Wife's best friend (Short Story)

The coffee that had been given to me by the young maid in our house was obeying some Law of Physics, studied by me in my school days, and was steadily losing its heat to the surrounding atmosphere. Sitting next to that coffee is me – Yes, I have that peculiar habit of asking for a coffee, when I am busy thinking about something, and then forgetting to drink it. That too when I am trying hard to find a solution to a problem, I let the coffee reach an undrinkable temperature, before asking for an another cup of coffee, which nine out of ten times would end up reaching the same fate as its predecessor.

The problem that I was facing was to search for a girl friend. No. I was not searching for a girl friend for myself. I am happily (sadly, if you insist on the truth) married for the past two years; one year, ten months and six days to be more precise. Rather, I was searching for a girl friend for my friend. I am not even sure whether I could call him as my friend. Truth is that he was my wife’s best friend and hence become my friend by default. I first met him two and a half years ago ……….....................................................................................................................................................

I was waiting at a restaurant, ready for my first date. First Date- This is how I described my second meeting with my future wife to all my friends. Our first meeting was an official bride seeing ceremony, where I could only see her for few minutes among my fun making cousins, uncles, aunts and all those who are in some way or other related to either of my parents or her parents. She was wearing a saree, and here uncomfortable ness in that clearly suggested that it was for the first time she was wearing it.

Though I didn’t talk to her then, I did talk to her non stop for hours in mobile after our first meeting. It was then that we decided that we will meet in some restaurant to get to know each other better. The first restaurant I suggested to her was rejected by her – “food will be very bad there” was the reason, second due to cost factor – “Oh damn, costly!” was her reaction, and when I suggested the third, her tone suggested that she was convinced that I had never been to any good restaurant in my life. She suggested this restaurant – if my friend’s feedbacks were true, this one was definitely more costly than the second one I suggested. I didn’t say anything though, as I didn’t want our first fight to be over a choice of a restaurant.

As I ate the first course, I was sure the food quality was also bad then the first one I suggested, nevertheless I kept quiet, admiring the beauty of my wife for the first time without the interruptions of the others. It was then he came.

“Hi Praveen. How are you dude?” her face became extra bright on seeing him.

“He is your bridegroom, isn’t he?” – He said handing out his hand towards me.

I shook his hand. Meanwhile her sweet voice was saying to me in the background that he was her best friend.

Actually I was happy then that my wife had a good male friend. The last thing I wanted was to marry a conservative girl, who never spoke to any other person of the opposite sex and also expected the same from me. I couldn’t even think of ceasing to interact with my friend’s and female colleagues, just for my wife’s sake. At the same time, at that point of time, I wanted to spend time with her alone – I wanted to talk about so many things to her – things that I couldn’t say with another known person near by. I felt it would be better, if he leaves. After all this was our first date.

He must be a good mind reader. “Sorry guys for disturbing you in the middle of your date. I will leave now. Will meet you later” – he said.

I wanted to say “Yes. Thank you. Please leave”. But all that I ended up saying was “No, no you can have dinner with us. It’s a pleasure.” After all I’m a liberal person who doesn’t mind his wife/future wife having a male friend and I wanted to portray my liberal nature to her at the first instance.

“No any ways, I got to leave. I have a personal work. Bye” – saying he left. I was happy that he declined my invitation; but my happiness was short lived.

Her face still had the same brightness that she acquired when he first came, and she decided to fill her friend’s absence by talking about him. By the end of the dinner, I couldn’t say any of those things that I wanted to say to her, but if whatever she said after Praveen left were to be true, then he must be a better cricketer than Sachin, better writer than Jeffery Archer, better music director than Illayaraja, better actor than Kamalahasan and better singer than SPB.

However, what made me angry was the last statement made by her, “You know” – she said, “It is very good to have friends of opposite sex. But sorry, how will you know? Your mum said that you have never even spoken to any other girl” – she said laughing.

“How does my mother know” –my tone was raised for the first time that evening. Then I exaggerated and narrated about the female friends I had - I didn’t lie actually. I described the college friend who always called me to get the study materials before the examinations as a “Best friend who always relies on me during crisis and calls me.” – It isn’t a lie, right?

I don’t think she believed whatever I said. She wanted me to believe all that she said about her friend, but she will not believe things that I said about myself. I didn’t leave the restaurant; in the happy mode I entered it. I wanted to prove her some how that even I had lot of friends in the opposite sex.

When I was distributing the marriage invitation I made it a point include as many girls I know as possible in the guest list. I found it very hard to trace the address of that best friend of mine, who called me for study materials, as the last time she called me was before the final semester and that was solid five years ago. I finally traced her address to Bubaneshwar and made it a point to personally go there to invite her. Her husband and she both were equally surprised that I took so much trouble to travel such a long distance, when I could have easily emailed them. They promised that they will come to my marriage, although she said, her son’s primary school has some function that day. As I left her house, I thought I heard her say to her husband, “I was not even a close friend to him. I don’t understand why he traveled so long just to invite me.”

