Shanti's Tryst with Adventures Ch. 01

It wasn't difficult for her to fend off the thinly veiled passes of most of the men she encountered at the party. Sometimes she wondered why they even bothered. Didn't they know she was a married woman?

She continued circulating from group to group, getting by with a few words and a smile to those she knew and then continuing on. She was in no mood to get involved in long conversations... it was too difficult when her mind was on other things. She wondered where Ratan was. She had already gone through most of the rooms without seeing him. She heard some of the men say that there was a billiard room upstairs, and she supposed that he was there.

A waiter appeared with a tray of fresh drinks and she took one, placing her empty glass on the tray. Just then, she spotted Sheena across the room and made her way over to where she stood.

"Sheena!" she called out. "I'm so glad to see you. What kept you so long?"

"Hi, sweetie... oh you know, that husband of mine. It takes him forever to get anywhere. And they complain about us women! Ha! Thank God we're here though... looks pretty posh. Where's that man of yours?"

"Oh, I guess he's around somewhere. I haven't seen him since we walked in the door to tell you the truth. Well,... "

"Well," Sheena went on, "we girls can have fun without them for a while anyway. Besides I see some pretty good-looking creatures here tonight. Speaking of good-looking creatures, what do you think of Ram Saran?" she said, a strange glint in her eyes.

"Ram Saran? Oh, he's all right, I suppose," Shanti answered

absentmindedly.

"Did you see that dress his wife is wearing? Well, I guess if I had a figure like that I'd wear a dress like that too. As it is, I'm constantly bordering on the stylishly stout. Lucky for me lot of perfectly divine people enjoy the motherly type." Sheena laughed good-naturedly, sipping her drink and looking about her with interest.

"Sheena, I just can't get over you. I feel just terrible," Shanti whined.

"Nonsense, that shouldn't last long. I insist that you cheer up! You hear me... I insist!" And with that, Sheena drifted off in the direction of a group of young men who were holding an animated conversation in a corner.

Shanti turned, feeling rather lost and lonely in the large crowd, and not seeing Ratan, wandered across the living room and out onto the terrace that overlooked the bay. The sudden rush of cool air wafting in from the sea water caressed her face in its brisk moistness.

"Mmmm... " she sighed as she felt the fresh air clear her head of the smoke and liquor from the party. Maybe Ratan was right, she thought. It certainly would be wonderful to live like this... to have the bay right out your back door... to be able to feel this wonderful breeze singing through your hair every night of the year. But Shanti's reverie was soon shattered. As she scanned the vast expanse of the surrounding grounds, her eyes focused upon two figures in the darkness... two figures in the clutch of a passionate embrace. Not wanting to embarrass anyone, she started to turn back when suddenly she recognized the woman as Rani Venkat, the host's wife.

Well, I never... thought Shanti. And in her own house. What kind of woman...? But her train of thought was interrupted when the last of the mist that covered the moon drifted away and the moonlight lit up the face of Rani's partner.

It was Ratan!

His one hand was around Rani's waist while his other fondled her breast through the sheer material of her dress. His mouth crushed against hers as her hands played with his hardened penis that was pressed against his Suit pants. Shanti's mouth fell open and her hand involuntarily flew up to her parted lips to muffle the cry she knew was about to escape. But even her clutching hand could not stop the flow of tears that began streaming down her cheeks, causing thin black lines to run from her mascaraed lashes. Not knowing what to do, she turned to run back into the crowded house, and slammed into Sheena who was standing directly behind her.

Sheena opened her arms and enfolded Shanti to her bosom.

"Come on, honey. Let's go up the back way," she whispered as she led Shanti around to the side of the house and entered through the kitchen which was filled with the house staff and the hired caterers.

"Is anything wrong?" the chef asked as the two women quickly passed by him.

"No," Sheena answered. "I am just feeling a little faint. Is there a way upstairs without going through the living room?"

"Sure. Just go through that door and up the stairs?" Sheena nodded her thanks to the chef and steered Shanti through the door and up to the second floor. They walked down the hall until they reached what Sheena knew to be a guest room and she opened the door and gently pushed Shanti in and closed the door behind them.

Shanti sat on the bed and her body shook as she tried to control her sobbing.

