12-09-2021, 09:50 PM
Chapter – Twenty Three
I was shocked to find the voice recorder missing from Meera's handbag. I sat on my bed and re-examined the bag thoroughly. But it wasn't there. The hand knitted slit looked torn open. It can be only done by someone who knew about the recorder.
Desai?
It was an easy guess.
I kept the handbag aside but I could not get up from the bed as I was caught in a web of thoughts. I lay in the bed and pondered. There were only two possibilities. The first one was Desai finding it. Because he knew that I was still using the recorder to spy on my wife. And he would have checked her bag to find it. Maybe when she's gone to the washroom or something, he would have grabbed it and thoroughly checked it. He would have destroyed it. Or he would have kept it on in his pocket to use it to tease me later.
More than him using it to tease me or manipulate me, I hated that Desai would know I didn't trust Meera. But more than that something else worried me.
What if he chose to reveal the voice recorder to Meera and told her that I never trust her?
I knew she would hate me for that.
The fact that I was mentally prepared to welcome her back no matter what she does on a date with Desai. Instead, being hated by her would become heartbreak for me.
I never wanted to come across as a cuckold husband whose wife slept with another man because of hatred or my incompetence in bed. My pleasure existed in the fact that no matter what we did, we were still a lovely couple. I did not want to hate Meera for anything. And I did not want her to hate me for any reason.
I wanted her to love me more even when having some fun with other men.
Being hated by her in front of Desai would only increase the pain. I could only hope that Desai did not reveal the truth about the voice recorder to Meera. I counted on the fact that if he chose to tell about it, he would also have to tell how he knew about it in the first place. Then he would have to confess how creepy he had been. I thought he would not tell Meera about it.
Another option was Meera herself finding the voice recorder in her bag.
But how?
I had no idea.
I thought she would keep it to herself had she found it. But she would be disheartened that I tried to spy on her. The simple thought that I did not trust her would hurt her and push her into further depression.
As I pondered deeply, at an extremely optimistic moment I chose to believe that even though Meera found it, Desai would also be a suspect. She could think that it was done by Desai to spy on her to hear her conversation with me at home - for further manipulation. It was a distant hope though.
My initial worry about what would have happened on the date had disappeared with the missing voice recorder. Even though her lipstick was gone, her hair was intact. Her dress was also no different. Even if Desai managed to do something, I was sure that it would be limited to a kiss or a blow job. The latter was a distant possibility anyway.
When Meera returned after the evening walk, I found myself looking for cues to make out what was going on inside her head. Eventually, I asked her about the dinner.
"You're not telling me anything. It's making me tensed that something went wrong during the lunch."
I said.
Meera looked into my eyes for a moment before she spoke.
"Why did you put a voice recorder in my handbag, Krish? You looked into my eyes and told me you trusted me. And then you put a voice recorder in my handbag?"
I was stunned. I could only stare at her. Before I could find words to prepare an answer, her eyes became filled with tears.
"I promised you I wouldn't let anything wrong happen, and I asked you if you were really okay to let me have lunch with Desai. You said you trust me, didn't you? Then why?"
"I am sorry, baby," I said. "I am very sorry. But it's not what you think like."
"What is it then? How do you justify putting a voice recorder in my bag?"
Tears started to seep down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, Meera. Let me talk first." I wiped her tears from her cheeks. "I put the voice recorder not because I didn't trust you. I only wanted to hear what you talk about because I don't want Desai to manipulate us again. That recorder doesn't belong to me. It belongs to Desai. He had put it in our bedroom to spy on us, to hear what we talk about him. He used that information to manipulate us. That night he heard you telling me that you have been intimate with men other than Desai. And he heard you calling me a cucky husband. That's when he started manipulating us. I didn't want him to feed me lies about you."
Meera took a towel and wiped her eyes.
"Today wasn't the first time you did it, was it?"
Her voice was calm. But it was enough to pierce into my heart.
"You had spied on me the other day too when I gave him head in his car. You later told me it was Desai who told you about it. And you said you got angry with him and called him a bastard and all. And you said you chose not to talk about it because we had moved on. And when I honestly told you what happened, you listened on like you knew nothing. Weren't you testing me, Krish? Oh, God. What if I hadn't been honest with you? Wouldn't you have judged me?"
"No, Meera. I didn't expect you to lie about it. So there's no point in judging you. I felt you wouldn't talk about it fearing it would hurt me. I only wanted to know what was happening, baby. I love you."
"So many lies. It is plain as water that you are using me, Krish. I can see why my sleeping with Ashish doesn't frustrate you. Because you want me to sleep with someone. Let it be Ashish or Desai. You have never changed. Or maybe you had, but now you are back to the old you. You want to play with our lives again. When will you stop, Krish?"
My head was down.
"I am sorry. I am a weak creature with a lot of stupid fantasies. I don't know why it happens but I can tell you it happens when I start speculating. If I know what you spoke with Desai during today's lunch, then I guess I'll have nothing to fantasise about. I can't help it when my imagination goes wild. Instead of getting angry, I become aroused. I am helpless about it. And this leaves me with no reason to blame you for anything. Only one thing I am sure about is that my love for you is permanent."
"Your words sound like a confession but you are still trying to convince me that all is well. It's freaking me out, Krish. I don't know where it is taking us."
"Nothing is going to happen, Meera. The only thing we need to do is, to be honest about each other's feelings about anything, let it be Ashish or Desai. We can talk it out and move on."
I said.
"Are you nurturing secret fantasies about Desai and me?"
Meera asked.
"No," I said. It was a blatant lie. There was not a single day in the previous week that I hadn't dreamt about Desai pumping his monster dick into her pussy. There was not a single occasion that my fantasies failed to give me a satisfying ejaculation. Yet I lied.
Because I thought she was not ready to hear the truth.
I knew she was pissed off and I didn't want to infuriate her.
Meera was watching me.
"You are fantasising neither about Ashish nor about Desai. Then who's it?"
"I am scared to fantasise. But it still keeps me warm. I am fantasising about you doing special things to me."
"Such as?"
"This is not the right time to tell you. It'll spoil the fun."
Meera pushed me away.
"You are always looking for the fun. You're digging your own grave, let me tell you, Krish. There's a time you must stop this all."
"Tell me about what Desai talked to you during the lunch first," I demanded.
"He was a decent guy today. He was a changed man...I was surprised, honestly. He said I changed him, you know when I gave him an earful a few days ago. I don't think it's entirely true, but I can't see a reason to believe that he's still chasing me. You know, he didn't try to impress me at all. He apologised for trying to manipulate me using the voice recorder. He confessed a lot of things he did in desperation to get to me. He told me about trying to trap us - especially you - with the cash. You know he had stolen the money from our house, he admitted that. He said sorry and told me to slap him in private if I wanted. Or any punishment I wanted to give him. He confessed about placing the voice recorder in our bedroom to listen to the sounds of our lovemaking. He wanted to know how good we were doing in there because he thought it was your special skills in bed that kept me loyal to you. He said he found out that it was something else. Do you know what was it? Love. He was jealous and so he tried to manipulate us to break our bond. He got me to do a couple of kinky stuff but they were worthless in comparison to what I was giving you. My love. He had set me as the ultimate target and even though I did not let him win, he felt I have succeeded in making him understand the value of a relationship. He said when he heard me calling you a cucky hubby, his hope to lay me had touched the sky. But my love for you spoiled it all. He understands my awareness about you too, I mean you wouldn't be as offended as you have always pretended to be, but he has now learnt that I chose to stay loyal to you because I respected our marriage. He promised me that he wouldn't try to chase every woman he sees. He has found the value of being in a relationship with a woman who can be a partner in things other than just sex. The next time when he gets attracted to a woman, he said, he would first ask himself if she's truly worth wooing and she's not already in love with someone else. Because he thinks that would be the last woman he's going to take home."
More than the words she spoke, I was paying more attention to how the sadness on her face was fading away. She had only good things to talk about the lunch with Desai. Perhaps it was because finally there was a date with Desai which she could talk about in detail without worrying about arousing me.
Her words from the other day came to my mind.
"That's your reputation, Krish."
It was a moment she could talk about Desai without worrying about my reputation.
"We also spoke about our family. He said he's planning to spend time with his family soon."
"Where are they?"
"They are in Shimoga."
I nodded. I was thoughtful.
"Do you truly believe his words, Meera?"
Meera was surprised. "Why do you ask so?"
"I don't think it would so easy for him to move on. If your angry lecture could change a man so easily, then I would have been a saint already."
Meera smiled.
"That's because you are a man beyond saving. My idiot husband!"
I laughed.
When we went to sleep after dinner, I apologised for the recorder.
