Dobie and Me: Chapter 19

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I sat puzzling over his last words. Had he said Shivani? Had he meant Vandana?

I took my car out and drove to his house. I couldn’t stand the suspense.

He was surprised to see me there but let me in. I quickly glanced around to see her presence, or the evidence of her presence. It looked every inch a male bastion. It should have been reassuring, but it was not. I turned to look at him. “What did you say?”

“About what?” he asked wearily.

I looked into his eyes and felt he knew what I was referring to. Still, I articulated it. “About Shivani.”

He breathed deeply and looked away. “Would you care for some tea or coffee?”

I stepped close to him, touching his shoulder to make him look at me. “Just tell me, Gautam,” I said, my voice trembling.

He slipped his arms around me and pulled me to him. “I have been telling you, let’s move in together, live together…”

I looked at him steadily, trying to make him tell me the truth. But he stared back, without blinking. Finally, I blinked. “When did you meet Shivani?”

I saw the colour fly from his face. I stepped back as he loosened his hold. “Why do you ask?”

I sighed and sank down in the sofa. “You have been seeing her,” I said wearily.

“Not seeing her!” he replied quickly. “I mean, I am not “seeing” her,” he said, putting air quotes around seeing. Just semantics.

“Ok, you have been meeting her.”

“We have met, yes, a couple of times,” he admitted. I closed my eyes.

I felt his hands on my shoulders. “It is not what you think,” he said urgently.

I looked at him. “What should I think?”

“Mahek, you are my life now. I just want us to be together, always.”

I frowned. “Why this urgency now, suddenly?” He remained silent. “It has something to do with Shivani, doesn’t it?”

“No… Yes…”

“No, or yes?” I asked, tired of this play of games. “Tell me what is going on, Gautam. You never mentioned you had met Shivani.” He was quiet. “I saw her in your house the day your mother died,” I said.

He looked at me sharply. “You didn’t mention this before?”

“You didn’t mention her either to me,” I pointed out.

Again he remained silent. “Gautam… Why don’t you tell me what is happening?”

“She wants us to remarry.”

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