"How come you are back so soon, Priya?" Jeetu asked her when he entered the house.
She smiled at him. "Meeting was called off at the last moment. And did you locate what Sunny wanted?"
"A lucky break. Met a pal of mine at the station and he was looking for a client to take his place on lease. Just the place that Sunny described. It's fabulous!"
He accepted the cup of coffee that she poured for him and they sat in the living room talking about general things like their jobs and their working hours.
"It's almost lunch time, Jeetu," she finally said, glancing at her watch. "Lets have some grub and then maybe we can talk more."
"I got a better idea," he told her. "Those sisters have gone to the farmhouse with their brother and husband. What say we give them a surprise? Let's grab some beer and chicken and join them."
Sunny had taken the station wagon, so Priya found the keys to Nitin's new Opel. She packed cold chicken in a large steel box and they bought a crate of beer from the local shop on the way to the farmhouse.
While he drove, he explained to her about the place that he had managed to get for Sunny at what he thought was for a bargain price. She told him about how her meeting had to be cancelled.
"That bitch of my MD got a call from her husband. He had just flown in and is supposed to leave within a day or two. I guess she didn't want to waste any time around the table; reckon she thought it would be more interesting if she spent it with her hubby instead."
"That's what happens when I visit home during long tours," Jeetu replied. "I seldom have a day or two between them and when I'm home, I would rather spend my time with Preeti than at the office."
"I bet you two miss each other when you have to go away for long tours, Jeetu," she said.
"You bet we do! Even though we do talk on phone almost an hour a day when I am away, it isn't like actually being together. When the tour is for more than a week, she prefers to come down here to spend her time with you folks, and that sort of comforts me."
She glanced sharply at him. They both knew that Sunny and Preeti had been real close together and at least she believed that her husband was through with those flings.
"Mind if I ask you a question, Jeetu?"
"Go ahead, Priya."
"Do you think that your wife and Sunny are behaving?"
He flushed. He looked at her for a long time before turning his attention back to the road.
"Well?"
"What do you think, Priya?"
She hesitated. "I – I really don't know. But I thought that Sunny asking you to search for a place today was a bit disturbing. He normally does these things himself."
"Sunny's a complex guy. But I don't see what that has got to do with his relations with his sisters."
"Don't you feel upset that he used to have sex with your wife?"
He hesitated. "They are a complex family, Priya. I love them for their straight forwardness. At least, I knew about them before I got married," he lied. "Did Sunny tell you about their affairs before he proposed to you?"
"I had always suspected. So I asked him before our marriage about them. Sunny did not hesitate to tell me the truth. But he also told me that having me around him meant that he no longer cared to get his sisters to screw around with him."
"And you think that they are still into it?"
"I don't know. It's just that..."
"Just what? Look, Nitin is with them and I don't think they would take a chance fooling around."
"Nitin isn't exactly a saint. I can see that he's got a eye on your wife."
"No way!" he exclaimed.
"Think about it, Jeetu. He's always staring at her when he thinks no one is looking. Trust me. Women's intuition, I suppose."
He looked forlornly through the windshield. "I guess if that's true, I certainly deserve it. I wasn't exactly a saint either. Even when I was dating Preeti, I had quite a few flings with other women. Sunny knew about it and he still knows about some one night stands I have with a few of my girl friends."
"Even now, Jeetu?"
"Especially now," he sighed. "It's extremely frustrating not to go around without any huh, sex, for such long times."
She laughed. "I guess all you guys are the same. With Sunny hardly ever having to tour like you do, we have no such problem."
"Then why do you, er, I mean, why do you think that he would need to make it out with the sisters? I- I mean you are one hell of a sexy lady and I don't think he would need anybody else."
"Why, Jeetu, thanks for the compliment!" she laughed again. "But I wonder whether you know what Sunny's appetite is like."
"Come again?" he asked.
"Aw shucks, Jeetu! Your brother-in-law is constantly in a stage of arousal! He's simply insatiable!" She suddenly realized that maybe she had said a little too much and blushed, glancing quickly at him. "Uh, I- I am sorry if I..."
He laughed. "Aw shucks, Preeti," he imitated her, "we weren't exactly talking about fairy tales. You started asking me about whether I suspect if Sunny is still involved with his sisters. I don't know about Rita, but I can't tell about my wife either. At first, I thought they were real sick. But with time, I had to accept the inevitable. They have always been a very close family, you know. And talking about Sunny's appetite, well hell, who doesn't know about it? I mean, Preeti had told me about it before."
"She did?" exclaimed Priya.
He shrugged, pulling the car off the highway to enter the by lane which led to the farmhouse. "I told her that it's better I know the details before somebody, maybe Sunny or Rita, fill me on them."
She was quiet and she stole a glance at him. He seemed to be pretty unperturbed about the discussion and she had this feeling that maybe he didn't mind if Sunny was still getting into Preeti's pants. He acted like maybe he would get a kick out of it!
She thought about her husband and her mind went back to what her father-in-law had told her.
"That chaps a rebel all right, Priya. He's very head strong and quite adamant. Usually gets what he wants."
She wondered what her reaction would be if she would come across her husband still making it with either one or both his sisters.
She was about to find out.
******
They parked the Opel behind the van and he was about to ring the bell when he heard voices and loud music. He froze and looked at Priya.
The sounds were coming from the first floor and the voices didn't sound like people having any kind of conversation. Though the words were not clear, it was obvious to both of them that they were more shouts, groans and moans than any specific dialogues.
She felt her heart suddenly thudding out and blushed. She also felt the anger rising within her. That bastard! He had to go and do this. There was a look of fury when she turned to look at Jeetu.
When she saw his face, she was surprised. He was actually smiling sheepishly! And, he had that look on his face that she knew only too well for she had seen many guys, more particularly her husband, who looked like that.
Jeetu was turned on!
He motioned for her to be quiet and tried to open the door.
"Shit," he whispered, "it's locked."
In a hoarse voice, she said, "I-I've got the second key."
"Well then, what are you waiting for? C'mon, give it to me. Let's catch 'em with their pants down."
She blushed and averted his eyes as she fumbled in her purse and extracted the key, handing it over to him with trembling hands.
He didn't bother about being quiet with the key. He was sure that any sound that he would make would surely be drowned by the music and the high-pitched voices that came from inside. He unlocked the door and after they entered inside, he locked it behind them.
They heard mumbles from the first floor and he motioned her to follow him up the stairs. They crept up to the rear wing, and standing in one bathroom sandwiched between the two bedrooms, peeped inside.
Involuntarily, she gasped.