Benign Flame: Saga of Love, BS Murthy [rainbow fish read aloud txt] 📗

is the aggregate sum of the vital statistics of the women he laid. Why not I maintain a record of them all, at least from now on, to know my net worth at the time of my death, why shouldn’t I?’

‘Not a bad idea,’ he felt amused, and pursued his course in the applied sex. ‘Nature made me a ladies’ man and fortune gave me the means to lure them. Oh, how the cupid fellow thought it fit to endow women with an ear for flattery as if to help his own ilk worm their way into their arms. Why wouldn’t a push with praise and a prod with gift make the babes bare their boobs? Besides, aren’t women blessed with a weakness for the successful men? How money bestows status upon men that entails power over women, enabling the well-heeled to pick up their fancied dames, so to say, at the drop of a hat at that! Didn’t I taste the amorous flavours of countless randies in assorted ways; it’s as if every dame is ready for a lay, well, but on the sly. Isn’t snaring women into bed as easy as luring the greedy into a bad bargain, with the right tactics? But when it comes to women, man also needs the requisite tools to handle those fleshy wares in their horny frames. Then, won’t it be a case of quick fixing them in wanton liaisons?’

‘But access makes all the difference between the conquest and failure, isn’t it?’ he felt as he thought about his insatiate passions. ‘If not for the lack of it, wouldn’t I’ve laid every woman I’d ever fancied? Given half a chance, won’t women want to explore their passions in their paramours’ private parts, but it’s their men, who invariably turn out to be the spoilers by throwing a spanner in the cupid’s works-in-progress. Why, one needs only to show a passing interest in the wife, and the husband can be expected to do the rest to put paid to it; not content with shrouding his wife, he cold-shoulders the trespasser as if to nip his passion in the bud. It’s as though men are prone to policing their wives than husbanding them; so, as though to celebrate the poetic justice to their predicament, won’t women turn gleeful whenever they cuckold their caretakers?’

‘But working women come on a different platter altogether, don’t they?’ he seemed to sum up the essence of philandering. ‘Courted by the flirting colleagues, aren’t they clearly cut out for liaisons what with the alibis their workplaces provide them to cover up their flings? And luckily for the resourceful, it’s their fancy to dress well that makes the vain among them to seek paramours to fill their bare wardrobes. How many of them undress in the adulterous arena to cut a figure for themselves in the public view; haven’t I come across many such. It’s their short-term needs that make those jaunts so lively with them, and the welcome thing about them is that, when the time comes to hang up the boots, there won’t be any hangovers. Oh, it’s as if all the pleasures of life are packed in the female frames for the favored to savour them!’

Seeing a shapely woman get into his pavilion, he followed her instinctively and approached her readily.

“Have you tried our kitchen items, designed for women like you,” he said enticingly.

“I find your mixer-grinder quite handy,” she said, looking flattered.

“Part of the credit goes to you for its intelligent use,” he said looking into her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said, and tickled by her vanity, she blushed to the roots.

“Why not try our air-conditioner, I mean in the guest room,” he said enticingly.

“We don’t need one, at least, for now,” she said in embarrassment.

“If you please, I’ll get one installed free of charge,” he said tantalizingly.

“But why?” she said, looking puzzled.

“I’m looking for a testimonial from a pretty woman like you,” he said suggestively.

“Let me think it over,” she said, as she couldn’t refuse being unequal to his flattery.

“Your address for my reminders,” he pushed a pad and a pen into her hand

“I appreciate your customer care,” she said as she scribbled.

“What are your convenient timings to receive,” he said.

“I’m a housewife,” she said overwhelmed by his advances.

“It’s a pleasure meeting you Mrs. Vanaja,” he said extending his hand.

“Good night, Mr...’

Having tentatively withdrawn her hand from his, and amusedly confused, she left him to his thoughts.

‘Isn’t she a pretty prospect, won’t some follow-up help? Let her in the meantime ponder over the tempting proposal besides playing a guessing game with my name. Having been sourced in her anatomy itself isn’t mystery the key to open woman’s heart to man’s thought?’ he surmised, pleased with himself.

As he came out to watch her figure from behind, lighting his cigarette, he felt, ‘Why not I go to The Nizam Club for a change? Who knows, I may come across a new prospect there.’

----

When the playboy executive was about to move out of the ground, seeing a woman of about twenty come nearby, he stopped in his tracks.

‘Oh God, a real stunner here!’ he ogled at her greedily. ‘What a flowing figure! Had my roving eye ever caught hold of a more desirable dame than this? Dream stuff she is, dreamier than any in my wildest of dreams! It’s as if she’s shaped for sex, isn’t she? She’s the dame to be laid, and there’s no mistaking it. How surprising that she carries a divine visage and a voluptuous form on the same frame? Won’t that make her the Goddess of Sex in the pantheon, if there’s one? But is she a resident or here on an outing? Whatever, she is too good to be lost. If only she goes into our pavilion, and even otherwise, I shall follow her to her doorstep, be it at the other end of the world. I must ensure that I do not lose sight of her in this god-damn rush, and when I get her that would be the jackpot of my life. And I shall get her, whatever it might take.’

