Casual Meeting - Chapter One (Erotic Romance)

Chapter One - The Meeting (4,491 words)1

"Where can I get a cab?" I asked the receptionist. 2

"Right across the road, sir," She was polite and I smiled my thanks and walked out of the reception on to the road. 3

I was not in a good mood, the conference I came to attend was out of my domain and the lectures were boring and they were not telling me anything new. I wanted to curse my boss for sending me out here to attend this conference, me an Accountant and this is all about importing raw material for foundries, all technical stuff, nonsense to my way of thinking.4

"Excuse me," I stopped myself from stepping down to the road to cross and looked back. 5

"Are you going to the hotel?" The lady addressing me had the same identity card of the conference pinned on her shirt. I had seen her at the reception but studiously avoided her since she was pretty young looking and very beautiful. Did not want to stare at her and make a fool of myself, me in my mid fifties and all. 6

"Yes?" I answered and raised my eyebrow.7

"Can I join you? You see I am new here and don't know the language," she smiled disarmingly enough. 8

"Why, certainly," All my gentlemanly grace surfaced. 9

Together we crossed the road and I hailed a cab and in no time we were on the way to the hotel, where we were accommodated.
On the way we made small talk getting ourselves introduced. She was very surprised when I told her I am an Accountant and I was not at all surprised when she introduced herself as a Senior Executive of a manufacturing company. Young and pretty she may look but I could see the class in her in the way she moved. A perfect lady and certainly the managerial brand.10

When we reached our hotel, like a good gentleman I paid the cab off and we stood on the sidewalk. 11

"Thank you, Mr. Arun Kumar," she extended her hand with a charming smile. 12

"Welcome Miss. Neela," I mumbled and shook hands with her. I sincerely hoped she did not feel the tremor that went through me at the touch of her hand. She was beautiful and even at this age I am human and vulnerable. 13

Briskly I walked into the hotel collected my key from the reception and walked to the elevator. When the elevator door closed I sank against the wall and sighed in relief. Foolish of me to get all worked up I know but it is not everyday that a man of my age gets to share a cab with a beautiful young woman, who is very friendly as well. 14

In the safety of my suite, I undressed quickly and went into the bathroom. A shower is what I needed, it was stuffy in the conference hall and the young woman has not improved the situation any either. Refreshed after the shower I felt comfortable in my lungi and T shirt against the formal suit. 15

Relaxing in the bed I dialed my boss, the long distance call took time to connect and I looked at the wall clock. It was only 15 minutes past 6, lot of time to while away before bedtime. A brief reporting and then I called home. Another brief talk with my wife as she was about to go out, I sighed and sank to the bed and closed my eyes.16

Her smiling face came before to tease and I thought of her gorgeous figure respectably outlined in the Chudidar she wore. The white bottom contrasted well with the red silk tops and the material clung to her curves revealing her perfection. Hastily I opened my eyes cursing myself.17

"No, you fool, you are a respectably married man and she is pretty young, you have no business thinking of her," My conscience warning me. I sighed; I was not deliberately thinking of her, what can a man do when a woman comes alive before his closed eyes?18

I wondered if I should get out and go for a walk. The crowded city with their shops and lights should keep her thoughts away for the time being at least. But that meant changing into something more presentable and I did not feel like doing it after such a boring, tiring day. On any other occasion, I would have loved going out in the crowded streets, just for the fun of it, anyway. 19

I was shaken when the door bell rang. I had not ordered anything and was not expecting any visitors either. Reluctantly I opened the door and then stopped short. 20

"May I come in, or am I intruding on your privacy?" Her smile was mischievous and her posture seductive. She wore a Jeans and a semi transparent body hugging tops and she looked like a Goddess. No wonder I was stunned. Wordlessly I ushered her in, not trusting my voice and closed the door behind her. 21

She walked graciously in and sat on the couch and crossed her legs waiting for me to join her. Slowly I went to the couch opposite to the one she sat and sat down, careful not to look at her. 22

