Benign Flame: Saga of Love by BS Murthy (sci fi books to read TXT) đ
- Author: BS Murthy
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âOh, how she got away, the slippery slut,â Prasad thought in irritation, as he recovered from the embarrassment. âIf not for Taraâs unexpected presence, it shouldâve been a different story to tell, well, instead of biting the dust myself, I shouldâve made her eat the humble pie, wouldnât I have? Oh, if only I withdrew when she cautioned me. Wouldnât have that saved the embarrassment for both of us? Surely, she would be damn cut up with me for having compromised her before Tara. Besides, havenât I lost my face as well? It is better that I lie low for a while so that Roopa might feel pity for me in time. Why, isnât pity a surer way to a womanâs heart than manâs chivalry? Whatâs the doubt about it? Well, I should wait for the right moment to strike back.â
But how were he to know that soon Raja Raoâs love would seal the oyster of Roopaâs heart to his lust for ever.
Chapter 28
Night of the Mates
At the Premier Architectsâ office that August afternoon, holding Sandhyaâs letter, Raja Rao was immersed in Roopaâs thoughts,
âHow miserable she could be, the poor thing,â he sighed for the umpteenth time.
As though to get a measure of his belovedâs misery all again, he read from his wifeâs letter once again.
âAfter a fortnightâs stay here, Roopa left for Hyderabad this evening. Bogged down with her affairs all these days, I couldnât write to you. Roopa is distraught, to say the least. She says that Sathyam has gone astray, unbelievable though it is. And to add to her misery, his friend Prasad has been pestering her for quite some time now. As I recall your reading of her situation, I am worried to death about what might lie in store for her. Though she feels she can handle her affairs on her own, I know she needs our support now more than ever. Any delay in our being near her might prove costly for all of us. Iâm sure you would ensure that we forthwith move over to Hyderabad.â
As he read the letter once again as though to find a clue to Roopaâs predicament, he became nervous, and felt something within him was about to snap.
âOh, how my fears have come true but why have I fail to act? Shouldnât I rush now and see if thereâs something left for me to salvage?â he thought in desperation.
Aboard the Indian Airlines flight that very evening, Raja Raoâs thoughts hovered around what Roopaâs present portends for his future.
âWhat I am rushing now for? Does she want me anymore?â he began to crystallize his situation at length. âHad I missed the bus or did that Prasad jump the queue? How does that matter if I lost her? Is it not possible that she wouldâve given in to Prasad by now? Maybe, she couldnât bring herself to confide in Sandhya that she was in the thick of it with him. It appears that her part-confession was but a sounding-board to prepare her pal to her affair with him. Oh, why have I delayed declaring my love to her? How costly would that prove for me?â
As the thought of life without Roopa depressed him, even the attentions paid by the pretty air hostess failed to impress him.
âAm I destined to suffer in regret for letting her slip into Prasadâs embrace?â he felt gloomy at the thought. âIf sheâs already carrying on with him, what sense does it make for me to shift over there now? Wonât that be a suicidal move for me? What an irony it would be, had she transferred her affections to another, even as Iâm on the verge putting in my papers for her! Anyway, the moment of truth seems to be on hand for me. Let me see what her life would reveal to me.â
When the plane landed at Begumpet, he left the airport with alacrity and with his heart in his mouth; he rushed to Roopaâs place in a taxi.
Pacing up the steps, as he pressed the doorbell, he felt as though his heart was short-circuited, and when Roopa opened the door tentatively, as her heart missed its beat at his sight, she was breathless. Unable to comprehend their respective positions, staring at each other, they stood rooted at the threshold, he with his briefcase in hand and she with her bathing towel over her shoulders.
âWonât you let me come in?â he said, at last.
âOh, Iâm sorry,â she gave him way, and bolted the door after him as though to secure him once and for all.
âHow do you do?â he said looking at her longingly.
âPulling on,â she mumbled, unable to come to terms with his unexpected arrival.
âItâs been so long since we last met,â he said as he sat down.
âItâs over seven months, I thought youâd forgotten me,â she sighed as she said.
âHow can you say that?â he said in protest.
âYou would know if only youâre a woman,â she said in despair.
âBeing a man, itâs none the better for me,â he said dejectedly.
âYou should blame yourself for that,â she sounded critical in spite herself.
âBut howâs that?â he exclaimed in pain.
âHavenât you prefixed forgetfulness to your maleness,â she said in vexation.
âWhat do you mean?â he protested haplessly.
âHavenât you failed to turn up as promised?â she said as the bitterness his earlier failure to meet her overtook the sweetness his presence occasioned.
âYou would never know how desperate I was to meet you then,â he said as his tone got the measure of his frustration, as he recalled his state of mind in which he had to leave for Bangalore that day.
âWhere there is a will there is a way, isnât it?â she said still smarting under the hurt of the perceived let down.
