Pari and Hitesh had known each other for many years - a decade, give or take. Their association began through the world of cyberspace, like any normal modern day relationship. It started off innocuously enough. A few minutes on messenger, a couple of posts on a public forum, etc. Before they knew it, they had started spending hours together online, sometimes being up till sunrise.
They talked about everything. No topic was taboo, even contentious religious ones. He was a Hindu. She was Muslim. And, they argued. Vigorously. Vociferously. Yet, each respected the other's right to opinion. Their verbal battles never got uncivilized.
Over time, their online rendezvous turned into offline meetings. A coffee here, a lunch there. It helped that they lived 20 minutes away.
So it went for a while. Eventually, sex came up. They were in their early 20s and were as hormonally active as 20 somethings are expected to be. He thought Pari was an extremely hot woman. She had a pretty low opinion of herself.
At 23, Hitesh was your average looking male with an average height and build. But that is where all things average about him stopped. He was sharp, quick witted and very intelligent. He had a way of making women feel good about themselves. He used just the right blend of chivalry and chauvinism. It is a fine line to tread. A lot of men go overboard with chivalry - hold the door open for women, pick up the tab on a date, etc. Some women like that, yes. But almost no woman who likes that sort of thing is worth spending reasonable time with. The trick is to make her do a few things herself, which preserves her aura of being an independent woman, while being extremely courteous and respectful. A man must always make a woman feel safe, comfortable. She should feel free to be herself. Nothing turns a woman on more than a man who does not judge her for who she is.
Hitesh had that effect on women, more so on those women he was interested in. And he was especially interested in Pari. He gave her intelligence a lot of credit. He knew that she would know if he was trying to get into her pants. So, he did what she did not expect - told her bluntly that he wanted to get into her pants.
Pari did not understand why. She did not consider herself to be attractive. She was 24, built a little on the heavier side but her 5'6" frame gave her a proportioned look. Perhaps it was her dark complexion that made her feel unattractive - India is a country where all maidens are supposed to be fair. He loved her skin tone, though.
Then there was Pari's belief system. She wanted to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Her religion forbade anal sex. He knew this about her. He knew that there was no way she would consent to having sex with him. Why did he still make her the indecent proposal? She asked him.
Hitesh knew intercourse was out of the question. He was man enough to not try changing someone's belief system. She trusted him enough to know that he would not force himself upon her. An element of total trust existed between them.
So he told her. He told her that he is not going to do anything she does not want him to do. He told her that all he wanted was to go down on her. He told her that this seemed to be the next logical step in their relationship.
It took her a few days but eventually she agreed. She did not know why. Something about being so intimate with Hitesh excited her. She knew of no man who would be happy only to go down on a woman.
Of course she knew Hitesh was getting some tail. She knew of his sexual encounters with Gunjan. She also knew that his relationship with Gunjan was only based on lust. There was no future in it. Not that she needed to justify her being with him when he was in a relationship with another woman. As far as Pari was concerned, it was a non-issue. Their relationship was not going to be held hostage to such wordly contrivances.
Gunjan, obviously, did not know. He told Pari that he is not telling Gunjan about this. He trusted Pari to understand that. What about Gunjan? Well, what she did not know could not hurt her. Besides, it is not like she was a paragon of virtue. She was a married woman having a torrid affair. Her husband did not know of her romps with Hitesh. Would the pot call the kettle black?