Adultery The Aarogya Wellness and Intimacy Clinic

[prasannas2001]

 

 
 
The therapy room was smaller than the consultation room, but just as calm.
 
A comfortable couch.
 
A single chair.
 
Soft lighting.
 
A window that looked out onto the garden.
 
And on the wall, a painting, an abstract thing, soft colors, nothing you would look at twice.
 
Seema sat on the couch.
 
Anjali sat in the chair, a notebook open on her lap.
 
"Tell me about your childhood," Anjali said.
 
Seema blinked.
 
"My childhood?"
 
"Just in general. What was it like?"
 
Seema thought for a moment.
 
"Normal, I suppose. I grew up in Vijayawada. My father was a bank manager. My mother was a homemaker. I have one brother, older. We were, we were a normal family."
 
"Happy?"
 
"I think so. I don't remember being unhappy."
 
Anjali nodded, writing something down.
 
"And your parents, were they affectionate with each other? Did you see them hold hands, kiss, show affection?"
 
Seema hesitated.
 
"Not really. They were, traditional. They didn't do those things in front of us."
 
"And with you? Were they physically affectionate with you? Hugs, kisses, that sort of thing?"
 
"My mother, sometimes. My father, " Seema paused.
 
"My father was not a demonstrative man. He loved us, I know that. But he didn't, he didn't touch us much. Not in a bad way," she added quickly.
 
"Just, he wasn't that kind of person."
 
Anjali nodded again.
 
"And when you were growing up, what were you taught about sex? About your body?"
 
Seema felt her cheeks flush.
 
"Nothing. I mean, my mother told me about menstruation when I was eleven. And before the wedding, she told me, she said it would be my duty to, to please my husband. That I should not be shy. That it was natural. But she didn't, she didn't explain anything. She just said I would understand when the time came."
 
"And did you?"
 
"No." The word came out sharper than Seema intended.
 
"No, I didn't understand. I still don't."