Antara looked at the clock and noticed the time. “Oh! It’s eight already. I need to be online…”

“To talk to your friend?” Mrinal asked. He wanted her to stay with him. He expected that. This was too important a time in their lives for her to go away to talk to her friend, even though it was now clear that the friend was not his rival!

“Friend? That was… Didn’t I tell you? It was just an alibi. This is when I talk to my… clients? The students…”

“Right!” Mrinal shook his head wondering what all had he misread, “I should have thought of that.”

“I’m sorry. But this is an appointment. I must…” Antara explained sensing his desire. She also shared it! She would have to restructure her day. Even though she was no longer doing it under wraps, she hadn’t shifted these sessions with her earlier clients to the working hours. She would have to do that.

“Yes. Of course. Don’t worry. I will still be here,” a fond smile broke on his lips.

“Mahi needs food,” she told him.

“I’ll manage. You go ahead.”

—

They finished their dinner, put Mahi to bed and then came out on the verandah. They still had a lot to talk about. They sat down on the floor, side by side, sprawled against a wall and looking out at the dark sky. It was a moonless night. Mrinal put his arm around Antara. She shivered, but stayed put.

“So, I think I need to thank this stalker of yours. If not for him, we’d never have talked.”

But she looked worried, “It isn’t funny, Mrinal ji. He is completely disillusioned. He just manages to fit reality in his illusions. Despite my rejection today, he would probably have concluded that I pretended to not recognize him, or not like him, because I was scared of you; or something like that. I know what his problem is. It is called erotomania. Believing that someone is in love with you. But who is going to take him to a psychologist?”

“Antara. Don’t worry,” he looked her in the eyes, “If he creates any troubles, I will do whatever it takes to get rid of him. Police, security, hiring goons, whatsoever.” Antara noticed how self-confident he was as he said that. The confidence that had been snatched away from him by Raksha’s betrayal. His life, again, had a purpose. And she? She had a confidant for the first time in her life. And she had her love!

They stayed silent for a while; then Antara broke it. “Mrinal ji. I just want to apologize. I hurt you today by mentioning her again and again. It was mean of me…”

He turned to her and replied, “You can hurt me as much as you want. I deserve all the punishment for ignoring you for so long. What you shouldn’t do is compare yourself to her.”

Antara gulped. She couldn’t measure up to Raksha, then!

“She didn’t think twice before abandoning her new-born baby,” he continued, “And you didn’t think twice before accepting someone else’s baby right from your wedding night. She left me when I loved her. You accepted me when I was a jilted lover, broken to the core, in love with someone else, with all my past and baggage. There is no comparison. Jealous of her? You? Doesn’t make sense, Antara.”

“Can I ask then,” Antara blinked back her tears as she spoke, “Why did you never tell me how you felt about me?”

“I don’t know. Things didn’t happen overnight, did they? Initially, I was too absorbed in my miseries. I couldn’t even figure out what this marriage meant to me, to you. And then when I discovered you as a person, when I started respecting you so much… It was just difficult to believe that life can still be good to me. Somewhere I was convinced that it was a mirage, and if I tried to reach out, it would fall apart. ”

“Can you be happy with me?” she asked in a quivering voice.

He gathered her in his arms and kissed her forehead. “What do you think?” his voice was heavy.

“Say it,” she insisted.

“I will show you,” he said as he put one of his hands at the back of her head for safety, and lowered her on the bare floor.

“Mrinal ji,” she protested as he kissed her face all over.

“Am I being hasty?” he asked patiently even as his voice was thick with arousal.

“Someone might come here,” she was merely uncomfortable about the place.

Nobody would have. All the house helps were already in their respective room for the night and those rooms were not attached to the main house. Raksha wouldn’t have minded either way. “I’d do what I want. If someone has a problem, they should look the other way,” she would have said. Didn’t he love her attitude? But Antara wasn’t Raksha. And it was a good thing. He wouldn’t try to mould her into Raksha-sans-the-irresponsibility. He would love her for what she was. For being a rock-solid support for him; and for her shyness. He already did.

“Let’s get a room, then,” he said and helped her get up.

Mahi was fast asleep in her crib. He closed the door and pressed her against it. As if he did not have the patience to go to the bed. She did not offer any resistance as he kissed and caressed her body and had a tough time suppressing her moans.

“I don’t know how I have stopped myself all these days,” he whispered in her ears, “You can’t possibly have an idea just how beautiful you are.”

This unabashed approval touched something deep in her and tears started flowing down her cheeks as she clutched him and hugged him.

“What happened?” he asked concerned.

“Nothing bad,” she replied smiling through her tears.

“That’s good,” he replied, as he finally led her to the bed. He was afraid that he might get too rough and hurt her against the door. Bed was safer!

She thought it was a miracle that Mahi hadn’t woken up by the time they were finished. They had made a lot of noise despite trying their best to suppress it.

Mrinal took some time to catch his breath and then propped himself up on his arms to look at her directly. She blushed heavily. “What happened?” she asked.

He ran his palms against her cheeks and replied, “I ignored you initially. And even when I could no longer ignore you, I kept away. I didn’t give you what you deserved, Antara. I’m sorry for that. And if it is any consolation, I have hurt myself in the process too. It has been a punishment for me too.”

“Mrinal ji. It is true that I am happier today than I have ever remember being in my life. But in last six months, you have always given me more than I had expected. I was afraid you wouldn’t trust me with Mahi. You did. I wasn’t sure you would share your feelings with me. You did — when you honestly shared with me your dilemma of how to explain your situation to people in your social circle. I hadn’t thought you would take my advice seriously. You did. I hadn’t thought that you would willingly introduce me to all those people. You did. And I had absolutely not thought that you would take my career so seriously. Nobody had. But you did that too. I have been a thickhead too. I took it all to be your kindness. Never thought that it could be…” her voice trailed. Should she use the word? He hadn’t.

He waited for a moment to see if she would continue. “Love?” he completed the sentence for her with a question, when she didn’t.

She just smiled in reply. He smiled back. “Yes. That is convenient for me,” he bent down and kissed her on forehead, “Because I have been in love with you since… well… I don’t know when it happened. But you were the thickhead to not have realized it. Absolutely! I haven’t been an idiot. Not at all.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

—

To be continued