Old Man and Indian Wife Ch. 02

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After my MBA I got a job in a prestigious bank. The guy I was sleeping with at that time was getting annoyingly serious about or relationship. He was good in the sack, but I found him too shallow to really make a life with. So I ended it and prepared for a career in banking.

When I walked into the conference room for inductee training, most of my fellow newbies were already there. I scanned the room and noticed a handsome older man, maybe 40 or so, staring at me. His gaze was obviously on my bosom, which had now grown to 34DD and even formalwear couldn't hide. I looked into his eyes and smiled. He smiled back sheepishly and then looked away. He spoke to us later about his division. His name was Pavan, and I heard later that he was one of the hot-shot fast track executives in the bank. Youngest Vice President in the bank's short history. And, I later learned, single!

Pavan was everything I would want in a guy - he was older, with some gray hair beginning to appear at the edge of his temples. He was tall and handsome, very fit for his age. And he had a charming personality. After training, when we were offered a choice, I opted for Pavan's division. I was really looking forward to getting to know him. And I saw it as a great opportunity to live out my fucked-by-the-boss fantasies.

I had heard of Pavan's reputation as a bit of a playboy, so was expecting him to hit on me soon enough. But he kept it strictly professional. Even more annoying was the fact that almost every other single guy in the division seemed to be hitting on me, and I had to spend a lot of time fending off their advances politely. After a few days, I decided to send stronger signals.

During our conversations, I would drop a compliment about how yummy he looked. If he returned the compliment, I would blush a little too much. I asked him about things outside of work. I was glad to know that his taste in books and movies was refined, and there was a lot for us to talk about. I even gave him a lot of the textbook signals - adjusting my hair, making eye-contact, touching him gently on the arm, and so on. When there was no response from his end, I wondered if he simply was not that into me.

And then finally, he asked me out. Things moved rapidly after that. Pavan certainly was quite the charmer. And he was quite good in bed. His dick was decent sized, in fact slightly bigger than most other guys I had been with. But more importantly, he knew how to use it. Sex with him was heavenly. And I started feeling truly satisfied in bed, for the first time in my life. Even other than sex, things were going great. When he proposed, I had no hesitation in saying yes. And we got married.

A few months later I was pregnant. I was really excited about having a baby. I had opted for higher studies mainly to keep my parents happy. But somewhere down the line, I had realized that what really interested me was not boardroom battles or promotions, but being a mother. I had spoken to Pavan about this very often, and he had no problems when i decided to quit my job and stay at home to raise our son Chintu full time.

Chintu's birth and my decision to quit my job were watershed moments in more ways than one. Having spent most of my waking hours studying or working until then, I found the luxury of the free time liberating as well as disconcerting. Until Chintu turned one, I had little free time of course. Taking care of him was a full time job. But as time went by, I found myself wondering about what to do with my free time. Pavan had started working longer hours, so I turned to my friends from engineering college and MBA days.

Most of my friends were male. For some reason, other than my sister, I found it difficult to get along with other women. And guys were very comfortable making friends with me too. The reason, one of my friends theorized, was that since I was so pretty, tall and intelligent, most guys assumed I was out of their league. Once the possibility of romance or sex was out of the way, guys found it easier to treat me like "one of the guys". Besides, my interests in sports, action movies, and cars gelled well with the guys. So I had always been "one of the guys" for them. And since I was more interested in older men than my contemporaries, I also found it easier to view them platonically.

Initially, Pavan was okay with most of my close friends being guys. But as time went by, it started to rankle him. he started making sarcastic comments about some of my closest friendships with guys. Occasionally there was a hint of an accusation. he first few times this happened, i just ignored it, putting it down to stress from work. But then as Pavan's complaints about my friends grew, I started wondering what the exact problem was.

I wondered if it had something to do with our sex life. Pavan was 40 when we got married, so with each passing year, his age was catching up with him. he still worked out and kept fit, but I noticed that the frequency with which we had sex started diminishing. I wondered if it had to do with me. I wasn't as svelte and slim as I was before marriage. But I still had maintained a flat stomach, and the extra weight I had put on after getting pregnant was spread out. I went from a 26 waist to a 28 waist, and a round but perky 34 butt to a round and voluptuous 38 butt. I was sure I still looked good enough. So I was reasonably confident that my looks had nothing to do with our sex frequency dropping down to once or twice a week.

