Chapter 7: Bitter Truth
When we reached home, Neeta ran out of the car. I found her wiping her tears when I locked up and reached the door. Silently I let us in and she ran into the guest room, closing the door behind her. Why do I keep hurting the one woman I would never want to hurt? I sighed and decided to busy myself cooking dinner -- another meal that she loved. I am such a sucker!
"I'm sorry," I heard an hour later. But even before I heard her words, her aroma had told me she was standing behind me at the kitchen door.
"For what?" I asked without turning.
"I shouldn't have done that in the car. I felt hurt when you asked me to stop. I felt rejected yet again. And I was wrong in feeling that way too."
"You have nothing to be sorry for Neeta..." I said turning around to face her.
"I do..."
"Do you want to argue or would you like to dig into varan bhaat and onion bhaji?" I asked grinning
"You bastard," she said throwing herself at me, her hands pounding my chest, tears rolling down her eyes, "you remember everything. You heartless bastard." I let her hit me till she gave up and collapsed in my arms sobbing.
I let her calm down before speaking, "now do you want to tell me what you haven't told me yet?"
"What do you mean?" she asked looking up.
"We do notice you know. I noticed a tension between you and Sukhi when I visited you. You haven't told me everything. Now do you want to just beat me to a pulp or tell me your story while you eat?"
When the dam burst, everything came flooding out between the girl I used to know shoveling her favorite food down to the woman narrating her story between tears, she ripped my heart apart into a thousand pieces.
She told me about her revenge sex with Sukhi, her pregnancy, the compromise marriage, the financial slide made worse by his gambling, the debts taken just to pay school and college fees, the growing strain on the marriage, the constant fight and then the punch in the gut -- he hit her a year ago during an argument and they haven't slept in the same bed since then.
I was seething in rage...at myself more than Sukhi. What had we done to her? And yet she had held on to her playful side.
"Oh I almost forgot," She said wiping her tears, "why do you think Sukhi isn't here?"
"I know his story about work was bullshit. I figured he was trying to save me a dollar."
Neeta laughed that was worse than her crying. This was a broken woman's darkest revelation that was about to hit me. I braced for impact, but nothing could have prepared me for what she said next.
"No he was honest when he said his boss wouldn't let him go. What he didn't tell you was that his boss is the 30 year old daughter of the business owner, a predatorial divorcee who cheated on her husband while they were married and is now devouring every man who reports into her. She threatened to fired Sukhi when he resisted her advances. Her ultimatum -- be my date and make me happy on Valentine's day or consider yourself fired. And what does my dear husband do? He chooses to fuck her to save his job over me and his daughter."
I felt a knife go through my heart. There was nothing I could do to right the wrongs or change history. All I could do was hope that Charmi's graduation tomorrow would provide some healing.