A Tamil Lesbian Wedding

It is okay.

It was 10 pm. An hour had passed but no trace of Sharini. Sheetal was worried but didn't know what to do. The teacher's parents did not bother calling her or checking up on her. And it bothered Sheetal more. She remembered the words she threw at her best friend in the morning.

Sheetal climbed the stairs to the terrace of the block of apartments in which Sharini's family stayed. The two families lived in adjacent buildings, both on the second floor, such that their balconies faced each other.

There were fourteen identical blocks in the complex, each block named A through M, along with a medium sized parking ground and a smaller play area. Each block had upto 3 floors and a terrace.

The first two floors of a block composed of three 1BHK flats each. The third floor had one 2BHK and a 3BHK. Above that, the terrace had multiple clotheslines, divided by white painted lines on the floor, such that there were at least 2 clotheslines for each apartment house in that block.

The staircase in the block opens up to a concrete overhead water tank which separates the area of clotheslines from the other half of the terrace with benches and potted plants.

Sheetal walked over to the water tank and stopped in her tracks when she saw the person she had been longing for the whole day.

Sharini was there, sitting at the top of the overhead tank, her back turned to Sheetal. She sat at an edge, her feet dangling into the nothingness of the air.

Sheetal eyed the iron ladder that was stuck to the tank wall and the terrace floor. The barely blue hollow ladder was rusty in many places and missing a couple of steps.

Wasting no time, Sheetal climbed the ladder and went atop the water tank, but hesitated when she was close to the taller girl. To her surprise, Sharini patted the little space on the edge beside her, urging the other to sit beside her. Sheetal obliged.

“Where were you? Do you know how many times I called you? Do you know how worried-”, Sheetal started but was cut off when she saw Sharini extend a hand with her phone.

“It’s dead. Charge illa.”, the teacher informed in a monotone voice.

“When did you come back? How? I never heard your scooter sound”, Sheetal continued to inquire, trying to get her heart to calm down. She tried to recall but clearly remembered that she never heard that very familiar sound of the scooter.

Sharini sighed. “I was going... somewhere. But it stopped in between. Had to send it for service. Some kind of engine problem it seems. I walked back. Been here for like.. some 5 hours or something.”

“What were you doing here all alone all this time?”

“I don't know“, was Sharini's reply. She kept staring ahead into the darkness of the night sky. She didn't know how she was able to talk to the other so calmly. She felt nothing. Or, maybe, tired? She didn't know.

A minute passed before Sheetal spoke again. “Sharini, sorry d.”

“It's fine, you don't have to tell me anything.”

“No, please don't be like this. All formal with me. I'm really sorry.”, Sheetal pleaded. I didn't mean it, she wanted to add.

A tired chuckle escaped her lips as the teacher tried to fake a smile. “Why should you be sorry? You didn't say anything wrong. I am the one who should be apologizing. I talked about something stupid. Something that is not possible. And I'm sorry. What you said was right.”

“No. No, no.. no. Please. Nothing I said was right. I only wanted... I didn't mean to hurt... ” Sheetal swallowed, unable to form proper sentences as some form of a panic kicked in her senses. She didn't know what to say.

Her inner conflict was never resolved and it was still very much there within her, but she also wanted to assure her friend that she did not mean to put it across like that. With harsh words. She also wanted to make it clear that she did share the feelings. She just did not know how to live with those feelings, without thinking about the future.

Sharini somehow saw right through the latter, and had a bitter feeling at the pit of her stomach. Unconsciously, she reached out to pat the palm of the other that rested between the two.

“Sheetal,” , she called, waiting for the girl to look at her. “it is okay. It really is. Maybe... maybe we can move past this. Whatever 'this' is.” , she reassured, but her own heart was breaking with her words. She didn't know how to move past this. Move past them. A them that never existed.

The other couldn't speak anymore. Sharini heard her companion try to suppress her little sobs and squeezed her palm into the Sheetal's. But then, she withdrew her hand as quickly, when she felt Sheetal grab onto it.

“I-I, am leaving tomorrow morning. To Chennai. Got school. ” Sharini quickly changed the topic. “You will be coming on...?”

Sheetal quickly but frantically wiped away any traces of tear on her face before uttering a reply. “..Wednesday.”

Sharini nodded, the silence of the night slowing into her. Oh, night, she realized the time. “It must be late. Go”, she urged Sheetal to go home. She knew that her own parents might not be looking out for her but Sheetal's parents did worry when the girl was not at home. They always did.

Seeing the other not moving from the spot, Sharini decided that she should be the one to walk away. And that she did. She climbed down the ladder, holding a hand out for Sheetal to get down as well.

Sheetal had climbed without a thought, but when it was time to get down on the same, she remembered that she's afraid of ladders. She held onto Sharini's hand, holding it tight as she jumped the last two steps, landing on the terrace floor with little to no balance. Sharini caught her by her shoulders, bringing her back to her feet.

The small eye contact they made, ended awkwardly when two moved away from each other. Sheetal didn't know what came over her, but she felt a sudden surge that went through her whole being, she reached forward and wrapped her hands around the taller. She hugged the other with all her might, holding her in a hug.

The teacher took a sharp intake of breath, her hands shooting up to reciprocate but stayed mid-air. She was unsure of what was happening and what to do. She let her body take over, and gently patted the shorter on the back.

The two stayed like that for a small moment, and then Sheetal took off, running away to her home. Sharini laid right there against the water tank, falling asleep on the terrace that day, little stars decorating the night sky and little tears decorating the girl's face.

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A/N:

I'm very happy to see that people are reading this book and I want to say, thank you so much.

I would really love to see your interactions, comments and suggestions on the book.

And just to let you know, I started this book just to push myself and put my thoughts out on a platform, trying my hand at writing. I do not have a complete plot or next chapters written out. I post as and when I write and I rarely do write. So, I would really appreciate it if you can bear with me and my slow updates.

Thanks again. Have a wonderful day!