Falling In Love With You

Chapter -17

The cafeteria thronged with people buzzing around the kitchen area , occupying the chairs and the light conversation among the employees floated in the air. Pallavan and Saravanan waited for their IT tech to arrive . Although Pallavan and Saravanan engaged in a casual chit chat , Saravanan sensed a restlessness in Pallavan's comportment ,  even though Pallavan kept up with their conversation ,  Saravanan felt that  his cousin's heart was engaged somewhere or rather on someone else , as his eyes darted every now and then past Saravanan's head to where Vasudha was sitting with their team members. Saravanan always admired his cousin , he had always looked up to him as another father figure  besides Pallavan's father , as he never had the chance to know his own father , even though Saravanan was younger than Pallavan , he always felt protective towards him. He knew that Pallavan's thoughts were engaged in Vasudha only to gauge her plan but his heart feared what would happen if Pallavan's heart  opens up for Vasudha . He was afraid that if he ended up with a broken heart then he won't be able to pick up the broken pieces because he believed that Vasudha will definitely break his heart beyond repair .     
          During their childhood days Pallavan had a joyful juvenescence , he had been  a carefree boy and a mischievous one too. He would hide among the coconut groves or sometimes just waste away his time in the pond amidst their fields making his Amma search him for hours together . Since he was the only heir to the vast lands , he was showered with love and  care , he got everything he desired , but even as a child he never  took his blessings for granted , he loved and respected his parents as much as they loved him and he never raised his voice at his parents. He cared for the people and families that worked in their fields and they in turn loved him as their own child. But that all changed after he finished his college to pursue a career in Web development and within a few  months after he moved to work in Chennai  he ceased communication with his parents , no one knew where he was , how he was and they were not even sure if he was alive or dead . His parents  were devastated not knowing whether their dear son was even alive so his parents and relatives sent down search parties to look for him but no one could find him , they continued to search for him , but then after almost six months he came back to his home and he refused to say anything that transpired in his life in those six months and no one dared to ask him of what happened . The carefree boy from their childhood was no where to be seen , the Pallavan who came back resembled his cousin but Saravanan felt  as though he was a complete stranger with the same looks of his once charming brother. The guy who came back refrained from talking to people , remained far removed from polite conversation and he once shouted at his Amma and talked back at his Appa , which Saravanan never thought Pallavan was even capable of , as he loved his parents more than anything in the world . Years passed by and Saravanan began to see the glimpses of Pallavan's old self  again, not completely though but on a few rare occasions .
    After Saravanan finished his college he initially thought of settling down in his hometown working in their fields but he decided against that and followed Pallavan out to Chennai and now almost six years traveling with his cousin he became his shadow but even after all these years Pallavan never explicitly told Saravanan of what exactly happened but somehow Saravanan sensed that everything that happened in Pallavan's life was because of a woman which Saravanan  deduced when a few times Pallavan himself  let past his lips about his past unknowingly during their late night prattle but he never knew who was that woman or where is she or who is she and Saravanan didn't even dare to ask but he somehow knew that the truth of that episode was known only to a few people and Saravanan guessed that one of those people must be Rakesh as they shared an unusually honest friendship and Saravanan always felt that they both carry that as a secret between themselves unknown to anyone around them. These details of the past flashed before Saravanan's eyes in those few minutes. Knowing Pallavan and all that he went through and the events that are  happening in his life right now  and the uncertainty of the future for his cousin gripped Saravanan's heart like a vice .
        
