Tushar could recollect every moment of that evening. In fact, that's exactly what he had done during the last couple of months. He had fought against the desire but in the end it had been too much to bear and he had taken the flight to Delhi. He didn't know whether she would agree or whether it was right to do this. They were such a nice couple...decent and courteous. They were neighbours of his son and daughter-in-law. He guessed, they were of the same age too. A caring husband with a good career, a lovely kid and a nice home...she had everything a woman could ask for. Why will she be interested in him...a old man in his sixties. Whenever he was in Delhi they would come over and meet him. In fact, Rupa came over to his son's place almost everyday and would always make it a point to include him in their chat. At times her husband, Sunny, would also drop in. It had looked so hopeless so ridiculous, but...
...the animal in him was relentless in its pursuit. No matter how much he tried, it was useless. That evening was still vivid in his mind. The way she had walked into the apartment. She looked stunning in her black long skirt and white top. The more he looked at her the more fascinated he became. She was tall, slim and long legged. Obviously she took care to stay in perfect shape even after becoming a mother. That would often set him thinking. He always thought that women seldom cared about themselves after they had kids. But she was an exception? Or was it that she enjoyed showing herself off. Was she unsatisfied with her life? Was she trying to attract men? What's the use of having a nice figure and not making it available to others? There were too many unanswered questions. It definitely looked like an opportunity. But he had to be extremely careful. He would have a tough time explaining if things went wrong.
Suddenly he had remembered Prabhat. He was a practicing psychriatrist and might be able to help him. Tushar met him in his consultation chamber. He made a clean breast of everything to Parbhat.
Prabhat had laughed. "You should be ashamed Tushar, she is much too young for you."
"You don't understand Prabhat." Tushar had been defensive. "You know better. Since when has desire been limited by age barriers? What else can be the reason for old men of my age to marry twenty year olds? Even the legendary Pele is no exception."
"You don't have to defend yourself." Prabhat had again broken into a loud laugh.
Irritated, Tushar had stood up.
That brought Prabhat back to his senses.
"Okay, okay. But tell me do you think you are still capable of having sex."
"I don't know. Ever since my wife had died I had never done it. But this girl has broken all my resolves. If she helps me I can definitely have it with her."
Prabhat was suddenly more sombre. He could understand Tushar's frustration.
"Tell me everything once again..I mean how you met her, her apparent attitude towards you, whatever you know about her."
It had lasted a whole two hours. At the end Prabhat came up with a strategy.
"Remember." He warned. "Don't ever try to hurry up matters. I don't know whether it will be of any help but maybe the try is worth it. In every married woman's mind there always that tiny spark of infidelity. It's a sort of a taboo. You need to steadily ignite that spark and the resultant fire will help you. You will have to show her the way and at the same time convince her that you are a prospective and safe partner. A number of things need to be done for that. First, try to get more acquainted with her and know her better. Agree or at least pretend to agree with all her views. Compliment her whenever you find an opportunity. As the relationship develops start complimenting her on her figure and the way she carries herself. It will subtly let her know that you are an admirer. Try spending time with her alone. Find out an alibi to take her out. If she loves to go for shopping take time out of your schedule to take her wherever she wants. Buy her dresses. I don't know her preferences as far as dresses are concerned but they should be the ones that you would like your mistress to wear...you know, the revealing types like skin tight jeans, pencil skirts or dresses with side slits. If you go to any good boutique you will find lots of them. Then may be lingerie. But never make hasty advances. Your role is to slowly and steadily enable her to comprehend that you will be the most safe and reliable partner to commit adultery with."
"Prabhat, its driving me crazy just to imagine her as my mistress. Talking of dresses that I would like my mistress to wear, I'm sure it will be difficult for me to choose one since I hate the idea of clothes hiding a figure like that." Tushar chuckled. "But why will she be interested in somebody like me when she can have scores of younger men."
