A few more days passed since that day I came to know about Shilpa's dalliances with Balram uncle. We had started talking normally, neither of us making any reference to "that" topic. I visited Balram uncle's house a couple more times, but the servant always said he had no idea when he would return from Calcutta.
Then one night, when Shilpa came to bed, dressed in her usual sleeping garb, a t-shirt without a bra and shorts. She put her head on my chest and hugged me. This was her usual way sign for saying she wanted to have sex. We had not had sex since the day of the revelations. This would be the first time. I rolled her over and started kissing her. We kissed for a few minutes, and then I took her t-shirt off and started playing with her boobs. Licking and biting her nipples like she loved, I had gotten her turned on, and she started breathing heavily.
That's when I said,
"Shilpa."
"Um hmm?" she moaned.
"I want to ask you something if you promise not to get upset." I said.
She stayed silent for a few seconds, sighed and then said,
"Ok."
"Tell me about the first time he touched your boobs." I said and started playing with her nipples again. She moaned, ran her fingers through my hair and said,
"Power cut."
"What?" I asked, looking around, but the lights were on.
"There was a power cut. And it was a hot day." she said.
"Oh."
"I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. With a bra, before you ask."
"How many days was this after he felt up your ass for the first time?"
She paused a little and said,
"Maybe 3-4 days."
"Had he been feeling you up on subsequent days too?"
"No. I stopped wearing skirts after that. Wore either jeans or shorts." she answered.
"Okay, so there was a power cut. Then?"
She took a deep breath and said,
"It was getting very hot and we were both sweating. He asked me what part of the portrait I was working on, and I said his face. So he asked me if it was OK if he took off his shirt, because he was feeling very hot. I said OK, and he took his shirt off."
"Revealing his huge paunch?" I asked, now kissing her neck.
"Yes."
"Then?"
"Then," she continued "I continued painting. But it really was hot. So he said this is a very unfair world, because men can go topless any time, but women can't. And he said how drenched my t-shirt was with sweat. Then he said I should take it off if I wanted. He promised he wouldn't do anything. I said no, it was OK, but he insisted politely. Finally I though, what the heck. It was very hot, and I was wearing a bra anyway. So I took the t-shirt off."
"And he saw your bra-covered tits?" I asked, sliding her shorts off.
"Yes."
"So how did he touch them?"
"I am coming to that." she said, pushing my pyjamas down. "The bra was drenched too and sticking against my skin, so I had to keep adjusting it. That's when he said I should take it off too. I said no thanks. And he said, take it off, make this old man's day. said he hadn't seen young women's breasts in decades. He also said he had seen parts of me much more private anyway. So why be ashamed about the breasts?"