Nikhil and Arundhati completed three happy years of their marriage. Arundhati wasn’t really happy with the marriage proposal but gave in trusting her parents’ choice. Everything turned out to be perfect, beyond her imagination.
The perfect husband
He never said ‘No’ to her, ever. He was always supportive of everything Arundhati wanted to do. Both of them worked all day and got back together in the evenings. They had a cook. Nikhil would make their morning teas and wake her up with a smile. They were the best part of her day… every day.
Then she met him
Arundhati often got late from work or had dinner plans with office colleagues or movie plans late-night and Nikhil never asked a single question. He knew her well and trusted her. Arundhati respected him for it. During those days, Arundhati got close to a guy in her office. He was her boss, Dhiraj. He was younger than her, a decent man. They had meaningful conversations every time they had time to themselves. Office desks, cafeterias, evening coffee and sometimes, even dinners… they never let any opportunity go. He had a girlfriend and Arundhati was a married woman, and yet neither of them could control whatever was going on between them. When Arundhati was home, she felt guilty. She couldn’t make eye contact with her husband. And the thing that killed her was that he never doubted her… he was never suspicious about anything. Arundhati, sometimes, exchanged texts with her boss late in the evenings, lying by Nikhil’s side and yet he never raised an eyebrow.
An invisible line they never crossed
When Nikhil went out of town for work, Arundhati went to Dhiraj’s. They spent the whole night together… talking, watching movies, sitting in each other’s arms and finding comfort in each other’s company. They exchanged a kiss here and there and hugged quite often but there was nothing beyond that. There were countless nights that Arundhati spent at his apartment but they never really slept together. Neither of them wanted that. Dhiraj was happy with anything that made her happy and never did anything that made her uncomfortable.
