Sanyukta waited patiently for him to retort. There was none, instead he just drove on, focusing on negotiating the predictable traffic snarl on the street caused by buses outside a local school as they waited for the children to get on. Jaywalkers only added to the other vehicle drivers' woes. Being distracted was not an option, someone could get hurt seriously if the driver did not brake in time. His alert mind seamlessly processed the infinite stream of data gathered from the periphery. Having lived there for four years he was only too aware of the contrasts that typified the city. The affluent and the upwardly mobile upper middle class sent their children to the prohibitively expensive schools in the South or West Mumbai. On the other hand the parked buses that lined these streets were rapidly filling with the offspring of comparatively modest families. 

Randhir watched as the kids squirted each other with water from their bottles or mindlessly threw snack wrappers out of the bus windows, uttering profanities unlikely to be suitable for their age. A few stumbled over the poorly laid paver blocks which covered the almost non-existent sidewalks. His upper class upbringing made him rue both the social gap and the inadequate civic infrastructure of the overpopulated city to which thousands thronged daily chasing an impossible dream. The migrants would squat in overcrowded shanties and struggle till they found a toehold in the maximum city where realty was defined in inches rather than in square feet. New York offered an escape from all this and yet she had chosen to turn it down.

 Three quarters of an hour elapsed before they reached their destination. She got out of the car and headed straight for the stairs while he parked. Soon he stood before the door waiting to be let in and the few seconds delay before it opened finally took a toll on him. She was taken aback as he almost kicked his way in out of irritation. His aggression was palpable though he still had not spoken. They rarely fought. They usually had arguments that nobody won and yet left enough guilt behind to make sure that they made up for it by the end of the day. The fact that he was flying back late that night was making him even more desperate. How he wished she could read what was going on in his mind just then!

She decided to stay calm and follow her routine, which was to take a shower on a priority basis. That would give her some more time to think. She had to come up with a solid gold, really convincing argument to reason with him. Yes, she had reneged on her promise to join him in New York. It had taken every ounce of her willpower not to succumb to the temptation. The few weeks that had spent together in New York had been blissful and she craved the experience more than ever. Their working honeymoon had been timed well right after their rather private wedding.

It had made Randhir elated. The memory of her presence was a warm, welcoming feeling and he hated the idea of being lonely in that megapolis. Yes, she must feel lonely too but at least she had Aman and Shaila for company. To add to that as a committed woman who was fully in love with her man she was unlikely to go astray. He was not sure if he could match her devotion. There was temptation all around him and it could take only a moment of weakness for him to sacrifice his self-control. Of course he would hate himself afterwards for having cheated on her. He wanted her to understand how much their intimacy mattered to him!

She never locked the bathroom door as she showered- when the entry to the barsati was bolted shut. She was not surprised when his arms encircled her waist as she tried to scrub herself.

"Allow me!" He commanded, squeezing out the shower gel on her bath sponge and rubbing it on her body, working up a lather. He crouched lower, sliding the sponge held in his fingers between her legs, prying them apart. She sucked in her breath in anticipation, fully aware of what he was about to do to her.

"Be gentle!" She almost moaned out the words.

"What's the fun in that, Shefaali?" His fingers trailed down her contours, rubbing and teasing. She raise her foot and placed it on the rest beneath the shower panel, allowing him easier access as the mildly scented foam enveloped her nether areas. In the heightened moment she could feel his fingers replace the sponge, rubbing her slower at first and then increasing their tempo gradually till she almost screamed out her passion. He could feel her quiver between her legs as he directed the shower jet over them, washing off the soap.

It was her turn to pleasure him now, she rubbed the gel over his taut body with her own sponge, reminding his senses where it had been quite recently. She caressed his front, washing and arousing him till he could wait no longer.

"Harder!" He commanded gruffly, guiding her through the art of getting the most of what a man desired. He had almost peaked when she paused and tried to snuggle, wrapping her left leg around him. To her surprise he backed up in frustration, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around himself and stormed out of the bathroom, leaving her stunned.

She stood under the shower till her tears merged with the water. She felt rejected, unwanted. She knew he was only reacting to her own defiance. She turned the shower off and dried herself and put on a set of fresh clothes. At that critical moment when she had so much to communicate, to tell him about, her mind went blank. She noticed that he was fully dressed and was finishing his packing.

"Why?" She stood before him, echoing the very question he had posed her before. Suddenly she was not confident anymore. Earlier in college when she had seen her batchmates drool over him she had felt the faintest tinge of envy. Her heart had warned her, it was not prudent for him to be alone in New York for so long. Something had to give, a man used to sensual pleasures could not be expected to deny himself the satisfaction for so long. She was being insane, leaving him on his own unlike what she had promised him earlier. Her instinct told her she was wrong, and yet her principles told her it was worth taking a chance.

"Because we must! Because of your decision!" He mouthed the words absent-mindedly.

"Randhir, please try and understand!" She wrapped her arms around him. Her heart was beating rapidly, he had never held out before and it bothered her.

"No, you should try and understand. If you can live without me so should I, it is only fair. So what if we have to deny ourselves conjugal rights! I want you to know that I respect your decision. We are equal partners, afterall, living in an emancipated world." He snapped his bag shut. 

"I should step out now. Let me say goodbye to Shailaji and Aman before I leave." He turned to go.

"Why do you have to leave so early? You have already completed your web check-in! Let me rustle up something to eat. Let's have dinner together before you go!" She almost pleaded.

"Don't do this, ok! Don't switch from being an aspiring career woman to a nurturing wife. I don't want to leave here with any illusions. I think we owe each other that!" He walked out of the door leaving her to dissolve into tears once more. 

No Sanyukta, don't react like this, you are much stronger than this, and you are doing this for the sake of your marriage, she tried to calm herself down. She braced herself and went downstairs to find him talking affectionately to Aman while Shaila insisted on serving them an early dinner of roti-subzi.

"Arey Sanyu, come help me get dinner on the table. After that we'll go to the airport to drop Randhir." Shaila told her, while Randhir left the room briefly to answer a call from his mother.

On the way to the airport Randhir looked completely relaxed as he continued chatting with Aman and Shaila as if nothing had happened.

He stepped forward to touch Shaila's feet, gave a warm hug to Aman and then turned his attention to Sanyukta.

"Good luck with your final semester, and take care of your health!" He said to her casually , while she longed to rush into his arms. 

"I'm sorry!" She whispered into his ear.

"Don't be, I understand! Even my Mom prioritised her career!" He muttered.

"Not the same thing!" She felt almost sick at heart to send him off this way.

"Anyway, take care everyone! Aman, I'll miss you very much!" Randhir gave him an affectionate peck and wheeled his bag to the gate. In a few moments he has walked through, heading for the counters.

"Come Sanyukta, they won't let us wait here. We have to leave!" Shaila said and they followed her back to the car.

That night he only left her a message to say he had boarded his flight. She tossed and turned on her tear stained pillow waiting for sleep to oblige her until she drifted into a slumber sometime before dawn.