“Err, trying to maintain my weight.”
“There is nothing wrong with you.Besides, you are now living in the hills.All the incline walking should be enough to burn the calories.”
“Yeah, but I stopped running.”Another thing we used to do together.How much has my life changed with one truth?Before walking down memory lanes overwhelms me, I wave to the waiting staff to place our order.
“How is the house?Did you find a tenant?”As part of the divorce settlement, I offered my parental two-story home to her.She resisted the offer, but the sprawling bungalow shut her father’s and relatives’ mouths.
“Yeah, a couple with a bank lease moved in last month.The ground floor, though, is still too big for me.”
Great.At least she has some financial security.A private primary school teacher's salary is not much.While we wait for the food, we talk about tenants and housekeeping work, filling in the silences that have crept into our relationship.Careful to skirt around any relics of our past.
“How about you?Settled in your new home.”Shalini asks, as the server places our order.
“Yeah.The house is big for me too.But the cottage is pretty.You should come to visit during your summer holidays.Jatin and Jasmeet can join us.”
“Do you think visiting you is a good idea?You and me?”Shalini keeps her soup spoon down.
“Shalini, can’t we be friends?Our past is muddied now, but we did share some beautiful moments.”I reach out and touch her hand.
She studies our joined hands for a few seconds before withdrawing.“Friends?”
I sense the hurt in her words, but smile nonetheless at the progress.We have gone thirty minutes without raising our voices or crying.In the companionable silence, we settle into finishing our meal.I pay, and we leave together.
“What the hell?”I grab the door, but someone jerks my collar.
“Papa, what are you doing here?”Shalini tries to unclasp her father's hold on my shirt.“Don't create a scene here.Leave Aditya.”
With her help, I extricate myself from my ex-father-in-law.For a sixty-year-old portly man, he has a death grip.He lunges at me, but Shalini gets in between.
“Why are you protecting this cheat?”Mr Tribhuvan shouts, attracting the attention of other patrons and staff.“I will find out what you were up to behind my daughter's back.You can fool Shalini and the courts, but not me.”The man waves his finger in my face, side-stepping Shalini.
“Papa.Enough!Go out and wait for me.”She points him to the door.
I clench my fists, desperate to tell him the truth, but Shalini's silent plea through the shake of her head forces me to shut my mouth.
“One more year,” She says in a hushed voice, watching her father leave before turning to face me.“Let me settle things with them.”
Her tear-filled eyes puncture the anger bristling inside me.During our divorce, I protested against keeping things a secret, but I caved to her request after her family became violent.Her father and brother had stormed our house and wrecked the living room.If I kept my sexuality hidden from the world for over a decade, what are a few more years?
This is the least I can do for all the years she lost.