When I looked up, she was still smiling and said," I am sorry to intrude Mr. Arun Kumar, but I was bored and did not know what to do,"23

"That is okay, I was bored myself," I answered almost in a whisper. 24

"Reported to your boss, talked home?" She threw the questions at me without a pause. 25

"Yes," 26

"Well, I reported to my boss too but I have no home to call though," She sighed.27

In the cab while introducing, she had told me," I am a divorcee, Mr. Arun Kumar, but I am not sorry," I was not sure of her age, she could be anywhere between late twenties to mid thirties, but I was not willing to make a guess. The way women dressed these days and did their hair, it is almost impossible to gauge a woman's age right. 28

"I am hoping to spend the evening with you, Mr. Arun Kumar, that is, if you don't have any other plans and you don't mind," Her smile had a tinge of anxiety and eagerness in them which I could not understand. I am not the kind of man women looked twice at. In fact most women never even bothered one good look at me and I learned to accept it as normal in the course of my long life. I am too simple and ordinary looking for women to care. 29

"Call me Arun Miss. Neela, that is easier and of course I am honoured and I have no other plans either," I answered at last finding my voice. 30

"You happily married, Arun?" She asked innocently enough, I think.31

"I think so, we have managed to live together almost 27 years," I smiled as my answer was non committal.32

"I got fixed up with a bastard, all he could think of was sex and he did not even know about women," She almost flared. Must have been an arranged marriage I guess but did not say anything.33

"I am sorry, I just get worked up thinking of my marriage," she was calm now. But I had seen the temper in her flaring eyes and I realized she is no ordinary woman and it warned me to be careful. 34

"Well, arranged marriages don't work always," I was again non committal. 35

"You said it," she smiled, "I sincerely hope yours in a better marriage," It was a question really. 36

"Time, Miss. Neela and social compulsion force us to adjust to the kind of life we are given," 37

"Does that mean you are not all too happy in your marriage? And of course you may call me Neela too,"38

"Well, I am not sure if anyone ever is, Neela, Life has too many twists and turns and we learn to accept life as it is, as we go on," 39

"You are philosophic," she laughed, "But then I don't think your wife would have had the kind of problems I had to face with my bastard husband," she added. 40

I understood what she meant by that. Seeing non aggressive manner, she has assumed I am not a sexy man or one who would demand too much sex from the wife. I smiled wryly inside but hid my feelings. 41

"All couples have problems, Neela, if yours was too much sex, ours would have been some thing else. That is all the difference," I said simply. 42

"You are right," she said and looked up at the ceiling as if in thought. 43

"Want to talk about it," She asked suddenly and I was taken aback. I hesitated as I had no wish to discuss my personal life with this woman whom I have just met and hardly know. But I did not want to hurt her either. 44

"Of course if you don't want to, it is okay, I understand," she added hastily. 45

"Look Neela, life is never all bed of roses, we all have problems. You see your hubby was too demanding and you did not like it, well my wife was too passive and I did not like it," I said and added, "The way we are brought up matters a lot in married life, my wife was taught, sex was a sin all her life and while she wanted it, she also was reluctant to show her emotions. That is also not a good thing in a marriage, you see,"46

"You mean she wanted sex but was not passionate?"47

"You can say that, she was very reluctant to respond and well, we have managed anyway, you see I have two strong handsome sons," I smiled, trying to ease the tension in the room. 48

She laughed heartily and said," You know something Arun , you are too much of a gentleman, and I think I like you a lot,"49

"You are flattering, young lady," I chided her playfully. 50

"You think I did wrong, divorcing?" Another sudden burst from her. 51

"I would not say that, Neela, not knowing your hubby and the kind of problem you had in sex, I should not be judging,"52

"Like I said, you are too much of a gentleman and I like you a lot," She smiled warmly this time and I had to turn away to hide my blush. 53

"Will you join me for dinner? I am hungry," she said.54

"We can do down and have dinner in the restaurant, what do you say," She added.55

