Truly Yours 2

Imagination 9: The Ultimatum

Disclaimer: The plot is purely fan fiction akin to a movie script. The depiction of incidents in this story is fictional and entirely unrelated to the persons after whom the characters are named. The story is not representative of any persons' view or imagination except mine.

___

Sivaangi laid on her side, holding her phone, her eyes never leaving the phone's screen. Two hours had passed since her message to Ashwin. She had turned off the notifications to all the social media applications and muted all group chats except the CWC one that Ashwin was in. Every phone beep brought with it great disappointment, and Sivaangi sunk deeper into unbearable sadness.

Sivaangi opened Ashwin's chat on WhatsApp and stared at it, praying he would come online. The blue ticks beside her message meant he had read it, but she did not know what to make out of the lack of response. Was he busy or just avoiding her?

"Avoiding her? But why? Why should she be punished for her father's views? Why should Ashwin do this just because her father expressed his worries and views? Just one uncomfortable chat, and he leaves without justifying his actions, without claiming his love?" Sivaangi had been crying for the past two days, and she was tired of it. Neither her father nor Ashwin bothered to speak with her before deciding that she was incapable of managing her relationship. They took away her right to make choices and experience the outcomes of those choices in the name of protecting her.

Irritated, Sivaangi picked up her phone and called Ashwin. The phone rang for a long time and got disconnected. She tried again and was met with the same no response. She tried for the third time, and when he did not answer, she pressed her face on the pillow and screamed into it. Then she typed another message furiously. "Ashwin, are you alright? Because I am not. Please call me as soon as you can."

She put the phone ringer at its loudest, placed it beside her and waited.
___

Mr Krishnan was lying beside his wife, unable to sleep. His daughter did not come out of her room after his confrontation with Ashwin. She refused to eat or speak with his wife and son despite their persistent efforts. Mr Krishnan felt terrible; he won't deny this to his conscience.

But nothing can convince him that his 20-year-old has the emotional maturity and responsibility to handle a strong romantic attachment which can get serious fast, emotionally and physically. No, he was not going to budge. This is probably infatuation on her part, and he will wait for it to wear out.
___

Ashwin woke up to the noise of the alarm he had set for the day before. Groaning, he reached out to his side table with eyes still closed to snooze the alarm, but his phone wasn't there. He felt his bed for the phone before it hit him that he had thrown it to the floor the night before. Muttering a curse under his breath, he got up and picked up his phone, which was lying in a corner. Its screen would have probably broken if not for the thick shrug under his bed.

He hit the snooze and clicked on Sivaangi's notifications. Three missed calls and a message.

"Ashwin, are you alright? Because I am not. Please call me as soon as you can."

The sense of desperation in her message was unmissable. She must be feeling as miserable as he was, if not worse. For once, Ashwin honestly didn't know what to do and didn't want to think about it as well. Keeping Sivaangi by his side was as good as trapping her in an empty room. But he did not want to lose Sivaangi as well. At the same time, he couldn't ignore her father's words which contained hurtful truths. Ashwin just felt like running away to some faraway place where he won't have to make any decisions.

Rubbing his eyes, Ashwin looked at his phone calendar. Apart from a promotional event for his music video tomorrow, he was free for the next five days till Sunday. Ashwin would have welcomed the free time if things were normal between him and Sivaangi. But now, the idea of being idle for days worried him. Doing nothing would provide the space for him to think of Sivaangi non-stop; he would want to meet her, hold her. Just thinking of her choked his senses with pain.