"I am sorry, Meera. I didn't mean to hurt you. I knew you wouldn't do anything wrong. Wouldn't I have tried to follow you otherwise?"
"It's okay, Krish," Meera said. "I was hurt when Desai expressed his doubt that you would be spying on me. I was puzzled at first, but then he asked me to check my handbag. I could not find it initially. But I then checked it thoroughly and found it. You had done well to hide it. Where do you get these ideas from, anyway?"
"Of course, the idea came from Desai. And he was way idiotic than me. He quoted a few exact lines that we had spoken the other night. And eventually, he admitted. He was also scared that you would find out."
"Well. He trusted you and you kept his trust intact by hiding it from me. Not only that, you rascal used it to spy on me! You are a pathetic husband, you know that?"
"If you are really angry, then you can punish me."
I said.
Meera shook her head. "I know what punishment you are thinking about. But I know how to punish you."
"How?"
"There is no sex for the next two weeks!"
I was stunned. "What? Are you serious?"
"yeah, I am serious. It's become a daily affair that you talk some nonsense every night and then proceeds to hump me like a cheap woman. Not any more."
"When did I do that?" I could not believe her words.
"Every night. So move to the other side and sleep, okay?"
She pushed me away and pulled her blanket over her head. After one second she pulled it down and looked at me.
"You called Desai more idiotic than you because he told you a few exact lines that we had spoken to each other, right?"
I nodded, "Yeah!"
"Do you know how did he find out you were using the same voice recorder to spy on me and him? That's when you quoted some exact words he had told me during those two meetings! Now you decide who is more idiotic between the two of you!"
She said with a cheeky smile and pulled the blanket back over her head.
That was the end of the night.
The next day Meera told me more about her conversation with Desai. More about his father and mother. And his family. Desai's elder brother was killed by his wife's boyfriend. His wife and her boyfriend later died by suicide.
I had a tough time believing that too. I wondered if Desai was trying to win her heart through sentiments.
That noon, I had a surprise at my office. Ashish came to visit me.
It was the first time we were meeting after he slept with my wife.
"I should have met you earlier, Krish." He sat in my cabin and spoke. "But I did not dare to face you. I betrayed you."
I did not know what to say in reply. I just looked on.
"I had seen you taking the scooty from my apartment parking. And Meera later told me that she told you what happened. I am truly sorry. I know I don't deserve to be forgiven but I have no choice. I am not able to sleep well. I am so ashamed of what I have done to you. You considered me a friend and I betrayed you."
He struggled to face my straight eyes. I found it tough to look into his eyes too.
"There is no use of talking about it, how it happened and all. I don't know how you reacted to Meera. But she's a great woman. I know I don't deserve to speak a word about her to you. But I have to tell you that I was a man who needed help. I was torn. I might have come across a man who hated women always, and it's for a reason. When Meera came into my life, even though for a moment, because of her empathy, I could not stop myself. I felt like... I don't know how to tell you that. I don't have to tell you my feelings about Meera. I respect the reality that she is your wife."
"She is my life, Ashish."
I spoke, finally.
Ashish gave me a helpless look.
"I came to seek your forgiveness, Krish."
"Meera told me about it. How it happened and all. I can understand your situation. I can't tell you anything else because whatever happened has happened. What's the use of crying about it? I forgive you."
Ashish looked at me in disbelief.
I smiled at him.
"She said it's an accident. Let it be. Let's forget it. Forgiveness is the first step for that, I believe."
I shook hands with him as Ashish left a happy man.
But Ashish's seeking of my forgiveness had an unforeseen effect on my life.
I realised it only after two days when Meera told me that she had resigned from her job.
I had the shock of my life.
"What happened? Why did you do it?"
I could not shut my mouth out of shock.
Meera watched me for a long moment and then replied.
"Because I don't want to work under him. You can forgive him. You can forgive anyone. But I can't forgive myself."
"This is madness, Meera," I yelled in despair. "You could have at least given me a hint about what you were going to do."
Meera gave me a sharp look.
"If you are concerned about the loss of money I am going to suffer from this, don't worry. I have applied for another job. I'm confident I'll get it. It's just a matter of time. You can worry about something else, please."
There was nothing I could do apart from showing her my anger. We had a couple of arguments and that's it. Four days later, she attended an interview and she received the appointment mail the very next day.
"Here's it is Krish. I am getting paid again. Isn't that what you want?"
Meera asked me.
But the paycheck was forty per cent lesser than the previous one. I did not mention it, though.
"What do you get out of this? I don't understand." I rued.
"I am getting peace of mind, Krish. I have no complaints that you don't understand it."
She said.
=====
Desai had disappeared from our lives. I hadn't heard from him for weeks. One day I phoned him.
"Hi, Krish. You surprised me with this call." He sounded genuinely happy.
"Where have you gone? I haven't heard from you for so long?"
I asked.
"I am at my hometown, Krish. Didn't Meera tell you about it?"
I was surprised.
"She had told me. But I wasn't sure."
Desai laughed.
"I can't blame you for that. My reputation is such that no one believes me."
I laughed too. But I felt a pang of disappointment in my heart. It only increased when he told me that he was at peace at home and he was not thinking about coming back to Pune any time soon. I could not make out why I was disappointed to know Desai was gone from our lives. He was not a friend to me. He was rather a foe, for most of the part. It was only toward the last few days that I had finally begun to be excited about his craze and crush on my wife. I had secretly wished for him to succeed in achieving his dream. But then everything had turned on its heel.
When I told Meera about it, she looked at me in wonder.
"You phoned him? Why?"
"Because I wanted to know where he was hiding."
I said blatantly.
Meera scoffed. "You will never forget him, don't you?"
Desai's departure from my life had a stake in my life too. I was fired from my job. I was told that it was cost-cutting that took my job, but I felt it was the old fire incident.
With no Desai to save me this time, I could only walk away silently.
I immediately contacted my friend circles to land another job. However, for me, it was not as easy as it was for Meera. I remained jobless even after three weeks.
Life had come to a full stop for me. The only thing that stopped me from going back to booze was Meera's strong objection to it.
Another week passed, and we attended the wedding function of a friend of Meera. It was her friend's second marriage. During the event, we ran into Ashish.
It later turned out that the groom was Ashish's friend.
The unexpected meeting made it awkward for Meera and Ashish. Her friend, completely unaware of their past, kept pushing them to speak to each other. Both Meera and Ashish were trying to avoid each other without showing anything to the public. Eventually, we ended up sharing a couple of jokes during the photo session with the newlywed couple.
A friend of the bride who had been asked to look after us would later make us dine at the same table. It was then we decided to finally move on.
I asked Ashish if he had settled in his new house.
"I am still trying to find harmony with the large space. I have been thinking about having some indoor plants. But I don't have the expertise to choose the plants from a nursery by myself. I have ordered some online plants."
He said.
"You don't need any expertise to buy plants from a nursery," Meera said. "They are the experts. You only need to trust them."
It was the first time Meera spoke directly and voluntarily to him. I was glad to hear her.
"Can you help him? You can suggest someone you know." I told her.
"He can seek help from his neighbours and friends. His neighbour has a few good plants in his house."
Meera said. I looked at Ashish.
He smiled at me.
"I still have regrets, Krish. One mistake and it ended one of the most promising friendships I had in this city."
His words made us fall silent for a moment.
I later asked him if he found a cook for his house.
"I have found one," Ashish said. "She's a good one. I would love to invite you guys, but I am scared like hell to do that. "
"You don't have to be scared of us, we have moved on," I said. I deliberately chose not to look at Meera as I spoke.
"Then I invite you for dinner. Both you and Meera. Please do come. I will be really happy and consider me fortunate."
"We'll consider it, Ashish,"
I said.
Later Meera would question me.
"What is in your head, Krish?"
"It's okay, it will help you feel like it never happened," I said.
Meera looked at me in anger. I took her palm.
"Please don't say no, Meera. It's going to be okay. Trust me."
I said.
Eventually, she relented but insisted that it would be a lunch. I agreed.
Even though I looked like I was ready to mingle with Ashish, lunch or dinner with him wasn't really an event I was looking particularly forward to. I just wanted Meera to forgive him completely and move on. I wanted her to be normal about that odd incident and be my lovely wife again.
The next week we went to Ashish's apartment for lunch. Meera wore a yellow sleeveless dress with an elastic band around the hip. She looked gorgeous as usual with minimal makeup.
Ashish greeted us with a smile and a lot of gratitude.
"I am breathing normally now. Honestly, I was not ready to believe it until you showed up."
He said.
His cook, Nandana, was a woman in her fifties. Nandana served us some fruit juice.