"Sure, let me change into something more presentable," 56

"Oh, no, let us go as you are, I don't think they will object," 57

I hesitated since I never go out in lungi even at home. But then I shrugged and got up. We went down to the restaurant and I felt comfortable once I saw many men in lungi or dhoti. We ordered and had a sumptuous dinner with small talk mostly her commenting about the folks dining in the room. When the dinner was over and we had washed our hands, she insisted on paying and charged it to her credit card. 58

As we walked to the elevator, she took my hand and when I turned to look at her, asked, "Will you come to my suite, we can talk for a while before going to bed,"59

Since she has already visited my suite, I agreed. Though she was good company and was warmer than my expectation, I was still a little concerned as she was too attractive. Not that I would do anything foolish, but simply that I was feeling uncomfortable at times. She let me do my thinking as we claimed in the elevator and led me to her suite. Once inside the suite, she excused herself, saying she wanted to change into something more comfortable and disappeared into the bedroom. A night gown, I thought and sat idly in the couch, waiting for her. 60

When she came out of the bedroom, I was once again stunned but this time I did not stare but turned away hastily. She wore a pink transparent night gown and under that I could see the black lace bra and the black lace panties clearly. 61

"We will be more comfortable in the bedroom, Arun," She said standing right over me. I looked up at her face and was surprised by the expressionless way she looked down at me. I had almost expected a seductive look and I was not sure whether I was relieved or disappointed. 62

I stood up and she was so close that I could smell the sensual aroma of the feminine body. Not saying a word I followed her into the bedroom, and sat on the comfortable chair while she sat on the bed. She lifted her legs onto the bed and made herself comfortable before speaking. 63

"Don't like my dress?" This time her smile was naughty and almost seductive. 64

"Well........ You know it is too provocative and I am only human, Neela," I was embarrassed as I said this. 65

She laughed," I know, Arun, I wanted to see your reaction and I am not disappointed," 66

"You know, women like to show off, and I am human too, see?" she added amidst her laughter. 67

"It is a good thing I am not an aggressive man, or....," I did not finish.68

"You would have raped me?" she finished for me and laughed. 69

"Tell me Arun, do you think I made a mistake divorcing?" Same question she repeated again. I was thankful to her for changing the subject. 70

"I gave you my answer, Neela," I did not want to say anything that may not be right.71

"Yes, you did, but you know some times I feel I did wrong," There was sadness in her voice. 72

"I don't know, if you had tried to make it work and failed, then you did not do wrong,"73

"I did, I sat down and talked to him, told him plainly, I am more than willing to have sex but not whenever he wanted but when we both were in mood and wanted it," 74

"What did he say?"75

"The bastard, he said I am his to play with, "play with", that is what he said," I saw the tears welling and I had no idea how to comfort her. 76

"In that case, may be what you did was right. You know Neela, marriage is more an intimate friendship than anything else and we do things with mutual desire, not because one person wants it,"77

"Just what I felt, but even my parents would not agree," 78

"Well, parents often don't understand some things, Neela, also in things like this, except the person who experiences, others usually will not understand," 79

"You understand, I can feel that,"80

"Yes, I do but that is because I have known both kinds of people, those who want lots of sex as well as those who want less sex,"81

"Why did not you marry again?" I asked mostly to avoid discussing this tricky subject.82

"I decided I will find my own man and will do it right this time," She smiled. 83

"Well, any luck?"84

"Not yet, but I am not in a hurry," 85

"Time flies, Neela," 86

"I know, but I do not want to make a mistake this time,"87

"Best wishes is all I can say, Neela," I smiled reassuringly.

