RECAP It is Ishaani’s birthday and it bothers Aditya immensely that he cannot wish her. It bothers him so much that he invites a PYT from office out for dinner. Ishaani has had a nice enough day – lunching with her daughters and now, out for dinner with Shayan, she finds Aditya and the PYT in the same restaurant. Shayan suggests they leave, even as Ishaani finds herself consumed with curiosity, wanting to know if Aditya would take the PYT home. CHAPTER 10 It was eventually a nice meal with ‘Badshah’ rolls, ‘Ameena’ Biryani and sweets from Ganguram’s, accompanied by a bottle of red Madeira. She was determined not to let the mind wander away, trying to guess what Aditya and the PYT were doing. Shayan was smothering her with love, and why should she care about anything else, especially about the husband she had walked out on. It was odd to spend a birthday without worrying about what to cook for a special family dinner, and how to sneak out for some time together with Shayan. She didn’t want to ask herself if she missed the family around the dinner table, the laughter, the banter. She knew the answer would leave her confused and in a state of longing. For so long, she had thought that she was pretending, and now that she had stopped, she wasn’t sure if she had been pretending. She smiled at Shayan, not too sure about the drift of his conversation. So often had Shayan imagined this future for himself that it was tough for him to know that it was for real, and that Ishaani was now sharing his flat, his life, and smiling at him in contentment. She whom he had admired from a distance, and whom he had lost, only to find again most unexpectedly. Ish, you complete me. That is such a clichéd thing to say! But you do. You really do. My life was incomplete for so long. And mine too. Even as she said it, she wondered if her life had really felt incomplete for the last twenty years. She had missed spending a lot of time with Shayan but had she actually felt that her life was incomplete... She felt a bit like a liar and remembered how a bossy little Abanti had once terrorized the entire family by making them rinse their mouths each time a lie or an abuse was mouthed. Of course Abu was a storehouse of abusive language right now, all childhood pretensions of being saintly having long been discarded. Aditya was driving home, talking to the girl whose name he now knew to be Keya, though he had forgotten her surname with embarrassing promptness. He was making small talk and she was trying to talk intelligently while also flirting a bit. It was clear to both of them that he was taking her to his home, where he would take a sexual favour from this young lady. He was once again going to be making out with a woman in his bedroom and there was no longer any possibility of his wife walking in unannounced. Ishaani had not taken along her set of the keys and she was soon going to cease being his wife in any official capacity. His lawyer had recently told him that the process would be very swift and smooth since there were no unresolved issues. Just the mandatory six month wait. They had reached. Aditya got off the car to open the gate. He drove the car inside and shut the gates before opening the door for himself and Keya. He excused himself to pour out some milk for the cat and then offered to make the lady a drink as well. She accepted, chose a cognac and he knew he was buying time. He didn’t know why. Do you live with your parents Keya? No, I live alone. I don’t have to go back. She was coming on strong. He wondered if she did this kind of a thing often, or if the seeming ease was a cover for any emotions that she might be feeling. Maybe she hated him and hated what ambition was making her do. Maybe she was cool about the whole thing. She was a different generation, his daughters’ generation and he didn’t know how they felt about issues like sleeping with the boss. Aditya wondered when the earnest-faced young recruit had transformed into a woman of the world or had the earlier face just been a mask. Keya leaned forward, carefully combining the art of picking up a glass with revealing of cleavage. If you don’t mind my asking sir, where is your wife sir? A sudden fit of violence seized Aditya. He gripped her arms and screamed, She has left me. She left me for another man. He almost dragged her up to the bedroom and made violent love to her, even though he knew he was hurting her and that nothing was actually her fault. Afterwards he cried and was surprised when she touched him gently, as if trying to ease his pain. He hadn’t though her capable of tenderness. He opened his eyes and looked into the face bent over his. I am sorry. If you want to, I’ll drop you home in a while. I can stay the night. No, I’ll drop you. Just give me a while. You could tidy up… I am going through a personal mess Keya. I am sorry. It’s all right sir. He drove her home afterwards and then came back to his empty home. The cat purred around his feet as he let himself in. Impatiently, he kicked the cat out, yelling, Go to your bloody mistress, don’t hang around my feet.                                            To be continued…