Chapter 60

"Madhu, this is great. I mean, this is really fantastic. But I have to know something. Will you be absolutely honest with me?"

It was almost exactly one week after the reunion at Crossroads. They were lying in bed. Or at least, Madhu was lying in bed, feeling as contented as a cat with a belly full of milk. Alan was draped over the couch before the television -- watching Star News with the sound muted -- his lanky, pale form dressed only in a pair of Jockey boxer shorts.

"Alan, I'm always honest with you."

He puffed on his cigarette.

Madhu wished he wouldn't smoke. She was allergic to tobacco smoke, it made her sneeze violently. At least Birju didn't have this disgusting habit.

"Then tell me, when are you going to leave him and expose him? Give me a date, a month, a day, anything. A ballpark date at least."

She raised herself on her elbows. She felt good, physically. The evenings at the gym were doing wonders. She was beginning to feel like college-girl Madhu again, not married-woman Madhavi.

And she could see the effect of her new improved physique on Alan when she took off her clothes. Already, she had stopped wearing sarees and was experimenting with tighter, sexier churidhar kurtas and even jeans and shirts on a couple of occasions.

"Alan, I told you. When the time is right."

He stubbed out the cigarette, grinding it into the ashtray with more force than was necessary. She was beginning to think he smoked the damn things just to bother her.

"And when will that be, Madhu?"

Again, she caught that familiar edge of sarcasm and obnoxiousness in his voice. Goodbye, Alan Mendes, gentle and considerate lover. Hello, Alan Mendes, hard-headed Mumbai Times columnist and society gossip-monger.

"Are you angry with me, Alan?"

She allowed a little surprise, even a little anger to enter her voice. "Are you disappointed? Because if you are, then we can call this whole thing off. The only reason I'm still here with you is because I thought we had something special going. Something very special. But if you're getting impatient, I could stop coming."

He stood up so hastily, the ashtray tipped over, falling upside down on the rug in a small puff of ash-smoke. Good, give him something to clean up after I'm gone, she thought. Although the ash made her sneeze twice, sharply. She wiped her nose on his Van Heusen shirt.

He seemed startled at her outburst, completely taken by surprise. He was on the backfoot now, trying hard to appease her.

"Madhu, don't say things like that. I was only worried about your safety. After all, this man is capable of anything. I'm not impatient at all, my darling. On the contrary."

He repeated this last phrase like a shloka from the movie Eyes Wide Shut. "On the contrary."

Madhavi put her head back and stretched langurously. It was wonderful to have such power over men. They always made the mistake of thinking they were the better off the species. It was such fun proving them wrong. She would let Alan suffer some more for his ill-thought words, maybe stop taking his calls for a few days. Then when she forgave him reluctantly, he would be ready to do anything to please her.

And meanwhile, she still had Birju back home, waiting impatiently for her to return and tell him all about her sexual escapades with her lover. So they could recreate the whole scene down to the last detail, and he could 'punish' her for her infidelity.

Yes, Madhu thought, smiling contentedly, life was getting better everyday. Why should she want this to end? She couldn't tell Alan that things were turning out just the way she had planned. It was much more effective to use the threat of public exposure to control Birju than to simply expose him. It was also much more exciting.

She looked at Alan, still waiting anxiously for her answer.

"You know, Alan, I think it's time you quit smoking. It doesn't suit your image."