"I don't know, Arun, some times I feel I will never meet up with my Mr. Right," She laughed good naturedly.88

"To my knowledge, Mr. Right does not exist, Neela," I smiled.89

"I know what you mean, I am willing to adjust, if he is too, you know," She was serious.90

"I am not sure about that, Neela, women could be really stubborn," I said. 91

She looked at me but made no answer. 92

"Well," I prompted.93

"For the right man, a woman would go a long way, Mr. Arun," She was sarcastic. 94

I looked at the time, it was nearing 10 P M. 95

"Don't you think it is time for bed, we have a long day tomorrow?"96

She nodded agreement and said, "And of course a boring day to boot," 97

I got up, wanting to get away from her and temptation. She is too attractive and too friendly for comfort. 98

"Thanks for giving me company Arun, You may not know it, but you made my day,"99

I did not trust myself to answer, instead shaking hands with her; I smiled my good night and left. 100

Back in my room, I sighed in relief. Life has not been kind to me and married life has been a real struggle. I have been living a lonely life in a family environment, without the freedom to even talk freely at home. Anything I said at home would either start an argument or will end up in a fight. I learned to shut my mouth up for good when at home long ago to have some peace.101

A friendly woman, who is almighty beautiful is the last person I wanted to be alone with for too long, that too at night when passions have a way of rearing their head up. I retired to bed but knew sleep will defy me tonight anyway. For a while I lay there without daring to close my eyes for fear of her pretty face coming back at me. 102

"Look you fool, she is a lonely young woman just yearning for company, don't you get ideas about her," My conscience was warning me again. I knew that perfectly well, but the trouble was she was too good to ignore and I was getting kind of restless inside me in her presence. It is wrong, very wrong I tried to tell myself, me being married and all. 103

What she would think of me, if she knew how I was feeling about her, I asked myself. Probably she would laugh her head off, I thought. Then again you never know about women, they never thought of consequences until it is too late. But Neela is intelligent, I told myself. She would not fall for a guy almost double her age and I am a fool even to consider it, I rebuked myself. 104

When I went to sleep I have no idea, I woke up to the incessant ringing of the telephone. I looked at the time and it was already 7.10 A M. I shook myself awake and answered the phone.105

"Hey man, still sleeping? see the time?" It was her and I was excited and tried hard to control myself. 106

"Hi, Neela, Good morning, I am a late riser, sorry," 107

"Good Lord, don't apologize, I woke up only a while ago and thought I would say good morning is all, sorry if I disturbed your beauty sleep," she was laughing as she talked. 108

"It is okay, time to get up anyway, sleep well?" The minute the words left my mouth I regretted. It was the wrong question to ask. 109

"What do you think and how about you?" She returned. 110

"I slept well, Neela," I whispered, lie never came easy for me. 111

"Oh," there was disappointment in her voice. 112

"I could not sleep," she continued without waiting for my answer and then said, "Suppose we meet in an hour, we can have breakfast together, okay with you?"113

"Sure," I replied and she hung up without a word. I cursed myself for that stupid question. Why can't I shut up, like I do at home, I was censuring myself. Reluctantly I finished my morning chores and got ready. Just as I was knotting my tie, the door bell rang. I looked at the time to see if I am late. It was 5 minutes to 8 which meant I am not. I opened the door and she sailed in smartly. 114

Closing the door, I returned to the mirror, to finish knotting my tie and she came up. "Let me do that, it is so long since I did this," she said as she took over. I turned around to make it convenient for her and she tied the knot with ease and set the tie in place and smiled up at me. Her nearness was not any comfort for me as I was feeling her warmth and I had to try hard to hold back my urge to take her in my arms. 115

She helped me with the coat as well and then said, "Okay, Arun, let us go," I was speechless as I followed her out of the room.
She was cheerful and kept up a conversation in which all I dared was a single syllable answer, like, oh, yes and no. Other than that I did not trust myself. She did not seem to notice my uneasiness which was a relief. 116

We stayed together the whole day, at the conference, at lunch and then in the evening we left the conference hall together as well. Contrary to the previous day, her presence by my side made the day interesting, helping me to even chip in my mite in during the discussions. She was composed all day long and behaved the perfect lady and I could see her commanding both respect and admiration. 117

