Harinder blinked as he slowly awoke, running a hand over his face as daylight filtered through the bedroom door. Stretching his other hand, he felt the soft warmth of a naked hip. Still not completely awake, his hand drift up and over the cool pliant mound of an ass cheek.
He felt Preeti's skin in a half dream. She had finally come back. A soft moan from the woman and his mind began to clear as his senses took more of the room and the woman next to him. She shifted her leg as his hand molded the flesh. Another moan. Then a whimper.
Harinder turned his head to look at the woman, as the fog of sleep dissipated from his mind. Not Preeti.
Sonali.
Another moan. Sonali slowly blinked and then opened her eyes. Smiling, she put her hand on his chest and gently ran her fingers through the mat of chest hair. The sheet had shifted down to the small of her back. The light from the other room washed over her skin, creating a chiaroscuro of every swell and dip of light brown skin. His mind locked on the delicate curve of her jawline. Such simple perfection.
Her hand drifted down to his abdomen, caressing the slope that led to his manhood, which was thickening. When a finger brushed against his cock, it twitched.
"You didn't get enough last night?" She whispered. Her warm breath on his cheek reminded him of honey and cardamom.
Last night. Harinder remembered last night.
***
Preeti had gone to visit her family.
Days of awkward silences and fruitless attempts at idle chatter had become an oppressive weight. They had tried to sleep in the same bed for a couple of nights, but that had proven to be a mistake and he had eventually returned to sleeping on the floor in the sitting room. A simple walk in the park had been mentally exhausting. They had decided a break would help them both. Harinder had offered to go to a hotel, but she had decided to go to her parent's house in Rohtak.
Her absence hadn't lifted any of the weight. The flat, once seemingly too big for just the two of them, became claustrophobic - anger and guilt becoming physical presences in the space she had left behind. He stayed home from work, filling his time with pointless tasks during the day, and drinking to help him sleep at night.
It was on the fifth day of Preeti's absence that Vikram and Sonali came to his house. It began with a phone call. Guilt and anger had made him avoid them, ignoring Vikram's texts and letting his calls go to voicemail. Harinder couldn't remember what had made him answer it this time.
"Hello,
Babhi
."
"Harinder!" Sonali's tone told him she was shocked he had answered. She stumbled on the other side of the line. "Uh ... How are you? Where have you been? Are you okay?"
"Preeti has been cheating on me." The words came out of him without preamble. It was the first time he had said them aloud. He hadn't meant to say them, but now that they were out, the pressure on his chest eased.
There was silence on the other side of the line.
"I said - "
"No. I ... I heard you." Sonali said. "Is that why you've been away? Why you never came back after ... well, after ..."
The sensations of that night came flooding back to Harinder. Sonali's brown skin glistening. The smell of sweat and sex. Her slick warmth swallowing his cock. He felt his manhood stir. Even with everything going on with his wife, Sonali managed a response from him.
"Well ... I ... yes. I ... I don't know."
"Where are you now? Where's Preeti?"
"Home. Preeti ... She went to Rohtak. She's went to her parent's house."
"Did you kick her out?" For the first time, Harinder heard a shift in Sonali's tone. Sympathy mixed with something else - anger.
'No. No." He answered quickly. "We ... we needed some time."
"When will she be back?"
"I don't know." There was a moment of silence on the other side.
"We're coming over."
"No,
Babhi
. You don't need - "
"Harinder. We're coming over." She interrupted with a tone that said she was not going to be dissuaded. "I'd ask you to come here, but I can tell you've been drinking."
"Okay. Okay. I'll see you soon."
Vikram and Sonali arrived a couple of hours later, giving him time to clean the flat to some degree of respectability. They had even stopped to pick up some food and drinks. Vikram looked grim as he stepped in, giving his friend a long hug. Sonali stepped in after and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Both were dressed casually in lights linens against the oppressive heat. The thin fabric did little to hide Sonali's pink bra beneath and Harinder's eyes lingered on her as she continued into the flat. When his cock twitched at the sway of her ass, he cursed himself.
What was wrong with him? His wife had fled. His friends were here to sympathize and support him and he was getting aroused. Maybe Preeti had been right to leave him. The deep shame at his hypocrisy quickly doused his ardor.
Harinder hadn't realized he was so hungry, but his stomach churned when Vikram began to set the food on the kitchen counter, the aroma of hot curries filling the room. The meal was accompanied with idle chatter and workplace gossip. The conversation turned to Sonali tutoring a neighbor's son. The boy was had just turned 18 years old and was preparing for his higher secondary exams. Harinder imagined what if would be like to have been tutored by Sonali.
"He's lucky. I wish I had tutors as pretty as you." He smiled, between a bite of food. It was good to be with them. A break from his inner turmoil.
"Yeah. He seems to be liking it. Going over his maths twice a week." Vikram replied, winking at Sonali.
Eventually, as the meal came to an end and they started clearing away the plates, Harinder knew he couldn't avoid the inevitable. He offered to make some tea. Using the task to keep him focused, Harinder told them everything that had happened since he had last seen them.
"Did you tell her about that night?" Vikram asked as they all gathered in the sitting room with their cups. Sonali nestled into the corner of the settee with her husband. Harinder sat across from them, barely aware of the steaming tea in his hand.