âBelieve me Roopa, there was no way I couldâve come to see you. I had to catch the train on the move as it were,â he said and added after a pause,
âI even thought of writing to you, but I couldnât bring myself to do that.â
âYou shouldâve written, that wouldâve made so much difference to me,â she said in the same vein.
âRoopa, why donât you try to understand me?â he said with a loving tone.
âOh, Iâm sorry,â she said as her love, aided by the presence of her lover, abetted her mind to overpower the bitterness it bore.
âLet bygones be bygones,â he said smilingly.
âI only felt like pouring out my pain to you, go have your bath,â she said placing his briefcase on the teapoy.
When he made it to the bathroom, she began setting the dinner ready for them.
âWeâll wait for Sathyam,â he said as he came out of the bathroom.
âI donât intend to starve you till he returns from his four-day tour; think of it, what a coincidence that he was away when you first came with Sandhya!â she said smiling.
But then, how were she to know about Sathyamâs peccadilloes at Peddapuram on that supposedly official trip. Besides, at the threshold of the golden moment of her life, even if she were aware of it then, maybe, she couldnât have cared less.
âOh, I see, I thought I could stay here for a couple of days,â he said tentatively.
âDo you think I would show you the door after dinner?â she said smilingly.
âI didnât mean it that way,â he said a little confounded.
âBut I mean to tell you everything, wait, Iâll have my bath and come,â she said getting up from the dining chair.
âProbably, itâs all over between us bar sighing,â he thought pensively, sinking into a dining chair. âHasnât she said that my letter wouldâve made so much difference to her? Oh, does that not imply that I have lost out to Prasad? Is it any consolation that I was her first choice? What if her current concern is the courtesy of her past feelings? Or is her friendliness owing to my being Sandhyaâs husband? What sense does the relocation to Hyderabad make for me? Wonât I feel miserable seeing her carrying on with someone else? What sort of a reward it would be for my unrequited love for her if Prasad were to turn up now. Wonât that embarrass us all, and whatâs worse, my presence might lead to a misunderstanding between them. I better pack up after dinner for itâs not fair to spoil her party with her paramour. How stupid I am to lose a woman like her when she could have been mine for the asking!â
âIsnât it Godsend,â thought Roopa in relief, making use of the soap he used, even as she recalled the bath of fetish that she had had with his soap during his first visit to her place. âHave I not been waiting for this day all my life? Oh, finally my destiny seems to have kept its date with him! Iâll make him mine even if it comes to raping him, wonât I? How we could indulge in lovemaking day and night for three days at a stretch. Well, without a care in the world. How fortuitous that he came at a time when Prasad too went on a foreign jaunt! Why canât I expect him to take the initiative now? Itâs clear that his passion for me is kicking and alive though shrouded in hesitancy. Wonât his manner reveal that? If only I signal my urge for him, wonât he engulf me with his innate passion for me?
âBut to be more woman like, what if I wait for his advances,â she thought having developed second thoughts about her own abashment. âSurely he has come in the hope of possessing me. But still he may be constrained to overtly seek me for fear of scandalizing me. Oh no, now if I fail to be explicit in my invitation, wonât he take me to be a flirt and dismiss me forever? If I donât let him have me now, I might as well forget about him in this life, maybe in the lives that follow. Well, come what may, I shall grab this opportunity of a lifetime, now and here, with both hands at that. Once he has me, wonât he keep me in his embrace forever as I lay there in coyness? Havenât I suffered enough to deserve the solace of his love? Have I any stomach left for misery, anymore?â
Soon, as they sat for dinner, she served him silently as if the distraction of their conversation would hamper his partaking. However, construing her contemplative mood as a proof of her embarrassment, he felt depressed at the tragedy of his own making.
At length, when they rose from the table, sensing his predicament, giving him pan, she opened up,
âIâm glad you havenâ gone to the Ritz now, did Sandhya prevail upon you?â
âYou know Sandhya is at Kakinada now,â he said.
âIâm sorry,â she said extending her hand.
Iâve come to see you on my own,â he said taking it heartily.
âThat makes it doubly welcome, wonât it?â she said bringing her other hand into the equation.
âIâm doubly grateful,â he said pressing her hand with his.
âNow that youâve expressed your gratitude, shall I bid you goodnight?â she said coyly.
âNo, tell me about you,â finding her gesture inviting, he played his move, to probe her position.
âDonât you know that face is the index of mind,â she said bowing her head.
âYou look a little pulled down,â he said lovingly.
âDidnât I tell you that Iâm just pulling on?â she said looking into his eyes ardently.
âSandhya wrote to me that youâre having a hard time,â he said hesitantly
âDo you think Sathyamâs neglect and Prasadâs pestering could bother me really, they are just allergies, but my ailment is different,â she said as though showing her cards.
âMay I know what it
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