The Anatomy of an Infidelity Ch. 02

It was Monday afternoon when Arup had driven to work, parked his car and headed to the front door of his office building. As was his usual ritual, he stopped outside for a cigarette. As he had walked up, he had noticed Rasika standing in the window. It reminded him of their unexpectedly wild night together. It had rejuvenated his sense of self-confidence. On Saturday, he had covered for her at work. No one in the office suspected anything when he said Rasika had to take the day off for health reasons. As he did a lot of the work she was supposed to do, he was tempted to message her or call her, asking how she was doing. But he knew she would be with Nitin. And did not want to interrupt.

When Veena returned on Sunday, he had picked her up at the airport, and as soon as they walked in the door, carried her to the bedroom. Veena was delighted. She had also been feeling very horny, having spent all these days away from her dashing husband. And she was happy that he was raring and ready to go. They had sex six times that day, without Veena knowing that this sudden increase in her husband's libido was due to his having banged some young colleague under the roof she had paid for.

Just as Arup lit the cigarette, Rasika opened the door and walked out.

"Hi." she said giving him a half smile.

"Oh hi."

"Could we...talk?" she sounded nervous.

"Sure."

"Over there by the side. I don't want other colleagues walking by to overhear."

"Sure."

He walked with her to the side of the small grassy patch in front of the building. As they did so, a couple of other colleagues walked by waving at them. He took another puff and waited for Rasika to start talking. But she was having trouble finding the right words. So he asked a question that had been on his mind.

"Did you...tell Nitin?"

She looked up into his eyes.

"No. I did not." she said. She had been meaning to confess. But as soon as she saw him, her resolve weakened. Nitin had been so sweet and so understanding, it was just like it used to be in their initial days of dating. She liked how homely and nice it felt to be hugged by him. She liked how he fussed over her when they went to lunch. And later, when he took her home when his parents were out and made tender love to her, she loved the emotional intimacy they had regained. He truly did make her feel better about having failed. He did not berate her or make her feel bad about herself. So she could not bring herself to sour their nice time together by admitting what she had done.

"Ok." he said, feeling a little relieved. He had been half-scared all Saturday that the guy would show up at the office and confront him.

"Did you...tell your wife?" she timidly asked.

"No, I did not." he said. His logic had been much more straightforward. This young hot colleague had thrown herself at him. He was but a man. He had given in. If Veena found out, she would kill him. So he did not tell her.

"Arup...you are a good friend. What happened...it was a mistake, right? Just a momentary lapse of judgment from us both. I mean...I love Nitin. And I know you love your wife."

"Yes, very much." he said.

"I don't blame you. It was all my fault. I was feeling depressed and bitter and angry...and I needed some relief. And I reached out to you. And you...helped out. And we did what we did. But it was a mistake."

"True." he said, partly agreeing with her. The emotionally intelligent and mature part of him knew that she was right. But the primal male in him was disappointed.

"Can we just...forget it happened, and go back to being friends?" she looked into his eyes again with her usual earnest puppy-dog look.

For a moment, images of her curvy naked body flashed in front of his eyes, including how she came. He felt a sudden urge to grab her and mount her right there on the grass. But it passed.

"Yes, I think it would be for the best." he said, telling himself that one night of unexpected bliss was better than nothing. A couple of other colleagues walked by and waved at them. They waved back.

"Thank you. I don't want your wife to hate me." she said.

"I understand." he said, his cigarette almost completely finished.

"Thank you again. I will...I will go up now." Rasika said, turning around.

"See you...can you collate the articles for today?"

"Will do."

And the two of them got back to work.

That day passed without incident. They were back to being boss and employee. Working together on the proofs, the layouts, and so on. A few more days passed, and it started seeming like that one night of passion was truly a mistake that they had treated as an aberration and moved on. For the most part. Arup did find himself glancing at her a bit more than he used to. Even though she still dressed in that unstylish frumpy way, he had gotten a detailed look at what a dynamite body she had. So occasionally when she bent over, he found himself remembering her huge creamy tits or her full ass. And he felt like dragging her to the office bathroom for a quickie. He just shook those feelings away.

