Mother's Consent

A couple of minutes later Rajni was shown into my office by my secretary, June. I stood up. Rajni was wearing a dark blue sari with gold trimmed edges. She looked magnificent.

"Please take a seat Mrs Patel..." I hesitated. I didn't know Shakti's mother's real first name or even Shakti's married surname. She used an Anglicised version of her names at work. Despite our frequent contact in Rajni's shop we were being very formal. As soon as June had left Rajni smiled at me.

"Call me Rajni, Mr Jones. You can call still me that. My first name is difficult for English speakers."

"Then, Rajni, please do not call me Mr Jones. You know my name is Adam."

"Thank you, Adam. You know why I am here?"

"I hope so. I hope that you are here to talk about Shakti and I. I expected one of your male relatives."

"That is a sadness for me. I am a widow. My husband's brothers would not undertake the role of intermediary. They are completely opposed to you, without knowing anything about you. I think it might also be because they were so wrong about Shakti's former husband. So it was either me, or no one."

"I am sorry to hear that, Rajni. Would you like a cup of tea, or coffee, while we talk?"

"Some tea would be nice, Adam."

I spoke to June on the intercom. She brought in some Indian tea made exactly as Rajni liked it. I suspected Shakti's influence at work.

"What do want to know, Rajni? What can I tell you that might help?"

"I have to pretend to be very formal about the marriage negotiations, Adam. My sons and male relations will question me in depth. Can we talk as if I was a strict father instead of a mother who knows you very well?

"Of course, Rajni, if that's what you want."

"I know that you have money. Shakti told me that. How much?"

I laughed. "I don't know. I would have to ask my accountant. What I am worth depends on the value of this business. I own two-thirds of it. Then there are the houses and my stock market portfolio..."

"Houses? Shakti didn't mention them. She said you lived in a flat."

"The property company has a hundred or so houses that we rent out. My flat is the penthouse but we own the block. There are six other flats rented out. My son owns a third of the property company. I own the other two-thirds. I have two houses in my own name. My main house is local but I have rented it out on a short-term contract. My weekend house is in Norfolk. I go there most weekends but Shakti wouldn't know that."

"So you are a rich man?"

"Probably but I don't have much money that is doing nothing. Most of my wealth is in the two businesses."

"Let me put it in perspective, Adam, in terms I could understand. If you wanted to buy a new car today, could you?"

"Yes."

"Without worrying how you would pay for it?"

"I might think first if I wanted the top of the range Rolls-Royce or something similar but an ordinary executive car -- that I could do."

"What sort of car do you own?"

"I don't. The company does. I use whichever car I need."

"Oh."

"I don't need a car in London. I use taxis. I use a car when I go to Norfolk. If I fly somewhere I hire a car from the airport."

"This isn't getting me anywhere. If Shakti wanted a car, could she have one?"

"Yes. She uses a company one now, without marrying me. If she needed a better car, the company would provide her with one. Why not? She is one of our senior managers."

"But if she married you, she could have a car of her own?"

"Yes. Of course. She has a driving licence and is already insured on all the company cars."

When Shakti started with me she couldn't drive. Her father and brothers considered that women shouldn't drive cars. I had arranged and paid for her to have driving lessons because she would be more flexible for the company if she could drive. She passed at her first attempt and had been driving herself to and from work in our smallest company car for a year.

"OK. That should satisfy my brothers-in-law. You have a house. Shakti can have her own car -- a new car?"

"Yes."

"...a new car."

I nodded, smiling.

"What about your mother? What does she think about Shakti?"

"She doesn't know."

"She doesn't? Surely a new daughter-in-law is important to her?"

"Not really. She isn't in the UK very often and she has her own life. She would like to see me married and would come to the wedding but she would approve of anyone I chose."

"Even from a different culture?"

"Yes. Has Shakti mentioned my daughter-in-law? Mother approves of her. I am sure she would like Shakti."

"OK. There is one last thing..."

"Yes?" I was getting excited. It looked as if I had a chance of marrying Shakti.

"I cannot count on my male relations to negotiate with you. You have convinced me that you would be a very suitable husband by their standards. But as a woman I have other ideas about a man's potential as a husband. So does Shakti. She knows you very well as her boss, but not as a possible life partner. We would like you to come to our abode and meet me and Shakti at home. If she and I approve of you after your visit..."

