Swap!

“You mean, it’s all right if I sleep with your husband?” Kritika asked, incredulous.

“You like him, no?”

“Of course I like him. He’s a decent chap. But…?”

*

Kritika was my young neighbour. She and her husband Anand had moved in the adjoining house and we had immediately become friends. They made a handsome couple, because both of them were very good looking. Anand, with a good height and a pleasing face, was the kind of person who sent a flutter in the hearts of girls. Kritika was a beautiful girl with an fresh, innocent smile and large eyes. Her smile was innocent but naughty. She was a tad short for Anand. She had large breasts which she kept covered with a scarf.

The day they moved in, I called them over for dinner.

My husband Sampark, or Sam, was pleased to meet them and we became friends instantly. We exchanged pleasantries and introductions. Anand told us they had been married for six months and both he and Kritika were so much in love. He was in sales and his job required him to travel quite frequently. It was an arranged marriage for them, because both belonged to traditional families.

“It’s good you have moved in next door,” said Sam. “My wife Shrishti – I call her Shree – will get a friend. She’s working in a startup and goes out for a few hours, but she’s at home most of the time. We can get together whenever you are in town, Anand.”

“Yes, sure. I am happy that my wife Kriti has company. I keep worrying about her when I travel.”

“Do come whenever you feel like,” I said.

*

We lived in a row of adjoining houses with small lawns in front. We could just stand out and chat across the wall with our adjacent neighbors.

Kritika was just twenty and she had got married her as soon as she finished college. She was a beautiful girl with a clear, fair skin, and had an endearing manner that made you want to care for her. She had shoulder length wavy hair which added to her grace and simplicity. She had a naturally smiling face, with such soft skin that you wanted to touch and feel it. She was a slim girl but her defining feature was her large breasts, which you could see sometimes when her scarf slipped, pushing against her clothes. Innocent looks and a lovely smile, she was enchanting with her looks and manner.

After Sam left for work each morning, the house fell into a familiar silence. I would step outside, almost instinctively, and look toward Kritika’s lawn. More often than not, she was there—dressed simply, lost in a book, her fingers moving quietly with her knitting, or bent over her diary as if confiding in its pages. At times, she smoked a cigarette slowly, thoughtfully, the thin curl of smoke rising like an unspoken thought.

I would call out, and she would look up and smile, as though she had been waiting. Coffee followed naturally, as did our chitchat, and I would get ready to go to my office.

“Why don’t you give up your job?” she asked.

“Oh, the job has flexible hours, it pays well. It gives me something to do, and the money is helpful. Sam is not doing too well. His business is not picking up. You know we hardly go out. He always asks me to wait till he is doing well. God knows when that will be!”

“I was just being selfish, to have you around more. Fortunately, Anand is doing well. He gets a lot of sales incentives. We go out when he's in town."

"That's so good!"

"But he is still at executive level. We have to wait years before he can go into management cadre.”

“You want that?”

“Very much. Then he can have more freedom. But he likes travelling, and we do take a holiday once in a while. I don’t like going with him because his allowance is for ordinary hotels which I hate. I accompany him once in a while only.”

“You know we have never taken a holiday. Whenever I ask, Sam says we don’t have money. But I like travelling. Let us see when I can do that.”

When I returned from my work at the startup, I found myself drawn to her again. With our husbands away, time loosened its grip on us. Conversation—long, unhurried, intimate in a way that asked for nothing but attention. Words flowed easily between us, filling the empty hours the day seemed determined to stretch. We ate together, lingered together, existing side by side until the evening light softened and faded. We would go out and wander through grocery aisles, sat tucked away in a small café nearby, our voices low, our laughter easy, our silences never uncomfortable.

Our conversations had no clear beginning or end. They simply carried on, weaving themselves into my days until I could no longer imagine them without her. Somewhere along the way, without my realizing it, Kritika became the sister I never had. I loved her—not with longing, not with need, but with a quiet, enduring devotion. She was gentle, beautiful, and impossibly close to my heart—my confidante, my refuge, my truest friend.

I noticed a change in my husband Sam too. Whenever he stepped out of the house, his glance would travel to the adjoining house. If he saw Kritika, he would smile and wave at her. She would smile and wave back. I also noticed that Sam was returning earlier than usual, only to be able to meet with Kritika before she went back to her house after spending the day with me.

“How do you stay all alone when your husband is not here?” I asked her.

“Oh, I am so scared. I lock myself in and keep the sofa against the door. But what to do? Anand is in sales, and has to travel often. If he has to go to distant states, he is out for almost a month, then I go to my parents’ home. It is scary living alone in the house.”

“Listen, why don’t you move in with us? We have a spare bedroom that you can use. You need not stay alone. What do you say, Shree?” asked Sam.

“Oh yes, that would be nice. As it is, we are together for most part of the day. You can always go back to your house when Anand is in town.”

“I don’t know,” said Kritika. “I don’t want to get in the way of your privacy.”

“Don’t worry, Kriti. You stay in the spare bedroom. We won’t bother you.”

“And I like to smoke. Hope that would not bother you?”

“I have seen you smoke, and you look sexy when you do,” I said. “I don’t like the smell, though. Maybe you can do it out in the lawn.”

“All right then, I will ask Anand if I can move in with you,” she said.

Kriti moved into our house. It was a blessing for me to have a friend.

Kriti was a great help. She would supervise the maids in my absence, who came for cooking and cleaning. The food started tasting better. I felt relieved to not to worry about the house when I was gone, and also to come back to a clean house with all chores done. This gave us time together. Kriti and I became thick friends. There was so much to know about her, so much to tell her. Anand was also happy that he wouldn’t have to worry about Kriti while he was away on his tours. Sam too liked to chat with Kriti.

Kriti would wake up early, take a bath and say her prayers. We were not religious, so I found her habit quite nice. The house was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood. Kriti used sandalwood incense sticks, a sandalwood perfume and a sandalwood paste. Wherever she was, she spread a cool and pleasant smell or pure sandalwood. It was so pleasant having her with us!