Jigsaw

I can remember plots and characters, most of it if not all, but names and faces slip away fast as soon as separation is prolonged. I can recognize those at home and at work. I have kept it under wraps and under control. I avoid extended holidays. I should have avoided meeting my friends.

A guy named Anand called me yesterday. He said that Sandeep is in town, and that he has arranged a party, spouses included. Before I could think of an excuse, he fixed up the time and place.  

I do not have too many friends who would do that, and something he mentioned, about himself or Sandeep, helped me zero in on the right lot.

Both are engineers, like me. One of them always has tales about exotic places and ‘merry misdemeanours’. Last time, it was ‘a massage with extras in Kuala Lumpur, just three thousand rupees but fix it first’. His wife is usually there in those tales. She and the kids remain in the hotel. He slips out for an hour, ‘not too long to be missed’. The other guy is a nice chap, a family man with no secrets. I have an affair with one of their wives, nothing regular, only when it is convenient. It must be the cheated wife. I am quite sure I would not be in a twisted plot with the other one. It is going to be tricky at the party.