“How are things at home?” Siddhartha asked.

“Huh?” she seemed surprised by his question.

“How are thing with your parents, at home?”

“Right. Eh. It’s fine. Everything is fine, I guess.”

“You had told me that didn’t like you walking out on your marriage,” he said, then asked, “I don’t suppose everything is fine. But do they bother you when you come away late at nights to meet me or today when you would be late in going back?”

She played with the food on her plate and seemed to think for a while before replying, “It isn’t exactly a happy family, Siddhartha. They tolerate me, they don’t really like me being there. Especially my mother. All she can think of is her disappointment in her daughter. She feels let down in front of our relatives, neighbors.”

“But you support them financially, don’t you?”

“I do. Just like they let me stay. It’s ingrained in us, isn’t it? You can’t just turn away from the family. But that doesn’t mean you like each other.”

Siddhartha ate silently for a while, then spoke, “An idea has been there on my mind. I had thought I would bring it up a little later. But perhaps now is a good time.”

“What?”

“I want you to shift here. To this apartment. Earlier I had thought that you may want to bring your parents along. But if they are happier there…”

“But this is your–”

“Place of solitude. It will remain that, and become more of it, with you here.”

“I am not surprised that you offered this. Perhaps I should be.”

“I’m glad you are not surprised.”

“It isn’t easy for me, Siddhartha. But I have decided to depend on you. For decision-making most of all. So, you tell me. Is it a good idea for me to accept this? Comforts are easy to get used to, and very difficult to let go of. And it isn’t just about me. But about my little girl. She is used to my limited means. But if she were to get more and then–”

“It is the right thing, Karishma. The worst thing that can happen is that we don’t work out, right? But here is the thing. Even without consciously thinking about it, I made my commitment to Kirti before ‘we’ were even a distant possibility. And that, you have to believe me, isn’t going to go away. I will make sure of that legally too. That’s why I wanted to bring this up a little later. But there is no reason you should continue to live in an unnecessarily miserable situation while waiting for legalese. You should shift here as soon as you can.”

“I don’t need legalese.”

“It will be there anyway. Our food is getting cold. I think we should eat it before discussing anything else life-changing.”

That successfully brought a smile to her face and they returned to eating.

“Can I drop you home? Or do you prefer to take a taxi?”

“I have given you all the rights now, haven’t I?”

“It will take some time to get used to it. Let’s go. I hope Kirti doesn’t wake up.”

—

Karishma could barely sleep that night. Siddhartha’s patience has disarmed her of any resistance. That man hadn’t as much as tried to kiss her. She was at his house, alone with him, late at night. And God knows she was willing. She had been willing for a while now. Was it possible to have two such diametrically opposite men in one woman’s life? One the one hand was Vikram, her husband, who had tried to own her. From the very night of their wedding. How he had pounced on her tired, unprepared body. All the desire she had ever felt had left her over the years she had put up with him. Constantly frightened of doing something to displease him, she had stopped thinking about herself, her needs. And now, when she had finally resigned to a life of drudgery, focused solely on bringing up her daughter, Siddhartha had come to sweep her off her feet. Not in the flamboyant style of the novels she had read as a teenager. Not an alpha male making her quiver in his embrace despite her protests. No! He had told her what he felt. Boldly, confidently, clearly. But there was no attempt at coercion in the guise of romance. He hadn’t pressed her into anything. Except – and here she chuckled softly – insisting on her taking taxis! No showering her with gifts. No showing up at her door unannounced. No insistence on dropping her home. No attempt to even hug or kiss her. Their first hug had been initiated by her that morning! And how cool he had been about Soumen. Vikram would have tried to lock her up for much less, for a man as much as smiling at her — she paused. No, she didn’t want to think what that horrible man would have done in Siddhartha’s place. He could never have been in Siddhartha’s place. Vikram was the man who would have been happy to see his own daughter dead. And Siddhartha had taken care of the girl who was a nobody to him without as much as letting Karishma know. She had to stop comparing. It would spoil something so good she was fortunate enough to have. It’s too bad she couldn’t simply forget about Vikram. She would have to get a divorce. But no! No comparison ever. She turned again and since sleep was still evading her, she picked up her phone and opened Facebook to pass some time. She hadn’t checked it in a long time. There were a few friend requests. Mostly from random strangers. But one was from… Siddhartha! Was he even on Facebook? She clicked through his profile. Surely it was empty, at least for those who were not his friends. There was, however, a profile photo there to indicate that it was him. Smiling, she accepted the request. Immediately came a message.

“Are you awake?”

“You too?” she replied.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Why?”

“I made a mistake today.”

“What mistake?”

“I didn’t kiss you. I really wanted to.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She wrote back, “Why didn’t you?” She added a smiling emoticon to the message.

“Because I didn’t know if you were ready.”

“I thought you were really good at reading body language.”

“Are you provoking me, Miss?”

“Do I have to?”

“I think you already are. And if provoked, I will just kiss you in front on the entire office.”

“No, you won’t do that!” she replied hastily.

“Give me one reason why I wouldn’t.”

She tried for a while to reply to that. She started typing several times but abandoned each effort. Then her mobile rang.

“Hey!” his voice was soft at the other end, “I was joking.”

“I know,” she whispered, barely.

“But you know what the right answer was?”

“What?”

“That it would make you uncomfortable.”

“I don’t understand.”

“One good reason I won’t do that – or anything else for which this question can be asked – is that it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Are you a saint?”

“No Karishma,” he chuckled, “I am no saint. And trust me, next time we are alone, I am going to kiss you senseless.”

And only that? She couldn’t help that thought from entering her head. To him she said, “Have you killed someone with kindness?”

“Are you trying to provoke me again?”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t?”

“I will give you a thousand tomorrow. So, you better get some sleep now.”

She grinned and although he couldn’t see it, he could hear it in her voice when she said, “Good night.”

“Good night, Karishma.”

No romance novel of her adolescent years had taught her that just bantering about a kiss that didn’t happen could be so arousing. How was she supposed to sleep in this state?

—

To be continued