sheetal would welcome me and led me to her bedroom. She would undress and lie down on her bed. I would lie on top of her and push my dick into her. She would spread her legs and welcome my manliness. Then I would keep pushing it until I ejaculated and filled her pussy with my sperm. She would stop me from pulling out immediately.
“Please wait a few seconds,” she would request.
And she would thank me when I pull out after a few seconds.
I would get up and leave.
How long it would take? Ten minutes? Half an hour? One hour? I wondered.
One hour! The thought made me remember that while doing Pawan this great favour I would be leaving my wife in the company of Desai. He would straightaway grab my wife and lead her to my bedroom. There he would undress them both. But he wouldn’t simply proceed to fuck her. He would eat her pussy first and then make her suck his dick. And finally, he would take her to the bed and fuck her. He will not just fuck her. He would make her come and scream with pleasure. And he would then fill her pussy with his cum.
In the end, Pawan would become a father. And I would become a willing cuckold again.
For Pawan, it would be a blessing. For me, it would be a curse, with a sense of déjà vu.
I had lived that life already, and I had decided I wouldn’t go back to that world again. It was not a world I wanted to revisit.
Even if I felt for Pawan, I could never do it because of the money Desai offered me. Receiving it would make me a pimp forever.
No. I would never take it. Even if Desai had his way with Meera, I would never take the money.
I thought for a moment and the next moment I scolded myself for making decisions beyond Saturday.
 
Later, I calculated what day it would be from her last monthly cycle. Meera had told me her last cycle had ended on Monday. I counted from the Monday, and I chill went down my spine as I realised that Saturday was going to be the thirteenth for her.
“It’s because it is Sheetal’s most fertile time of the month…Three days from the twelfth day are the most possible days for conceiving.”
Desai had already given me the pill. But I knew it will be wasted.
 
 
My phone rang. It was Meera.
“Baby I’ve got great news,” I could sense her excitement in her voice. “I’ve got the promotion.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s great news. How did this happen? How’s the party?”
“That’s what the party is about. Ashish just announced it. Krish, I can’t bear this happiness.”
She was emotional.
“Baby, I can understand your joy. And you deserved it. I have seen you working harder and harder; if there was someone who deserved this, then it’s you. I am so happy for you.”
I said.
I was indeed happy for her. But the truth was that I was not in a mental position to celebrate it. My life was again on the verge of being collapsed like a palace of cards. 
My life was getting better in every way, in front of the eyes of the public. But it was on the verge of being destroyed. Only I knew.
When Meera came home she hugged me tight and kissed me.
“I am so happy, baby.” Her eyes were wet.
I smiled at her and kissed her back.
 
She later talked about the party. It was different from normal booze parties because Ashish Bharadwaj held the event together.
“He likes to make people share their emotions rather than shouting it out in the air,” Meera opined.
“And you know, he asked me to thank you for making me change my mind and attend the party.” She added. “Otherwise his plan to break my promotion news would have been failed.”
She showed me pictures from the party. Most of them were group selfies. I could not help but notice how stunning she looked in all of them. But the fear that all her beauty might become an object to satisfy Desai's hunger in few days left me unable to enjoy the good news.
 
 
Meera did not speak a word about Desai on Sunday too. And she did not stop talking about the struggle she had to bear in the past four months. She was proud of her achievement. I was also proud of her.
I went out on Sunday evening to buy a surprise gift for her. At the shopping mall, I ran into a familiar figure at the same store.
“Thinking about a gift for your wife?”
I heard a familiar voice from behind and turned. It was Ashish Bharadwaj and I smiled at him.
“Yeah, I heard she got promoted. Must be appreciated, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, she did and she deserves a special gift.” We shook hands. “But what about you? You too have someone who deserves something special?”
“No, Krish. I am not as lucky as you.” His smile lost its brightness slightly.
I remembered what Meera had told me about his failed marriage. I apologised.
“It’s alright, Krish. It’s a long-gone tale, doesn’t hurt now.” He said.
He was there to buy a dress for a friend’s daughter as a birthday present.
“I don’t have many friends here.” He added.
I helped him chose the dress. When I chose a sleeveless maxi dress for Meera, he acknowledged my selection sense. But he never said a word about Meera.
 