The frequency of the arguments over my male friends however, kept growing. And it truly baffled me, because if I had been attracted to any of them, I would've slept with them long before Pavan even came into my life. Most of my friends were married, and I was friendly with their wives as well. If the wives didn't feel threatened by my friendship with their husbands, why did my husband?

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A few years passed by and I had come to accept Pavan's grumbles about my friends as a part of life. My conscience was clean. I had never even come close to cheating on him, so as far as I was concerned, it was just paranoia brought on by the insecurity of his declining sexual prowess. Occasionally, I considered suggesting that he see a doctor about erectile dysfunction. But I knew how touchy Pavan was about that. Whenever he was unable to get it up, he would get very defensive and surly, sometimes blaming me for "coming on too strong". So the sex in our marriage wasn't great, but with a precocious little boy to attend to, it stopped being a concern. I had more or less settled into the life of a regular housewife.

One day Pavan came home and announced he had just interviewed for a position with a global bank on Wall Street, and if he go the job, we'd be moving to New York. I was peeved, at the fact that he had not consulted me before the interview. I could understand his desire to pursue this opportunity, but we were a family, and I insisted that such decisions should be taken together. He didn't take my concerns very well. He refused to even have a conversation about it. I tried explaining that I didn't mind the move, but considering that Chintu and I both had friends and connections in Bombay, he should have at least talked to me about it. Pavan just muttered something about how I cared about being close to my "friends" than his career and ended the topic there.

A couple of days later, we learned that Pavan had gotten the job. I saw no point in holding him back, so I agreed to the move. And off we flew to New York, leaving our friends and family behind. The move was exactly as I had expected. It was fun living in the New York area....New Jersey to be precise... but the fun was offset by loneliness. I tried mingling with a few of the Indian wives in the neighborhood, but they were a little too homely and conservative for my tastes.

I was relieved about one thing though. Although I had no friends around, at least Pavan's insecure rants about my male friends stopped. We settled into a fairly cosy existence in the new Jersey suburbs. Chintu's sulking about being taken away from his friends in Bombay didn't last very long either. He soon made friends in school and in the neighborhood, especially a boy his age who lived next door. The boy's father, Jeff, was a nice guy and I soon became friendly with him.

Jeff was divorced and had custody of his son. To get he flexibility of raising a son as a single dad, Jeff had quit his job and ran a catering business from his house. Jeff reminded me a lot of my guy friends back in India - friendly, energetic, talkative, helpful, and a great conversationalist. He was also extremely social, and would drop by all the time asking me to taste some dish or the other that he had concocted. He would also ask me for tips on Indian cooking. Besides, we shared a lot of the same likes in books and music. So it was common for Jeff and his son to come over, or me and Chintu to go over to his place. The boys would play and Jeff and I would talk or experiment with cooking.

Sure enough, Pavan's jealous side returned with a vengeance. He started getting antsy about Jeff and me hanging out so much. I tried to explain to Pavan that a) jeff had never even remotely tried to make a pass at me, and b) even if he had, i was simply NOT attracted to him. But such reasonable arguments never found favor with Pavan, who started sulking more and more. Pavan's performance in bed had declined even further.

So I decided to spice things up a little. Ever since Chintu was born, my wardrobe had turned into that of a homely housewife. Living in Bombay in a fairly conservative neighborhood further played its part. But now I was in the US! So I decided to give myself a makeover. I got my hair styled, and bought a lot of new skimpy and revealing clothes - shorts, hot pants, skirts, tank tops and revealing blouses. I started dressing in these revealing clothes in an attempt to revive Pavan's interest in sex.

