Chapter 14: Spying from Windows
He wondered if Salome was not picking up his calls on purpose or if she was in trouble and needed his help. He sent her one last text to join the other five that he had sent over the last three days. If he did not receive an answer to this one, he would be over at her place, although he knew that she did not like him showing up unannounced. He understood why. She was a proud woman. Just like how she had always insisted on never taking any financial help from him, she had never wanted him to see her in any aspects of her profession. But she had accepted his financial advice and over the years had become the silent investor in a few profitable ventures. Her clients now were only those rare ones that she could not say no to due to… reasons. But it rankled her that she hadn't yet reached a position when she could completely refuse. She often joked with him that she could not wait until she aged and her beauty disappeared completely so that no one will seek her out and she could live in peace. He had told her that those were three different things that had no connection with each other. She could age and her beauty may yet remain intact and she may find peace no matter what… or any other combination thereof… she had told him to limit his permutations to financial data. And he had told her that life worked the same way, everything was a calculated risk of gains and losses. And she had asked him what had made him sign up for such a definitive loss in her case. It had been an uncharacteristic self-deprecation on her part and he had merely looked at her without validating it with an answer. She would have hated any answer anyways. He had learned long ago that nothing in this world could fight self-contempt. Then she had told him something that he would never forget…. "Sometimes I really do think that you are too good to be true, Gaurav." He would never forget it because he didn't think that she had meant it exactly as it sounded.
He typed in what he wanted to say,
"Just let me know that you are okay."
He left the phone on the table and walked away from the room. He was supposed to be moving the last of his stuff into the joint bedroom with Vidya and he had managed to find a good enough couch with a pull-out bed that seemed semi-comfortable. His back was starting to ache in earnest after three days of making do with the lounging chair. Today was his last day off from work; he had thought that a week was aplenty for an unwanted wedding and his small financial consulting firm didn't run by itself, particularly as his limited staff still relied on him for every minor detail. He had been doing work from home for a week, which had been unavoidable, but he had been trying to keep it to a minimum, even though Vidya did not make too many demands on his time at all. He wondered what she did all day. He had seen her in the kitchen at times, on the grounds at other times going for walks by herself, and then at other times with his mother and Imli. Adi was already quite chummy with her and he had noticed that his wife really did have a pretty smile, which often came out with all of Adi's teasing. Uttara maasi had not come to their home after the reception fiasco, although Adi, who talked to her more regularly than he did, had told him that she was safe and unhurt since the incident. He could only guess at the truth of the matter.
Once he set up the new couch and came back to his room, he saw that he had a text back.
"I am alright. Don't worry about me. I have to take a trip. Won't be back for a week."
He wanted to refrain from replying, but he couldn't help himself. She was purposely cutting him off now, he knew.
"Why are you doing this? Are you worried that I won't give my wife a fair chance to tempt me if I get to see and talk to you?" He replied.
He moved more things out of the room, trying to focus on the chore to keep from getting worked up. Ten minutes later, he received her reply,
"You are married, Gaurav. You are actually married. Not just in theory, but in reality. Another woman has a true claim on you now. Don't you understand what that means?"
He could not control the anger that swept through him then as he texted back,
"No, I don't. I am bit slow on the uptake, so please explain to me how this is any different now from the past few months when you thought that this was the greatest idea in the world."
He only had to wait a few more minutes this time for the answer to come back,
"Oh Gaurav, don't be so obtuse. You must have known that this would change things. I know that you think differently from the rest of us folks bound by the codes of this hypocritical society, but really, are you so very different? Answer me this then; if you see me again, will you be able to sleep with me? Give it some thought before you answer."
He closed his eyes as he was overtaken by a most violent urge to throw the phone against the wall. But he was not a violent man and he didn't. Instead, he left the phone on the bedside table and walked out of the room to clear his head.
He walked towards the east side balcony, but as he approached, he saw that his father was home early from work, now standing against one of the recesses in the wall with a single window that looked out onto the balcony. He was sipping what appeared to be coffee as he watched something intently. Gaurav slowed and changed direction to walk into his parlor that connected to the balcony so that he could see what his father was watching without calling attention to himself.
There was a sinking feeling in his chest as he took in the sight, which he didn't realize until now was something that he had been expecting with dread.
Vidya was out on the balcony, reaching for one of his shirts that was hanging off of the high clothesline that was moving around in the wind out of her reach. The edge of her sari that covered her midriff was flying up in the air and he saw her trying to tuck it into the waist of her sari a few times. But each time she reached up, it would untuck and fly back up in the wind.
His chest was beating hard as he made his way out of the parlor and onto the balcony, but he tried to keep a casual pace as he approached her, as if he had just been on a stroll and happened upon the sight of her. He slowed when he knew that he was in his father's sight and approached Vidya from behind. He knew that he couldn't just pull the sari down without drawing his father's suspicion. Thus, he flanked her from the back to block his father's view of her as he reached over her hands to grab the shirt off its pins. She looked up at him in surprise and he smiled as he gave her the shirt, hoping that nothing in his behavior made her doubt the reason behind his sudden appearance.
"Thank you." She murmured as she took the shirt from him, blocking her eyes from the sun by holding one hand up over them. She was squinting up him as the sun's glare reflected off of his glasses.
He came closer to her to block the bright rays and saw her eyes relax and brighten. He smiled too as he took the clothes from her arms, "I will get these for you. Most of them seem to be mine anyways."
"It's alright…" she started but he took them from her anyways and gently nudged her in front of him to start walking back into the house, going by the way of his parlor rather than the main entrance.
He thought of having to start his office tomorrow and the long hours that he worked and leaving her alone in this house… between his mother's running around, Imli's distraction, Adi's law school classes, and Sweety's university, everyone would be off in one direction or the other, leaving her essentially by herself, to be preyed upon...
"What do you think about going back to school, Vidya?" he asked, just as they were entering his parlor.
He saw her start of surprise before she looked back at him in astonished pleasure.
"Truly?"
He nodded at her enthusiasm. He couldn't remember meeting anyone this excited about the prospect of university.
"I take it you like that idea." He said now, smiling.
She smiled in return and nodded and he silently sighed in relief.
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