We chatted freely and ended up in a beer parlour on the top floor of the shopping mall.
“I don’t make friends easily, Krish.” He said. “That I am sitting with you and having a drink here is quite surprising to me.”
“You seem to be a genuine person who speaks his mind. I think that’s what clicked for me. But honestly speaking, the image Meera had given me about you was a bit different. She thinks you like to maintain the gap from women in general.”
I said.
“She’s right about me.” Ashish smiled. "I've had a long struggle with a woman who was my wife. You know, I will never get over those days. The only favour it did to me is that I am now very cautious with women. I approach them with caution. You know, I was wary of how Meera would react if I acted against a friend of hers. If she was a man it would have been professional. But you know when a woman is involved; you can't do it without making your side crystal clear. The day I met you, and I learnt a bit about you, that's when I got the courage to do it. I have to thank you for that. It may be irrelevant to you, but it matters a lot to me, Krish."
"You did a good thing. Meera told me. She's convinced about your reports against Desai. So the credit should go to you only."
"Did Meera tell you all of that?"
He was surprised.
"Yeah, why?"
"You are a great husband then. In my opinion, you guys are quite lucky to have each other."
It was the first time when somebody told me we were lucky to have each other. Otherwise, I was often told I was lucky to have Meera as my wife.
Ashish was a person who paid less attention to outside beauty. I wondered why his wife had to seek divorce from him. I eventually asked him about his marriage.
Ashish told me the story of his unsuccessful marriage.
“My wife never loved me. In fact, I don’t know much about her. I wonder how much she knows about me too. She’s a strange woman who doesn’t even need my money. She’s rich enough, and she had no interest in me and my family or my friends. We’ve been living separately for the last five years. I wonder why we got married in the first place.”
I felt for him. He went on. “We got married and from day one there were small incidents of differences. We never settled down. There was no time to settle down. Everything went down with no chance of recovery.”
“If it’s been five years, isn’t it time to move on find another partner?”
I asked.
Ashish smiled. “I am the cat who fell in the hot water once, now even the cold water freaks me out.”
“You’ve moved on, Ashish. Let me tell you.”
“How can you say that?”
“You are talking with sarcasm instead of sadness. How often do you think of her?”
“I don’t think of her at all. I don’t think of any woman, to be honest. I think I have developed a deep hatred towards marital life. It’s simply so difficult to maintain. So fragile and so complicated. You and Meera are a great couple and I must congratulate you on that.”
At the end of the day, I liked him even more.
I told him one day I would invite him to my house for lunch. He said he would be glad to join me.
 
 
On Monday too, I planted the fully charged voice recorder in Meera's handbag and decided to spy on her. I was scared of Desai showing up at her office with another trick in his sleeves. Since I had learnt that Meera wasn’t going to be honest about her meeting with Desai, I wasn’t ready to count on her.
The day turned out to be a tedious experience for me as it passed without anything abnormal except when I saw Meera and another woman going out in the afternoon. Curious to know where they were heading to, I followed them. I ended up following them to a clothing store, a medical store, and a toy store. I got Meera's handbag in the range a couple of times and it turned out that they were buying birthday gifts for Anagha’s daughter.
Desai did not show up and it made me feel better at the end of the day. I also learnt one flaw in the recorder device. I had received a few calls from my office. During the calls, the connection was lost and I could not hear anything from the device until I re-synced it with the mobile phone.
I did not want to leave it for a chance. When I went home I took out my old phone and kept it charged. I planned to use it for calls when the device was synced next time.
 
 
I phoned Desai in the evening.
“Are you back in Pune? When are you taking your money back?”
I asked him without trying to be polite.
“I am still in Mumbai, Krish.” He said. “I will call you when I come back.”
“You better call me. If you think leaving your money with me would tempt me for anything, then you are the dumbest person I’ve met in my life.”
“Just cool down, Krish. I know you won’t accept the money. It’s not a bribe. Just keep it with you, I’ll take it back once I am back.”
He said.
I had the call recording on. After ending the phone call I played the recording.
It will prove that my side. I thought.
 
The next morning, I received a phone call from Desai.
“Krish, I called you to remind you about something. Actually, I forgot one important thing. The pill I gave you, I want you to check its expiry date.”
“What? Why?”
I was puzzled by his bizarre demand.
“I forgot to check it when I picked it up from the medical store. We don’t want a case of accidental pregnancy. This is important because we can’t leave anything for luck. I only wish to have sex with Meera once, not to impregnate her.  Please check the date and tell me if it’s expired, I’ll bring a new one. Okay?”
 
His blatant optimism made me laugh. He was so confident of sleeping with my wife already.
 
“Okay, bring a new one,” I said jovially.
“Thanks, bye.”
He cut the call before I could ask if he was back in town. I called him back but he was not reachable. I phoned at his office later to confirm and his staff said he was away.
“Sir will come back on Friday only.”
The staff said.
 
 
Wednesday evening Meera had something to tell me about Ashish Bharadwaj.
“A part of him is indeed a misogynist. I can tell that, Krish.”
She had witnessed Ashish behaving with prejudice with a woman staff.
But I felt Ashish had the reason to hate women in general. I told Meera about his failed marriage in the hope of making her understand him better.
“I think you should have a word with him,” Meera suggested in the end, “because if he’s comfortable to share about his personal life with you, then he must be comfortable to hear from you.”
“About what?”
I asked.
“About the truth,” she said. “That he doesn’t need to be always afraid of women.”
I agreed with her.
 