With Ashish's permission, I walked around the apartment to see all the wall paintings he had installed in the house. I liked a picture in the hall particularly, and I mentioned it to Ashish.
"Meera too like that one the most."
Ashish said. He then looked at Meera.
She smiled at him affirmatively. She got up and walked over to me. We walked around the house and discussed every petty detail about each of the paintings.
At one side of the hall, there were some packages.
"What is it?" Meera asked.
"It's the plants I bought online. It was delivered yesterday."
There were plants, garden soils and planters. All packed neatly and sophisticatedly.
"Yesterday?" Meera looked at him. "You shouldn't wait to plant them. Else they will die."
"Will you help?" Ashish looked at her hopefully. I thought Meera would find an excuse to refuse. But she did not.
"Okay."
She said readily.
We proceeded to have lunch. It was delicious.
Ashish was sitting opposite Meera. But they were still not looking at each other for more than two seconds. I asked Ashish if he was still worried about what happened between them.
"I am still embarrassed to face you together. Looking back I feel like I could have stopped it if I had been a little more careful. A little less greedy and emotional. To be honest, I liked Meera professionally and personally but I have never looked at her differently. I always remembered that she's married. If I knew what was going to happen, I would not have let it happen because my biggest fear is losing a rare friendship that I share with both of you. The feeling that I have lost is making me sad every day, every moment. I have nothing to offer other than my apologies."
I felt for him. "Ashish, I understand that what happened was an unforeseen incident. There is nothing we could do to undo it. That's why it doesn't affect me too much. That's why I have forgiven you."
Ashish nodded with gratitude.
"You are a great man and a wonderful human being, Krish. My personal life has been a failure because neither I nor my wife were able to stand each other's mistakes let alone forgive them. The way you've dealt with the unfortunate episode has taught me a lesson about how I could have led my life."
Ashish's emotional talk certainly left a positive impression on Meera and she became more active in the conversation.
After lunch, Meera asked Ashish if he was ready to unbox the packages. I could see she was eager to see the plants.
I sat on the chair nearby and watched as Meera and Ashish together began to open the packets one by one. There were twelve plants. They were large enough to be planted in big pots. I could see Ashish had spent a nice amount on them.
"You chose big plants. They hardly look like they need growing." I jokingly mentioned.
"Perhaps I needed adults in my house," Ashish quipped.
I noticed Meera blushing.
Nandana served as coffee and left. She needed to visit another house too.
Ashish opened the pack of planters and began to fill them with soil. As Meera helped him to cut open the soil pack with the knife, her hand slipped and she wounded Ashish's hand.
"Ouch!"
Ashish said. Meera panicked as she saw blood on his hand.
"Where were you looking, Meera?" I chided her.
"It's okay, Krish. Meera, don't worry, I am alright. It's not serious." Ashish tried to calm down us both. Meera pressed the wound with her fingers.
"I am sorry, Ashish," she kept saying.
I asked him about first aid. Ashish told me that I could find it in his room. I went to his room but I could not find it. Meera asked Ashish to press the wound and came to the room. She opened the drawer and found a lotion and the band-aid. I was surprised that I missed it. We went back and Meera applied the lotion on the wound and then put the band-aid on it. She kept asking Ashish if it was aching. I could see unspoken chemistry between them, suddenly back.
Meera volunteered to do the rest of the planting.
"You won't be able to do it until the wound is healed. The plants will die by then." She said.
I also helped her to fill the planters with soil and compost and then we planted the plants in them. As Meera put her complete attention on planting, I noticed the bulge of her breasts was very much visible through the front slit of her dress. I wondered if Ashish was also getting the beautiful view. He was sitting on the chair behind me and I was sure he was getting the view.
We went on to finish planting all the plants and Meera went to Ashish's room to bring water in a small bucket to water them. She mentioned a friend who ran a nursery from where Ashish could get more variety of indoor plants.
"I will introduce you to her." She said.
"I don't know how to thank you guys," Ashish said. "You didn't come to complete a formality. You are still my friends. Meera had to quit her job because of me. If you had told me one word, I would have quitted. I am still ready to quit if you want to come back."
"No. There is nothing like that." Meera said. "I chose to quit because I did not feel comfortable facing you at my workplace at that time. Now I am okay, I guess. That's why we came and we had lunch and all this. But coming back to that job is not an option. We have moved on. Let us stay just friends."
Ashish nodded.
"I can only agree with you, Meera." He said and looked at me. "What are you thinking, Krish?"
I smiled at him.
"I have seen all the rooms in your house. But I am still unable to figure out which one was the room you guys made out the other day."
Ashish was awestruck by my blatant reply. Meera was equally embarrassed.
"Just forget it, Ashish. Krish has the knack to embarrass me to no end." She said.
"You know, Meera did not tell me a word about it despite asking many times. I am going to ask you one day, Ashish. And you'll have to give me the complete details."
I said.
Meera pushed me away. Her face was red as an apple.
"You are a lucky wife to have a husband like him, Meera," Ashish said.
He later offered me help to find another job. Meera was looking at me.
"No, Ashish," I said. "Friendship is okay, but my ego will take time before I could take such help from you. I hope you can understand."
"Yes, I can understand, Krish."
Ashish said.
While coming back Meera told me I did the right thing by refusing to take Ashish's help.
Back at home too, she looked livelier than usual. She ridiculed me for blatantly speaking to Ashish about the other day. I teased her about giving a cleavage show to Ashish. Her face was red again.
"You such a dirty mind. I was doing something and you were watching my boobs?" She pushed me on the couch and climbed on my lap.
In the night, we made out after a long time. But I could not gather energy to hold long enough. I was panting before I knew and I felt my mind blank. I was losing erection and I somehow made a few hurried thrusts to ejaculate, though Meera did not complain. It was a moment I missed having Desai around in my life.
Later in the night, I woke up and I felt woke up from a dream. I could only remember Desai's sweaty face.
I was horny like hell. I pulled out my dick and started masturbating slowly. I was half asleep and half-dreaming. I saw Desai in bed with Meera, slowly pushing his dick into her unsatisfied married pussy and slowly bringing her into an intimate orgasmic pleasure.
The next morning Meera asked me what I was dreaming about in the night. I was confused.
Meera smirked.
"When I woke up, you were still holding your thing and it was a mess. There was cum all over your fingers."
I was embarrassed.
"Tell me who was that guy who was making out with me in your fantasy?" Meera asked again.
"I don't remember. I think I must have dreamt about it. I don't remember anything."
I said.
Even though I was embarrassed, I felt glad it happened. I felt she was okay with me fantasising about her with other men. I later wondered if it was time to tell her that I loved to fantasise about her with Desai.
All my attempts to find a job were failing. But then I found a saviour in my neighbour, Pawan. He found me a job. It was not as easier as the earlier one but soon my impression changed.
After working at the new place for a week I confirmed to Pawan that I am enjoying the new job.
"I don't know how to thank you, Pawan. I was struggling to find a job and you've found me a better job than the last one. Thank you so much."
"You are most welcome, Krish."
Pawan said.
Later he invited me for a cup of coffee in the evening and asked me if I could reconsider my earlier decision not to help him. He then stopped me from replying quickly.
"My help to find a job should not be seen as a way to influence you, my friend. I only wanted to ask about it when you are happy."
I did not want to refuse him all the way. I was forced to show gratitude in my behaviour at least.
"I am still not able to digest this, Pawan. How can you bring up a child knowing that it is not yours?"
"Krish, the people who adopt children know that those children are not theirs. But they still can love the children, can't they?"
"Then why don't you go for adoption?"
Pawan shook his head sideways.
"When a man comes to know that his wife was conceived by another man, the first reaction would be to leave the wife. If that's not possible, he would choose abortion. If that's also not possible, there comes the option to abandon the child. But what about the child? I suggest you put yourself in the place of that child. Let's say you came to know that you were adopted by your parents after you have become forty years old. Now how would that define your life? Would you consider your life unworthy of living? Would you kill yourself? No. Because it doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter, at any moment. People react as per the available choices, and later the reason why they took that decision. You can decide anything and then reason favourably in a thousand ways. There is no right and wrong about anything in this world. People become rich through unethical means, compromising on loyalty and integrity. And to their children, they are still the loveliest people in the world. I am ready to become a parent exactly so."
I could only shake my head throughout his lecture.
"I promise you, Krish, that I would leave this city as soon as Sheetal is pregnant. And we will never meet."
He added.
As I sat wondering how to politely turn him down, Sheetal arrived. She smiled at me and asked me about the new job. While talking to her I struggled to keep my eyes from roaming down to her sweaty neck and beyond. I suddenly found myself unable to speak further. My erection was growing in my pants and I feared it would be obvious to Pawan any moment.
