Trembling Shadows
A romantic, psychological thriller
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
His answer filled Sameera’s face with happiness. “It is quite surprising to me that yours and Sunanda’s nature is quite the same. She is also appearing quite enjoying here. You both are made for each other” nothing revealed to Sameera in his face to that remark. He made his face expressionless and impervious to her scrutiny. But Sameera knew men like him were capable to inflict maximum cruelty on their innocent wives. Even she heard some, what type of torture Sunanda was undergoing Sameera could not guess. She had built some hope on Aravind’s saying that he would know and solve the problem. He exhibited such surprising confidence and she too felt confident on hearing that. She knew her contribution as well was important to solve the problem from its roots. Now she was trying to find a way to do that.
“If you don’t mind, I want to have some friendly chit-chat with you.” fixing him with her friendly gaze Sameera asked.
“Surprising! I really can enjoy talking with you. You can talk anything frankly with me.” looking into the face of her Anand said. He sat in the opposite chair to her then. “And I also want to have some frank talking with you.”
“Then we can have a good and heartfelt discussion between us.” throwing a charming smile Sameera said.
“You are right.” it seemed that he was practicing keeping his face expressionless. “If you don’t think I am too much intruding into your private life, you are showing a little more interest in Aravind, are not you?” Sameera startled and confused as it was quite an unexpected question to her and more to that she could not understand why he was asking so.
“Why your interest in that matter?” her anger caused her cheeks a little blushed.
“It is my weakness. If I find any couple struggling to express their feelings straightly out but showing lots of interest in each other, I shall interfere and make the matter easier” Her cheeks blushed even more and she clipped her lower lip between her teeth frames as to control her anger. “You are feeling angry on me, it is irresistible, you cannot tolerate my interference this much into your private matter”
She released her lower lip slowly. “Of course, I have got anger on you” her juicy lips formed the words “I am really loving him and that is why my excessive interest in him. I am feeling little clumsy to express my love straightly to him. But I don’t need anyone’s help, I shall do that sooner or later myself” turning her face away from him she said.
“All the best. But don’t make it too much late. He is not appearing like a guy to care even for very beautiful girls. The danger that some other girl pick him up in the meanwhile before you open yourself to him as well is not less. Handsome boys are easy prey to the cunning beautiful girls outside, is it is not?” going near to the doorpost and looking at outside he said.
“Is Aravind using you to talk with me like this?” Her voice was sharp and it seemed pricked him painful, he turned and looked into her face.
“Aravind is not such a cheap type, I think” his voice as well had become equally sharp. “At the same time he may not have such a necessity either. He may have a correct estimate on himself.”
Her mind raced like a horse but she could not think of what to say befitting. Anyhow she felt happy that as little intimacy developed with him so far with the conversation. As he had discussed such an intimate matter of her with her so, she too could ask about his and Sunanda’s issue without much embarrassment. Now she could try to know whatever she wanted from him.
“If you too don’t think otherwise, I want to ask some intimate questions with respect to your private life.” looking into his face again Sameera asked.
“Whatever they may be” he got off from the chair, went near to the bed and slumped himself on it. “You may discuss them with me as freely as I have discussed about your matter with you.”
“Thanks” she drew a long breath trying to remember carefully what she wanted to ask him. “Is the marital life of you and Sunanda is happy now?” she succeeded in asking the first question.
He frowned and smiled. His expressionless face was irritating to her. “We are the happiest couple on the earth. What prompted you to ask this question I cannot understand” he interlaced fingers of both his palms and put them on the back of his head.
Sameera was observing him minutely while thinking furiously what to ask next. She must find a way to elicit the truth and mend him correct.
“As a close friend of my wife you have a right to intrude into our private life like this. But you owe an explanation to me why did you get such a doubt.” Keeping his voice normal as before, he asked.
“Mine is not doubt. My closest friend told me what she is sharing with you. She did not say everything but said you are torturing her in peculiar ways. We all have thought that you both would be ideal couple to all. I agree there may be some mistakes on her part. No person in the whole universe is free completely from mistakes. No problem is unsolvable. No mistake is unrectifiable. I wish you and my friend should lead a happy marital life forever.” Fixing him with the same gaze, she said that as smoothly as she could. In fact she wanted to beat him black and blue and make him say that he would listen whatever she would say, if that was possible.
His face was with the same deadpan expression. There was not even that small smile on his lips now which occasionally would give his face a touch of handsomeness.
“This silence is killing me. Say something. Do I not deserve even a small explanation from you?” she asked.
