Chapter 23
Five minutes later, she sat on a chair behind a desk in the study with a notepad and pencil that Rajeev had found for her. Her sister and Rajeev sat across from her in separate chairs.
Mantra took a deep breath and said a silent prayer, so she didn’t mess this up further. “I want you two to forget I am your relative. You will address me by my first name and do not expect me to take sides or state my opinion.”
They both nodded.
“I need precise answers, and I will state the name of the person I want a response from after I ask the question. The other person will not interrupt, contradict, or complain.”
No response, just nods again.
“Okay… God help me,” she whispered under her breath.
“First, how long have you two known each other? Rajeev?”
“Eight years.”
“How long have you guys been married? Sloka?”
“Five.”
“How long have you been in love with your spouse? Rajeev?”
He thought for a moment. “Nine.”
Sloka turned to look at him, her forehead scrunched but did not say anything.
“How long have you loved your spouse, Sloka.”
“Umm… seven… seven and a half… how can you say you’ve been in love for nine years? We met eight years ago.” Sloka turned to look at her husband.
“Sloka, eyes on me,” Mantra demanded.
Her sister gave her husband a long stare before looking at Mantra.
“Rajeev, you may respond to her question.”
“I saw you at my cousin’s wedding and found you interesting. It didn’t take me long to realize we were meant to be… don’t ask me why.” He ran his fingers through his hair.
“Why do I not know about this?” Sloka sounded angry.
“I… I didn’t think it was right for me to tell you how much I was already invested in our relationship even before we dated. I couldn’t tell you once we started dating because you enjoyed how you and I got along when… when, in fact, I found out everything about you and made sure… not having you in my life was not an option, so…”
“What?”
“Sloka… I’m the one asking questions.”
“Unbelievable… I feel cheated now.”
“Mrs. Mehra, settle down.” Mantra maintained a professional tone.
“Are you in love with your spouse? Sloka?”
Sloka looked at her husband. “Yes.”
“I love you, too, sweetheart.” Rajeev took her hand in his, and Sloka didn’t object.
Mantra could not figure what their problem was as they were both in love and didn’t want to kill each other even after the kind of argument they had earlier that night.
“Eyes on me… both of you.” Mantra could not figure out why Sloka thought they had trouble in the bedroom when they were so into each other. She was done beating around the bush.
“How often do you masturbate? Rajeev.”
A shocked expression appeared on Rajeev’s face, and he did not respond.
“Rajeev?”
“Is this necessary?” Rajeev was suddenly uncomfortable.
“Rajeev, talk to her. She is a therapist, not my sister.”
He took a deep breath before responding. “Twice.”
“Twice a week? Rajeev?” Mantra managed in a steady tone.
“A day.” His voice was soft.
“What the fuck?” Sloka got off her chair and started attacking him.
Mantra got off her chair and went around to pull her sister away from Rajeev. “Sloka, stop it.”
“Did you hear that, Mantra? He gets off twice a day, and I get no action,” Sloka growled.
“Both of you… sit down,” Mantra ordered as she sat on the desk in front of them.
“Sloka, how many times do you masturbate?”
“Every other day… just like I told you.” Sloka glared at her husband.
“You are both young and have a sex drive. Why aren’t you intimate? Sloka?”
“Ask him first. I walked around naked in front of him, but I got no movement between his legs.” Sloka was angry.
“Sloka… How often would you like to have sex?”
“At least three times a week, and I want to be spooned every day.” Mantra was glad her sister was bold.
“Rajeev, Sloka wants the flower petals and silk kind of sex. What kind do you like?” Mantra had an inkling it had to be something about what got him excited and knew she hit the nail on the head when he looked up at her.
“What?” Sloka seemed confused, but Mantra raised her hand at her sister and hushed her.
“Rajeev, this is a safe place. The person you love is in pain and was about to walk out of your life because of this… talk to her if you don’t want to tell me.”
Rajeev drew in a slow breath and slowly turned to look at Sloka. “Sweetheart, I’m a sick bastard, and I don’t want you to give me what I want… you are way too precious, and I can’t do it.”
“What the heck are you talking about?” Sloka demanded.
Rajeev went silent and looked away from her.
“Rajeev, you are almost there. Tell her what you want. She loves you enough to understand,” Mantra encouraged.
“Are you gay?” Sloka blurted out.
“Sloka!” Mantra warned, but Rajeev wasn’t impacted by her question.
“Rajeev, talk to me. I’m dying. This is worse than I thought.”
“Sloka… I’m sick…”
“What? What is wrong?” Sloka got off the chair to put her arms around him.
“I’m fine… I have a sick mind… I have dark fantasies that I… I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice was a whisper. Sloka leaned closer to him, and they both started whispering.
Mantra watched as Sloka talked to her husband and noticed how her cheeks were flushed. She hated to interrupt them, but she was dying to find out. “I hate to interrupt your moment here, but I’m here to help.”
Sloka planted a kiss on Rajeev’s lips. “I got this baby. Do you want to go upstairs and wait for me?”
Mantra was confused. It is just not possible. Miracles didn’t happen in one real therapy session, let alone a half-assed one.
“See you later, Mantra.” Rajeev smiled sheepishly before leaving the study.
“What the heck?”
“I love you for doing what you did… now get out.” Sloka laughed.
“What?” Mantra couldn’t help but laugh.
“I just found out my husband is into super kinky sex and is incapable of having vanilla sex. He is turned off by seduction so I am going to go pretend like I don’t want to have sex so he can, you know…” Sloka winked victoriously.
“What?” Mantra was in shock.
“My husband just confessed he is addicted to kinky pornography, and we will talk about that later… but for now… I’m going to go take care of him.” Sloka started walking away from her and then stopped.
“I suggest you take my car and get out of the house.” Sloka laughed, and Mantra couldn’t help but laugh with her.
“I will use the restroom and leave.” She hugged her sister.
“Mantra, thank you… I told you that you could fix this.”
“I don’t think I did anything. The argument and you disappearing helped.”
“I love you, Mantra. I’m so thankful for you in my life. If we make a baby tonight, I’m calling her Mantra.” Sloka kissed her sister’s cheek.
“Eeew, stop it and go deal with your husband.” Mantra laughed.
Mantra used the restroom and went out through the garage and unlocked her sister’s car. She got into her car and realized it was too complicated if she took her sister’s car and left her car at the hotel all night.
She stood in her sister’s driveway deciding if she should take her sister’s car or take a cab to the hotel to pick up her car. She pulled out her phone to call for a cab and squeaked in surprise when she saw Yash’s name flash on her phone screen.
“Hey.” She had a tough time containing her excitement.
“You still in the library?” He sounded like he was in the car.
“No, where are you?”
“On my way to get you.”
“What?”
“Are you in the library? No, I am in my sister’s driveway.”
“Sister kicked you out of her house?” He laughed.
“Yeah, kind of, and I was going to call for a cab.”
“Text me the address… the cab is en route.” His tone was playful.
“Yes, come save me from my loneliness.” She laughed.
“You know I will, baby. Send me the address now.”
Mantra ended the call and sent him her location on the map. She unlocked her sister’s car and sat inside. She closed the garage door with the remote and waited for Yash.
While she should be happy with the progress her sister and her husband made that night, something kept nagging in her mind. It was because she saw Gaurav with another woman, and she wondered if she should tell Yash.