Adultery A Promiscuous Dare! by YLTS

[Aavesh9]

Chapter-25:

 

 

 

Rajat continued.

 

"Linny is a conniving bitch, Mona. She is a human without consciousness and I should not even term her as a human. By calling her that, entire humanity will be insulted"

 

"What-the-hell! Do you even know what you are saying, Rajat? If this is about us keeping our relationship secret from you and Desmond, then are you saying that we both don't deserve to be called as humans???", she was visibly shaking with anger.

 

"Relax. No, it's not about it. I will explain"

 

"Then... DO explain, Rajat", Mona folded her arms over her bosom showing defiance.

 

"Right. From day one, when you both came to meet me, now as heard from you, Linny had that agenda to make me hers. That could be the start, if I guess right, or possibly not. She got my information from your parents as you were working out of town, and she checked my profile and background. I am sure, it was because of that, she asked you to switch when you came to meet me"

 

"What the damn, Rajat. It was a simple prank as she told me"

 

"No, it wasn't. Behind your back, she was in a sexual relationship with Desmond even before we met", he paused and took a large gulp from her beer bottle.

 

"WHAT!", Mona exclaimed.

 

"Yes, that's true. Because I checked it, double-confirmed and it is true like our breaths"

 

"What is this bullshit, Rajat? And who confirmed all this, do you have proof?"

 

"It's not bullshit. And yes, I have proof. Listen to this recording between me and Des when he was pitch drunk. Listen to this", he took his phone and played an audio recording. 

 

It was her husband Desmond's drunken voice that came from the recording ... "Maan, Rajat... I know she's your wife. That bitch. You know, me and her go back a long way back. I met her when Mona and Linny were in college and I was in the next college to theirs... hic... hic... Linny was already dating a few guys on and off, and it was known in our college that she was a loose one. But then, I and Linny clicked once...  and then on... hic... we are close... hic...y ou don't know anything Rajat... and Mona... hic... she thinks Linny is her perfect friend... or 'sisters' as Mona puts it. Linny has an itch that can never be satisfied by any man okay.... hic... she told me about your sex drive and she can never do those shit you pull with her you... hic... you... big guy... having that thing between your legs won't satisfy that bitch...you have no idea what she does behind your back... and what she makes me do behind my wife's back... hic"

 

"Des... what are you saying man? I think you are drunk and blabbering", it was Rajat's voice.

 

"You don't believe me Rajat? So, tell me where she was during the last Holi holidays, for three days? And tell me where she was for the previous Christmas holidays... hic"

 

"Well, Linny was visiting her parents last Holi and during Christmas, she had a business trip to Hyderabad", Rajat's voice.

 

"Fuck... that bitch... last Holi, your dear wife... the saint Linny... your wife... she was with me, Rajat... hic... in Darjeeling... and for the Christmas, she was with Basheer and... then she called me to join and I joined them... yes, it was Hyderabad... but it wasn’t a business trip Rajat... it was "HER" trip to heaven... sex heaven"

 

"Des, I think you are completely drunk and talking absolute crap. You should go home... now", Rajat's voice carried anger.

 

"You still don't believe... hic... I am drunk yes... but this has been in my chest for all this time man... hic... look... I am cheating my wife with yours... and your wife is cheating you with me... and a load of other men... hic... she is not normal in her head... it is not the sex that you give her that she dislike... she doesn't like you... she is twisted... hic... she likes going behind everyone's back... hic... and playing games with everyone... hic...including me, you, my wife... my sweet wife... and others... she is a crazy bitch... hic… BUT… I LOVE HER! I LOV-LINNY! BY-JESUS-I-LOVE-HER-MAN!"

 

"Fuck you Des... I don't want to hear anything more. If you are done for tonight. Go home", Rajat's voice carried pain, anger and sadness. 

 

The only reply that came from the recording was Desmond's snores. Her husband had passed out due to intoxication, according to the audio she was hearing.

 

"This was the first one that made me investigate Linny and Des. Since I got this from Des around three years back, I have been checking Linny's every outing, every overnight meeting. And, every word... you know... every damn word this bastard uttered that night was true... when I asked about it the next day, Desmond clearly dismissed me saying that I was drunk. I deliberately didn't share this recording to him so I could do my own diligence check"

 

"My God! What is all this, Rajat? I... I don't know what to say... or what not to say. And you have had this for the last three years, and you never said anything to me. Why Rajat? Why? Did you find me not adult enough? Or you had a kick of watching me behave like an ignorant fool all this time? What is YOUR excuse, Rajat?"