The next day I phoned him and invited him to have breakfast with me on Friday.
“I am afraid I won’t make it tomorrow, Krish,” Ashish said politely. “But I’ll definitely say yes for another day.”
“How about Saturday, then?”
“I would love that.”
“That’s great.”
“In fact, I was wondering when you’d be inviting me for lunch. Is that it?”
I remembered that I had told him about inviting him for a lunch.
“Yeah, why not. If you are free on Saturday…”
I said, still calculating in my mind.
“I’ll be glad to make myself available for it. Just message me your address, please. I have absolutely no idea in which side of the city your house is.”
When the phone call ended, I wondered what’s wrong with Saturday.
I wanted to have breakfast with him on Friday but what I did was inviting him to lunch on Saturday at my house. The same lunch that Desai had been counting on to make his dream a reality.
I sat back and laughed at the thought. I was sure that nothing was going to happen on Saturday. I thought Ashish's presence would be enough to shatter Desai's long-cherished dream.
 
When I told Meera about it, she happily agreed.
“You are close to him than anyone in my office.” She said.
 
Friday I noticed her cleaning the house thoroughly.
“Mmm… trying to impress your boss!”
I teased her.
“Trying not to lose the impression, mister!”
She retorted.
While helping her with the cleaning I asked about Desai.
“Oh, he can get lunch another day. It’s not important. I’m not that much committed to that lunch. I will tell him to wait for another day.”
Her words brought me great joy. I felt the promotion and the much-needed appreciation must have helped her free herself from the world of Desai.
“Why don’t you call him up and say this right now?” I suggested.
I wanted Desai to hear it from her. There is no lunch coming, dude.
But my confidence backfired slightly as Meera phoned Desai straightaway.
“Sorry, Desai. I’m disappointed that I have to cancel tomorrow’s lunch. I’ve just got to know I’m going to have unexpected guests tomorrow.” I was beginning to imagine Desai's disappointment and also celebrate in my mind. But what Meera told him next left me disappointed.
“Not Sunday, Desai. Sunday we have plans of a temple visit with our neighbours. I’ll invite you next week. I promise you.”
With those words, Meera had given him hope again. And it left me anxious again.
 
 
However, I was saved from whatever tension I had been carrying since the lunch with Desai was fixed. Saturday, I woke up with a sense of relief and relaxation.
I would not have to bear the sight of Meera welcoming Desai to my house. I would not have to see him feast on her beauty with his eyes.
Meera remained busy in the kitchen since morning. She had turned down my suggestion to order food from the restaurant. She finished the cooking in time and changed to a white kurti and black leggings.
I was surprised to see her sticking to homely attire. But she looked stunning in that look too. The well-stitched kurti brought out the perfectness of her body. But there was no extra effort to impress her boss through her appearance. It simply made me happy about having invited Ashish Bharadwaj to my house. I remembered how seductively Meera had dressed for the dinner with Desai the other night. She had an excuse that she had worn that dress for the ‘others’ including me.
 