It did work. To an extent. Pavan noticed the change in my wardrobe and made some favorable comments, It did lead to a brief spike in our bedroom action. But Pavan still seemed bothered by Jeff. Once he said jokingly that he wondered if I had started wearing revealing clothes to entice Jeff. I was taken aback, but Pavan laughed it off saying it was a joke. I could however detect a grain of insecurity in what he said. And it pissed me off. Here I had gone to such great lengths to rekindle my husband's interest in me. And he suspected it was all for Jeff?

Once when I was waiting in the supermarket line, my eyes fell on a women's magazine near the counter. It had a blurb that said - "What Might Be behind Your Husband's Jealousy?". My interest was piqued and I bought the magazine. The article said that if your husband is being excessively jealous and insecure, it might be the result of him hiding his true desires to see you with another man. Many men have latent cuckolding desires, the article said, that they cannot come to terms with. Sot hey spend a lot of their time fantasizing about their wives sleeping with other men, and it comes out as jealousy. I was taken aback at what the article suggested. Is that what Pavan really fantasized about?

I remembered that in our early days of dating, Pavan had quizzed me in great detail about my past lovers. And I had told him about them all, except for the Nigel episode which I had thought too embarrassing to share. Whenever I told Pavan details about my time in bed with other men, he got very aroused and we would have sex right away. But his inquiries about my past had stopped long back. Was he really a closeted cuckold, I wondered. Nah, couldn't be, I decided and threw the magazine away.

The reason for Pavan's jealousy, I told myself, was his insecurity about his non-performance in bed. Over the next few weeks, I tried my best to kick things up in bed. I would initiate sex with a heavy make-out session, suck his dick, and talk dirty. But it worked only occasionally. Most of the times, Pavan's dick refused to respond and he'd sulk away to sleep. I also began noticing that the day after a non-performance episode he would bring up the Jeff topic and we'd start arguing over it. I decided to finally bite the bullet and suggest that he see a doctor.

Things really came to a boil one incredibly hot day. Jeff came over with his son and a big ice box. He said he had some premium German beer leftover from a catering job, so how about we sit in the yard, let the kids play and cool ourselves down with some beer? Chintu was already jumping around with his friend, so I decided why not. I changed into a short skirt and a tank top and joined Jeff on a lawn chair. A while later, Jeff asked if he could take off his t-shirt. I said sure. And he sat there in just his cut-offs, sweat glistening on his chest. A few women who passed by gave Jeff approving looks, something I teased him about, and he blushed. Jeff did have a well chiseled torso and it always drew a lot of admiring glances. Personally, I didn't feel turned on by it. I liked my men older, and hairier.

So we sat there, drinking beer and talking about all sorts of things as our kids played in the lawn. An hour or so later, Pavan came home. he walked on to the lawn just as Jeff and I were laughing about something. And it became obvious to me at once that the green eyed monster was sitting on Pavan's head. With an angry look on his face, he yelled at Chintu to get inside. Jeff looked taken aback at Pavan's behavior. I had never shared Pavan's jealous accusations with Jeff so this was the first that Jeff had any hint of my husband's dislike of him. He immediately got up, picked up his cooler, said polite goodbyes to me and Pavan and went home with his son.

I was feeling a wee bit tipsy from all the beer, so I wasn't my usual quiet and understanding self. I walked in, really confused and upset at Pavan's rudeness. I fought back an urge to confront Pavan, knowing that Chintu was still around. That whole evening, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. I was upset at Pavan's boorish behavior. And he clearly was upset about Jeff hanging out with me. But I felt more wronged. Arguing with me in the privacy of our home was one thing. Being so rude to an innocent guy who had done nothing wrong, that too in front of kids, was unacceptable.

After Chintu fell asleep, we went to the bedroom and it started. Pavan fired the first salvo, asking if I enjoyed drooling over Jeff's shirtless body. I responded by saying I felt absolutely no attraction towards Jeff and Pavan was just being paranoid. Pavan responded by saying that I may not be attracted to Jeff, but he obviously was, and I was leading him on. I refuted this premise as well, saying Jeff had been a perfect gentleman and Pavan's fears were baseless. We argued, our voices rising by the second, until I decided to cut to the chase and finally bring up the dreaded topic,

"Pavan, don't take this the wrong way, but don't you see your insecurity is stemming from your.....troubles in bed? I keep telling you to see the doctor. There are drugs..."