While he went towards her, as if in a trance, what with the fag burning his fingers, he came to his senses and saw a man joining her with two cones of popcorn. As the incomer bore a familiar look - won’t his nose give him away in a million - he readily realized that it was Sathyam, his long lost friend, and rushed to him excitedly.

“Hi buddy, do you get me?” he asked Sathyam tentatively.

“Oh, Prasad!” said Sathyam.  

“Glad we’ve met at last,” said Prasad extending his hand to him.  

“Heard you’re a bigwig now,” said Sathyam taking the hand after handing one cone to Roopa.

“Don’t go by hearsays but tell me about you,” said Prasad.

“She’s my better half,” said Sathyam and extended the other cone towards Prasad. “This is our half.”

“You’ve become witty but lost your wits,” said Prasad picking up some popcorn.

“What do you mean by that?” protested Sathyam in jest.

“You haven’t introduced the newcomer to the old-timer,” said Prasad smilingly.

“Oh, sorry, she’s my Roopa,” said Sathyam.

“How do you do ma’am,” Prasad greeted Roopa.

“Fine sir, thank you,” said Roopa.

“Now, tell me all about you,” said Sathyam to Prasad.

‘I’ve to play my cards carefully,’ thought Prasad, affecting hiccups. ‘It’s all so sudden, isn’t it? It pays to play down my success before I get into the winning position, and till then I should mildly impress Roopa without unduly alarming Sathyam. Unless he sees the present to be an extension of our modest past, he may not be too keen to renew our old friendship, and that would be that.’

“Do you want to call it quits here itself? I thought we’ve met not to part again,” said Prasad at length.

“Won’t I drag you all the way to my place,” said Sathyam taking Prasad’s hand.

“Then, allow me to wind up,” Prasad pulled Sathyam into the pavilion as Roopa followed them.

“You don’t know how I used to wish that we met,” said Sathyam in continuation.

“Same is the case with me, and thank Roopa Devi for our reunion,” said Prasad.

“Roopa would do sir; but how am I responsible for your chance meeting?” she said embarrassedly.  

“But for women, would men ever venture out on their own?” said Prasad half in jest.

“I agree, we owe all this to her,” said Sathyam.

“Just give me a few minutes as our manager takes you around,” said Prasad.  

‘Good that she turned out to be Sathyam’s wife!’ thought Prasad in excitement as he went into his makeshift cabin. ‘What a welcome development it is! But how on earth did he land up with such a lass; maybe, owing to my destiny to have her, who knows? Whatever, won’t his friendship prove to be a thoroughfare for her favours? Yet, won’t she need some wooing as well? I might as well dazzle her by flaunting my credentials, but that would only push Sathyam into a shell straight away. Won’t that hinder my endeavour, and what’s worse, sensing trouble, he might erect checkposts all the way to her bedchamber. Even if I were to muster Senna’s skills and Sorkar’s stealth, looks like the Formula One won’t do for her final favour as Sathyam would ensure that I end up in the pit on my way to the putt, why won’t he? Given that an overt courting would be unyielding, I better sneak into her bed under the cover of his camaraderie. Going by his confidence quotient, he shouldn’t have made much in his career; so, the winning formula is to downplay my success to develop a sustainable equation with him. Then, won’t his goodwill issue me the visa to land in his wife’s lap, and that should be fine with me.’

‘But what about Roopa?’ he tried to analyze her proclivities. ‘Doesn’t she wear that disinterested look I’m so familiar with in women; maidens embrace it when they are lovesick, and in the married, it’s proof enough that their pudding has turned stale. Isn’t it clear that she’s unexcited about her marital state? Won’t that make her a candidate for conquest? But yet that subtle awkwardness discernible in women, when attracted to men, is missing in her, isn’t it? Making it worse, she doesn’t seem to be vainglorious to flatter my way to her favours. Won’t that call for a change of tactics? As it appears, it needs some sustained effort, and a lot many seductive tactics to trick her into an affair. But for all that, it appears to be a conditional access, after all. Thou art so near and yet so far, oh, Roopa dear!’

‘But, how to go about it?’ he tried to analyze his moves to checkmate Roopa in her own den. ‘What could be the path of least resistance to possess her voluptuous frame? Won’t the first few steps decide the outcome of this ticklish tangle? While cultivating her man’s confidence, I must undermine her own defenses as well. But with a stunning wife like that, any man would be on guard to see through the motives of all comers. Why not I vouch a sisterly feeling for her to keep him off guard? Won’t that cut both ways in our triangle for I can get closer to her as brother and then worm my way into her bed as paramour.  What a great idea to get closer to a woman without alerting her man, indeed it is.’

Carried by his brainwave, a hearty Prasad reached the Sathyams with great expectations.

“I’m at your service now,” said Prasad.

“Let’s go to our place,” said Sathyam.

“If you haven’t brought your car, I’ll hire an auto,” said Prasad   

“Good that I’ve left my Lambretta at home but I thought you must be moving around in limousines,” said Sathyam unable to hide his surprise.

“I use the office Ambassador that’s in the garage now,” said Prasad, who by then had instructed his chauffeur to report for duty the next day.

“You haven’t changed a wee bit