I held my breath waiting for Rajni to finish.

"...then we can talk about how you marry Shakti."

"Thank you Rajni. When do want me to come?"

"Friday night? At six o'clock?"

"I can do that."

"Then we will expect you then. Shakti will tell you where. She should leave at four so that she is ready when you call. Is that possible?"

"Yes. Shakti can come and go whenever she wants. She is a senior manager and important to this company. She can manage her time herself. We do not expect her to be here if she has other things to do."

"Then, Adam, I am pleased to have met you."

Rajni stood up. I stood as well and showed her to the door. Shakti was waiting in June's room.

"Goodbye, Adam," said Rajni.

"Goodbye, Rajni," I replied.

Rajni took Shakti's arm and left the room. My breath whooshed out.

"Was it that bad, Adam?" June asked.

"Like having teeth pulled. I know how men must have felt when asking fathers for permission to court daughters. It was difficult for both of us, but..."

"But?"

"I have an invitation to visit Shakti and her mother on Friday evening."

"You do? That is unheard of and against their culture. You must be favoured."

"I think so, June. I hope so."

"Good luck, Adam."

"Thank you, June. I might need it. I will be walking on eggshells trying not to break a taboo or offend their traditions."

I intended to prepare myself for the visit like a teenager going on his first date. I would go to my flat, shave, shower, and put on my newest Saville Row suit. I had decided against evening dress. Six o'clock was too early for that, I thought. I would arrive by taxi.

But just as I was about to leave work June handed me a sealed envelope.

"Shakti asked me to give you this just before you leave," June said.

I opened the envelope. Inside was a short note:

'Drive yourself. Park in the street behind the shop and come to the back door at six o'clock. Bring a weekend case and dress casual. You're coming to enjoy us, not to be formal. You'll be staying the night."

It was signed 'S' with a small cartoon of a woman wearing a sari.

I didn't know what it meant but I followed Shakti's instructions.

Rajni was standing just inside the open door as I arrived. She was wearing one of her heavier saris but one I recognised from the shop, not a formal one. I followed her upstairs, enjoying the waggle of her sari-clad hips. But I wanted to marry Shakti, not her mother. If I had been older? Or Rajni younger? Maybe I would be courting her, not her daughter.

I followed Rajni into the apartment's dining room. Shakti, wearing a sari with a short waist apron around it, was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She walked towards me. I stood beside Rajni. I didn't know how to react. Rajni stepped sideways as her daughter flung her arms around me and kissed me on the lips.

I was shocked. I hadn't expected to be hugged and kissed, particularly with Rajni in the room. I hadn't expected to be kissed at all. I responded to Shakti's kiss. She swung me around to face Rajni. Shakti held me still, her arms holding mine to my sides, as Rajni kissed me too. The two women hugged me tightly.

"Adam," Shakti said, "we are celebrating. We two widows have fought a battle with our male relatives and have won. They have agreed that I can marry you. According to them - we are now engaged."

"Congratulations, son-in-law to be," Rajni said, "but we have more to celebrate than your engagement. We have defeated our men folk. My husband's brothers and my sons have accepted that I own the businesses and that I am in charge. They have agreed that I issue the orders for them to follow. They are stunned to recognise that a woman and a widow is their boss. I have told them that the family now lives in England and follows English Law. By the articles of the company you helped me to set up I am the owner. Shakti, her younger sister Asha, and my daughters in law are the other directors. Not my sons. Not even Sanjit. The men are employees only."

"I didn't know what you had done for my mother, Adam." Shakti said. "On Tuesday I asked her about the status of the company if I married. We didn't know. She went to the safe and got out her copy of the paperwork. I could understand it and recognised not just your style but your handwriting, Adam. Rajni knew that you had transferred the company to her but hadn't read the detail."

"You are a devious person, son-in-law," Rajni interrupted. "If Sanjit had known what you had done he would have been very angry -- then. He is angry and hurt now but knows the truth. Why did you do it?"

I couldn't respond immediately. Shakti's lips prevented me.

