The sun rays which were once tender in the early morning now slowly transformed into bright beams and tried to escape past the fluffy clouds that floated lazily along with the gentle breeze in the pale blue sky. The roadway buzzed with vehicles of all kinds trying desperately to race past one another to reach their destination as soon as possible.The morning sun travelled along with the people in their journey, all the while trying to rise high up in the sky. In contrast to the constant honking and blaring of the horns on the road , silence pervaded the expanse of the space within the car as Pallavan drove the car towards their office.
Pallavan and Vasudha didn't try to start up any conversation with each other as they both were very much engrossed in their own world of obscure emotions. Vasudha was looking outside the car , taking in the morning rush while in her mind she thought back to her childhood days when she loved to spend time in the sun , she always enjoyed spending her time basking in the soft rays of the early morning sun especially during her summer vacations . She often would get mesmerised as to how the dewdrops sparkled like rainbow - hued diamonds on the flowers and she loved singing her heart out along with the chirping of the birds and buzzing of the bees . She remembered her Amma's voice calling out to her from the kitchen to have her breakfast on time and the days when her Amma too would spend long hours with her looking at the world around them talking and gossiping on nothing in particular with each other. She remembered the way her Amma's eyes would twinkle whenever she talked about the future she wished for her daughter to have. Vasudha smiled to herself at the memory , remembering the naivety and silliness of Amma's desires. Vasudha wantedly kept her mind busy with thinking about her childhood because the fluttering of her heart whenever she comes close to her husband was the one thing she couldn't control so she tried very hard to mask her emotions from being on display on her face so she remained quiet just by looking outside .
In the driver's seat, Pallavan's mind circled around their new project and the tasks that were to be assigned to his teammates so that they could finish with their part of the work as soon as possible. The period for the development of this project was way too short , it was a project that needed at least six months to develop but it was cut short to a mere three months and this increased the chances for many mistakes and being a team lead Pallavan was in a place where he was responsible for everything that could possibly go wrong . However , Pallavan was sure that they could pull off the work in time without any delay and mistake on their part but for that it required his hundred percent concentration. Although his mind was engaged in thinking about the difficulties in his work , his mind tried to concentrate on the one matter that he has been so plainly putting off for a while now , and that is nothing but how he is going to disclose his unexpected marriage to his family especially , his parents. Pallavan knew how his Amma always dreamed of getting Pallavan married to a girl of her choice and how she always was high handed when it was anything that was related to her son's future and how his father always been an anchor in his life , how he supported him in his choices and how he handled him calmly when he behaved completely out of line with his parents after he returned to his hometown post the tragedy in his life. His parents never questioned him about anything , instead they remained close to him yet giving him the space to get hold of his emotions , trusting their son's capability to fight back from whatever that was it that plagued his heart.
Pallavan knew that his marriage would hurt his parents ,he knew that it will definitely break their heart when they would come to know about his marriage , realising that their one and only son didn't give them their right to choose his life partner , didn't give them a chance to do the preparation for his wedding , didn't give them a chance to witness that moment for which they must have waited for their whole life. But something else stopped him from thinking about a way to disclose this matter to his parents and that was because of Vasudha . Ever since the moment he saw her , on the evening of her engagement - a day before the wedding draped elegantly in an olive green silk saree, it has been a whirlwind for Pallavan and before he could even manage to take a breath he was tying the knot with her . Apart from his body's reaction towards her , Pallavan realised that within these few days Vasudha had made herself a place in his heart and mind and no matter how much ever he tried to control , his heart was slowly leaning towards her and was starting to care for her in a way that he never cared for anyone in his life before ... including for the woman who broke his heart many years ago and when this realisation hit him it made him to squeeze his foot on to the brake pedal so suddenly that the car came to an abrupt halt but luckily his sudden halt happened the same time when the traffic signal turned red , so Vasudha didn't notice the surprise on his face. However he still could not understand her completely , she has now become the biggest mystery in his life which he feared might take a lifetime to unravel her completely. Even though he was confident that somehow he would convince his parents to accept his marriage , what stopped him was the turmoil in his heart , he couldn't understand his feelings regarding his marriage to Vasudha , initially all Pallavan wanted was to expose her to the world and teach her a lesson but now he just wanted to understand her better , know her deepest and darkest fears and become the reason for her laughter , to be the only person to take care of her but he didn't know what were her thoughts regarding their marriage , he couldn't come to a conclusion whether she was willing to be bound with him in this marriage or whether her interest was engaged elsewhere.