She didn’t come to the marriage – her son may have persuaded her that his school function is more important than the marriage of the guy – who used to give her study materials in her college days. In spite of me dishing out invitations – the only ladies who turned up for the marriage other than my aunts, grandmas and mother’s friends were two of my colleagues, and even them left in half an hour.

On the other hand, Praveen was there for the entire marriage, and also helping out in lot of arrangements. In middle of that, he also found time to come and giggle something to my wife, now and then. Her face always turned rosier, after he said something. I don’t know what made me angrier – he giggling with my wife, or the fact that I didn’t have any female friends to giggle with me. Any ways I didn’t show my anger – I did not want to be seen as a yet another normal conservative husband, who couldn’t digest the fact that his wife is talking to her male friend during the marriage.

After the marriage – I had to find a new house, as I was still then staying with my friends. Though my search for a new house began well before marriage – all the houses selected by me were rejected by her – she invented new reasons to reject each of them – one was too big, other too small, one too far away from the city, other too close to highway, - she even rejected one saying that it was too close to a police station. At the end I had to accept the house chosen by Praveen, near his house – the house described by her as a Heaven on Earth. I felt it was the worst possible house in the worst possible location on earth – but as you would have guessed it by now, I didn’t offer this opinion to any one and kept it within my mind.

Actually his trouble became more pronounced after the marriage. With both of us working – weekends were the only time we got to spend together – and he made it a point to visit us on exactly on the same day – and his logic was flawless. “I could meet my friend only on weekends” – easily forgetting that his visit means, I couldn’t spend lonely moments with my wife even during weekends. As usual, I didn’t say anything and acted as a very happy host on those weekends.

The major problem with these visits, were that whenever we were together on the weekends, they made it a point to discuss things, about which I didn’t understand a word. “’By the age of sixteen, the only thing he didn’t know about smuggling was how to spell it’- this is how he describes about a spoiled teenager” – said my wife. Today, they were discussing about a guy called Jeffery Archer. Praveen suddenly turned to me and asked “Have u read Archer’s novels?” He has that unusual knack of asking questions to me, for which the only answer I could give was ‘No’.

“I read only Tamil novels” – I blurted out.

“Oh! Exciting. Even I like Tamil novels more than English ones. Have you read ‘Ponnyin Selvan’? – He asked.

I had once seen that novel in our college library, when I went to get some ‘No due’ certificate there. (The only time I visited my college library in four years was then) It was such a big novel with six volumes. Considering my reading speed, if I had started reading it I’m sure I could never complete reading it before I die. The largest fiction I have read so far were the one page short stories in Tamil magazine ‘Kumudam’.

However I said “Yes” as I did not want to give yet another No as an answer to him. But he seemed keen on irritating me. “Which character in Ponnyin Selvan you like the most?” – He asked.

“Ah! Mmmm. I forgot the name. That heroine character. I like her very much.” – I said hoping such a big novel will have at least one heroine.

“Heroine. Whom you will call as heroine? Few may say it’s Kundhavi; but I differ with them. For me ……..”

He went on speaking, and I didn’t understand anything he said; but my hatred towards him become more prominent, as my wife seemed very happy that my ignorance has been exposed.

In few weeks time, both of them were convinced that I was worse at every thing than either of them. I didn’t help my cause any further, when I broke a bulb when I tried to change one, uprooted a rose plant when I was gardening, thinking it was a weed, and by breaking a beautiful wall clock presented to her by her college lecturer for our marriage, when I was trying to help her clean the house. In their eyes I was a person who was good for nothing.

Then came that weekend, when there was an India – Australia test match. I was happy because if there was anything on world I was bit knowledgeable about, it was cricket. At least today I could prove to them, that I know more than them in at least something I thought. We were watching the match – Sachin scored a beautiful pull shot that bisected the fielders to the boundary. “Good shot” – I said clapping my hands.

“Pointing is missing a trick here” – my wife commented.

“What?” – I exclaimed. I am that sort of cricket fan who only claps hands when Sachin scores run and not bother about the mistakes the opposition captain is making.

“Sachin’s legs are injured, and hence he won’t be able to move them properly. So Pointing should ask his bowlers to bowl full length, which will induce the edge. They shouldn’t be bowling this short pitched stuff.” – Praveen justified my wife’s comment. I was the only soul there without any support.

I decided to watch the match more seriously from then on, hoping to analyze something before they could do. It was then I found out that Sachin was easily milking singles behind the square on the leg side. “Eureka” I shouted with in my mind.

“Pointing should have one more fielder there, behind the square. Sachin is scoring singles easily in that region.” – I said loudly proud of my discovery.