            On the other hand Pallavan's thoughts ran wayward in his mind. He saw Vasudha sitting with his team members chatting away casually as if she had known them all her life. Although he knew well about his teammates he couldn't accept the fact that she was talking with them in complete abandon , especially with Rahul. The ever present smile on her face  and the twinkle in her eyes while talking with Rahul grated at his heart and gave rise to a nasty feeling in his gut. But what he didn't realise was that  he was infact becoming possessive of Vasudha. Suddenly he felt a slight change in the air around them , the constant buzzing of the people's conversation decreased a decibel , on a hunch Pallavan looked keenly in Vasudha's direction and he saw Karthik passing by her table but what he saw next riled him up. After going a few steps away from Vasudha's table he saw Karthik turning around , pausing there and looking directly at Vasudha with a calculative grin on his face , no one around them including Vasudha and his teammates seemed to notice it. Pallavan couldn't control his anger , he couldn't tolerate Karthik ogling Vasudha .
       Saravanan noticed the sudden change in Pallavan's bearing so he turned around to see what caused the sudden change in his cousin's mien. Before  Saravanan could form a reply to what he saw , he heard a noise behind him and when he turned around again he saw Pallavan standing up with his hands fisted and saw his cousin's wrath clear as day in his eyes.
       Pallavan didn't care about anyone around him, the anger he felt at that moment blinded his eyes and all he wanted to do at that moment was to  throttle that guy . Glimpses of that incident flashed in his mind's eye because he saw what happened that night with his own eyes two years ago , he realised  that a guy could sink to any depth only to satisfy his needs , what he saw that night made him to question the morality of men , he saw the depravity of a guy that prompted him to behave in such a way with a woman ,also he saw a woman's helplessness , he saw a charming woman breaking down right in front of his eyes. Pallavan always believed in God but that night ....that incident made him to question the capabilities of God but from that day on he desperately hoped that no woman should become a victim to the malevolence of men but now seeing Karthik leering at Vasudha made his blood boil , he took a step  towards his wife but instead came face to face with Shiva. Everything happened within a few minutes, when Pallavan looked up again in Vasudha's direction Karthik was no where to be seen.
             Saravanan noticed that Shiva was making his way towards them and so he stood up to stop Pallavan from going anywhere but that is when Shiva reached and came head to toe with Pallavan and he looked at the both of  them quizzically and asked ,"You guys leaving already?" To which " Illa anna , we were just going to order our food , well I guess we'll give our order once our  meeting gets over." Saravanan told Shiva . Pallavan didn't say anything, instead he searched  for Karthik, also he saw that Vasudha and his teammates have finished their lunch and they stood up from their seats . Pallavan saw Vasudha tell something to them and soon after that Rahul and Shreya retreated towards the elevator but Vasudha went the other way. But what shocked him was that he saw Karthik too going in that direction . Suddenly the urge to protect his wife was overwhelming , its not that Karthik would be brazen enough to do something to her in a room filled with people but he didn't want his wife to get caught in any kind of predicament.
            Pallavan realised that he is the only one standing while the other two have sat in the chairs. He saw Shiva  looking up at him with a confused look on his face . " Ennachu Pallava ? Why are you gazing at the room so intently? Are you waiting for someone else ? " Shiva asked Pallavan . Pallavan sat briskly in his chair and said " Oh ! It's nothing Shiva na , I was thinking of sending Saravana to order our food so by the time we finish our meeting the food will be ready don't you think... and also Saravana was telling me just now that he wanted to use the bathroom ." " Now ? Did I say that ?" Saravanan asked Pallavan incredulously but before Shiva could reply his phone rang . " Hold on a second guys I'll be back in a minute " saying this Shiva scurried away to a more quiet place to attend his call. Once Shiva was out of earshot Pallavan asked his cousin" Don't you get what I'm saying Saravana? "  Saravanan didn't understand why Pallavan was sending him away but he doubted that there was a subtext in Pallavan's words. Saravanan shook  his head as he didn't know what happened to Vasudha , his teammates or Karthik after Shiva arrived to their table . " Look Saravana ! I can't explain it all to you now , just do as I say da!. I think Vasudha is headed towards the restroom and I saw karthik too go in that direction . May be its nothing ,may be he too went to use the restroom but I kinda felt like he was following her . Hurry now  Saravana ! Look out for my Wife ! And don't forget to order our food on your way back. I can't go in search of her , Shiva anna would want me here for the meeting. Now go...! " Pallavan urged Saravanan to go.
The desperation in Pallavan's face and the compassion in his voice when he said ' My wife ...' rendered Saravanan speechless for a moment but he realised the seriousness of the situation in time and hurried to where the restrooms were.
        Just as Saravanan left Shiva came back after finishing his phone call. " So Pallava about the WBS issue... I know its such a huge module , I know  you're concerned about the inconsistencies and also the various levels at which it could go wrong , we are too concerned about that so we are progressively elaborating our module requirements . The first two levels are clear , but the third level requires a proper foundation for each and every sub-module so that's where your concentration should be at this point Pallava. Make sure your team members are efficient in what they are doing , especially those new comers and now let's get into the details of the breakdown structure...." The meeting was intense for the next fifteen minutes where Shiva and Pallavan discussed the various possibilities of construction and the possible counter problems it could create when the entire module is put together and also when the entire application comes together. Pallavan's concentration didn't waver from Shiva but deep inside his heart he mulled over what was happening to Vasudha.
              On the other side of the cafeteria, Saravanan went in search of Vasudha . Saravanan knew what happened to Thara that night , Pallavan made sure that the men in his team were aware of the true color of their fellow employee. But what shocked them more was the fact that they never thought Karthik to be that guy. He was a very smart guy , smarter than most of the other employees , he was always charming , amicable and  a go - to guy. He was rather flirtatious but that was mostly because of the roguish charm that pulled the opposite sex towards him. He always dressed impeccably and his mannerisms were refined but they never knew what went wrong with him to act that way with Thara. But everybody in the team knew Thara and Karthik were pretty close at that time , Saravanan still couldn't understand the equation of that plot that happened that night two years ago. But after that incident things changed , people  did have polite conversations with him in public but beneath it all , people who knew Karthik and about the incident resented him . But all that happened and said Thara never complained about him to the authorities nor did she let Pallavan take the complaint on her behalf to the higher officials . For a woman like Thara with that much arrogance and haughtiness Saravanan never understood why she did , what she did. Just as these thoughts occupied his mind Saravanan reached a turning to the balcony , he treaded past the turning to where the restrooms were but stopped halfway through as he heard two people talking in that rather secluded area.