As these thoughts clouded his mind , Pallavan felt as if the problems were becoming more and more complicated as the time passed by . Pallavan didn't want to reach his office and do his work with a confused and disturbed mind , so he pushed all those thoughts aside and concentrated on the road .
After a few minutes , Pallavan took a turn to his left and stopped the car at a bus stand as that was the closest station to their office , seeing that they have reached the stop as to where she would be getting off Vasudha unbuckled her seat belt and got off from the car , even then no words were exchanged between them . Once he made sure that Vasudha took her belongings from the car , Pallavan looked up at his wife from the driver's seat and saw that she too was looking at him. Both remained still for a long moment not knowing what to say to each other, however Vasudha broke their little moment by saying a small goodbye to her husband and started walking in the direction of their office. Pallavan shook his head slightly and started his car once again and drove past his wife towards the office.
On reaching the office building Pallavan drove his car straight into the garage and parked it in his usual spot and stepped out of his car after taking his backpack along with him , after making sure that he locked his car properly Pallavan came out of the garage and waited near the main entrance of their building to make sure Vasudha had reached safely . After waiting for a few minutes Pallavan saw her walking towards their building , Pallavan walked swiftly towards the huge glass doors of the main entrance and waited for his wife. Vasudha didn't notice her husband , so just like that she raised her hand to open the glass door but before her hand could reach the handle someone opened the door for her , a surprised Vasudha looked up at the person only to see her handsome husband standing to her side pushing the door open for her . His sweet gesture warmed her heart , she didn't expect him to wait for her and now realising that he was indeed waiting for her to reach the office , a small smile curved up her lips. Acknowledging his courtesy Vasudha stepped into the office while Pallavan fell in step behind her.
Although it was half-past-nine , most of the employees were already in the building doing their respective jobs , so after reaching the elevator Pallavan , Vasudha and a few other employees waited for the elevator to reach their floor. A few seconds later the elevator came to a stop on their floor and everyone entered the elevator, Pallavan and Vasudha were the last ones to enter the lift so Pallavan let Vasudha to enter the lift before him and he entered after her. After entering the lift Pallavan turned around and pressed the button to the floor they were supposed to get off and just as he was about to press the close button everyone in the lift heard a fast clicking sound of heels against the marbled floor along with a woman's voice shouting to pause the lift , when everyone looked in the direction of the voice they saw the ever beautiful Thara trying her best to run in her two inch stilettos without tripping . Seeing Thara , Pallavan held the elevator door open by pressing on to the open button , as Pallavan was the last one to enter the lift he was the one who was standing on the front so as Thara stepped into the lift with the same amount of speed in which she was running and also because of her high heels Thara lost her balance and all she could do was to hold on to the only person who was standing close to her and it was none other than Pallavan ! The way Thara lost her balance and the way in which Pallavan stood with his one hand paused on the switch board to keep his finger pressed on to the open button , looked as if Thara jumped into his outstretched arms. Now , just as Thara tripped on Pallavan , the sudden momentum made him to loose his own balance and he took a step back as a result his hands raised reflexively to hold Thara and the elevator door started to close , as Pallavan looked outside the lift he saw a gaping Saravanan standing in the middle of the floor looking at him and the woman he was holding in his arms and also at the same time few people inside the lift gasped in surprise of what happened between their fellow employees inside the lift.