“But there are already two fielders there” – my wife’s only purpose in life must be to disagree with what ever I say.

“Why not one more fielder? They can move that fielder from point to there. He is being wasted at point” – I wanted to win the argument at any cost.

They both laughed. “According to the laws of cricket, they are not supposed to have more than two fielders behind the square.” – Praveen said, now controlling the laughter; but she was still laughing at my ignorance.

“Oh! When did they change the law?” – I looked perplexed.

“Long before we were born. After the controversial body line series between ……” – Praveen went on narrating the salient points of that series between England and Australia and why that law was introduced.

It was then I decided that I could never hope to better than either of them in any field. That actually frightened me. I was afraid that one day my wife would come to me and say “Sorry. I could no longer live with good for nothing fellow like you. I will better marry my best friend”. I can’t afford to lose my wife to this guy.

People like you might have decided of thousands of solution to the problem – removing him from my path could be one solution – but my brittle heart would never allow me to cause harm tp any one leave alone murdering. Or I could say to him directly to not to come to my house any more – but I didn’t want to lose my image and get that ‘conservative husband with lot of suspicion about wife’ tag attached to me. So then I decided that I needed to find him a girl friend. So that at least I could get to spend time alone with my wife. I didn’t mind getting humiliated by my wife. It’s just that I didn’t want him to be there when I was getting humiliated. I also wanted to convey the fact that I am going to search for a girl friend for him in such a way that, it will also get me a good name from my wife, that I am trying to help her friend.

I got that opportunity one day when he along with my wife came back late in auto. The retired Government officer living opposite to our house looked at three of us suspiciously. He must be wondering with in his mind about me, “What kind of Husband is he? Allowing his wife to hang out with strangers in night. ” Even I felt the same about me. However I kept quiet as usual.

“He had a severe headache. I took him to hospital” – my wife said.

“See Praveen. This is why you should find yourself a girl friend and marry her. They will help you very much when you have headaches like this” – I said to him and looked at my wife proudly.

She smiled at me and said, “Ya, even I helped him (pointing to me) so much, when he had head ache last week. Though the only help she offered was getting me a tumbler of hot water to swallow my tablets, I didn’t differ with her, as she was helping my cause.

“Will you help me get a girl friend?” – Praveen asked me.

“Ya sure. I replied.” My wife looked at me more proudly now.

From the next day, I began my search for a girl friend for him. It was very difficult; though Praveen didn’t set any restrictions – no religion, caste, language or nationality bar- it was difficult to satisfy the only condition he set – that is he must like the girl. He said he was even ready to marry a girl from Mars, if he liked her. I wished there were girls in Mars.

If he should like a girl, I was sure that the girl should be as knowledgeable as him – not in one field – bit in wide range of fields from sports, politics, history, environment, language, religion etc. I did manage to find few girls, and arranged Praveen to meet them, but he was yet to say whether he liked them.

It was then I was sitting, letting my coffee go cold, as I was narrated to you earlier in the beginning of the story. After few minutes, Praveen came into our house with a big smile as usual and said “Sorry mate. You did select very good girls; but unfortunately I didn’t like any one of them.”

“So the only girl you like is my wife, right?” – I wanted to shout in anger. Before I could do it, he came up with very happy news.

“But I found myself a girl friend. I am going to marry her in few months.”

“Wow” – I said “When will you introduce her to me?” – I was very happy. My problems were going to be solved.

“I’m not going to say who it is; but already know her very well. Try finding her out” – he said, as my face started to darken again. The only girl I know very well is my wife, and I felt like crying.

“Religious Heads oppose Divorce” – he read the headlines in ‘The Hindu’ loudly. “Still these ultra conservatives exist? How on earth do they expect a person to continue to live with a person even if she doesn’t like him, just because they are married? They should have the right to divorce. Am I right? What do you say?

“Yes” I said mildly. I wanted to say, “Ya I approve divorce; but not when my wife is going to divorce me to marry you”. I kept quiet.

I couldn’t sleep properly that night, though my wife was sleeping peacefully next to me. I was wondering from when the other side of the bed would be empty. I couldn’t control it any more. I woke my wife at half past eleven.

“What?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. “Do you know who Praveen’s girl friend is?” – I asked her sure that the answer would be “Who else other than me?”.

“You woke me up in the middle of the night to ask this question?” –she asked.

“Please tell me.” – I literally begged her.

“It’s Shanti.”

“Shanti – our maid?”

“Ya”

“I thought that he was looking for some one as intelligent as him” – I was happy that now my wife is not his girl friend.

“Do you think all people would like to marry people who are as intelligent as them?” – She asked.

“That’s what I thought” – I replied.

“If so, how on earth, do you think I agreed to marry you?”.

I know she was taking a dig at me, but I had never felt happier before. I pulled her close and hugged her, with out thinking about Praveen, for the first time in our marriage life.