"So you're saying I should take Viagra or you'll fuck him? Is that it?" Pavan shot back.

"What?" I said, confused at how he could have twisted my words to mean that.

"Or have you fucked him already?" Pavan said, with a disgustingly contemptuous look on his face.

I had never been as angry and disgusted at my husband as I was at that moment. Rage boiled up in my head, and before I realized what I was doing, I slapped him. It was an instinctive reaction and as soon as I did it, I felt sorry. Pavan now looked really enraged. He grabbed me by my shoulders really hard, and I feared that he would slap me back. He just glared at me for a few seconds and then pushed me away

I felt tears well in my eyes out of fear. It took me a few moments to compose myself. I ran out of the bedroom only to see Pavan slam the door behind him. I went back to the bedroom and started crying. What had I done to deserve such disrespect? I had always been faithful to Pavan. Never entertained even the slightest desire to cheat on him. Given my looks, I had been hit on by all sorts of men, in India as well as in America. But I had always deftly and politely spurned their advances, regardless of if I felt attracted to them. My choice in male friends had also been impeccable. Not a single one of my friends had ever tried to get fresh with me. But Pavan's jealously grew regardless. He seemed to have condemned me without a trial. I felt like Desdemona, except that my Othello was convicting me without an Iago to instigate him. I cried myself to sleep that night.

Things calmed down a little over the next couple of days. I was relieved when Pavan made the first move and apologized about overreacting. He said he had stepped over the line, and should not have blown his top. He did say though that I should be more understanding of his concerns about someone like Jeff. I was an attractive woman and I should be more judicious in how I act with other men. I thought of saying, I had not acted inappropriately at all, and all his fears about Jeff were unfounded. Instead, I decided to make a gesture of peace. I said that if Jeff bothered him so much, I would not spend that much time with him. He seemed satisfied. We hugged, kissed and made love for the first time in two weeks.

Things returned to normal and I was delighted when Pavan announced his surprise for me. he had booked us tickets to visit Las Vegas on the coming long weekend. Just the two of us. And he had already spoken to my sister in Philadelphia about taking care of Chintu while we were gone. I was glad to see Pavan's cheerful side resurface. This is how he used to be - planning surprises and making plans for us to get away.

I was excited about visiting Las Vegas. I wasn't really too interested in gambling, but I had heard that Vegas was the new hot spot for fine dining and great shows. Its line-up of shows rivaled Broadway, and I hoped we would be able to attend a couple of them. I picked out my sexiest short dresses and tops, looking forward to seducing Pavan. I also went to the store and bought a new yellow bikini, hoping we would get to hang out by the pool. I even shaved all the hair down there so I could wear the bikini. I was all packed and ready for a vacation to rekindle the romance in our relationship. I was excited at this opportunity to make a fresh start. Little did I know it would turn out to be a fresh start of a completely different kind.

Trouble started as soon as we landed in Vegas and I turned my phone on. The previous day, I had told Jeff that we were going to Las Vegas.for the long weekend. I also apologized to him for Pavan's behavior and explained that my husband had been getting a bit jealous of our friendship. Jeff was aghast that Pavan viewed him as someone making a play for his wife. Jeff assured me that he had no such intentions, and I said I know. Jeff said he was sorry if he had created trouble between me and Pavan, and I in turn apologized to him again. Jeff then changed the topic to Vegas and recommended a few restaurants he really liked. He said there was this one tiny little known gem of a Mexican restaurant that he had loved. He'd try to remember it and let me know.

As soon as I turned the phone on, it beeped three times. Pavan, who had been in a good mood till then, shot me a dirty look. And then asked me sarcastically if the messages were from Jeff. I read the messages. The first one was from my sister saying Chintu was doing fine. The second was from Jeff, with the name and address of the restaurant we had spoken about. And then another message from Jeff saying - "Have a great time in Vegas. Wishing you and Pavan a safe flight." I replied to the messages with a single word "thanks" and answered Pavan's question.

He made some sarcastic comment about whether Jeff wanted recipe.