Everything happened so suddenly that Pallavan didn't know what to do or how to react . Seeing another woman hugging her husband , Vasudha's gut burned with anger and her eyes widened in shock and irritation. Since Vasudha was the one who was standing next to Pallavan , she cleared her throat loud enough that only Pallavan could hear her. Hearing his wife , Pallavan realised that he was still holding Thara in his arms , " Uhh... huh Thara ! You are not in any danger of falling down , so you can relax now!" Pallavan said to Thara. Hearing Pallavan's voice , an embarrassed Thara stepped aside from him and the process pushed Vasudha farther away from Pallavan , so now Thara stood close to Pallavan. " I'm really sorry , Pallavan! I didn't mean to .... I mean.." Thara tried to explain herself to Pallavan in a soft voice . " Its alright Thara! It was an accident , no need for an explanation ." Pallavan said to Thara. Thara smiled up at him and said " So...You are early today Pallavan ? Is something the matter?" to which Pallavan replied " Actually Thara , I should be the one asking you that question , you are so early to the office today . What is the matter Thara ?" Thara didn't expect that Pallavan would retort back so snidely and it annoyed her but she managed to hold her anger from being expressed on her face , faking a smile on her face Thara smiled slightly and asked Pallavan , " You keep track of my whereabouts Pallavan?" in a very sweet voice. " As a matter of fact I do , Thara ! Being a team leader it's my duty to know about each and everyone of my teammates and what time they are checking in each day ." Pallavan said the last part a bit more sharply to Thara , emphasising the fact that she had been coming late to the office for the past few weeks. Pallavan's sharp reply irritated Thara beyond her tolerance but on the other hand it made someone happy!
Hearing Pallavan's sharp replies to Thara , Vasudha felt happy and it somewhat reduced the anger she felt initially when Thara stepped into the lift. On the other hand , Thara didn't expect Pallavan to be so cold to her , she knew that Pallavan didn't reciprocate her feelings but she also didn't expect him to be so cold towards her . Before she could think of any reply ,the lift came to a stop on the first floor and the people who needed to get off on that floor exited the lift but not before taking a look back at the two people who created a scene a few minutes before. As most of the people exited on the first floor , only a few people remained inside the lift . The elevator doors closed as before and just as Thara opened her mouth to say something to Pallavan she saw Vasudha standing beside her from the reflection on the stainless steel elevators. "Oh ... Hello Vasudha! Didn't notice you there ! By the way nice saree , Vasudha." Thara spoke to Vasudha in a customary manner, but Vasudha didn't engage her in a conversation instead she just dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement. After her failed attempts at starting a conversation with Pallavan and also with Vasudha , Thara remained silent. The next few minutes in the ride to the next floor elapsed silently and when the elevator doors dinged open on the second floor , it was Thara who stepped out of the elevator first followed by the others and when Vasudha stepped out of the lift she looked at her husband who was already looking at her with a helpless expression on his face fearing what she would have thought of him , he could see the anger in her eyes but when he looked into her eyes , he saw the anger melt away and smile crept into her lips and she nodded at him inconspicuously saying that she understood the situation. Seeing her smile , Pallavan too smiled to himself and followed her out and went straight into his cabin.
Vasudha went to her station and saw that Harish and Nandhini already seated in their station doing their work, she saw Rithika's bag on her station but both Rithika and Thara were nowhere to be seen and Vasudha saw that Shreya and Rahul had not yet reached the office. Vasudha sat down in her chair , checked in on their employee login and resumed her work . What happened in the lift sure did anger her but she knew that it was an accident , however somewhere deep in her heart Vasudha doubted if Thara did what she did on purpose. Nevertheless , Vasudha concentrated on her work and sometime later she completely forgot about the lift incident. A few minutes later , he heard footsteps behind her and when she looked around she saw Saravanan walking towards their station . From his expression Vasudha saw that he was tense and his concentration was completely somewhere else as if he was thinking about something very keenly. As he crossed Vasudha's station on the aisle he looked at her apologetically and rushed into Pallavan's cabin.
