What The Eyes Don't See

Epilogue

In the new house, Anay kept the phone down, smiling to himself. He let his comfy chair go as back as it could, and shut his eyes, thinking about the phone call that had just ended.

"What's it? Why are you smiling to yourself?" came the voice from behind him.

Anay opened his eyes and looked at Kautuk. He was sitting in his corner of the living room, having breakfast. With the smile still lingering on his lips, Anay said, "It was Salil. He has called for a meeting."

"Well, it's taken him long enough!" Kautuk said. "But it's all good. I am sure he will have you back at Changemakers. You can just go back and resume. Nothing much will have changed. It'd be like you were on a vacation for three months."

"Yeah, we'll see about that."

"What does that nonchalant tone mean?"

"It means that now I am not sure I want to go back to Changemakers. Three months is a long time for a person to get some perspective on things."

"What will you do then?"

"I don't know yet," said Anay. "Maybe work somewhere else. But let's not talk about that. What are we preparing for lunch?"

Kautuk leaned back, stretched his arms, and rose. Walking out of the room, he looked at his watch and said, "Well, lunch is your department. You decide. I anyway don't think I will be back for lunch. This new job isn't exactly easy." With that, he stepped into the bathroom and the sound of the shower filled the room.

Anay stood up and walked up to his room, the larger of the two rooms in the shared rental apartment. He saw the sleeping figure on the bed and slowly cleared his throat. When he saw the person stir, he said, "Good morning."

Shanaya pulled the sheet off her face and blinked at the window. "Is it morning already?"

Anay laughed and said mischievously, "I know it was a late night for the two of us."

Shanaya made a face. "Why did you wake me up then?"

"Well, Changemakers wants me back."

"That was bound to happen."

"And Kautuk has put the lunch responsibility on us."

Shanaya hopped out of bed. "We'll take care of it."

Anay could not stop staring at her in her flimsy gown that left nothing to the imagination. Unable to stop himself, he went behind her and hugged her from behind, wrapping his arms on her near-naked bosom. He lay a soft kiss on her neck and let one of his hands drop to her abdomen as he played with her belly button for a brief moment.

"Let me at least wash my stinking morning-breath mouth, Anay!" Shanaya said.

"But I don't mind it!"

"But I do, you filthy creature!"

Anay groaned as she detached herself from his arms and hopped into the bathroom attached to their room. The sound of running water dampened his passions.

He ambled out of the room and stood in the hall. Something had suddenly struck him. From where he stood, he could see the doors of both the bathrooms. One had the woman he had been living in with for a couple of months now, and the other had his best friend.

Even three months ago, on that fateful night in the school auditorium, he had been faced with those two options. Shanaya had told him that she perfectly understood his situation and he was free to walk away from her if he wanted. On the other hand, Kautuk had admitted that he loved him but that did not mean he expected him to love him back. Anay had found both doors open. And they were his truest friends, for they were welcome to whatever decision he wanted to make. The most important thing was that it would be his decision and not prejudiced by any other external factors.

Anay had hugged Kautuk tightly and shed a tear as he had told him his choice. Kautuk had understood. Then, Anay had happily walked up to Shanaya and taken her hand in his own.

On the face of it, things had settled down. Kautuk had never minded his decision and had even been gracious enough to retain his offer of sharing an apartment with him as roomies. There was only one addition, though. Shanaya and Anay had decided to move in together. That was okay with Kautuk too.

For now, Anay was smiling. His fortunes had turned.

But there were times he wasn't sure. Those were the moments when he lay with Shanaya at nights. At times—it might just be an illusion—but he saw the curly-haired boy's face on the body that he was on top of. And, sometimes, when he woke up in the middle of the night, he would see the glint of someone's thick glasses just disappearing into the distance.

Those were the times when he did not know for sure whether the choice had been really his to make.

END

***

Dear readers,

Thank you so much for staying with me till the end of What The Eyes Don't See.

Hope you enjoyed the book and it will linger on.

Please do not forget to check out my other books, most notably Maya's New Husband and Yakshini, which are available on all online bookstores.

Do stay connected: 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/neildsilvaofficial

Twitter: https://twitter.com/neildsilva

Instagram: http://instagram.com/neilvalentinedsilva

Website: http://NeilDSilva.com/

Until next time, stay safe, and keep reading!