Rashmi was 40 years with a moderate figure. She was married for last 14 years and was more or less happy with her husband Dip, who is around 50. Their only son, Raj, who was then 13 years old was studying in a residential school.
Rashmi and Dip were both working in two separate companies. Though Dip was a good lover on bed, who could raise Rashmi to a new height in love making, he had sexual drive far below normal. Even immediately after their marriage, the couple never had sex on daily basis. Once in a while, he would make love to vigorously and then for about a week or more he would not ask for physical intimacy.
This frustrated Rashmi as during the initial years she used to long for crazy sex with her husband. But her cravings became lower as within a year she conceived and in the following year gave birth to their son. Slowly Rashmi adjusted herself to the low libido of her husband and intermittent sex they had. After all, whenever they made love, it was wild and vigorous even though sometimes it was after a gap of more than a month too. Though Dip avoided physical proximity, he used to take care of Rashmi in every other matter like a loving husband.
By the time their son was about two years old, Dip became completely cold about sexual matters just in contrast to his wife. Even though intermittently, Rashmi longed for sex with Dip, to be one with him physically and to enjoy vigorous love making sessions with him as the couple had in the past. However, Dip became so disinterested in sexual matter that it hurt the self-esteem of Rashmi to suggest or hint about her desire to be physically united with Dip.
There was no disruption in their relationship except that sex was totally absent. By the time Raj started going to school at 3+ years, both Dip and Rashmi became busy with their careers and bringing up their son. Rashmi too stopped bothering about lack of physical relation between the two of them because except on that count there was nothing to complaint against Dip. He performed his duties well as a responsible father and husband. He regularly kept in touch with his parents and in-laws. Except for the sexual relationship between two of them, he was so dutiful that Rashmi couldn't raise a finger against him.
When she was 38 yrs old, something unexpected shattered her world. The company in which she work had about 70+ staff of various categories. Rashmi was quite close to some of her colleagues, except a junior officer named Satpal, who was around 26 years when he had joined the company. Satpal was junior to Rashmi both in age and service. Though he was always jolly and full of humour, she didn't like him from the beginning due to his flirting nature. She found him to be of cowboy type, an easy go lucky attitude always distinguished him. He never knew to be serious and without bothering about the age of female employees, he flirted with all. Many of Rashmi's female colleagues liked Satpal and there were rumours about some even going to bed with him.
From the beginning, Rashmi never gave Satpal any chance to be closer to her. He tried to flirt with her also even though she was older than him by at least ten years. Finding rather cold treatment from her and finding that she was not charmed by his smart ways of impressing the opposite gender, Satpal avoided gossiping with Rashmi though he never spared a chance to flirt. However, the formal relation of Hi and halo was there as colleagues.
Three years back, during winter, office staff where Rashmi worked had a picnic. It was a office picnic and family members did not join it. Dip was at home. Much to Rashmi's dislike, she had to travel in the same car with Satpal.
Fortunately, Satpal did not start flirting and he looked quite serious. It was very unusual for his nature. After they travelled for about twenty minutes, Rashmi asked him the reason of his being in serious mood. He hesitated and then said, "I don't know if I should share this with you, you might take it otherwise."
"What is it?" Rashmi asked.
"Forgive me, if I'm outstepping my boundary..." Satpal paused few seconds and continued, "As I was coming to office, I decided to fill up the tank and was waiting in the fuel station near your house. As I was coming out of the fuel station, I saw your husband, Mr. Dip driving his car towards home..."
As he paused again, Rashmi asked, "So what?"
"Forgive me," said Satpal, "If I hurt you... there was an elderly lady beside him and the two were sitting very intimately..."
Rashmi smiled at him. It was a favourite trick of Satpal to tease lady colleagues by telling them fake news of having seen their husbands with some other lady. But that day his facial appearance was not in light and joking mood. As Rashmi examined his face to detect signs of mischievous joke, Satpal said in a seriously concerned voice, "This is not my usual method of teasing a lady. There was something between them that made me to inform you about it."
Rashmi didn't believe what Satpal said. It was too far fetched for Dip to have an extramarital affairs. Still she laughingly asked, "Can you describe the woman he had with him?"
The description that Satpal gave matched with one of the elderly lady colleagues of Dip. Her name was Surabhi, and she was senior, both in age and service to Dip. Dip had told Rashmi after marriage that when he had joined this job, he had a crush on Surabhi. Surabhi also liked him but for some reasons their relationship was shattered and she married someone else. But Dip also told his wife that he and Surabhi were not on talking terms for years after their break up and then after about 7 or 8 years they resumed talking to each other and were on friendly terms.
They sometimes visited Surabhi's house and in turn, Surabhi with her husband and son also sometimes visited Dip and Rashmi. In their absence, however, Rashmi teased Dip and referred to Surabhi as his "ex". Dip didn't mind about it. So when Satpal told about it, Rashmi just laughed away and enjoyed the picnic without being bothered about the possibility of Dip's extramarital affairs with Surabhi. Satpal also didn't discuss it anymore as there was no such response from Rashmi's end as expected by him.
On return from picnic that evening, Dip told Rashmi that Surabhi had come to their house that day with some official matter and though Dip had requested for tea, she left after about half an hour as Rashmi was not at home. There was nothing to be angry or suspicious about it, but something bothered Rashmi. If Surabhi had come of her own for official matter, how did Satpal see her and Dip in intimate position on his way! Either Satpal saw Surabhi near their house and exaggerated it to include Dip in his story to tease Rashmi or Dip was not telling the truth. Rashmi decided not to tell Dip about what Satpal had told her.
Things would have settled down normally. But two days later, in the morning the domestic hand informed that she was sick and wouldn't be able to come. Dip told Rashmi that he would take care of their breakfast and tiffin so that Rashmi could continue with cleaning the household. It was their habit that if not other rooms, bedrooms were to be cleaned and kept tidy every day.
Rashmi accordingly started sweeping the bedroom. As she was sweeping, a little triangular piece of some pouch came out from under the bed at the tip of the broom. She wouldn't have even noticed it but one side of it was bright and dazzling like the piece of an aluminium foil under the light. Rashmi wondered what it was neither she or Dip had the habit of throwing anything outside the waste paper basket. Out of curiosity, Rashmi picked up the little piece and looked at the reverse. The reverse was dark coloured and only two alphabets were there - "ce".
In a bid to find out what pouch it was, Rashmi smelled the little piece and immediately from the pungent smell of chocolate that emanated from the piece, she recognised that was the piece of packet that contained a chocolate flavoured condom of Manforce brand.
There was obviously no reason for it to be in their bedroom since she and Dip hadn't have sex in last three years. Rashmi grew more suspicious - did Dip had sex with Surabhi? Otherwise why and how the edge of a condom pouch could come in the bedroom? But then she couldn't say it conclusively as she knew Dip as sexually cold. Rashmi couldn't ask anything about it directly to Dip either.
Suspicion, once starts, multiplies itself. Rashmi felt angry, depressed and disgusted to imagine her hubby making love to an elderly lady on their marital bed and cheating his wife. Rashmi hadn't have sex with him for years as he was rather disinterested in sexual matters and he was enjoying sex at the back of his wife and that too with an elderly colleague, who was older than Rashmi and even Dip. But she was not sure if Dip was really involved in an extramarital affairs with Surabhi.