"I'll make a coffee, please sit down," Sheetal told me and began to walk to the kitchen.
But Pawan stopped her.
"We had coffee already. We were waiting for you."
Sheetal's eyes widened.
"Waiting for me? For what?"
"Krish came to meet you, dear. Come, sit down here." Pawan got up from the couch, leaving space for his wife to sit with me. I began to sweat.
Sheetal hesitated, "I am sweating, Pawan. I am afraid he might not like it."
Pawan looked at me and then turned to her.
"Then go take a shower."
"No, it's okay," I said. I didn't want to sit there any longer. "I think I should leave. I'll visit later."
"Please stay, Krish. Please spend some time with her. I'm not asking you to do it right now. She's on her safe period of the month now. So...don't worry about it."
Pawan said. I was embarrassed. I was already feeling like a male prostitute whose only job in hand was to bang the woman.
I am not going to do it, Pawan. I said in my mind.
Pawan gestured at Sheetal and she sat next to me on the couch.
"I need to see someone urgently. I'll take some time. Krish, please take good care of my wife until then."
He said and began to leave.
"What are you expecting me to do?" I asked hurriedly.
"I am trying to create a chance for you to mingle with her and be comfortable with each other." He said and walked back to us. "But if you sit like this, nothing will ever happen." He taped Sheetal's shoulder to move her closer to me. Her left arm rubbed with my right arm.
"My friend, I chose you because Sheetal likes you very much. If you don't at least kiss her today, she will think she's an unattractive woman. Please don't make her believe that."
He said and left. He shut the front door a bit forcefully to ensure it is locked from inside automatically. The sound was a reminder of where I was sitting.
I looked at Sheetal and tried to smile.
"He's crazy."
I saw Sheetal taking a deep breath for a second and the next moment her lips were on mine. I was unable to react. I felt her soft lips pressing against mine, and I parted my lips reflexively. Our tongues almost met momentarily before I regained myself and broke the kiss.
"Sheetal..." I gasped.
"Please don't go away from me, Krish," Sheetal whispered. She unzipped her kurti at the front and swiftly slipped down the shoulder. It revealed the white bra strap first and then exposed the left side of her breasts, clad in the white bra. I was stunned.
"Wha..what are you doing?" I stammered.
"Don't I look attractive?"
She asked and began to slip down the bra strap too.
I quickly stopped her, "No." I grabbed the thin strap and pulled it upward to put it back on her shoulder.
"No?" She was taken aback by my reply.
"I didn't mean you are unattractive, Sheetal. I mean what you are doing is not a good idea. I feel awkward."
"But you are attracted to me. I can feel it."
"I am a man and you are a beautiful woman. Naturally, I'm aroused."
"Then do something about it."
"Now? He said you are on safe period."
"We can make children later, then. Now, at least do admire me."
She said and dropped down to kneel in front of me. "I am ready for anything." She placed her palm over my thighs.
She was desperate beyond my belief. She looked up into my eyes and slid her bra strap off her shoulder again. The sweat under her neck had dried up but new beads of sweat were beginning to appear just above her lips. She leaned forward to move between my thighs and slowly placed her palm over my crotch. She felt my fully groan erection.
"You are ready too."
She smiled at me. My chest was rising up and down fast and I noticed she wasn't any different either. I forgot to look away as she slipped the other shoulder of her kurti down, and followed it with the bra straps. Her breasts were on display, except the portion covered by the bra cups. The creamy skin was perfect, except for some blue veins that were visible here and there.
She was hellbent on seducing me this time. If I hadn't learnt it already, she taught me when she grabbed the waistline of my pants and tried to pull it down. It was tight and she could not move it. She didn't stop there. She leaned further forward and kissed on my crotch. My dick twitched once as I felt her lips pressing over it. I knew I only needed to pull it out to get a fabulous head.
Sheetal looked up as if she read my mind.
"Say something, Krish. Do you want it?"
I bit my lips and laughed, hiding my embarrassment. The sweats from her lips were now on my pants, just above my crotch.
"Please, Sheetal. My wedding anniversary falls next month. I am sorry, but I can't do this. I can't do this to Meera. Please try to understand."
I said.
All the excitement on Sheetal's face disappeared in a second.
"It doesn't mean you are unattractive or I am not attracted to you. I told you, I am a man with blood and sweat. My body wants to take you to that room over there and make love to you. But I am helpless. I am not going to cheat on my wife. I can help you in some other ways. I mean, I can help you financially, for the continuation of Pawan's treatment, if it's okay. Please leave me out of this."
While speaking I pulled up her bra straps and kurti back in its places. Sheetal did not try to stop me. Her head was down. I felt for her. I felt for Pawan too.
I leaned forward and lifted her face to smile at her.
"I am touched by your love for Pawan, Sheetal. Believe me, you'll sort it out."
I leaned further and kissed her on her forehead. She closed her eyes and nodded.
My dick was still hard when I reached my door. I found four sandals outside the door and wondered who were the guests.
Meera opened the door and I was surprised to see the twin brothers from the top floor sitting in the hall.
"Hello Harish, Hello Girish..."
I greeted them as I walked in. They greeted me back by getting up from their seats.
They were having coffee. Meera had invited them to the house.
"Where were you, Krish? I thought you'd be here when I invited them." Meera said.
I said I was with Pawan.
"Pawan?" Meera was surprised. "I saw him leaving and I asked him about you. He told me he didn't see you."
I felt in danger.
"I was in the parking, Meera."
I said quickly and sat with the brothers.
"I have to be honest with you, guys. I know you guys are Harish and Girish. But since you look the same age and are brothers I have no idea which one is Harish and which one is Girish."
I said.
They laughed and said it was a complaint they often hear.
"It's easy, Krish." Meera stepped in and pointed to the one sitting next to me. "This is Girish, the younger brother. He talks a lot and smiles a lot. He's a good singer too." She then pointed to the other one. "This is Harish. He's the elder brother. He talks less I guess, but he's muscular. You can see his muscles."
Her description made the brothers laugh. But I noticed that Harish was particularly pleased to know Meera have noticed his muscular figure. While Girish did most of the talking, Harish was happy with just watching Meera talk.
He seemed to be in awe of her beauty. I noticed him sneakily capturing the images of her body. Back from the evening walk, Meera's top had sweat spots especially near her armpits and neckline, and I was sure the young man was not going to forget her easily.
When the brothers left, I shut the door and turned to Meera.
"They have become fans of your beauty," I said and took her in my arms.
"Mmm..." Meera smiled. "Did you notice Harish? He's got a serious crush on me."
"Oh yeah, I noticed."
I said and kissed her. Her lips tasted salty from the sweats. I remembered how Sheetal's lips tasted a few minutes ago. Her bare breasts came to my mind. My arms went around Meera and I kissed her hard. Meera's hand reached down to check my erection and found it.
"Mmm...You're up."
She said.
"Do you have any objection, my love?" I asked and grabbed her hair from behind to pull it down and bring her chin up. I kissed under her chin and licked the sweaty taste from her throat.
Meera laughed. I pushed her against the wall and went down to caress her breasts with my face over her top. I bent further down and down until I pressed between her legs. I felt thirsty. I pulled her pants down swiftly, and before she knew it, her pants had dropped down to her ankle.
"Oh Krish..." I heard her sigh.
I pulled her panty down too and my thirst only increased. I lifted her left thigh over my shoulder and kissed her pussy. Meera grabbed my head with both her hands. I heard her moans rising, all of a sudden. She was surprised by my sudden attack but she was pleased. My tongue went deep inside her, and I licked her lips.
"Oh my Krish...mmm....don't stop...mmm...."
Meera's moans kept rising along with her breathing. I caressed her ass cheek with my left hand while my right hand reached down to pull my erection out. My tongue went deeper into her pussy and I started jerking. Meera kept pulling my hair.
Eventually, I shot my load, on the floor near her feet and Meera cried as I almost bit her pussy lips while going through my climax.
Meera was still panting when I sat back.
"What happened to you?"
Meera giggled while trying to control her heavy breathing.
"I remembered your taste. I wanted to have it." I said.
"Liar," she said. "I know what made you so excited."
I gave her a surprised look.
"You're turned on by how Harish was ogling at me, aren't you? Are you dreaming about him already, my cucky hubby? Or are you thinking about both of them together?"
Even though her allegation was far from the truth, the incident made me realise one thing. She was slowly showing the signs of her willingness to rejoin my fantasies. I had a hunch that she was going to welcome another man's cock in her pussy very soon. I just did not know whether it was going to be Ashish or Desai or anyone else.
The twin brothers were not even my distant imagination.