When men came over to introduce themselves to her, I felt jealous, but stayed quiet, keeping a straight face as far as possible. When the conference was over, I was not sure whether I was happy or annoyed. As we left the conference hall she paused long enough to share a few words with the receptionist even. 118

She was quiet as we crossed the road, but when I hailed a cab, she said, "Let us go to the beach," The Marina beach in Madras is a beautiful place to visit and I did not object. It would be refreshing, sitting at the sea shore but it will also be romantic, I know.
During the drive she was silent and I looked at her a few times to see if she was waiting for me to start a conversation. But she seemed to be thoughtful and I left her be. 119

It felt sweet to be with her and I was not going to spoil the sweetness by making any stupid comment. I was also thinking of the situation and wondered what she has in mind. I am not and have never been a saint, but had never bothered a woman without her consent and still she disturbed me more than anyone I have ever known and I did not like it. We paid the cab off in the beach and walked to the sea slowly. She hooked her hand in mine and we walked silently enjoying the evening breeze of the sea shore. I shuddered at her touch and was sure she must have felt it, but she did not show any signs and I left it at that. 120

We passed the crowds and the admiring looks of men and found a secluded spot and sat down. 121

"Arun, can I ask you something personal?" She asked suddenly. 122

"Why, sure, Neela,"123

"Have you ever been unfaithful to your wife," she asked without looking at me. 124

The question took me by surprise and I sat still not knowing how to answer her. 125

"Of course you don't have to answer, if you don't want to," she added seeing my reluctance. 126

I looked her in the eye and said," I am not a saint, Neela,"127

"Meaning, you have?128

"Yes, there was a time when I was too frustrated and I did try a few call girls, but found out that was not what I wanted," I said slowly. 129

"What did you want, Arun," She asked in a low voice avoiding to look at me. 130

"Not just sex, Neela, sex with love, I think," I answered honestly enough. For I have thought this over a lot for a long time and had finally known that is just what I wanted in life.131

"You know, Arun, you are the sweetest man I have ever known," this time she was looking at me and was smiling. 132

She changed the subject then and talked about the sea and her own visits to different beaches mostly with her parents and friends. She never mentioned her hubby and I did not ask either. When the darkness settled, we left the beach, with her still talking of the many places she had visited and reached the hotel in time for dinner. 133

We had dinner together and went up in the elevator. As the elevator rode up, she said quietly," Come to my suite later Arun, I am not going to sleep early,"134

"Sure," I said, surprise plain in my voice. 135

When her floor came, she squeezed my hand, whispered a thank you and left walking swiftly out of the elevator. I was thoughtful as I went to my suite, changed and had a shower. I normally have my shower before dinner but today is different. After the shower I sat on the bed reviewing the day and suddenly remembered I had not reported to my boss and have not even called home. I called home first but my wife did not even ask me why I was late calling. After sharing a few words with my sons, I called my boss and reported to him. 136

I then sat back and wondered whether to go to her suite or give some excuse not to go. I liked her company too much and did not like the way it is progressing. The truth was I was afraid of making a fool of myself. She is too attractive and yesterday night, had dressed too provocatively. What if I made some advances and it backfired? I wondered if I had the will power to control my feelings, especially my passions. I was not at all sure, I sighed unable to make up my mind one way or the other. 137

Just then the phone rang. Hoping I will find an excuse if the call is from someone back home, I took the phone. 138

"Arun, I am free, you still busy?"139

"No, Neela, I am on my way," The words spilled out on their own and the decision was made. I got up, looked myself in the mirror and praying, I will behave decently and not make a fool of myself, walked out. 140

The minute I rang the door bell she opened the door as if waiting near the door. In my confused state I did not notice her hiding behind the door and showing only her face. I walked in and waited for her, nonchalantly. Behind me I heard her close the door and then tip toe towards me or so I thought. She came in front of me and stood with her hands on her hips. 141

I looked at her and then took a step back as if slapped in my face.
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