"Let it all hang out, honey," Sheena whispered, sitting down next to her. "You deserve a good cry." And Shanti released her deepest feelings as her body convulsed in hysterical tears.

"Oh God!" she cried. "Why... why... why?"

Sheena put her arms around her once more and gently rocked

her back and forth.

"Come on, honey," she said firmly. "I tried to tell you what this kind of life is all about. Don't think you're the only one. I've caught Venkat in the same situation many times."

Shanti's sobs subsided slightly. "What?" she asked incredulously. "Several times! What did you do?"

"Nothing, Sheena answered matter-of-factly. "Absolutely nothing. How do you think Venkat got where he is today? Certainly not on his talent!" she laughed. "You know as well as I do that most of the assistant art directors at the agency know more about the business than he does."

"I don't think that's true," Shanti started to say.

"Don't think just because we're good friends that you have to lie to spare my feelings. Venkat got where he is by being 'nice' to a lot of account's wives. And I don't mean like a boy scout. He's jumped into bed and given what they want... a good lay! That's the way it is, honey. And so, why shouldn't I have just as good a time. I've landed a few accounts myself, you know. How do you think Venkats got the Chemment Mittal account? Mr. Mittal is very fond of me... and believe me, it was worth every minute I

spent at it. I got what I wanted; Mr. Lauder got what he wanted; and Venkat got what he wanted; so everybody's happy. What's wrong with that?"

"But your marriage?" Shanti asked.

"My marriage," Sheena interrupted her again, "has never been better. Listen, you can get awfully tired of the same man after a while. The change is good for you. You learn quite a lot from some men and it only makes sex with your husband better for it. Not to mention some of the new tricks Venkat's learned over the past few years. I've never had it so good! Now before you go into some tiring speech about marriage vows and fidelity, let's get back down to the party before somebody misses us... we should be so lucky!"

Shanti quietly fixed her face knowing very well that her past was no lily white and infidelity was in her DNA and now when she trusted this bastard - that was the mistake and he will pay for it.

For a while Sheena waited impatiently for her to finish. As soon as she was done, Sheena ushered her out the door and back down to the party which was now at its peak. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ram Saran was standing there drinking with another man.

"Excuse me," he said to his associate. "I'd like to have a word with someone in private." And turning around just in time to catch Shanti under the arm, he steered her over to the bar to get a fresh drink. Shanti turned her head around to get Sheena's help, but Sheena just smiled and turned to find someone for herself.

"Well," Ram started, "at last we have a chance to talk. Seeing as how your husband may well be handling my account, we should get to know each other better. You know, you can tell a lot about a man by the wife he chooses. I'm sure you won't be a disappointment!"

"A gin and soda, please," Shanti asked the bartender, ignoring Ram's last statement.

"Make it two," Ram added.

"Listen," he said to Shanti. "This is no place to talk, really and why don't you have lunch with me tomorrow?"

Shanti turned to face him, about to give him a piece of her mind when out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ratan slipping in the terrace door and heading for a small group of men where he immediately jumped in the conversation, obviously trying to give the impression that he had been there quite a while. The quick vignette didn't pass unnoticed by Ram either, but when Shanti turned back to him, he had his glass up to his lips as if nothing had happened.

"Well?" he asked again, "How about lunch tomorrow dear?"

Shanti hesitated for just a brief second.

"Why, yes... I'd love it."

Shanti paused outside of the restaurant. She felt foolish, and for some reason she was trembling slightly. She glanced at her reflection in the glass of the entrance-way, and, with a sigh of resignation, entered the darkness of Marriott Renaissance, carved statues lined the stairway leading down to the elegant restaurant. Shanti descended slowly, trying to get a good grip on herself. She felt like turning around and going home. It seemed so silly. Here she was, a married woman on her way to meet a married man for lunch. Well, she thought, that's all it will be... lunch... no matter how I felt about it last night!

Shanti approached the headwaiter, hoping that perhaps Ram would not yet have arrived and she could take that excuse to leave. But when she asked the dignified Kannadiga for Mr. Saran, his face brightened considerably and with a smile he instructed a nearby waiter to escort Shanti to the cocktail lounge where Ram sat waiting for her. The bar was very dark, and Shanti had a hard time making out the details until her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She had never been there before and in spite of her nervousness at the idea of meeting Ram, she felt the beginnings of a sense of excitement and adventure at what she was doing. Ram sat at a small table in a far corner nursing a large drink. He rose as she reached the table and with an easy gesture, briefly kissed her hand, as he had when he first met her.