“From what you have said I have understood one thing. You too are well aware the wrongs committed by Sunanda” this time Sameera clearly sensed the toughness in his voice. “People who do such type of wrongs have no right to ask for penance. At the same time don’t refer them as mistakes, they are deliberate wrongs.” suddenly then came a serious and formidable expression on his face.
“We were friends from our very early age. I am two years younger to her I think. It is not that much big of a gap between us. From the time I have known about myself, I have known her and a friend to her. I very well know about her. I very well know her likes, dislikes and her character” Sameera indeed struggling to support her friend.“Yes, she did some wrongs if you like to refer them so. But she is not bad. She did so only because she is innocent. She is very good indeed. You never can get a wife like Sunanda”
“Wonderful!” suddenly he turned his gaze fully towards her. “Then you might be known about her boyfriends too.”
Sameera did not say anything. Yes, she knew about some of her boyfriends also. But she did not caution her friend. She too did not see any wrong in it then even she could not manage boyfriends like her.
“Why you remain silent like this? Tell me you have no knowledge at all about her boyfriends.” Anand angrily said.
“Yes Mr.Anand. I know about her boyfriends too. Everyone does wrongs if you want to refer them only so and my friend too did. She has got some boyfriends before her marriage. But after marriage she has been leading a very disciplined life. She left all her boyfriends.” Sameera could not think of what else to say.
“Huh, disciplined life after marriage! How you can be sure of that? She slept with boys before her marriage with me. She suffers from uncontrollable urge in her. It needs to be satisfied heavily and one man in the routine way is quite insufficient to do that. She wants variety and difference. In my opinion still she is sleeping with other boys. I think that she has inherited this from her mother” Anand sneeringly said.
“You are talking very obscenely. Just remember one thing while talking in this way. You are talking about your own wife and mother in law.” Her voice turned angry without her intention.
“As she is my wife I am worrying like this, if she is not why do I bother at all?” Anand sighed heavily and said. “I have no animosity with you. But please drop this topic now here itself. Let your friend suffer a little for the wrongs she had committed.” The anger in his voice shuddered Sameera.
“That I never can accept and I never can allow” Sameera continued while her voice filled with anger and remorse. “Sorry that I am still continuing in this way even after you requested me to stop this topic. It is my friend’s life and I don’t want her to suffer at all. Please tell some remedy to this problem. But don’t torture my friend.” her anger turned into pleading in the end.
Anand considered Sameera with that impersonal look. “You are surprising me Sameera. Sunanda is really very fortunate that she has got a good friend like you.”
Hearing that Sameera tried to say something more but stopped as Aravind entered into that room. “What you both are doing here?” looking at them while a smile was playing on his lips he asked.
“What we do? Just talking with each other.” Sameera made an effort to smile and said. “Surprisingly most of both of our tastes are matched. He likes movies, I like movies and he read books, I read books so we are discussing about them”
“What a nice time pass you both are having here while we are struggling ourselves downstairs without knowing how to kill the time.” after making himself comfortable in another nearby chair to the bed he said “May I see how much my tastes match with you both.”
“You are a different man Aravind. Your tastes would not that easily match with any person’s.” looking at him straightly Sameera said.
“It is quite unfortunate that you have come to such type of an opinion.” Aravind paused for a moment and said. “It seems I have interfered and interrupted while a very important topic is going on in between you. May I go downstairs again? You people can continue that free discussion.”
“Don’t do like that at all” Anand hastily said. “In fact I want strong support to me here now. This girl is invading on me on behalf of her girl friend”
“Is it is so? Then I shall be certainly stay here and help you not to be got defeated or damaged.” With a mocking seriousness Aravind said. As there was no answer from either of them Aravind said. “May I know what discussion is really going in between you both?’
Sameera looked questioningly at Anand. She could not think of whether to tell him what they were talking then or not. She thought Anand might get angry if she would say what was the talking in between them then.
“If it is that much of an important topic and requires secrecy, don’t tell me about it at all.” Aravind said.
“It is not at all so my dear friend” Anand said. “From the scratch you are appearing like a good friend to me. I have no objection whatsoever to tell you with what I am suffering from. If you say I am at wrong and I have to change myself, I certainly do that. If you see any wrong with the other side you must agree with the severe punishment I am giving to her.”
“I could not understand what you have said at all. First tell me what the problem exactly is. Then we shall worry about the other matters.”
(I hope that you enjoyed upto here. I shall publish the next chapter as soon as possible. Please don’t forget to rate and review.)
