INTIMACY CLINIC - The Conversations we AVOID

WEEK FOUR: Sunday - Part 06

"And you can go through all that but you can't say NO."

"Yeah." She said. She looked up at Charlie, "But I don't want to be like that."

"Good. At least you know that much." Charlie smiled.

She didn't.

"When I was in 12th. . ." She didn't get to complete her sentence because Charlie interrupted. "I get it." He said. She paused, he continued, "You are too emotional. You want to be realistic. But you can't because you are too ethical, and you don't want to hurt the feelings of people you care about. Right?"

She nodded.

"Good. Then I got what you mean. So you don't need to tell me about all the incidences of your life. Just tell me what mess you are into and what you need my help for?"

"Okay." She said.

Charlie smiled, "See, this is how it's done. This is called being straight forward. I believe a person should be straight forward. Not rude. But straight forward."

She nodded.

"Now tell me. What happened?" He said.

"I was friends with a guy for a long time. He lives in Delhi. We used to talk over call, or text on WhatsApp. Three months ago, he proposed me. I too liked him. I said yes." She paused. Charlie waited patiently for her to continue.

She continued after few secoonds. "Everything was good for a few days. He treated me so well. You can say, i got princess treatment. He send me beautiful reels, love letters, called me with diffferent sweet names." Komal smiled dryly. Lookinng nowhere particular, she said, "He had ange issues, but i thought, its okay. No one is perfect, right?" a tear rolled down the corner of her eye.

Anchal gave her a side hug. "It's okay," Aanchal said, patting her shoulder.

Komal nodded, and continued, "But after three months, the time he gave me started to reduce. He wouldn't answer my calls. He wouldn't call me back after seeing my missed call. If I text him and ask why didn't he call me back, he would say he was busy."

"Maybe he was." Charlie said.

"He passed out of college. Doesn't work. He is at home all day playing PUBG. He is never busy. I know that. And he knew that I knew. Still he said he was busy. That clearly showed how much he cared for me." She said.

Charlie smiled - sarcastically.

"If I didn't get to talk to him all day, I texted him in night. He would reply for a few texts and say he is watching a movie. And stop replying. How couldn't he want to reply to my text after not talking to me all day?"

"Well, you know him better." Charlie said.

"Sometimes, he said, he is feeling sleepy and stop texting me. But I could see him online till 3 am."

Charlie smiled. "You should have taken the hint."

"I did. That's why, last week, after listening to you. I finally dared to say NO. And I broke up with him." She said in a low voice.

Charlie's smiled broadened, "Why were you crying then? That's a good news. You should be celebrating."

Komal didn't react. Charlie's smile faded, looking at her expressions. He stopped. She continued, "There were a few days when he would treat me well. Talk to me nicely. Make me happy. Text me till late in night. The days when he wanted to have virtual sex, on a video call."

Charlie's expressions started to turn serious. Maybe he knew where was she going with this.

She continued, "When I broke up with him. He tried to convince me, a lot. I didn't agree. He knows my nature. It was a shock to him that I broke up just like that. He said. . ."

"Come to the point Komal." Charlie said in a stern voice. He was restless to know if his fear was right.

"Last night, he sent me a video." She said.

Charlie fell back on his chair. Hit his forehead with his palm, "Shit."

He pulled his hand down, brushing his face, and added, "That's why I took the fifth."

Komal's words, her expressions, and Charlie's reaction didn't add up to make any sense to the rest of them.

"When did you take the fifth?" Aanchal asked, closing the gap between her eyebrows.

Charlie looked at her, "When you asked how I masturbate."

That confused her more, "How is that related to this?" She asked.

"And you didn't take the fifth. You answered that question." Lovereet said.

"Yeah, because you said, you will refrain from watching porn if I don't take the fifth. And Aanchal used your words to grab me by the neck." He said, looking at Lovereet.

"So what if I insisted a bit. You were not answering that question because you thought we would judge you for your interest in virtual sex while masturbating." Aanchal said.

Charlie turned to her. "This is the eighth session you are attending. Do you really think I care if you guys would judge me or not? This is how much you understood me?"

"But you said. . ." Aanchal tried to say, but Charlie interrupted, "I said, I am not a perfect man. Which I am not. But it was you who assumed I am worried about you guys judging me."

"If that's the case, then why did you take the fifth. And why do you regret not taking the fifth. And how is that related to this?" Aanchal asked all the questions in one breath.

"I took the fifth because I didn't want you guys to try the same without thinking it through and get into trouble. I regret it now, because Komal added into my fear. And that is related to this because this is exactly the reason I didn't want you guys to try that. And that's why I didn't want to tell that to you guys."

Charlie's explanation went up Aanchal's head. "Am I missing something?" She asked, leaning forward.

"You are missing the content of the video." Charlie said.

Aanchal turned her head towards Komal, "What was in that video?"

"It was screen recording of doing sex with him on video call, naked." Komal said. Aanchal's jaw dropped. Komal's eyes blurred. She added, "He used some app that records your mobile screen. And recorded the video call. Now he has a video of me, naked, fingering, and narrating the sex between us."

"Fuck." Lovereet said.

"Why did he send it to you?" Antara asked.

Komal turned her eyes to Antara. She was glad, Charlie didn't ask that question, she was afraid to make eye contact with him, "He said, he loved the way I explained sex. He loved the way I loved myself. He loved to see me do it. So, he doesn't want to end it. He doesn't care if we stay in a relationship or not, but he wants to have virtual sex with me at least once a month." Komal said. Antara's eyes widened, many in the room gasped with shock. Komal continued, "He said, he will spread my video if I don't agree to his condition."

"What did you say?" Charlie asked.

***

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