Rasika herself also did her best to forget about that one night. Things between her and Nitin were better than ever. No fights and no arguments. Her loving boyfriend was being very cautious and compassionate in helping her deal with the aftermath of her failure. He took care of the paperwork for filing re-checking, although she was not optimistic about it. And he never pushed her on it or on her entrance exam prep like her used to. The next weekend, she went to Mumbai and spent the time with him, having sex in his apartment, and eating out.

One tiny thing Rasika noticed was the general attitude and behavior of the other girls in her PG. She felt like many times, the other girls, including Neha, were whispering something and they would stop right as she walked in. It made her suspect they were talking about her. And sometimes she got the feeling that even aunty, who had been otherwise very nice and non-judgmental about her and Nitin, was looking at her differently. And she was right. Neha had talked to the other girls about what she had seen. And those young college girls, like many college girls, were gossiping about Rasika. One of them had even mentioned this to aunty, who had no problem with one of the PGs having a boyfriend, but was scandalized at the idea of adultery. The general consensus was, no, she is too nice and simple to be two-timing her nice boyfriend. But still, they did discuss the whole thing a lot. Everyone likes salacious gossip and they were no different.

What fed the gossip was the fact that Arup, as he had decide before, still dropped her home every night after work. Rasika mentioned once that he was her boss and he dropped her home because it was too late to walk home. So the girls were satisfied with that explanation. But still, every time he dropped her home, the girls would stand hidden by the window, and try to observe if there were any telltale signs of something salacious. Even aunty would observe from her room. They never saw anything untoward. And as days passed by, the PG girls and aunty started thinking that Neha had unnecessarily started a baseless rumor about the very nice Rasika. Clearly, that guy in the car was just a protective boss dropping her home. Nothing more.

Arup and Rasika truly had gone back to normal. He told himself that it was a good thing. He loved his wife and besides, she was very temperamental and also his financial lifeline. The marriage was too important for him to risk. So even thought he felt flashes of temptations everyday when he worked in close proximity with the voluptuous 22 year old, he never did anything more than just re-imagine their night together. And Rasika too was very happy with how things with Nitin were going. And had done her best to forget about that night. Although she did find herself thinking about it every time she and Nitin had sex. How different it was from that night.

The following Friday, circumstances once again arranged themselves in a way that created temptations and some bitterness.

Nitin was going to come from Mumbai for the whole weekend. The newspaper office was going to be closed on Saturday because of a long weekend, and that would give her the whole weekend with her beloved boyfriend. And they had planned a weekend getaway to Lavasa. Nitin had booked them into a resort and everything. She was very excited about that trip. And when she woke up that morning, she saw aunty standing in the corridor talking to the other girls.

"Oh Rasika, you are up as well. Okay, so listen. We are going to Nagpur for a wedding by the afternoon train. We will be back on Wednesday. We have kept the main house locked. Make sure all of you keep your doors locked too. And the back entrance. And always lock the main gate." she said.

"Aunty, we are all going away too." Neha said. "There is a college picnic. We will be leaving tonight for Matheran. Back on Monday."

"Yes, it's a college-wide picnic." one of the other girls said.

"Okay...you will all still be back Monday. We won't return till Wednesday. So keep the instructions in mind. Remember to always lock everything." Aunty said and then paused. "Oh..I always forget...Rasika, you aren't in their college."

"Yes aunty, I am not." she smiled. "But I won't be around over the weekend either. Nitin and I are going to Lavasa tomorrow."

"Oooh, nice!" Neha said. "Lavasa is so gorgeous. Have fun."

The girls and aunty all exchanged short meaningful glances. If Rasika and Nitin were spending the weekend together in a nice location like Lavasa, clearly everything was fine. The rumors started by Neha were baseless.

Later in the day, Rasika went to work. The office was always buzzing with activity. Since they would be closed on Saturday and Sunday, they had to finish the edition layouts for 3 days on that one day. So Arup started delegating the work.

"Alright, so our first priority is to finish tomorrow's layout. In the meanwhile, we will also need to get most of the work done for Sunday and Monday editions. So...Rasika, you will work on the proofs for all the articles for the weekend while also working on tomorrow's editions. Mahesh and Mita, help her. I will be working on the layouts. By tonight, I want everything done for tomorrow. And then the rest of the stuff, Rasika, email me. I will work from home tomorrow and day after and send it to the printers."