Shanti blushed although she tried not to and sat down. Her eyes lowered as she recovered her composure.

"Shanti, how wonderful to see you. You look even more beautiful than I remembered from last night."

The words sounded familiar, and made Shanti recall the days when she was Mrs Sridhar and mating men of her choice.

But she was surprised at how much she enjoyed hearing them. It made her feel good. She settled down in the chair, more comfortable now, as Ram ordered her a Bloody Mary. He was awfully nice looking, she noticed again as she glanced across the table at him. And he wasn't really a bad sort.

By the time she had finished her second Bloody Mary, Shanti felt a warm glow caused not only by the potent drinks, but by a feeling of mellowness that was sneaking up on her. It seemed as though she hadn't laughed in months, and Ram was doing everything within his power to amuse her - and he was doing a good job. Shanti relaxed completely now with the comforting thought that she certainly deserved to have a pleasant afternoon once in a while, Ratan hadn't even asked her what she had planned to do that day when he left for the office. He obviously didn't care, so what did it matter? And what real harm was there in feeling beautiful and desired again anyway.

They had another drink in the bar, accompanied by flaming Sheek kabab on a tiny charcoal stove that the waiter placed on their table, and then moved to the restaurant dining room where they were to have lunch. When Shanti stood up to move to the other room, she realized that she was not too steady on her legs. She reeled slightly, but then Ram took her arm to steady her and it was all right. She was not accustomed to drinking much, and in the last few days, she had already consumed more alcohol than she would have ordinarily taken in several months. Ram ordered a light lunch for them, and they had wine with the meal. By the time they finished eating, Shanti felt a little dizzy but otherwise marvelous. Everything seemed so very suddenly simple. Things didn't have to be bleak and dull. She was really enjoying herself immensely.

Ram was very attentive and seemed to know how to go about doing things so that everything worked smoothly. It was reassuring to be with him. She didn't have to think about anything... and that was a welcome relief.

They left the restaurant and walked along arm in arm for a few blocks to the hotel. Shanti gazed about her at the busy streets of New York. It was a bright, sunny day, yet not so hot that it was uncomfortable. Everything looked rosy and hazy to her and she felt it was somehow exhilarating to be a little tipsy in the afternoon.

* * *

Ram opened the door to the hotel suite and ushered her into a beautifully furnished living room. Shanti was surprised. She had not expected it to be so plush. "Why, it's really very nice," she exclaimed.

"Sure it's nice," Ram replied, going to the bar. "Nothing's too good for our clients. We can't make Venkat Household Products look cheap. Can we?"

"No... I guess not," said Shanti. She had never even thought about such things. She usually bought the products that Ram's company manufactured, but she had never connected them with such things as elegant suites, or even handsome account executives like Ram. It was hard for her to remember the connection between Ram and her husband, to Ratan, this man was only a symbol of getting ahead... a stepping stone to a promotion. It was all so

confusing. She decided to just forget about it. She didn't want to think about Ratan anyway. It only made her angry all over again.

She sank deep into the pillows of the long sofa in the middle of the room and shook her shoes off. They landed on the thick rug with a softened thud.

"Here we are... " Ram said as he set two frosty glasses in front of her on the cocktail table. "Try this. I think you'll enjoy it."

"What is it?" Shanti asked.

"Oh... it's a little special concoction of mine. It's got gin and bitters and a few other things... taste it!" He sat down next to her and raised his glass in a toast to hers.

"To us!" he said, letting his free hand drop to Shanti's knee.

Shanti hardly noticed his hand was there, for at first he didn't move it at all, just letting it rest there casually. The drink was potent but smooth and since Shanti was slightly warm after their walk over, she drank it down thirstily. Ram drained his own glass and set it down on the table and then he encircled Shanti in his arms and before she could object, kissed her fully on the lips. Shanti tried to turn her head away, but he held her firmly. She realized that things were going a little too fast. She hadn't really thought about anything like this. She just hadn't thought at all actually. She tried to squirm away, but he held on tighter still, making it difficult for her to catch her breath. His hot tongue pushed deep inside her mouth, searching out all the secret, wet corners, flicking against and around moistly and persistently. "No... no... " she tried to cry out... but he continued his plunder of her mouth, pushing her head far back onto the back of the sofa so that her body arched against his; her full, soft breasts pressing into his chest.