Inside his cabin , as Pallavan was about to sit in his chair , someone dashed inside his cabin. However , without even looking up Pallavan knew who it was , he was in fact waiting for his cousin's arrival. Pallavan knew that Saravana came to his cabin only to hound him about the elevator incident , but Pallavan decided to test his cousin so as to get a clarity regarding the incident about Vasudha and Karthik that he told him yesterday. The moment Saravanan neared Pallavan's table all he could say was , " What were you doing Pallava?" in an extremely infuriated tone. Instead of snapping at his cousin , Pallavan replied in a very calm manner ," What did I do ? " . " You are asking me ? Alright I'll tell you Pallava ! Why the hell were you hugging a woman in front of all those people ? Didn't you know Vasudha was standing right beside you were embracing Thara so tightly ...?" Saravana snapped back at his cousin in anger . " Mind your language Saravana , just because I'm your and am being liberal doesn't mean that you can talk back to me. Remember , I'm your senior and your team lead. " Pallavan warned his cousin . Embarrassed at his behaviour Saravanan tried to calm himself down and after a few seconds said , " I... I apologise for my behaviour Pallava , but as your cousin and as a friend I do have the right to question you when you do something wrong... Now tell me Pallava , don't I have that right ?" , " I accept your apology Saravana ! And as for the questions you asked me , as for as I know , I didn't do anything wrong on my part , I didn't force myself on her . She hugged me , I returned that and there is nothing wrong in that is there ? Aah... about your concern regarding me hurting Vasudha , I don't think she would have any problem with me hugging any woman , my guess ? I think her interests are engaged elsewhere , remember it was you who said the same to me yesterday ?" Pallavan replied calmly to Saravanan. He knew he was taking a huge risk by saying
that completely opposite of what exactly happened , Pallavan just wanted to know what was going on in his cousin's mind and his thoughts regarding his marriage to Vasudha . Listening to his cousin , Saravanan had incredulous reaction on his face , he didn't know what to say , he couldn't understand the sudden change in his cousin's behaviour, up until yesterday all Pallavan wanted was to run far away from Thara but today his behaviour has changed completely , but Saravanan thought that his cousin's change of heart would make plan go smoothly , but for that Saravanan needed to make something clear , so he said ," But... But ... You are a married guy Pallavan ! What you are doing is inappropriate ...And ...And think about Vasudha , she is your wife and you cannot betray her Pallava !!" Saravana told his cousin. " Your concerns are legit Saravana ! But think about the circumstances in which we got married . No relationship could survive when it was being built on lies and falsehood , also I don't even know if she wants to be in this relationship . I thought all night about the incident you told me ... Ab.. About Vasudha and Karthik and I think she does have the freedom to pursue anyone she likes and that applies to me as well. I know Thara is interested in me , so I thought .... Why not give her a chance ." Pallavan told a shocked Saravanan , it took a few minutes for him to come out of his shock and when he found his tongue , he asked that one thing that he thought was extremely important, " So you are saying ... You are giving Thara a chance ?" , " Hmm... Yes Saravana ! I'm pretty sure that mine and Vasudha's relationship will come to an end sooner than later and when it happens I don't want to brood over anything instead I'm of giving another chance at love..." When Pallavan said those words , it was Vasudha's face that popped into his mind and somewhere deep in his heart he meant what he said about falling in love once again , " So ... Yeah I said it, now just leave Saravana ! Let me do my job in peace..." saying that Pallavan went on to work on his computer but in his mind Pallavan wished for his doubts to be baseless regarding his cousin. After a few seconds he heard his cousin go out of the cabin, Pallavan sat back in his chair and stared at the closed doors of his cabin for a long moment and so many thoughts swirled around in his mind , 'Hmmm... Now all I've to do is to wait for Saravana to do something ... Oh God ! I really hope Saravana doesn't do something that would confirm my doubts about him.' Pallavan exhaled audibly and continued his work.
In her station , Vasudha continued to work on her task , after sometime she heard someone calling her and when she looked up she saw Shreya was standing next to her , from the look on her face and her earphone still dangling on her neck , Vasudha realised that Shreya has just arrived. " Good morning Vasudha ! You are early ! " Shreya asked her new friend . " Good morning Shreya ! Yeah , my bus was early today and also if I start early , there wouldn't be much traffic at this time of hour ." Vasudha told Shreya. " That's good Vasudha ! I woke up late today , so I had to call Rahul to pick me up. He went to park his bike and I don't know why he is not back yet ." Saying this Shreya looked in the direction of the elevators and sat in her chair. A few minutes later Rahul came to his station , he looked flushed and there was a hint of surprise in his face. He looked around their team members' stations and hurriedly pulled his chair between Shreya and Vasudha's chair. Shreya and Vasudha looked at each other with a confused look on their face seeing Rahul's sudden craziness , because it looked as if he was struck with a beam ofinsanity on his head!