--------xxxxx------xxxxx------xxxxx-------
I was shocked to find the voice recorder missing from Meera's handbag. I sat on my bed and re-examined the bag thoroughly. But it wasn't there. The hand knitted slit looked torn open. It can be only done by someone who knew about the recorder.
Desai?
It was an easy guess.
I kept the handbag aside but I could not get up from the bed as I was caught in a web of thoughts. I lay in the bed and pondered. There were only two possibilities. The first one was Desai finding it. Because he knew that I was still using the recorder to spy on my wife. And he would have checked her bag to find it. Maybe when she's gone to the washroom or something, he would have grabbed it and thoroughly checked it. He would have destroyed it. Or he would have kept it on in his pocket to use it to tease me later.
More than him using it to tease me or manipulate me, I hated that Desai would know I didn't trust Meera. But more than that something else worried me.
What if he chose to reveal the voice recorder to Meera and told her that I never trust her?
I knew she would hate me for that.
The fact that I was mentally prepared to welcome her back no matter what she does on a date with Desai. Instead, being hated by her would become heartbreak for me.
I never wanted to come across as a cuckold husband whose wife slept with another man because of hatred or my incompetence in bed. My pleasure existed in the fact that no matter what we did, we were still a lovely couple. I did not want to hate Meera for anything. And I did not want her to hate me for any reason.
I wanted her to love me more even when having some fun with other men.
Being hated by her in front of Desai would only increase the pain. I could only hope that Desai did not reveal the truth about the voice recorder to Meera. I counted on the fact that if he chose to tell about it, he would also have to tell how he knew about it in the first place. Then he would have to confess how creepy he had been. I thought he would not tell Meera about it.
Another option was Meera herself finding the voice recorder in her bag.
But how?
I had no idea.
I thought she would keep it to herself had she found it. But she would be disheartened that I tried to spy on her. The simple thought that I did not trust her would hurt her and push her into further depression.
As I pondered deeply, at an extremely optimistic moment I chose to believe that even though Meera found it, Desai would also be a suspect. She could think that it was done by Desai to spy on her to hear her conversation with me at home - for further manipulation. It was a distant hope though.
My initial worry about what would have happened on the date had disappeared with the missing voice recorder. Even though her lipstick was gone, her hair was intact. Her dress was also no different. Even if Desai managed to do something, I was sure that it would be limited to a kiss or a blow job. The latter was a distant possibility anyway.
When Meera returned after the evening walk, I found myself looking for cues to make out what was going on inside her head. Eventually, I asked her about the dinner.
"You're not telling me anything. It's making me tensed that something went wrong during the lunch."
I said.
Meera looked into my eyes for a moment before she spoke.
"Why did you put a voice recorder in my handbag, Krish? You looked into my eyes and told me you trusted me. And then you put a voice recorder in my handbag?"
I was stunned. I could only stare at her. Before I could find words to prepare an answer, her eyes became filled with tears.
"I promised you I wouldn't let anything wrong happen, and I asked you if you were really okay to let me have lunch with Desai. You said you trust me, didn't you? Then why?"
"I am sorry, baby," I said. "I am very sorry. But it's not what you think like."
"What is it then? How do you justify putting a voice recorder in my bag?"
Tears started to seep down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, Meera. Let me talk first." I wiped her tears from her cheeks. "I put the voice recorder not because I didn't trust you. I only wanted to hear what you talk about because I don't want Desai to manipulate us again. That recorder doesn't belong to me. It belongs to Desai. He had put it in our bedroom to spy on us, to hear what we talk about him. He used that information to manipulate us. That night he heard you telling me that you have been intimate with men other than Desai. And he heard you calling me a cucky husband. That's when he started manipulating us. I didn't want him to feed me lies about you."
Meera took a towel and wiped her eyes.
"Today wasn't the first time you did it, was it?"
Her voice was calm. But it was enough to pierce into my heart.
"You had spied on me the other day too when I gave him head in his car. You later told me it was Desai who told you about it. And you said you got angry with him and called him a bastard and all. And you said you chose not to talk about it because we had moved on. And when I honestly told you what happened, you listened on like you knew nothing. Weren't you testing me, Krish? Oh, God. What if I hadn't been honest with you? Wouldn't you have judged me?"
"No, Meera. I didn't expect you to lie about it. So there's no point in judging you. I felt you wouldn't talk about it fearing it would hurt me. I only wanted to know what was happening, baby. I love you."
"So many lies. It is plain as water that you are using me, Krish. I can see why my sleeping with Ashish doesn't frustrate you. Because you want me to sleep with someone. Let it be Ashish or Desai. You have never changed. Or maybe you had, but now you are back to the old you. You want to play with our lives again. When will you stop, Krish?"
My head was down.
"I am sorry. I am a weak creature with a lot of stupid fantasies. I don't know why it happens but I can tell you it happens when I start speculating. If I know what you spoke with Desai during today's lunch, then I guess I'll have nothing to fantasise about. I can't help it when my imagination goes wild. Instead of getting angry, I become aroused. I am helpless about it. And this leaves me with no reason to blame you for anything. Only one thing I am sure about is that my love for you is permanent."
"Your words sound like a confession but you are still trying to convince me that all is well. It's freaking me out, Krish. I don't know where it is taking us."
"Nothing is going to happen, Meera. The only thing we need to do is, to be honest about each other's feelings about anything, let it be Ashish or Desai. We can talk it out and move on."
I said.
"Are you nurturing secret fantasies about Desai and me?"
Meera asked.
"No," I said. It was a blatant lie. There was not a single day in the previous week that I hadn't dreamt about Desai pumping his monster dick into her pussy. There was not a single occasion that my fantasies failed to give me a satisfying ejaculation. Yet I lied.
Because I thought she was not ready to hear the truth.
I knew she was pissed off and I didn't want to infuriate her.
Meera was watching me.
"You are fantasising neither about Ashish nor about Desai. Then who's it?"
"I am scared to fantasise. But it still keeps me warm. I am fantasising about you doing special things to me."
"Such as?"
"This is not the right time to tell you. It'll spoil the fun."
Meera pushed me away.
"You are always looking for the fun. You're digging your own grave, let me tell you, Krish. There's a time you must stop this all."
"Tell me about what Desai talked to you during the lunch first," I demanded.
"He was a decent guy today. He was a changed man...I was surprised, honestly. He said I changed him, you know when I gave him an earful a few days ago. I don't think it's entirely true, but I can't see a reason to believe that he's still chasing me. You know, he didn't try to impress me at all. He apologised for trying to manipulate me using the voice recorder. He confessed a lot of things he did in desperation to get to me. He told me about trying to trap us - especially you - with the cash. You know he had stolen the money from our house, he admitted that. He said sorry and told me to slap him in private if I wanted. Or any punishment I wanted to give him. He confessed about placing the voice recorder in our bedroom to listen to the sounds of our lovemaking. He wanted to know how good we were doing in there because he thought it was your special skills in bed that kept me loyal to you. He said he found out that it was something else. Do you know what was it? Love. He was jealous and so he tried to manipulate us to break our bond. He got me to do a couple of kinky stuff but they were worthless in comparison to what I was giving you. My love. He had set me as the ultimate target and even though I did not let him win, he felt I have succeeded in making him understand the value of a relationship. He said when he heard me calling you a cucky hubby, his hope to lay me had touched the sky. But my love for you spoiled it all. He understands my awareness about you too, I mean you wouldn't be as offended as you have always pretended to be, but he has now learnt that I chose to stay loyal to you because I respected our marriage. He promised me that he wouldn't try to chase every woman he sees. He has found the value of being in a relationship with a woman who can be a partner in things other than just sex. The next time when he gets attracted to a woman, he said, he would first ask himself if she's truly worth wooing and she's not already in love with someone else. Because he thinks that would be the last woman he's going to take home."
More than the words she spoke, I was paying more attention to how the sadness on her face was fading away. She had only good things to talk about the lunch with Desai. Perhaps it was because finally there was a date with Desai which she could talk about in detail without worrying about arousing me.
Her words from the other day came to my mind.
"That's your reputation, Krish."
It was a moment she could talk about Desai without worrying about my reputation.
"We also spoke about our family. He said he's planning to spend time with his family soon."
"Where are they?"
"They are in Shimoga."
I nodded. I was thoughtful.
"Do you truly believe his words, Meera?"
Meera was surprised. "Why do you ask so?"
"I don't think it would so easy for him to move on. If your angry lecture could change a man so easily, then I would have been a saint already."
Meera smiled.
"That's because you are a man beyond saving. My idiot husband!"
I laughed.
When we went to sleep after dinner, I apologised for the recorder.