"Ah! You don't understand very simple things. A relationship with you will be far less suspicious than that with a younger man. She has a happy family life and I'm sure she will never want to jeopardise that. Even if people see the two of you together they will hardly suspect that she is your mistress. There's one more thing that you need to work on. Miss no opportunity to remind her how unfortunate you have been to lose your wife at a young age and you never considered marrying again because you never wanted to neglect the kids. This will surely appeal to her. This is all I can think of now."
During his next trip to Delhi, he had strictly gone by the advice Prabhat had given him...the compliments, agreement with her views and offering to take her out for shopping. Of course, he had to be very careful to make sure that nobody else got to know of his offers. She appeared hesitant and managed to come up with excuses to turn him down. There was a definite change in her behavior too. Suddenly she appeared somewhat ill at ease whenever he was around. The laughs and the jokes were replaced by unsure glances. Was this a wild goose chase? thought Tushar. But there was one silver lining. Apparently, she hadn't told anybody about his offers.
Alarmed, Tushar had called up Prabhat from Delhi.
"Don't worry." He had assured. "She got the message. Her initial hesitance is understandable. She is not the promiscuous sort and it will probably take her some time to decide whether to go along with you. Don't worry, I guess you are doing fine. All you can do now is to keep up the chase and hope for the best. But remember, don't be hasty."
Prabhat's reassurances worked wonders for Tushar. He realised that the key was to spend time with her and taking her out would be the best opportunity to do that.
Next time he had caught her by surprise. He had called her up from his client's office at noon and offered to take her out.
"Uncle, I just can't go off like that. I have a kid to care for. Maybe, we can fix something up later. Anyway at the moment I have no plans to go shopping for clothes." The perfect little alibi again.
Fed up with her excuses, Tushar firmly exerted himself. "That's enough. I'm fed up with those excuses. The maid can take care of your son for a few hours. I will wait for you in front of our local market at two in the afternoon and you will have to come." For a moment Tushar held his breath. Was he being too hasty? She was silent at the other end...or has she disconnected.
"Are you still there?" He asked.
"Yes." He could hardly hear her.
She was a good half an hour late. But the wait was worth it. She looked stunning in her white and blue salwar-kameez. Her shoulder length bounced magnificently with her steps. Her high heeled slippers made her look even taller and alluring. Even her clothed breasts appeared more prominent. In the car she sat in one corner looking out of the window. They hardly talked. Tushar was increasingly finding it difficult to find out topics on which they could talk. There's no denying the fact that their relationship had taken an entirely new dimension.
Calm down! Calm down, Tushar chided himself. He had thought about this moment so many times over the last couple of months and there's no way he could throw away this opportunity. It was his responsibility to make her feel at ease.
Much to his relief, things started to ease up once they were in the market. She had a knack for window shopping and started enjoying that. He followed her in and out of shops selling clothes and footwear. The ice was broken and they talked freely now. She loved salwar suits and would often hold one up in front of her and ask his opinion. But he wasn't too interested in salwar suits.
"All men are same. They hate shopping." She laughed. Later in one of the shops he found what he was looking for – a pencil skirt.
He chose a navy blue one.
"What size do you want sir?" asked the salesgirl. He looked around trying to locate her. The shop was crowded and she was nowhere to be seen. He had to walk around with the salesgirl in tow. She was rummaging through children's clothes at one end of the shop. Probably looking for something for her son.
"Can you see her over there?" He asked the salesgirl. "I want it for her."
The salesgirl went over to her.
"Have you told this girl that you wanted to buy a skirt for me?" She stood in front of him, her hands on her waist.
"Yes." He answered curtly.
"But why? What makes you think I'll accept it?" She was irritated.
It was time to be firm again.
"You will accept it because I want you to. I am tired of your silly games. Now be a nice girl and allow her to measure your waist." He nodded to the salesgirl who stood a couple of paces away with an amusing expression in her eyes.
"But I don't wear pencil skirts. You need to have developed calf muscles to look good in these. I am no longer that young." She pleaded.
"Did I ask for your opinion? Do as I told you."
"But its no use buying something that I won't wear. Why are you insisting on buying it?"
"She is right, sir. But you can look for one of the long wrapskirts that we have."
Tushar was taken by surprise. The girl has realised what he wanted.
