Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 154 - The Unspoken Rules Of The Elite Circle

Unfortunately, her body language and attempts at signaling were wasted on Shehnaaz, who merely lifted her cup to sip at her cappuccino.

“Anyway, I just want you to understand that I’m not actually Parth’s girlfriend. My existence has no effect on your future relationship with him.” Mahira was forced to
put on a sincere and honest expression, as though she were BFFs with Shehnaaz and would never lie to her.

Shehnaaz was still entirely unmoved. The only thing she felt was vague bemusement: Why don’t I feel anything?

Mahira was unnerved by the calm, unperturbed expression on Shehnaaz's face—where was the
resentment, the helpless frustration, the anger? Mahira hesitated, before venturing to ask: “Miss Gill, do you know what an open relationship is?”

Shehnaaz could not resist laughing at this. “Oh, right, I don’t actually understand what you mean by that. Please, enlighten me.”

Mahira sighed inwardly: that explained Shehnaaz’s lack of a reaction. She launched into a patient and careful explanation: “An open relationship basically means a
relationship where both parties are free to find other sexual partners. You haven’t agreed to be Parth’s girlfriend,
which means he’s still technically single, and free to do whatever he wants.”

“Including having sex with you?” Shehnaaz asked nonchalantly as she rested her chin in a hand, a faint smile on her face.

Mahira blushed. The young girl before her was really vulgar—how could she speak of sex so openly, and to someone she had just met?

She let out an amused sigh. “You don’t have to be like that. There’s such a thing as an open marriage too, you know. In our circle, everyone obeys the rules of open marriages. Husband and wife are free to find other sexual partners, without fear of jeopardizing their marriage. You don’t have to worry—I’m in an open relationship with Parth, but it doesn’t mean that I have to marry him. We’re free men and women, free to do whatever we like.”

“Okay, I understand now. This so-called open relationship and open marriage basically boil down to this: it doesn’t matter if you’re married, you people just want to be able to f*ck whoever you want. Is that it?” Shehnaaz lowered the hand that had been propping up her chin. She was no longer interested in further conversation with Mahira. “You don’t have to tell me about these things. You can sleep with whoever you want, it’s none of my business.”

“This is a beautiful thing—why must you make it sound so vulgar?” Mahira was furious now. She was from a wealthy and distinguished family, and had studied at Juilliard, one of the most prestigious schools in existence.
She had never had a friend who was not her equal in status; Shehnaaz’s blunt, outspoken manner confused her.

“That’s because these things are vulgar, full stop. I can’t dress it up with fancy words.” Shehnaaz stood up and shrugged. “Anyway, I’m very busy. I don’t have the time to listen to your sexual history. Can I go now?”

“You—!” Mahira had to restrain herself from throwing her cup of milk in Shehnaaz’s face. “I’m here today to tell you, so you don’t end up getting the wrong idea. Parth and I aren’t in a relationship. He can have however many girlfriends he likes, I don’t mind. We’ve agreed not to interfere with each other’s private lives.”

Shehnaaz sat back in her chair when she heard this. She was amused. “Miss Sharma, the first thing you told me when we met today was that you were sleeping with the man who is trying to date me. Now you’re telling me not to ‘get the wrong idea’ about your relationship with him—are you stupid? Or maybe you think I’m stupid?”

“Can’t you accept the facts?” Mahira  shook her head. She smiled as she said: “You have to. This is how we do things in my circle. You have to turn a blind eye to things like this, it’s completely normal. If you don’t think you can get used to it, then you won’t be able to fit in—not in my circle, anyway.”