"I am sorry, Meera. I didn't mean to hurt you. I knew you wouldn't do anything wrong. Wouldn't I have tried to follow you otherwise?"
"It's okay, Krish," Meera said. "I was hurt when Desai expressed his doubt that you would be spying on me. I was puzzled at first, but then he asked me to check my handbag. I could not find it initially. But I then checked it thoroughly and found it. You had done well to hide it. Where do you get these ideas from, anyway?"
"Of course, the idea came from Desai. And he was way idiotic than me. He quoted a few exact lines that we had spoken the other night. And eventually, he admitted. He was also scared that you would find out."
"Well. He trusted you and you kept his trust intact by hiding it from me. Not only that, you rascal used it to spy on me! You are a pathetic husband, you know that?"
"If you are really angry, then you can punish me."
I said.
Meera shook her head. "I know what punishment you are thinking about. But I know how to punish you."
"How?"
"There is no sex for the next two weeks!"
I was stunned. "What? Are you serious?"
"yeah, I am serious. It's become a daily affair that you talk some nonsense every night and then proceeds to hump me like a cheap woman. Not any more."
"When did I do that?" I could not believe her words.
"Every night. So move to the other side and sleep, okay?"
She pushed me away and pulled her blanket over her head. After one second she pulled it down and looked at me.
"You called Desai more idiotic than you because he told you a few exact lines that we had spoken to each other, right?"
I nodded, "Yeah!"
"Do you know how did he find out you were using the same voice recorder to spy on me and him? That's when you quoted some exact words he had told me during those two meetings! Now you decide who is more idiotic between the two of you!"
She said with a cheeky smile and pulled the blanket back over her head.
That was the end of the night.
The next day Meera told me more about her conversation with Desai. More about his father and mother. And his family. Desai's elder brother was killed by his wife's boyfriend. His wife and her boyfriend later died by suicide.
I had a tough time believing that too. I wondered if Desai was trying to win her heart through sentiments.
That noon, I had a surprise at my office. Ashish came to visit me.
It was the first time we were meeting after he slept with my wife.
"I should have met you earlier, Krish." He sat in my cabin and spoke. "But I did not dare to face you. I betrayed you."
I did not know what to say in reply. I just looked on.
"I had seen you taking the scooty from my apartment parking. And Meera later told me that she told you what happened. I am truly sorry. I know I don't deserve to be forgiven but I have no choice. I am not able to sleep well. I am so ashamed of what I have done to you. You considered me a friend and I betrayed you."
He struggled to face my straight eyes. I found it tough to look into his eyes too.
"There is no use of talking about it, how it happened and all. I don't know how you reacted to Meera. But she's a great woman. I know I don't deserve to speak a word about her to you. But I have to tell you that I was a man who needed help. I was torn. I might have come across a man who hated women always, and it's for a reason. When Meera came into my life, even though for a moment, because of her empathy, I could not stop myself. I felt like... I don't know how to tell you that. I don't have to tell you my feelings about Meera. I respect the reality that she is your wife."
"She is my life, Ashish."
I spoke, finally.
Ashish gave me a helpless look.
"I came to seek your forgiveness, Krish."
"Meera told me about it. How it happened and all. I can understand your situation. I can't tell you anything else because whatever happened has happened. What's the use of crying about it? I forgive you."
Ashish looked at me in disbelief.
I smiled at him.
"She said it's an accident. Let it be. Let's forget it. Forgiveness is the first step for that, I believe."
I shook hands with him as Ashish left a happy man.
But Ashish's seeking of my forgiveness had an unforeseen effect on my life.
I realised it only after two days when Meera told me that she had resigned from her job.
I had the shock of my life.
"What happened? Why did you do it?"
I could not shut my mouth out of shock.
Meera watched me for a long moment and then replied.
"Because I don't want to work under him. You can forgive him. You can forgive anyone. But I can't forgive myself."
"This is madness, Meera," I yelled in despair. "You could have at least given me a hint about what you were going to do."
Meera gave me a sharp look.
"If you are concerned about the loss of money I am going to suffer from this, don't worry. I have applied for another job. I'm confident I'll get it. It's just a matter of time. You can worry about something else, please."
There was nothing I could do apart from showing her my anger. We had a couple of arguments and that's it. Four days later, she attended an interview and she received the appointment mail the very next day.
"Here's it is Krish. I am getting paid again. Isn't that what you want?"
Meera asked me.
But the paycheck was forty per cent lesser than the previous one. I did not mention it, though.
"What do you get out of this? I don't understand." I rued.
"I am getting peace of mind, Krish. I have no complaints that you don't understand it."
She said.
=====
Desai had disappeared from our lives. I hadn't heard from him for weeks. One day I phoned him.
"Hi, Krish. You surprised me with this call." He sounded genuinely happy.
"Where have you gone? I haven't heard from you for so long?"
I asked.
"I am at my hometown, Krish. Didn't Meera tell you about it?"
I was surprised.
"She had told me. But I wasn't sure."
Desai laughed.
"I can't blame you for that. My reputation is such that no one believes me."
I laughed too. But I felt a pang of disappointment in my heart. It only increased when he told me that he was at peace at home and he was not thinking about coming back to Pune any time soon. I could not make out why I was disappointed to know Desai was gone from our lives. He was not a friend to me. He was rather a foe, for most of the part. It was only toward the last few days that I had finally begun to be excited about his craze and crush on my wife. I had secretly wished for him to succeed in achieving his dream. But then everything had turned on its heel.
When I told Meera about it, she looked at me in wonder.
"You phoned him? Why?"
"Because I wanted to know where he was hiding."
I said blatantly.
Meera scoffed. "You will never forget him, don't you?"
Desai's departure from my life had a stake in my life too. I was fired from my job. I was told that it was cost-cutting that took my job, but I felt it was the old fire incident.
With no Desai to save me this time, I could only walk away silently.
I immediately contacted my friend circles to land another job. However, for me, it was not as easy as it was for Meera. I remained jobless even after three weeks.
Life had come to a full stop for me. The only thing that stopped me from going back to booze was Meera's strong objection to it.
Another week passed, and we attended the wedding function of a friend of Meera. It was her friend's second marriage. During the event, we ran into Ashish.
It later turned out that the groom was Ashish's friend.
The unexpected meeting made it awkward for Meera and Ashish. Her friend, completely unaware of their past, kept pushing them to speak to each other. Both Meera and Ashish were trying to avoid each other without showing anything to the public. Eventually, we ended up sharing a couple of jokes during the photo session with the newlywed couple.
A friend of the bride who had been asked to look after us would later make us dine at the same table. It was then we decided to finally move on.
I asked Ashish if he had settled in his new house.
"I am still trying to find harmony with the large space. I have been thinking about having some indoor plants. But I don't have the expertise to choose the plants from a nursery by myself. I have ordered some online plants."
He said.
"You don't need any expertise to buy plants from a nursery," Meera said. "They are the experts. You only need to trust them."
It was the first time Meera spoke directly and voluntarily to him. I was glad to hear her.
"Can you help him? You can suggest someone you know." I told her.
"He can seek help from his neighbours and friends. His neighbour has a few good plants in his house."
Meera said. I looked at Ashish.
He smiled at me.
"I still have regrets, Krish. One mistake and it ended one of the most promising friendships I had in this city."
His words made us fall silent for a moment.
I later asked him if he found a cook for his house.
"I have found one," Ashish said. "She's a good one. I would love to invite you guys, but I am scared like hell to do that. "
"You don't have to be scared of us, we have moved on," I said. I deliberately chose not to look at Meera as I spoke.
"Then I invite you for dinner. Both you and Meera. Please do come. I will be really happy and consider me fortunate."
"We'll consider it, Ashish,"
I said.
Later Meera would question me.
"What is in your head, Krish?"
"It's okay, it will help you feel like it never happened," I said.
Meera looked at me in anger. I took her palm.
"Please don't say no, Meera. It's going to be okay. Trust me."
I said.
Eventually, she relented but insisted that it would be a lunch. I agreed.
Even though I looked like I was ready to mingle with Ashish, lunch or dinner with him wasn't really an event I was looking particularly forward to. I just wanted Meera to forgive him completely and move on. I wanted her to be normal about that odd incident and be my lovely wife again.
The next week we went to Ashish's apartment for lunch. Meera wore a yellow sleeveless dress with an elastic band around the hip. She looked gorgeous as usual with minimal makeup.
Ashish greeted us with a smile and a lot of gratitude.
"I am breathing normally now. Honestly, I was not ready to believe it until you showed up."
He said.
His cook, Nandana, was a woman in her fifties. Nandana served us some fruit juice.