Shanti kept her eyes tightly closed and tried desperately to pull away from him. But it was impossible, and in spite of herself, she felt the spark of a tantalizing desire mounting inside her. Suddenly a picture flashed in her mind. It was a picture of her husband kissing Ram's wife, Rani. She felt sick inside again for a moment... sick and disgusted with what she had seen and with herself, and then in an instant it all changed and her anger returned. That bastard! She would show him. He thought he could make a fool of her, but she would show him it wasn't quite so easy.

Ram's hands roved up and down her back and she felt one slip to her soft, smooth, rounded buttocks, where he began a slow massage that sent tingling pinpoints of pleasure racing through her, suddenly it was as though Ram's tongue were a burning torch, shoving into her mouth... and everywhere that his body touched hers, she felt as though she were on fire.

She uttered a low moan of passion that was lost in the soft sounds of his mouth on hers. What am I doing? she thought. Oh, God... what am I doing?

But it was too late to stop, even if she had really wanted to. Her body craved the hardness of a man against it, and its lustful signals were too strong to overcome any mental objection she might have had.

She felt herself sinking rapidly as the warm moisture of his breath brushed against her ear.

"Shall we go into the bedroom?" he whispered. The words resounded in her head, and instead of creating the effect that Ram had expected it was as though someone had thrown cold water on her. She felt cheap and dirty, like a common whore he had brought up from the street for an afternoon's entertainment.

"No!" she said suddenly, loudly. "No... " and abruptly wrestled herself free from his embrace.

Thinking that the battle was won, and that Shanti was more than ready to go into the bedroom with him, Ram relaxed his strong grip on her body, so that it was easy for her to break away.

Shanti jumped up, her face flushed and her hair in disarray. "No!" she cried. "Ram, I'm afraid I have to leave. I'm really not cut out for this... I'm... "

"Now wait just a minute," Ram said, his face reddening in anger. "Just who in hell do you think you are, Miss High and Mighty?" He reached up and pulled her roughly down on the sofa beside him. Once more his arms went around her and he began to speak to her in low, menacing tones, through clenched teeth, holding her tightly against him while he spoke.

"Now you listen to me, sweetie. You don't just run around drinking in hotel rooms with a guy and then think you're going walk out when it gets down to the nitty-gritty. You're not a teenager anymore, baby, and neither am I! Don't be fooled by the fancy fixings here. It may be pretty, but when you take all this stuff away it's just another hotel room... and I'm in it... and that adds up to just thing in my book."

The words stung her ears... and she tried desperately to get away from him, or at least to cover her ears so that she could not hear the ugliness of his words. He seemed different. His entire manner changed from that of a perfect gentleman to a coarse, crude longshoreman.

"No... no... " she screamed, "I've got to go. Please let me go!" But his strength was too much for her and he continued his cruel taunts, his eyes glinting fiercely and his handsome face distorted by a mixture of lust and anger.

"Listen, honey... I don't know if it means anything to you or not... but either you calm down and act sensibly or Mr. Saran... that is his name isn't it? Ratan Saran? Well, Mr. Saran won't get to be the big time exec at Venkats. As far as I'm concerned it's a toss up between Venkats and whatever for my account. And I tell you what. Mrs. Saran is the one who gets to make the decision with that hot little pussy of hers, How about that?"

Ram chuckled to himself and once more covered Shanti's lips with his. He was determined to get into this little bitch's panties now, no matter what. He had been speculating too much, ever since the party last night about what it would be like to feel his prick between her legs in that warm little pussy. To let her walk out the door now... just because she was new at the game was impossible.

She'd just have to catch up fast, he thought. Shanti felt his cruel lips bruising hers, his tongue once more forcing its way lewdly into her helplessly resisting mouth. She could hardly believe her ears. It seemed impossible that this man was saying such things to her. The very fact that she was there alone in a hotel room with him seemed unreal to her, and she could not even imagine how it all had come about. Then suddenly she remembered. Her own husband and Ram's wife! Ratan and Rani and it was all his fault.