"Rajni," I said when Shakti let me talk, "when you asked me to help we sat down and talked about the shops and who did what. You made it obvious that you and the women were the real brains of the business. So I wrote the company documentation to turn the reality into legal fact. I knew enough about your culture to know that your men underestimated and undervalued women. I just made sure the men couldn't overrule women in your business."

"And for years I didn't know what you had done, Adam."

"But it didn't make any difference, did it, Rajni? You ran the business. Your daughter and daughters-in-law ran the shops. Your daughters-in-law ran their husbands. All that is different now is that the men KNOW they are being organised by the women."

"Some time ago, Adam, I told you that you ought to be afraid of us. I didn't know what you had done for me. But I repeat. You ought to be afraid of me, your mother-in-law to be, and your fiancée Shakti. We are used to organising men. You are one man. We are two strong women. Beware!"

I laughed. I extracted my arms from Shakti's hug and wrapped one around each woman's shoulders.

"Unlike your men, mother-in-law and fiancée to be, I am used to strong women. I value them for what they are. I use Shakti's strength to benefit my business. I rely on her. I rely on June, my secretary, in a different way. June's strengths are different. She manages my time. Shakti manages much of my business. I have other women working for me. I know I have strong women around me. But you two? You two I love."

"We two?" Shakti asked. "I know you love me. You love my mother too?"

"He does, daughter, he does." Rajni said. "That is good. A man who loves his wife AND his mother-in-law will love his wife when she is as old as his mother. And he is lost. Both of us love him. We will run him and he will enjoy it."

They kissed me again.

+++

Shakti served the meal of traditional vegetarian dishes. She and Rajni insisted that they should spoon feed me with the first of each new dish. The tastes and textures were delicate and interesting. We had water to drink with the meal and coffee afterwards.

Over the meal we talked about how Shakti and I would marry. I was surprised to learn that it could not be a religious marriage. By their customs in their home country a marriage is for life. Divorce isn't possible and death doesn't end a marriage. A widow or widower is still married until they too die. Widows are expected to hand over all their assets to the deceased husband's male relations and live on charity. As a widower I thought that was unreasonable. They agreed.

Shakti had married in England, with a sub-sect of their religion that has adapted to being in the UK. Marriage and divorce are permitted by that sect, and Shakti had also married in a Registry Office. Her divorce had been by English law. Her religious divorce had been by the sect in the UK. But that sect still doesn't allow divorced people, widows or widowers to marry again. When she married me it would have to be in a Registry Office.

Shakti's husband, and his relatives after he died, had tried to seize Shakti's assets because the divorce was unrecognised there. However Shakti was resident in England, had married and divorced in England, and only English law applied. Her deceased husband didn't have any real assets, not even Shakti's jewellery that he had sold.

Rajni's marriage had also been in England so she had inherited all her deceased husband's pathetically few assets under his will. I, and my solicitors, had helped her to obtain probate. I had paid the solicitor's fees. They had been reasonable because the will was so simple. Her husband's brothers had objected briefly but my lawyers had informed them bluntly that they had no claim in English law. Shakti had found details of the probate transactions when looking through Rajni's company documentation. She hadn't appreciated until then how much of a friend I had been to her mother.

+++

Rajni insisted that I should stay sitting at the table as she and Shakti cleared everything away into the kitchen. I heard them rinsing dishes before putting them into a dishwasher. I felt silly sitting at the table while they worked but if that's what Rajni wanted me to do, it wasn't difficult to comply.

When they came back into the dining room Shakti had shed her apron and both women had long scarves draped across their breasts and hanging down over both shoulders.

Rajni spoke first.

"Adam, now is the critical time. We want to know what sort of husband Shakti will be getting -- by our requirements, not those of our men folk. We are already almost convinced but there is one last test. You might enjoy it. Please stand up, move the chair about six feet away from the table, and then sit on it again."

I did.

Shakti spoke next.

"One of the things I didn't like about my former husband was that he always insisted he should take the lead. We are going to ensure that you can't by tying you to that chair..."

"Tying me?" I spluttered.

"Yes, Adam," Rajni said. "We are going to tie you up. You can object. You can say so, or if you can't say, you can shake your head. But you are going to be tied up so Shakti can satisfy herself. OK?"