So Rasika immersed herself in work, juggling the same day work and the weekend work. She hoped to get it all finished soon so she could leave early in time for when Nitin's bus got in. They were going to spend the night together at his parents' place and then take a bus to Lavasa in the morning.

It was 6 PM when Rasika's phone rang. It was Nitin. She answered.

"Hey honey, I am really busy chasing deadlines. Is it urgent?"

"Yes, I am afraid it is." Nitin sounded very serious.

"Oh..." she stopped working.

"One of my colleagues had an accident. I have to cover his meetings for tomorrow. I am really sorry. I know this means our trip is postponed a little. But I will be done by noon. Take the bus from Pune and I will leave from here. And we can meet in the evening. I am so sorry." he said earnestly.

"Don't worry, honey." Rasika said, although feeling a little disappointed. "I understand."

"You're not upset?"

"Not at all." she said. "I have to get back to work though."

"Yeah, me too. I have to prep for his meetings. Love you."

"Love you too."

And so that is how the circumstances lined up. Rasika's PG fully empty for the weekend. Her plans with Nitin slightly postponed. Which meant she had Friday night all to herself.

Arup himself had plans for the long weekend. But they were not with Veena. His wife was in Singapore for a business trip. He had planned to meet up with some of his college friends for the weekend. He would be hosting them at his place, and they would spend the weekend drinking, eating, smoking, and reminiscing about old days. In between, he would have to do a little work checking the proofs for subsequent issues. But he knew that with the super competent Rasika handling the articles, there wouldn't be much work for him.

"I am done with everything for tomorrow's edition." Rasika said, briskly walking up to his desk close to midnight. "And I am almost done with the other two editions as well. I will send you the proofs later tonight or tomorrow."

"So all set for the long weekend at Lavasa?" he asked.

"Yeah, although it got postponed a little." Rasika shrugged.

"Postponed?"

"Nitin has some meetings in Mumbai tomorrow morning. So we will be going there in the evening instead."

"Oh too bad, but anyway. Have fun." he said feeling oddly jealous of her spending a weekend with her boyfriend. "Let's finalize this."

Arup went over the final edition and sent it to the printer before letting everyone go. When he walked out, Rasika was waiting for him to drop her home as always. She followed him to the parking lot. And was surprised when he stopped in front of a motorcycle.

"A bike today?" she asked.

"Yes, my car is in the garage for servicing." he answered.

He kick started the bike and Rasika got on the seat behind him. And he started driving to her PG, assuming he would drop her off and go home. And then call his friends over to hang out.

He stopped the bike in front of her house. Throughout the short ride, he had noticed that she had put her hands on his shoulders instead of holding the bar. He wondered if there was anything to that, or if he was reading too much into it. It has been two weeks since that night together, and this was the first touch they had felt since. She seemed serious about treating it as a mistake and moving on. And yet, her hands on his shoulders seemed to suggest something meaningful. Or was he hallucinating?

Rasika for her part had not really thought much before holding his shoulders. That's how she rode behind Nitin. But after a few minutes, she too noticed that this was the first time since that night that she had touched him. And feeling his firm shoulders reminded her of his toned torso. She slid off the seat.

"Thank you." she said softly and smiled, feeling her ears go warm for some reason.

"So...email me the proofs whenever you are done. I will take a look at them when I get home and reply in an hour or so."

"Or...I just finished them before leaving. You want to just come in and check them out on my PC? Shouldn't take too long." Rasika shrugged and asked. She had no idea where that came from. It was like her brain had automatically extended this invitation.

Arup was a little taken aback. He had been dropping her home for a while but she had never invited him inside before. She lived in a PG and had told him that although aunty was cool about tenants having boyfriends, there were strict rules about male visitors at night. As if reading his mind, she said,

"Aunty and uncle are out of town. As are all the other girls. For the long weekend." and then there was a hint of a naughty smile. The house did look unusually dark.

"Umm...sure."

