Pyaar, Prema ..... Friendship?

🖤Chapter 2🖤

Ahana hangs up the phone and puts it back into it's charging port, then stumbles into her bathroom to freshen herself up before finishing her pending projects that she managed to get halfway done the day before. As she passes the vanity table near the bathroom, her eyes catches a photo frame that is very dear to her heart. She takes it in her hand and lightly caresses it with the other. It's an old polaroid that she managed to steal from Ashwin's condominium last week when she went there for their weekly movie night and he still hasn't realized it. 'Avanuku avanode pori urande than mukiyum ache. Kal nenje kaaren' Ahana thinks and then huffs silently. Brushing her teeth and flossing it, her phone rings once again and she sees her manager on the phone. Curios to why she's calling her at this time, Ahana answers the call and taps the loudspeaker button and keeps it beside the washing basin. "Yeah?" Ahana greets.

"Did you go through the script?" her manager prods her and Ahana huffs in annoyance "You sent me at least ten script and contracts last week, and I've just gone through five-" "What were you doing the entire lockdown there-" "Uh, excuse me? I think I have to frequently tell you that I'm not a full time actress, I do have a paying job?-" "But what's the point of coming into media buzz if you can't even handle a little extra stress?-" "F you! You think it's easy to juggle between ten projects, at least half a dozen meetings and only to be dumped another ten contracts and scripts to go through in one week?! Ugh! Should have just retained Sofia or go without manager until she comes back from maternity leave, you're just a pain in my arse" Ahana snarks and ends the phone call before looking at herself in the mirror. Almost two months without proper sleep and food has done wonders to her body. Sunken eyes, pale face, her eyes red and her body losing almost twice the weight she gained before lockdown. Ahana sighs again and hears her phone ping again with a text from Ashwin.

Best'uFriend'u  - I know you're busy, but pls take care of urself? For me? 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Ahana huffs amused and sends back two thumbs up emoji before toweling herself off and coming out of the bathroom. She makes herself a cup of strong espresso since she's not in the mood to have a glass of scotch and settles herself at her architecture drawing table. She opens her Spotify and connects it to her home theater system and plays soothing music to make her concentrate and finish off her work. A few hours later, Ahana puts her stylus down and checks the time on her wall and jerks when she realises that she's been bent on her table for almost four hours non-stop. "Enneku vayasu avaruthuku kuleyum, ennode back poirum poleruke" Ahana complains as she stretches her back and relieves the pins and needles in her hands, legs and back. Her coffee sits there, cold and disgusting, when she cusses and goes to pour it down the sink and washes it. She keeps her cup on the dryer and leans against the cold marble of the kitchen table, her lower back digging into the edge as her eyes scan through her condominium.

It's not that she's a depressed person but the constant lockdown in her area has brought her to the very final thread of sanity she had. The earlier weeks were easy enough to go through as she divided her time between talking with her friends in Los Angeles, talking to Ashwin, doing reels in her Instagram, going to online meetings and finishing off her work. But as the lockdown kept on extending and extending, her willpower and sanity decreased. She stopped talking to people, barely calls Ashwin, has been months since she updated anything in her Instagram, but she still goes to her meetings and still does her job but the enthusiasm she had in the beginning slowly wore off. Her fans from both Hollywood and now Kollywood has been questioning her whereabouts, asking her to come online at least for a live session or a Twitter space session but it all fell in deaf ears as Ahana herself doesn't know what to do. She's about to go to her alcohol rack when her doorbell rings. She looks at the time and it shows half past eleven and she wonders who's sane enough to come here at this time.

Shrugging, she wears a long cardigan over her night clothes and ties it up before answering her door. "Ashwin?" she exclaims and Ashwin smiles, holding up a bag of food in his right hand, the smell enough to make her stomach rumble. Immediately Ashwin's facial reaction turned serious "Nee innum sapdele thane?" he asks seriously as he steps inside the house and Ahana closes the door. "Sollu, unnethan" Ashwin says as he leans back on the dining table, his gaze piercing "Aah" Ahana hums before entering her kitchen to grab two plates and two glasses, one filled with chilled water for Ashwin and the other one half filled with red wine for her. "Yen?" "Enna yen?" Ahana asks back and Ashwin clicks his tongue but stays silent as Ahana serves the both of them and brings both the plates and beverages on a tray to sit at the living room. The duo settles down on the couch and Ahana reaches for the remote when a hand stops her. She then looks at him questioningly.

"Yen sapdele?" "Maaranthuten" "Poi, unne pathi enneku teriyathu? You can never control your hunger but now you are that hungry that your stomach is rumbling" he says and Ahana stares at the black screen of the television in front of her. "Enna achi da?" he asks softly and that is enough to break the damn in her. Ashwin immediately panics but goes to her side and slings an arm around her shoulder and grabs both of her hands in his other palm "Eh, yenna achi? Mothe call panambothu naala thane irunthe, ipo yenna achi?" he asks and Ahana shakes her head softly but Ashwin nudges her "Sollu ma, enna achi?" "Ennala mudiyile" "Enna mudiyile?" he asks again and Ahana pours out her feelings, her struggles, her mental state, her fear as Ashwin hears her patiently, his thumb absent-mindedly caressing her knuckles. Ahana's eyes are blotchy and her nose is red when she finishes her worries and shrugs Ashwin's hands off and goes to the balcony and leans against the railing. It was a fraction of a second when instant fear triggered in him to rush over to her and drag her off that railing "Enna panre?!" Ashwin snapped and Ahana looked at him suprisingly "Chumma skyline paake vanthen, yen ipdi react panre?" she asks but Ashwin was too busy calming himself down.

Ahana's eyes widened when she realised what he must have thought when she wordlessly went to the railing and she huffed "Naa onnu apdi patave ille. Enneku valkiyile nereya prechane irukku, aana athukunu ipdi oru mutalthanama oru mudivu eduke maaten. Don't worry, I won't end my life. She says and goes back to the railing and sees the stars and the moon when Ashwin stands beside her. "Naaliki veliye poola" "Enna valayadriya? Vele kooti kadakuthu, veliye poolanu solre, athula mudiyathu" "Unne iluthutu aachum kootitu pooven, neeye mudivu paniko, neeya ariya ille unne inthe mothe building paakre maare iluthutu pogeva?" he warns her playfully and Ahana turns to look at him when she understands his motive. Ashwin isn't one to emote that easily when it's about others, be it his mother, sister, herself or Sivaangi. He always puts on the brave face for them and tries to not solve it but give them the peace of mind to help them think how to solve it. Ahana huffs and smirks before nudging his shoulder gently "Cheri, naa vaaren" she tells and the two best friend laugh and enjoy the silent night, the moonlight illuminating their faces.

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Hi there! And that's a wrap on Chapter 2 🎉

P.S - Since now most of the countries are still under strict lockdown, please stay at home and also make sure your loved ones are okay. Suicidal thoughts, regardless of who they are, be it common people or celebrity can very easily invade their minds in these tough situations. Call them once in a while, ask how they are and spend some time with them. And if you're going through some tough times, please grab your phone and call your dearest ones and have a heart-to-heart with them, don't bottle up your emotions. Lastly, stay safe and stay home.

Till then, Sayonara 👋🏽👋🏽

Love, Angel 🖤