 
Ashish Bharadwaj arrived at around twelve. He shook hands with Meera and me while exchanging pleasantries. He sat on the couch and said mentioned how well maintained our house was.
We chatted for some time before we moved to the dining hall. Ashish thanked Meera for the homely food.
“I haven’t had homely food in a long time. I had a cook in Bangalore. He was very good and I wanted to bring him to Pune. But he refused. I had tried a few guys but all of them were only good in north Indian dishes which tasted more like restaurant food. I am searching for a new house and once I’m settled, I’ll get a new cook also.”
I noticed how keenly Meera was listening to him. I guessed she was amused by him talking personal matters so comfortably.
“Where are you living now?”
I asked.
When he mentioned the place, Meera quickly recognised it.
“I know the place. My friend lives there.”
“Which friend?”
I asked.
“Ananya. She lives in the MCR apartments. She and Sam recently shifted there. Didn’t you know?”
Now I knew which building she was talking about. It was the huge apartment Desai had gifted her. But I did not know when Ananya and Sam had moved into it.
“No, I didn’t know,” I said.
“I know of that building. In fact, I had visited it at the beginning with the intent to buy one flat in it,” Ashish said. “There was a funny incident though. I had gone to see the newly constructed flats. But I opened the wrong door and I was embarrassed to see a man and woman hugging each other. They were shocked to see a stranger intruding on their private moments because they were definitely doing some hanky-panky, but luckily they didn't shout at me. Nevertheless, I still feel embarrassed about it.”
As he kept talking with a light smile, I was running back in my memory. Those strangers were me and Ananya when she had taken me to see her flat. We had shared a few intimate moments before being interrupted by a stranger pushing open the front door unexpectedly. I had thanked the stranger in my mind for interrupting us, but I had no idea I would be having lunch with him at my house.
If I had a hint, I wouldn’t have befriended him, let alone inviting him for a lunch. But unfortunately, we both had failed to recognise each other despite a feeling of having met already. Now I had recognised him, and I could only pray that he did not recognise me.
“I had liked the flat. But the rate was too high. Your friend must be rich.”
Ashish’s joke brought a smile to Meera's face. She took out her mobile and showed Ananya’s photo to him.
Ashish had a close look at the photo, much to my distress. I could only pray that he did not recognise her as well.
“I have seen this woman, but I don’t remember.”
He said, much to my relief.
Meera smiled.
“You pretend like you have a thin memory. When you met Krish for the first time, you said the same about him too.”
“Yeah, you are right.” Ashish threw a glance at me.
It was the moment I had been dreading. He had recognised me. He had recognised that I was the man in a compromising position with another woman, who was now revealed to be my wife’s friend.
It was one thing that Meera was aware of my short time fling with Ananya during our separation. But it was something else that I had gone to her empty flat behind her back. It was anybody’s wild guess that we might have had sex there.
I felt I shouldn’t have met him at all.
I had a mental re-run about my life’s many events in the past. It was an unbelievable repetition of a twist that I was destined to meet Ashish Bharadwaj again in my life. Like Shekhar turning up at my doorstep, Das revealing himself, Sam’s attempted blackmailing of Meera, etc. came to my head in one second. In those moments I was a bad guy who by some part of my body wanted the bad things to happen. But here, I was not looking for any stupid adventure, with no plan to mess up with my life.
I knew Ashish Bharadwaj’s few words could create havoc in my life. I gauged the possibility of Ashish revealing the truth about me and Ananya to Meera. I could only pray that he never recollected it.
The food on my plate had turned sour in a few seconds. I did not say what to contribute to the ongoing conversation between my wife and her boss.
Meera, on the other hand, went on to tell Ashish how I had helped Ananya get a new job when she lost her old one. She was inadvertently revealing my closeness to her friend.
“So, have you found the house you wanted?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.
“Yeah, I’ve found another house. I’m expecting to move in there the next month.”
Ashish said.
 
After lunch when Meera left us alone, Ashish was thoughtful. I sat tight on the couch, pretending nonchalance.
The lunch had ended for me. I wanted him to leave as early as possible.
Meera returned to the hall and luckily, Ashish got ready to leave soon.
 
I accompanied him to the parking. I was pretending to be innocent till then.
But Ashish had other ideas.
“So that’s why we felt we had met each other, right. It’s a huge coincidence that we have become so close without recognising.” He said.
I did not know what to say.
“I know it's personal and I don't have the right to question you. But since I happened to carry the embarrassment for a long time, I am curious about your feeling. Were you embarrassed when I opened that door? Were you scared of me?”
I looked down for a moment before I spoke.
“I was embarrassed to be in that incident. It was an accident.”
I did not think he would believe me. But I went on. “I have helped Ananya many times in the past. I am one of her closest friends. She was unable to decide on the flat because it was huge and she thought I could help her. She was already looking for an opportunity to thank me for helping her find a new job. She got emotional a bit, and I’d say a momentary slip led us to embrace each other. We both were shocked when interrupted but only then we realised the mistake we were doing, and we were embarrassed mainly for that.
A bit of embarrassment goes for a stranger seeing us like that, but actually I'm grateful that you showed up at right time. In fact, I have been wondering how I should thank you.”
“Well, you can thank me now.”
He quipped.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile.
“Does Meera know about it?”
His question simply erased my smile.
“I didn’t think she should know about it.”
“Then don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t tell her either.” He said, looking into my eyes. I could see he meant it.
He shook hands with me before he left.
I let out a sigh. I felt glad that I met him.
 
 
In the evening when the ladies were gone, I went to Pawan’s house. He gave me a cold welcome. I could guess that he must have learnt from Sheetal that I hadn’t visited her in the day.
“I am sorry to disappoint you, Pawan. I told you I love Meera more than anything in the world. I can’t do this to her.”
“I am disappointed, yes.” Pawan shook his head. “You know, I had sex with a girl in my relation on the previous night of my wedding. I was struck with pain that I wouldn’t be seeing her again and that led me to do it.  But after my marriage and when I learnt how much Sheetal loves me, I always feel bad about it. It was a sin to cheat on her on the eve of our wedding. I believe that my inability to become a father is because of this sin. In some way that’s the reason why I’m able to take this decision. The decision to let my wife conceive by someone who can is taken by us together. If not by you, it’ll be done by someone else. You have proven to be too good a man for us. But what can I say?”
I was disheartened by his sad talk. But I was not going to help him.
 
 to be cont'd...