Adultery The Aarogya Wellness and Intimacy Clinic

[prasannas2001]

 

 
 
Naveen stood in front of the mirror and looked at his own face, tired, rumpled, faintly ridiculous in his rumpled pajamas.
 
He had imagined this morning differently.
 
He had imagined waking up next to her, both of them sticky and content, her hair spread across the pillow like a dark halo, a lazy smile on her lips.
 
He had imagined the future starting here, in this room, in this bed.
 
Instead he was standing in a hotel bathroom, alone, trying to figure out how to tell his wife that everything was going to be okay when he wasn't sure it was.
 
He splashed water on his face.
 
He brushed his teeth.
 
He ran his hands through his hair and told himself that this was just a bump in the road, that all marriages had their challenges, that patience was the answer.
 
He was good at patience.
 
He had practiced it all his life.
 
He opened the door.
 
Seema was sitting up in bed, the covers pulled to her chin.
 
She looked small and fragile and impossibly lovely, and she looked terrified.
 
"Good morning," he said.
 
"Good morning."
 
He sat on the edge of the bed, careful to keep distance between them.
 
"How did you sleep?"
 
"Fine," she said.
 
A lie.
 
They both knew it.
 
"Seema, "
 
"Naveen, "
 
They spoke at the same time, stopped at the same time.
 
A small, nervous laugh from her.
 
He smiled.
 
"You first," he said.
 
She shook her head.
 
"No, you."
 
He took a breath.
 
"I just wanted to say, last night doesn't matter."
 
"I mean, it matters, because it happened, and because I want to understand."
 
"But it doesn't change anything."
 
"I'm not angry."
 
"I'm not disappointed. I'm not going anywhere."
 
"Okay?"
 
She looked at him, and her eyes filled with tears, and she nodded.
 
"Okay."
 
"And we'll figure it out," he said.
 
"Together. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out."
 
She nodded again.
 
He wanted to kiss her.
 
He wanted to lean forward and press his lips to her forehead and tell her, with his body, what he had just told her with his words.
 
But he didn't.
 
Because he didn't want to see her flinch, and he was afraid she would.
 
Instead he stood up and said, "I'm going to order breakfast. Do you want anything specific?"
 
She shook her head.
 
"Anything. Whatever you're having."
 
He nodded and went to find his phone.
 
And Seema sat in bed, watching him, her heart breaking in a way she couldn't explain, a way she couldn't put into words.
 
She had married the kindest man she had ever known.
 
And she was already failing him.