He locked the bike and followed her as she unlocked the gate and walked in. Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought there was an extra seductive sway in her hips as she walked in front of him. Instantly, the image of her thick round creamy white ass flashed in his mind. It had been two weeks since their one night stand. She had told him that she had gotten caught up in emotional turmoil and made a mistake. He himself was feeling a little guilty about cheating on his wife. So he had gone along with her decision to treat it as just an aberrant mistake. After that, it had been awkward for a few days, but things soon returned to the way they used to be before they slept together. They were back to being friendly colleagues.

And now she was inviting him into her PG accommodation at midnight. Was she having second thoughts, he wondered. Or maybe it was just for work. Maybe she just wanted to get the work done so she could spend the weekend with Nitin uninterrupted. No need to jump to conclusions, Arup told himself.

Rasika opened the lock of the back door and led him into her room through the corridor. As they walked in,

"Oh, hey!" a slim young girl was sitting on a bed reading a book.

"Hi Neha. Sorry, I didn't know you were going to be home." Rasika said. Arup thought he detected a hint of disappointment and even nervousness in her voice.

"Yeah, I am just about to head out. Some of my friends are going by car to Matheran so I am just waiting for them." she said, and then looked at Arup. There was an awkward silence.

"This is my boss Arup. We were just going to work on some proofs for the newspaper."

"Hello." Arup and Neha politely smiled at each other.

Neha kept a poker face, but the gears in her mind were spinning. All the suspicions laid to rest after that one time started resurfacing. She had met Rasika's boyfriend many times. They seemed to be very much in love. And yet here she was was this older guy, clearly disappointed to find Neha home. Neha had always thought of Rasika to be a plain and simple girl until a couple of weeks ago. Maybe there was more to her than met the eye.

The plan had been for Neha to leave earlier with all the other PG girls in a bus. The only reason she had stayed behind was that she was getting a ride with some other girls in a car. She thought Rasika would be with Nitin. But now that she was here, Neha felt like she was intruding.

"I'll get out of your hair in a little bit." Neha said and closed her book, messaging her friends on the phone to ask where they were.

"No rush." Rasika said, blushing a little. "We are just going to be working."

"Cool." Neha said, smiled a little and started gathering her stuff to take with her.

Rasika started her PC. As it was booting, she kept staring at the screen. Arup sat on the bed next to her. There was an awkward silence between them. Neha also noticed the tension and smiled to herself. She was getting more and more convinced that her presence was delaying a booty call. Finally the computer booted up.

"Okay, here. Take a look at the second and third paragraphs. I did some major re-writes there." Rasika said, opening the document. She got up from the chair and Arup moved towards it. As she slid past him in that narrow space, he got the feeling she rubbed her breasts against his chest on purpose.

For the next five minutes, Arup quietly edited the document, making minor changes where needed, but kept wondering if he was about to get laid again. Rasika had made it very clear that the night had been a one time thing. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the fine balance they had achieved since. At the same time, he kept remembering what a hot body she had and couldn't resist thinking of it. His thoughts were interrupted by a sound from Neha's phone.

"Ok guys, my ride is here, so I am off." Neha said. She couldn't suppress a smile as she walked out.

Rasika and Arup stayed silent as they heard the doors close. From the open window, she could see Neha run towards a car and get into it. Just before getting in, she looked back and saw Rasika's face. And waved her goodbye. Rasika waved back and returned to the computer.

"Nice girl." Arup said.

"She is okay." Rasika shrugged.

"College student?"

"Yeah. A bit too gossipy though." she said bitterly. She was sure now, more than ever, that Neha was the one spreading rumors about her. After meeting Arup in their room, who knew what more she would spread.

"Really?" Arup found that comment strange.

"Yeah. Just gets very nosy and jumps to conclusions."

Arup nodded and kept working on the document as Rasika took a couple of steps back and sat on the bed. She took her cardigan off slowly. Arup glanced at her big boobs pushing against her kurta and then looked back at the screen. Was this some sort of a signal? Or was she just warm and taking her cardigan off. He wondered if she was expecting him to make the first move this time, now that they were alone. But he didn't want to risk rejection or complications. For a couple of minutes, the only sound in the room was the clicking of the keyboard.