After sitting between his friends , Rahul turned their chairs towards him and for a long moment he looked at both of them without uttering a word , the three of them exchanged looks with each other and it was Shreya who broke the silence in their small circle , " Idiot ! What happened to you? Why are you so surprised ? What is the matter ? Tell us now or we're gonna continue our work ! " Saying this Shreya started to turn towards her computer , but before she could turn fully Rahul pulled her armrest and stopped her from turning. " What is it da ...?" Shreya asked her friend , a little irritated at his antics , " Yes ! Tell us what is the matter Rahul! I don't want us getting scolded by our team leader so early in the morning ." Vasudha told Rahul. Hearing this Rahul opened his mouth , " You are so worried about what our team leader would think Vasudha ! But I don't think he cares about what others would think about him , you would agree with me after listening to what I'm gonna say ...." Rahul extended his foreword rather mysteriously and seriously . "Well ! we will know what he did only after knowing about the matter , spit it out Rahul !" Shreya snapped at her friend . Even Vasudha was getting irritated at Rahul's lengthy speech . " Alright girls! Do you know our team leader was hugging Thara inside the lift in front of all the employees..." before Rahul could even finish , both Vasudha and Shreya screamed in surprise "What.." " WHAAAT" " Oh ! Keep your voices down girls ! Everyone in our floor is talking about this , someone from the testing team told this to someone on our floor and I heard this from Nithin , the guy from Karthik's team ." Shreya was genuinely surprised at the news but the reason for Vasudha's surprise was that , she didn't think anyone would interpret the scene this way and this made her to remain silent for a few moments while Shreya continued the conversation , " What are you saying Rahul? I couldn't believe this , our Pallavan did this ? This is unbelievable ... I thought he was not interested in Thara , why the interest now after two years of ignoring her ..." Shreya wondered but she spoke quietly so no one else could hear their conversation. " Even I thought the same thing Shreya !... Why now...? Why are you so quiet Vasudha ? Why don't you say something ?'' Rahul asked a very silent Vasudha . '' You sure Rahul? Is this what they are saying ? " Vasudha asked Rahul , " ofcourse I'm sure Vasudha ! This is what everyone is talking about right now! Why would I say otherwise ..?" Rahul replied with absolute sincerity . Vasudha remained silent for a few moments , " I don't think we have the right to comment on anyone's personal choices and decisions and moreover didn't you guys say Thara has been in love with our team leader for the past two years ...? Maybe he had a change of heart and thought of giving himself a chance with her . Also there is nothing wrong in that and there are no office rules against in-office relationships! So who are we to pass comments on their personal life ?" Vasudha said to both of them. " But..." Shreya tried to say something but Vasudha cut her off , " No buts , Shreya ! Now guys lets get to work before anyone saw us having a private meeting during the working hours!" ," Well said Vasudha ! Even I got carried away a moment there , let me go and start my work ." Saying this Rahul rolled his chair into his station and started to work.
Vasudha never thought people would start a rumour like this about Thara and her husband however she didn't want to correct the false rumours as it would make matters even worse so she just went along with what everyone was saying , moreover she knew what exactly happened between her husband and Thara. But even after convincing herself of the same , the rumour did hurt her heart a bit. It took sometime for her to push her thoughts away from her consciousness and to resume her work. After sometime she saw Thara and Rithika walking towards their stations over their station partition panels , Vasudha also noticed a few people staring at Thara but from Rithika's expression Vasudha understood that they both know the reason for people staring at them , so very calmly Rithika and Thara sat in their stations and started their work. ' Oh ! Looks like she is enjoying the attention , maybe she doesn't care about the rumour.... Oh! wait a minute ... what if she was the one who started the rumour in the first place ..... Uuff! Why is being married to him becoming more and more complicated by the minute....! ' Vasudha thought to herself , exhaled a long breath and shook her head to clear her mind and resumed her work .
On the other hand , far away from everyone stood Saravanan in the secluded balcony near the restrooms of their floor. He was thinking about something very seriously , his eyes had a faraway look in them . After mulling over what it is that plagued his mind , Saravanan looked up at the late morning sky , the sunrays giving a pleasant warmth on a early winter day . He inhaled strongly as if trying to make himself strong enough to be capable doing what he thought of doing in the future. Staying there for a few more minutes Saravanan started to walk towards the main working area with a satisfied yet wicked smile on his face.
YOU ARE READING
Falling In Love With You
RomanceThis is a story about two strangers falling in love through the course of their married life...A love story between a plus sized girl and an sexier than thou guy who fall in love despite the differences in their caste , status and lifestyle... ...
