Ojas wore his clothes and headed to the kitchen for a cup of tea, leaving Ralph alone in the washroom. Ralph was repulsed by Ojas’s constant dismissal, as though he couldn’t see how much he hurt Ralph with every conversation he had with other men. Ralph latched the door and began undressing himself. Under the shower, he let a jet of water rain down on his body. He picked up the loofah and squeezed a blob of body wash on to it. As he lathered his chest, he felt the increasing layers of fat around his stomach. He wondered if this was why Ojas wanted to seek other men. He bent down and scrubbed the back of his thighs, staring at his buttocks in the mirror. They were not as arched or shapely as they had once been.
He bent further and cleaned his calves that were matted with hair, his thick ankles, and the space between his toes, until he was scrubbing the tiles on which he stood. Didn’t Ojas obsess over his body all day when they were beginning to get fond of each other? The water began washing the suds off his broad and thick shoulders. His chest...