 

"I... I mean... I am sorry, Mona. I really didn't think this through. Maybe I was mad at myself for letting this happen behind my back... or rather I was angry at myself for being so ignorant...and another part of me was hurt... hurt so bad at this deception that every time I was close to tell you this, I thought of the hurt that you'd go through... and I really... really I didn't wanted you to feel the pain that I carry in my chest", he apologised with all his heart.

 

Hearing his apology, Mona wasn't sure what and how to respond.

 

Mona’s heart felt as though it had been torn open, the covering skin peeled back to expose a raw, pulsing mess she no longer recognized as her own. 

 

"Linny… my best-friend… my soul-sister", the name that stood like her safety net now carried a bitter sting to it as she whimpered. Every memory they shared, the late-night secrets, the whispered promises that they were "soul sisters".

 

The way Linny had pushed her to switch places the day they met Rajat, it hadn't been a playful prank. It was a cold, calculated deception. Linny hadn't just stolen a moment - she had stolen Mona’s entire reality, constructing a "perfect world" for her to inhabit while she and Desmond turned it into a graveyard of betrayal. 

 

Mona looked up at Rajat, but she was seeing through him, replaying years of Linny’s smiles that were actually masks, and hugs that were covert reconnaissance. 

 

The stories of Linny and Desmond were so absolute, so twisted while recalling each of it now, Mona felt like her lungs were collapsing. 

 

She sat there unable to utter a word while realizing for the first time in her whole life that she was just an "ignorant fool," the punchline to a long-running joke shared in motel rooms and hidden recordings, and the person she had loved most was the one who had written the script.

 

The first sob tore out of her chest not like her voice, it was a cry from a human whose heart just exploded. 

 

Rajat looked at the woman tearing up in front of him, the very person whom he never wanted to see hurt - but then, he saw heat flooding to her face with tears spilling out of her eyes, and he as a man, unable to do anything, and he as a man, being the very reason for what he was witnessing.

 

Mona sensed her vision going blurred into a distorted smear of salt and agony.

 

She tried to hold back, to maintain the defiance she had worn like armour moments before, but her strength had turned to water. Her tears just came, drops of translucent liquid relentless in it's outpour, carving paths through the makeup she had applied to look beautiful for a night that had ended in total ruin. 

 

Her bottom lip trembled so violently she had to bite it to keep from howling, but the dam had burst. 

 

"Three years.... Rajat had carried this weight for three years while she played house like a stupid and ignorant human and that too hand-in-hand with her so-called soul-sister... playing the role of an idiot in Linny's game". 

 

The agony of being the last to know, of being the victim of a collective silence, was a humiliation that burned deeper than the betrayal itself. As the walls of her existence crumbled, Mona let out a low, broken wail, her head dropped into her hands as the painful loneliness of her reality completely took over and shattered her heart.

 

Rajat watched her break, unable to move a limb as the sound of her cry struck him with the force that vibrated through his own scarred chest. He slid across the seat, his movements slowly and uncoordinated with a decade of unspoken longing and the crushing guilt of his own silence.

 

Without his own knowledge, he drew Mona into his embrace. 

 

She felt her getting tense, but letting herself to be inside his protective layer.

 

As he pulled Mona's small, shaking frame against him, the heat of her skin. feverish with shock and grief, seeped through his chest, making his blood simmer with a conflicting, agonizing intensity. 

 

He buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling the scent of her hair, feeling a fierce, protective love he had spent a lifetime stifling. 

 

It was a suffocating proximity between them, two heart-broken humans. 

 

Rajat felt the soft, frantic press of her breasts against his ribs, a carnal instigation that flared up even in the heart of this tragedy, making his pulse hammer with a primal rhythm. Yet, he anchored himself, gripping her tight enough to hold her pieces together. 

 

He had loved her from the very first second he saw her, long before the switches, the pranks, and their marriages, a truth he had buried so deep he feared it would never see the light.

 

Now, feeling her tears soaking into his skin, he realized he would burn the world down to take this pain from her, even as the proximity of the woman he had worshipped from afar threatened to shatter his own iron-clad control.

 

"Rajat, I think I should go", somehow Mona found her voice and whispered in a whimper. 

 

Her hands still held him. 

 

His hands protected her.

 

"Sure, I understand. Let me take you home"

 

"No, Rajat. I think I need to be alone. Not that I don't mind you coming, but if you do, then I don't know what I would do", she looked up to him.

 

They mirrored each other's feelings, the depth of their sadness transpired between them to an understanding.