Chapter 7: The Tug-of-War

By 11:30 PM, her son was deep asleep in his bedroom, and Sonia was in bed with her husband, Ramesh. Today, Ramesh was in a great mood for sex. Both were fully nude and he was already on top of her, lifting her legs and penetrating deep inside her. He was thrusting hard, deeply hitting her walls. Ramesh was completely lost in her body, leaning down to press his chest against hers, his breath hot against her ear. However, Sonia’s mind was elsewhere.

Ramesh: Sonia ... you look completely off tonight. Is everything okay?

Sonia let out a forced moan to keep him satisfied, her eyes staring blankly into the dark.

Sonia: It’s nothing, Ramesh ... just tired from the long train travel and this intense new work pressure. Don’t worry, just keep going...

Ramesh accepted the answer, his pace increasing, completely blind to the fact that his wife’s mind wasn’t in the room at all. He bent down and kissed her hard as he continued to fuck her. Even as she responded and gripped his shoulders, her brain was stuck on the train ride from Bhandup. She kept replaying Akash’s rude outburst on WhatsApp, his angry words looping in her head while her husband pushed inside her.

Ramesh finally collapsed against her chest, breathing heavily, and rolled over to slide into a deep sleep.

Sonia lay wide awake in the dark, her heart still beating fast from the physical exertion, but her mind was entirely consumed by Akash’s defiance. She couldn’t believe a twenty-six-year-old sub-staffer had the nerve to tell her off and shut down the chat. Ensuring Ramesh was dead asleep, she carefully pulled her phone from under her pillow. Shielding the screen’s glare, she opened WhatsApp and re-read the entire argument. Staring at his final, angry text, she felt a strong wave of annoyance. Her ego was deeply bruised by his rudeness, and the sudden silence on the screen left her feeling incredibly restless.

The next morning, the tensed mood from the night before had cleared. Sonia woke up feeling fresh, her practical mindset returning as she got ready for the Saturday shift. Sitting at her desk and processing files, she decided it was time to handle the situation. She unlocked her phone, opened Akash’s chat, and typed a simple message.

Sonia: Hi.

She waited. A few minutes later, seeing that he didn’t reply despite being online, she followed it up immediately.

Sonia: Let’s meet this evening. We will meet after office hours. But don’t book any room right now. We will go and book a room directly depending on what time we actually reach.

On the other side of the bank, Akash stared at his phone, his previous anger instantly evaporating. The sheer thrill of her giving in washed away all his frustration. He typed back quickly, his tone completely soft and apologetic.