"I suppose so," I said reluctantly.

Shakti kissed me. She stood in front of me.

"We'll make it enjoyable for you, Adam, and the tying will be symbolic rather than real. If our male relations were considering you as a possible husband for me they would want proof of assets. We women want proof of a different sort of asset. I want to show you how much I love you and my mother is going to help me. Ready?"

"Ready," I said.

Rajni stood behind me. She looped her long scarf across my chest, under my arms, through the back of the chair and then tied my wrists at the back of the chair. The knots weren't tight but would probably tighten if I struggled. The scarf was silk and very strong. Shakti dropped to her knees in front of me. She took my shoes off and put them aside. She tied my ankles together and passed the end of the scarf to Rajni. Rajni pulled on the scarf so that my feet were off the ground and bent back under the chair. She fastened it so that my feet were held in position.

"Adam, we know that you appreciate our breasts." Rajni said from behind me. "We are going to use them to show you that you are appreciated too."

She leant forward so that her cropped blouse was pressing against the back of my head. I sank slightly between her breasts before she pulled back. Shakti was standing in front of me, smiling as she slowly unfastened the buttons on the front of her blouse. I watched her strip tease.

Rajni leant forward again. She held the edges of her unfastened blouse like blinkers either side of my head. She pressed her bra covered breasts against my head. I was deeper between her breasts this time. Shakti held her blouse open in a similar way and moved forward until her hands and Rajni's met. I was looking straight at Shakti's bra and surrounded by perfumed material.

"You've already passed the major test," Shakti said, "by letting us tie you to the chair. Now you'll meet our assets..."

Shakti's bra didn't seem to fit. It was loose with sagging folds. Why? Her breasts are large. I could feel that Rajni's bra was equally oversized. Her breasts were sagging on to my shoulders. Even Shakti's breasts weren't properly supported.

Suddenly Rajni let go of her blouse edges. Her hands grasped the lower edge of her bra to pull it up. I felt bare skin against the back of my head and the sides of her breasts against my cheeks. That lasted a couple of seconds before Rajni pulled her bra out and down over my face ending below my chin. My whole head was contained within the bra as she eased her breasts into the cups. She adjusted the shoulder straps to pull the bra tighter. I sank deep into her cleavage.

"Goodbye, Adam," Shakti said as Rajni's bra rose to cover my mouth and nose.

Goodbye? I could still see Shakti's bra and her smiling face. But not for long. Rajni fastened her cropped blouse over her bra. As she did up each button my view of Shakti gradually disappeared until all I could see was the inside of Rajni's blouse.

"My mother's assets own you, Adam. But there's more to come."

I heard Shakti move behind Rajni. There was a slither of material falling to the floor.

"We wear a petticoat under a sari, Adam," Shakti said. "They tie at the waist."

I felt silky material sliding down my chest and spreading around me before the waist band was tightened around my body and arms. I was tied to the chair and now tied inside Ranji's petticoat.

"And our saris wrap around and around," Rajni said.

I felt her unwrapping her sari before she and Shakti put it back layer after layer about my chest. My body was inside Rajni's petticoat and sari. My head was held between her breasts and my face covered with her bra and blouse. I was helpless.

"Now it is Shakti's chance to discover what you are made of, Adam. We don't want any protest from you so she has shed her panties."

Rajni loosened her blouse buttons and bra before stuffing Shakti's panties into my mouth. She tightened the bra straps much harder than before. I couldn't escape Shakti's panties.

I felt Shakti lifting the sari and petticoat before fumbling at my trousers. She undid them and slid them down towards my tied ankles, soon followed by my boxers. Her hands brushed against my erection. I flinched, my head forced deeper between Rajni's assets.

To my astonishment Shakti started running her tongue up and down my erection. It grew as she worked and I groaned despite the gag. She opened her mouth and eased the tip inside before accepting more and more of it. She couldn't take it all, impeded by the sari and petticoat.

I tried to delay ejaculation as long as I could. Being blindfolded and cradled between Rajni's breasts was arousing. But Shakti's insistent mouth was irresistible. Shakti eagerly sucked everything I produced. I slumped back against Rajni. Her hands stroked across my chest before squeezing her breasts together around my head.