Anbum Aranum Udaiththaayin

Vivagarathu

It was exactly 14 days since Kathir has last seen Mullai or talked to her. She had messaged few times but that was it. After his conversation with Jeeva, he has been careful not to bring any ill name to Mullai. At the same time, he wanted Mullai to realize what he meant to her and initiate any interactions. He decided not to step the line, a cruel but necessary decision at this point.

He was lost in thought when his phone rang.

"Anne. Inaiku velli thana. Nee varapo Mullai anni'ya kutitu vandhutu. Nama ice cream kadaiku polam", Kanna stated as if it was their usual routine.

"Dei, Chumma chumma elam ponna yepadi da. Ipo thana ponom?", Kathir replied sternly cursing him inside for probing him when he was already in turmoil of not being able to seeing her.

"Anney, adhu oru masam aga pogudhu. Enaku anni'ya pakanum pola iruku. Avangalum namba veetuku vara matanga, nanum poga mudiyadhu. Adhan indha plan", Kanna stated proudly lifting his collar.

"Enaku inaiku nama kadaila velai iruku da. Sandhiram vandutu godown ponum", Kathir tried his best to get away from this plan.

"Seri onnu pannu, nee Anni'ka kutitu vandhu ice cream kadaila drop panidu, naan avangala aparama veetla vitudarean"

Though Kathir itched to see her, he was reluctant to pick her up when it was Kanna, who proposed this idea. At the same time, not wanting to spoil their plan he reluctantly agreed.

Later that evening, he picked Mullai and dropped her in the ice cream parlor before he went to the godown. His work got over within two hours. He called Kanna to make sure he dropped Mullai home safely. He was surprised to hear they were still in the shop. The sane part of him screamed at him not to go, but his heart was yearning to go meet her and spend some time with her.

His heart won and he entered the parlor. He saw Kanna and Mullai seated in a corner booth with a huge pile of files in front of them. Both were in some serious discussion and he has never seen Kanna this serious before. He stood there observing them. She was wearing a simple yellow saree and her hair looked as if she just pleated it. Her face was bare of make-up except her kajal and perhaps the lipstick or maybe her lips were naturally rosy. He immediately shook the perverted thoughts away and went stood next to them.

When he approached them, he noticed Mullai's eyes widen like a saucer.

"Enna da panrenga inum?"

"Anni ku edho accounts la doubtnu pathutu irundhom. Orey kolapama iruku" and they went back to their discussion.

Kathir stood near them to observe their discussion. He eventually figured out what they were trying to do and helped them on how it could be solved.

Kanan finally breathed relief.

"Nee munavey vandhu irukalam anne. Enaku pasikave aramichuduchu, naan poi edavadhu order panrean" and left them alone.

"Kanna accounts thana padikaran, adhan help ketean", Mullai told hesitantly before he could start teasing her.

He understood her concern and just nodded his head.

"Velai unaku inum pudusu thana. Seri ayidum. Seri aduthu neeyey panni paru, varudhanu", Kathir offered and sat next to her.

Picking up her work laptop, she noted down all the data first for the monthly sales and started tallying using graph. Kathir sat admiring her and how her eyes contracted and her face looked all serious while in concentration.

"Kathir, idhu correcta?", Mullai asked placing the laptop in front of him. When he started explaining, she scooted closer to him to have a look at the laptop. She leaned against him to use the keypad and his heart suddenly started pounding hard against his ribcage.