With Ashish's permission, I walked around the apartment to see all the wall paintings he had installed in the house. I liked a picture in the hall particularly, and I mentioned it to Ashish.
"Meera too like that one the most."
Ashish said. He then looked at Meera.
She smiled at him affirmatively. She got up and walked over to me. We walked around the house and discussed every petty detail about each of the paintings.
At one side of the hall, there were some packages.
"What is it?" Meera asked.
"It's the plants I bought online. It was delivered yesterday."
There were plants, garden soils and planters. All packed neatly and sophisticatedly.
"Yesterday?" Meera looked at him. "You shouldn't wait to plant them. Else they will die."
"Will you help?" Ashish looked at her hopefully. I thought Meera would find an excuse to refuse. But she did not.
"Okay."
She said readily.
We proceeded to have lunch. It was delicious.
Ashish was sitting opposite Meera. But they were still not looking at each other for more than two seconds. I asked Ashish if he was still worried about what happened between them.
"I am still embarrassed to face you together. Looking back I feel like I could have stopped it if I had been a little more careful. A little less greedy and emotional. To be honest, I liked Meera professionally and personally but I have never looked at her differently. I always remembered that she's married. If I knew what was going to happen, I would not have let it happen because my biggest fear is losing a rare friendship that I share with both of you. The feeling that I have lost is making me sad every day, every moment. I have nothing to offer other than my apologies."
I felt for him. "Ashish, I understand that what happened was an unforeseen incident. There is nothing we could do to undo it. That's why it doesn't affect me too much. That's why I have forgiven you."
Ashish nodded with gratitude.
"You are a great man and a wonderful human being, Krish. My personal life has been a failure because neither I nor my wife were able to stand each other's mistakes let alone forgive them. The way you've dealt with the unfortunate episode has taught me a lesson about how I could have led my life."
Ashish's emotional talk certainly left a positive impression on Meera and she became more active in the conversation.
After lunch, Meera asked Ashish if he was ready to unbox the packages. I could see she was eager to see the plants.
I sat on the chair nearby and watched as Meera and Ashish together began to open the packets one by one. There were twelve plants. They were large enough to be planted in big pots. I could see Ashish had spent a nice amount on them.
"You chose big plants. They hardly look like they need growing." I jokingly mentioned.
"Perhaps I needed adults in my house," Ashish quipped.
I noticed Meera blushing.
Nandana served as coffee and left. She needed to visit another house too.
Ashish opened the pack of planters and began to fill them with soil. As Meera helped him to cut open the soil pack with the knife, her hand slipped and she wounded Ashish's hand.
"Ouch!"
Ashish said. Meera panicked as she saw blood on his hand.
"Where were you looking, Meera?" I chided her.
"It's okay, Krish. Meera, don't worry, I am alright. It's not serious." Ashish tried to calm down us both. Meera pressed the wound with her fingers.
"I am sorry, Ashish," she kept saying.
I asked him about first aid. Ashish told me that I could find it in his room. I went to his room but I could not find it. Meera asked Ashish to press the wound and came to the room. She opened the drawer and found a lotion and the band-aid. I was surprised that I missed it. We went back and Meera applied the lotion on the wound and then put the band-aid on it. She kept asking Ashish if it was aching. I could see unspoken chemistry between them, suddenly back.
Meera volunteered to do the rest of the planting.
"You won't be able to do it until the wound is healed. The plants will die by then." She said.
I also helped her to fill the planters with soil and compost and then we planted the plants in them. As Meera put her complete attention on planting, I noticed the bulge of her breasts was very much visible through the front slit of her dress. I wondered if Ashish was also getting the beautiful view. He was sitting on the chair behind me and I was sure he was getting the view.
We went on to finish planting all the plants and Meera went to Ashish's room to bring water in a small bucket to water them. She mentioned a friend who ran a nursery from where Ashish could get more variety of indoor plants.
"I will introduce you to her." She said.
"I don't know how to thank you guys," Ashish said. "You didn't come to complete a formality. You are still my friends. Meera had to quit her job because of me. If you had told me one word, I would have quitted. I am still ready to quit if you want to come back."
"No. There is nothing like that." Meera said. "I chose to quit because I did not feel comfortable facing you at my workplace at that time. Now I am okay, I guess. That's why we came and we had lunch and all this. But coming back to that job is not an option. We have moved on. Let us stay just friends."
Ashish nodded.
"I can only agree with you, Meera." He said and looked at me. "What are you thinking, Krish?"
I smiled at him.
"I have seen all the rooms in your house. But I am still unable to figure out which one was the room you guys made out the other day."
Ashish was awestruck by my blatant reply. Meera was equally embarrassed.
"Just forget it, Ashish. Krish has the knack to embarrass me to no end." She said.
"You know, Meera did not tell me a word about it despite asking many times. I am going to ask you one day, Ashish. And you'll have to give me the complete details."
I said.
Meera pushed me away. Her face was red as an apple.
"You are a lucky wife to have a husband like him, Meera," Ashish said.
He later offered me help to find another job. Meera was looking at me.
"No, Ashish," I said. "Friendship is okay, but my ego will take time before I could take such help from you. I hope you can understand."
"Yes, I can understand, Krish."
Ashish said.
While coming back Meera told me I did the right thing by refusing to take Ashish's help.
Back at home too, she looked livelier than usual. She ridiculed me for blatantly speaking to Ashish about the other day. I teased her about giving a cleavage show to Ashish. Her face was red again.
"You such a dirty mind. I was doing something and you were watching my boobs?" She pushed me on the couch and climbed on my lap.
In the night, we made out after a long time. But I could not gather energy to hold long enough. I was panting before I knew and I felt my mind blank. I was losing erection and I somehow made a few hurried thrusts to ejaculate, though Meera did not complain. It was a moment I missed having Desai around in my life.
Later in the night, I woke up and I felt woke up from a dream. I could only remember Desai's sweaty face.
I was horny like hell. I pulled out my dick and started masturbating slowly. I was half asleep and half-dreaming. I saw Desai in bed with Meera, slowly pushing his dick into her unsatisfied married pussy and slowly bringing her into an intimate orgasmic pleasure.
The next morning Meera asked me what I was dreaming about in the night. I was confused.
Meera smirked.
"When I woke up, you were still holding your thing and it was a mess. There was cum all over your fingers."
I was embarrassed.
"Tell me who was that guy who was making out with me in your fantasy?" Meera asked again.
"I don't remember. I think I must have dreamt about it. I don't remember anything."
I said.
Even though I was embarrassed, I felt glad it happened. I felt she was okay with me fantasising about her with other men. I later wondered if it was time to tell her that I loved to fantasise about her with Desai.
All my attempts to find a job were failing. But then I found a saviour in my neighbour, Pawan. He found me a job. It was not as easier as the earlier one but soon my impression changed.
After working at the new place for a week I confirmed to Pawan that I am enjoying the new job.
"I don't know how to thank you, Pawan. I was struggling to find a job and you've found me a better job than the last one. Thank you so much."
"You are most welcome, Krish."
Pawan said.
Later he invited me for a cup of coffee in the evening and asked me if I could reconsider my earlier decision not to help him. He then stopped me from replying quickly.
"My help to find a job should not be seen as a way to influence you, my friend. I only wanted to ask about it when you are happy."
I did not want to refuse him all the way. I was forced to show gratitude in my behaviour at least.
"I am still not able to digest this, Pawan. How can you bring up a child knowing that it is not yours?"
"Krish, the people who adopt children know that those children are not theirs. But they still can love the children, can't they?"
"Then why don't you go for adoption?"
Pawan shook his head sideways.
"When a man comes to know that his wife was conceived by another man, the first reaction would be to leave the wife. If that's not possible, he would choose abortion. If that's also not possible, there comes the option to abandon the child. But what about the child? I suggest you put yourself in the place of that child. Let's say you came to know that you were adopted by your parents after you have become forty years old. Now how would that define your life? Would you consider your life unworthy of living? Would you kill yourself? No. Because it doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter, at any moment. People react as per the available choices, and later the reason why they took that decision. You can decide anything and then reason favourably in a thousand ways. There is no right and wrong about anything in this world. People become rich through unethical means, compromising on loyalty and integrity. And to their children, they are still the loveliest people in the world. I am ready to become a parent exactly so."
I could only shake my head throughout his lecture.
"I promise you, Krish, that I would leave this city as soon as Sheetal is pregnant. And we will never meet."
He added.
As I sat wondering how to politely turn him down, Sheetal arrived. She smiled at me and asked me about the new job. While talking to her I struggled to keep my eyes from roaming down to her sweaty neck and beyond. I suddenly found myself unable to speak further. My erection was growing in my pants and I feared it would be obvious to Pawan any moment.
