When Arun arrived, he left his briefcase in the drawing room, walked into the bedroom, and closed the door. Seeing Meenakshi asleep, he paced up and down for a while, then took off his coat and tie, and lay down beside her without disturbing her sleep. But after a while his hand moved to her forehead and then down her face to her breasts. Meenakshi opened her eyes and said, ‘Oh.’ She was momentarily bewildered. After a while she asked, ‘What’s the time?’
‘Five-thirty. I came home early just as I promised – and I found you asleep.’
‘I couldn’t sleep earlier, darling. Aparna woke me up every few minutes.’
‘What’s the programme for the evening?’
‘Dinner and dancing with Billy and Shireen.’
‘Oh yes, of course.’ After a pause Arun continued: ‘To tell you the truth, darling, I’m rather tired. I wonder whether we shouldn’t simply call it off tonight?’
‘Oh, you’ll revive quickly enough after you’ve had a drink,’ said Meenakshi brightly. ‘And a glance or two from Shireen,’ she added.
‘I suppose you’re right, dear.’ Arun reached out for her. He had had a little trouble with his back a month ago, but had quite recovered.
‘Naughty boy,’ said Meenakshi, and pushed his hand away. After a while she added, ‘The T.C has been cheating us on the Ostermilk.’
‘Ah? Has she?’ said Arun indifferently, then swerved off to a subject that interested him – ‘I discovered today that we were being overcharged sixty thousand on the new paper project by one of our local businessmen. We‘ve asked him to revise his estimates, of course, but it does rather shock one… No sense of business ethics – or personal ethics either. He was in the office the other day, and he assured me that he was making us a special offer because of what he called our long-standing relationship. Now I find, after talking to Jock Mackay, that that’s the line he took with them as well – but charged them sixty thousand less than us.’
‘What will you do?’ Meenakshi asked dutifully. She had switched off a few sentences ago.
Arun talked on for five minutes or so, while Meenakshi’s mind wandered. When he stopped and looked at her questioningly, she said, yawning a little from residual sleepiness:
‘How has your boss reacted to all this?’
‘Difficult to say. With Basil Cox it’s difficult to say anything, even when he’s delighted. In this case I think he’s as annoyed by the possible delay as pleased by the definite saving.’ Arun unburdened himself for another five minutes while Meenakshi began to buff her nails.
The bedroom door had been bolted against interruption, but when Aparna saw her father’s briefcase she knew that he had returned and insisted upon being admitted. Arun opened the door and gave her a hug, and for the next hour or so they did a jigsaw featuring a giraffe, which Aparna had seen in a toyshop a week after being taken to the Brahmpur Zoo. They had done the jigsaw several times before, but Aparna had not yet tired of it. Nor had Arun. He adored his daughter and occasionally felt it was a pity that he and Meenakshi went out almost every evening. But one simply couldn’t let one’s life come to a standstill because one had a child. What, after all, were ayahs for? What, for that matter, were younger brothers for?
‘Mummy has promised me a necklace,’ said Aparna.
‘Has she, darling?’ said Arun. ‘How does she imagine she’s going to buy it? We can’t afford it at the moment.’
Aparna looked so disappointed at this latest intelligence that Arun and Meenakshi turned to each other with transferred adoration.
‘But she will,’ said Aparna, quietly and determinedly. ‘Now I want to do a jigsaw.’
‘But we‘ve just done one,‘ protested Arun.
‘I want to do another.’
‘You handle her, Meenakshi,’ said Arun.
‘You handle her, darling,’ said Meenakshi. ‘I must get ready. And please clear the bedroom floor.’
So for a while Arun and Aparna, banished to the drawing room this time, lay on the carpet putting together a jigsaw of the Victoria Memorial while Meenakshi bathed and dressed and perfumed and ornamented herself.
Varun returned from college, slid past Arun into his tiny box of a room, and sat down with his books. But he seemed nervous, and could not settle down to studying. When Arun went to get ready, Aparna was transferred to him; and the rest of Varun’s evening was spent at home trying to keep her amused.
The long-necked Meenakshi turned numerous heads when their party of four entered Firpos for dinner. Arun told Shireen she was looking gorgeous and Billy looked with soulful languor at Meenakshi and said that she looked divine, and things went wonderfully well and were followed by some pleasantly titillating dancing at the 300 Club. Meenakshi and Arun were not really able to afford all this – Billy Irani had independent means – but it seemed intolerable that they, for whom this kind of life was so obviously intended, should be deprived of it by a mere lack of funds. Meenakshi could not help noticing, through dinner and beyond, the lovely little gold danglers that Shireen was wearing, and that hung so becomingly from her little velvety ears.