Arup was having his usual pre-work cigarette outside the gate. He was with Mahesh for a change, who wanted to discuss some work issues with him urgently. During their discussions, out of the corner of his eye, Arup noticed a woman drive in on a moped. She had a helmet on and was wearing a salwar kameez. It's only when she took the helmet off that he jerked his head and noticed it was Rasika. Mahesh saw her too as she parked the moped.
"Hey Rasika...new bike?" Mahesh asked.
She looked up at the two of them and smiled as she locked her helmet to the handle bar and gathered her belongings.
"Not new exactly. It belongs to Nitin's friend who is in the US for a year. He said I could borrow it."
She walked up the stairs and gave them both polite smiles again before walking in.
"That's good for you, I guess." Mahesh said. "You won't have to drop her home every night."
"Yeah, that's good. Anyway...so about the features spots..."
Even as Arup resumed their work related conversation, a part of his brain was analyzing this new development. She had procured a moped. So he would not be dropping her home. Was this a sign that their fling was over? Had he...gone too far with the rough sex? Was she just feeling guilty again?
They all got back to work again. It was a busy day. Arup tried to observe Rasika discreetly and see if there was any change in her behavior. But there was none. She had immersed herself in work as always and was going above and beyond what was needed. Maybe she did really just want to end it all and go back to the way things were. Or that they should just be boss and employee. But then he got an email from her.
- Heard this song on Pandora today. It's from a new artist. Thought you might like it.
He paused. Then listened to the song. It really was nice. There was nothing romantic about it though, so if it was meant to be a hidden message, he could not detect it. He replied.
- Thanks, that was lovely. How was your weekend?
She replied soon.
- It was really good. BTW, can we talk one on one soon? Your next smoking break?
Ah, there it was. He had been expecting this for a while. The "talk". After their first night together, she had cornered him during a smoking break and talked about how it was all just an impulsive mistake. Now that it had happened again, surely she would want to continue that conversation. Talk about why she had gotten the moped. And maybe give them both some clarity. Was it to avoid having him drop her home? Besides, there was all the rough stuff he had tried with her. When they were doing it, she seemed to have mostly enjoyed it. But he was sure she would give him a small lecture again, just like after the first night when he woke her up for sex.
Arup was also keen to get all this stuff sorted out. So he went down for a smoking break a little sooner than his craving would have made him. In a minute, the door opened and she stepped out.
Rasika usually wore a kurta with jeans. Today she was in a modest salwar kameez. But even that loose fabric could not obscure Arup's memories of her ample chest and ass. He cast a quick glance at her hips before looking up at her face.
"Hi." she said smiling.
"Hi." he said and offered her a cigarette. "Want one?"
"No thanks. I am ok." she said.
And he wondered if there was some meaning to this as well. Her rejecting the cigarette.
"So what's up?"
Rasika looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping and then started speaking,
"Well, you know how I failed my final exam?"
"Yes." he said. he could vividly remember the night she got the result. So she was starting from there. How it made her vulnerable, made her commit a mistake, etc.
"I have applied for re-checking but I have no real hopes for it. So I have to re-take that exam in a couple of months. Nitin said that as long as I pass that, it won't affect my chances for postgrad."
"I see." Arup was not sure what this was about. He had expected a conversation about their raunchy night together.
"So I will have to go to Varanasi for that in a couple of months. And take a week off before the exam to study." she said. "Obviously, I can't just go to Shinde sir and tell him, hey, I failed an exam. He might fire me for not being a graduate. What should I do?"
Arup was really confused. This is what she wanted to talk about? Taking some days off? It was an important issue for sure. Maybe she just wanted to get it out of the way before talking about the real stuff.
"Oh don't worry about that." he said. "Everyone likes your work. You can just apply for a week off. Don't mention the exam. Just say you need to go home visit your parents. I will approve it. And Shinde should not have any problems."
"Really? Even though I have only been working here such a short time?" she asked eagerly.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. A week off is fine." he waved his cigarette.
"Oh thank you so much!" she said, beaming.
He waited and looked at her. She stayed there and smiled at him for a couple more seconds. Now she will talk about "us", he thought. They stared at each other for ten more seconds. Any moment now, the topic will begin, he thought. But instead she just said,
"Thank you then. See you upstairs."
Arup stared at her ass as she walked back inside, really confused.
Rasika herself was a little miffed that he had not said anything, but was also a little glad. After the first night, things were really clear cut in her mind. So she had spoken to him about it. After all, she had made the first move. This time though, she believed he had come on to her. Yes, she had invited him in, but he was the one who first kissed her. And then the second time, all that other stuff, leading her around by her ass, banging her everywhere so roughly. This time he was the married man who had made the first move. Besides last time, she spoke first. This time it was his turn. If he did not want to talk about it, fine.
Plus there was the fact that this time, Rasika herself was not very clear about where she stood on everything. Was it just another mistake? A fling? Something more? What were her own feelings about it? And about Nitin? She had decided to just focus on more important things like work and her studies. If Arup wanted to talk, they would talk about it. If not, his choice.
He decided not to bring it up, thinking it was up to her. She decided not to bring it up, thinking it was up to him.
The next few days, things seemed to have gone back to normal again. She was her efficient self, winning praise all around. The work was great. They got back to exchanging emails about music and poetry. Both of them waiting for the other to bring up the topic. The one difference was that now Rasika had a moped. So Arup did not get to drop her home anymore. And they did not get that time alone that they used to.
Although Arup thought it was a message to him, in reality it was just a coincidence. During the weekend in Lavasa, Rasika had mentioned how much of a bother it was relying on autos and Uber to get around. And Nitin had remembered that one of his friends was in the US and her moped was sitting around unused. It was purely by chance that she had gotten transport independence right after that night in the PG.
The PG people meanwhile had gone back to gossiping about Rasika and her boss. Neha told them how he showed up at midnight. Neha also noticed that all the bedsheets in their room had been freshly washed. Which was because, after Arup left that night and before taking the bus to Lavasa, Rasika had worked hard to clean up all telltale signs of their romp together. That had meant mopping the floors of all the fluid stains. And also machine washing and drying all the bedsheets that they had done the deed on.
Eventually word got around to aunty that Rasika had invited a man in late at night. She did not detect signs of any foulplay, although they had banged all over their rooms too. But she still summoned Rasika and gave her a sharp dressing down about inviting a man in. Rasika put on her most innocent face and protested that it was only work related. But still, it soured the otherwise positive relationship she and aunty enjoyed.
The next few days also coincided with a rare period of time off for Veena from her demanding job. So Arup spent a lot of time with her, and most nights, left early after finishing his responsibilities. He made her breakfast in bed, they made love all around the house, watched TV shows and movies together, went out together. That rare quality time reminded Arup how much he loved his wife and what a complete woman she was. But while sex with her was great as always, he found himself visualizing Rasika's curvy hot body a lot. He always tried to push it out of his mind, with little success. He even started dreaming about her.