As she was smarting under her perceived humiliation, it occurred to her shock that Tara was a witness to all that. And that pulled her even more. ‘What might she have thought of me? Won’t she take me to be a flirt? What a disaster that a fellow woman should be privy to my waywardness. How can I face her ever?’
‘For all I know, he could be her convenient cousin,’ as her thoughts insensibly turned to Tara’s relationship with the visitor, Roopa’s bitterness began to wane, ‘They seem to be on familiar terms after all. Her disheveled look and the time she took to open the door, that too in lingerie! Didn’t that give her up? It’s obvious that they were in the thick of it when I went there. Of course, her furtive glance at that Impala was a kiss and tell, wasn’t it? Obviously, he’s her paramour, oh, Tara!’
As the possibility of Tara’s infidelity inexplicably brought tranquility to Roopa’s mind, she began to review her own views about Tara. ‘It’s her affair any way, but what should be my stance? She appears to be good-natured and there is Yadamma’s word for that. Maybe, she has her own compulsions to take a lover, and why should it bother others, save her husband. Won’t he be in the know of it, after all?’
While the idea induced curiosity in her, Roopa tried to apply her mind to it, ‘Why, they seem to be making use of his nuptial bed for their illicit sex. Who knows, her man might be ignoring her whoring though privy to her peccadilloes. Maybe, that’s the compromise Tara was hinting at.’
‘Where would her friendship lead me to?’ thought Roopa trying to take stock of the situation. ‘Won’t Tara try to mould me into her fold, for company? Hasn’t she dropped enough hints already at that? Is it possible that I may as well be tempted in her infectious acquaintance? But am I hankering for any thrills by the frills? No, never! Am I not clear about that! Well, I’m not up for grabs for some playboy like this Ravi. Temptations may come and go but surely I would stick to my goal. Let there be no mistaking that.’
‘But how to go about with Tara?’ she thought at length. ‘Well, she is refreshingly intelligent and ineffably attractive and I have come to enjoy company, have I not? What sense does it make to forsake the pleasure of her friendship when I’m steadfast in my resolve? But, can I avoid the peril that Tara poses? Why not I take it as a challenge for the true test of fidelity is coming up trumps in the face of temptation by a seducer, let my craving is for romancing with that elusive he-man of my dreams and not to lust as the mistress of some moneyed. That’s for sure.’