"I'll make a coffee, please sit down," Sheetal told me and began to walk to the kitchen.
But Pawan stopped her.
"We had coffee already. We were waiting for you."
Sheetal's eyes widened.
"Waiting for me? For what?"
"Krish came to meet you, dear. Come, sit down here." Pawan got up from the couch, leaving space for his wife to sit with me. I began to sweat.
Sheetal hesitated, "I am sweating, Pawan. I am afraid he might not like it."
Pawan looked at me and then turned to her.
"Then go take a shower."
"No, it's okay," I said. I didn't want to sit there any longer. "I think I should leave. I'll visit later."
"Please stay, Krish. Please spend some time with her. I'm not asking you to do it right now. She's on her safe period of the month now. So...don't worry about it."
Pawan said. I was embarrassed. I was already feeling like a male prostitute whose only job in hand was to bang the woman.
I am not going to do it, Pawan. I said in my mind.
Pawan gestured at Sheetal and she sat next to me on the couch.
"I need to see someone urgently. I'll take some time. Krish, please take good care of my wife until then."
He said and began to leave.
"What are you expecting me to do?" I asked hurriedly.
"I am trying to create a chance for you to mingle with her and be comfortable with each other." He said and walked back to us. "But if you sit like this, nothing will ever happen." He taped Sheetal's shoulder to move her closer to me. Her left arm rubbed with my right arm.
"My friend, I chose you because Sheetal likes you very much. If you don't at least kiss her today, she will think she's an unattractive woman. Please don't make her believe that."
He said and left. He shut the front door a bit forcefully to ensure it is locked from inside automatically. The sound was a reminder of where I was sitting.
I looked at Sheetal and tried to smile.
"He's crazy."
I saw Sheetal taking a deep breath for a second and the next moment her lips were on mine. I was unable to react. I felt her soft lips pressing against mine, and I parted my lips reflexively. Our tongues almost met momentarily before I regained myself and broke the kiss.
"Sheetal..." I gasped.
"Please don't go away from me, Krish," Sheetal whispered. She unzipped her kurti at the front and swiftly slipped down the shoulder. It revealed the white bra strap first and then exposed the left side of her breasts, clad in the white bra. I was stunned.
"Wha..what are you doing?" I stammered.
"Don't I look attractive?"
She asked and began to slip down the bra strap too.
I quickly stopped her, "No." I grabbed the thin strap and pulled it upward to put it back on her shoulder.
"No?" She was taken aback by my reply.
"I didn't mean you are unattractive, Sheetal. I mean what you are doing is not a good idea. I feel awkward."
"But you are attracted to me. I can feel it."
"I am a man and you are a beautiful woman. Naturally, I'm aroused."
"Then do something about it."
"Now? He said you are on safe period."
"We can make children later, then. Now, at least do admire me."
She said and dropped down to kneel in front of me. "I am ready for anything." She placed her palm over my thighs.
She was desperate beyond my belief. She looked up into my eyes and slid her bra strap off her shoulder again. The sweat under her neck had dried up but new beads of sweat were beginning to appear just above her lips. She leaned forward to move between my thighs and slowly placed her palm over my crotch. She felt my fully groan erection.
"You are ready too."
She smiled at me. My chest was rising up and down fast and I noticed she wasn't any different either. I forgot to look away as she slipped the other shoulder of her kurti down, and followed it with the bra straps. Her breasts were on display, except the portion covered by the bra cups. The creamy skin was perfect, except for some blue veins that were visible here and there.
She was hellbent on seducing me this time. If I hadn't learnt it already, she taught me when she grabbed the waistline of my pants and tried to pull it down. It was tight and she could not move it. She didn't stop there. She leaned further forward and kissed on my crotch. My dick twitched once as I felt her lips pressing over it. I knew I only needed to pull it out to get a fabulous head.
Sheetal looked up as if she read my mind.
"Say something, Krish. Do you want it?"
I bit my lips and laughed, hiding my embarrassment. The sweats from her lips were now on my pants, just above my crotch.
"Please, Sheetal. My wedding anniversary falls next month. I am sorry, but I can't do this. I can't do this to Meera. Please try to understand."
I said.
All the excitement on Sheetal's face disappeared in a second.
"It doesn't mean you are unattractive or I am not attracted to you. I told you, I am a man with blood and sweat. My body wants to take you to that room over there and make love to you. But I am helpless. I am not going to cheat on my wife. I can help you in some other ways. I mean, I can help you financially, for the continuation of Pawan's treatment, if it's okay. Please leave me out of this."
While speaking I pulled up her bra straps and kurti back in its places. Sheetal did not try to stop me. Her head was down. I felt for her. I felt for Pawan too.
I leaned forward and lifted her face to smile at her.
"I am touched by your love for Pawan, Sheetal. Believe me, you'll sort it out."
I leaned further and kissed her on her forehead. She closed her eyes and nodded.
My dick was still hard when I reached my door. I found four sandals outside the door and wondered who were the guests.
Meera opened the door and I was surprised to see the twin brothers from the top floor sitting in the hall.
"Hello Harish, Hello Girish..."
I greeted them as I walked in. They greeted me back by getting up from their seats.
They were having coffee. Meera had invited them to the house.
"Where were you, Krish? I thought you'd be here when I invited them." Meera said.
I said I was with Pawan.
"Pawan?" Meera was surprised. "I saw him leaving and I asked him about you. He told me he didn't see you."
I felt in danger.
"I was in the parking, Meera."
I said quickly and sat with the brothers.
"I have to be honest with you, guys. I know you guys are Harish and Girish. But since you look the same age and are brothers I have no idea which one is Harish and which one is Girish."
I said.
They laughed and said it was a complaint they often hear.
"It's easy, Krish." Meera stepped in and pointed to the one sitting next to me. "This is Girish, the younger brother. He talks a lot and smiles a lot. He's a good singer too." She then pointed to the other one. "This is Harish. He's the elder brother. He talks less I guess, but he's muscular. You can see his muscles."
Her description made the brothers laugh. But I noticed that Harish was particularly pleased to know Meera have noticed his muscular figure. While Girish did most of the talking, Harish was happy with just watching Meera talk.
He seemed to be in awe of her beauty. I noticed him sneakily capturing the images of her body. Back from the evening walk, Meera's top had sweat spots especially near her armpits and neckline, and I was sure the young man was not going to forget her easily.
When the brothers left, I shut the door and turned to Meera.
"They have become fans of your beauty," I said and took her in my arms.
"Mmm..." Meera smiled. "Did you notice Harish? He's got a serious crush on me."
"Oh yeah, I noticed."
I said and kissed her. Her lips tasted salty from the sweats. I remembered how Sheetal's lips tasted a few minutes ago. Her bare breasts came to my mind. My arms went around Meera and I kissed her hard. Meera's hand reached down to check my erection and found it.
"Mmm...You're up."
She said.
"Do you have any objection, my love?" I asked and grabbed her hair from behind to pull it down and bring her chin up. I kissed under her chin and licked the sweaty taste from her throat.
Meera laughed. I pushed her against the wall and went down to caress her breasts with my face over her top. I bent further down and down until I pressed between her legs. I felt thirsty. I pulled her pants down swiftly, and before she knew it, her pants had dropped down to her ankle.
"Oh Krish..." I heard her sigh.
I pulled her panty down too and my thirst only increased. I lifted her left thigh over my shoulder and kissed her pussy. Meera grabbed my head with both her hands. I heard her moans rising, all of a sudden. She was surprised by my sudden attack but she was pleased. My tongue went deep inside her, and I licked her lips.
"Oh my Krish...mmm....don't stop...mmm...."
Meera's moans kept rising along with her breathing. I caressed her ass cheek with my left hand while my right hand reached down to pull my erection out. My tongue went deeper into her pussy and I started jerking. Meera kept pulling my hair.
Eventually, I shot my load, on the floor near her feet and Meera cried as I almost bit her pussy lips while going through my climax.
Meera was still panting when I sat back.
"What happened to you?"
Meera giggled while trying to control her heavy breathing.
"I remembered your taste. I wanted to have it." I said.
"Liar," she said. "I know what made you so excited."
I gave her a surprised look.
"You're turned on by how Harish was ogling at me, aren't you? Are you dreaming about him already, my cucky hubby? Or are you thinking about both of them together?"
Even though her allegation was far from the truth, the incident made me realise one thing. She was slowly showing the signs of her willingness to rejoin my fantasies. I had a hunch that she was going to welcome another man's cock in her pussy very soon. I just did not know whether it was going to be Ashish or Desai or anyone else.
The twin brothers were not even my distant imagination.
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