Panic

1K 33 8
                                    

It was one of the cold nights of December. The Cold Breeze was blowing and the feel was heavenly. Dhruv was laying down on the couch placed in his terrace and was smoking cigarettes.

His ash tray was overflowing with ashes and leftover cigarettes. Dhruv is not a chain smoker but he smokes lots of cigarettes when he's under stress.

"Dhruv, Ennada Panra? 6 mani lendhu inagaye iruke. 12 mani aagudhu ipo. Sapda varalaya keela?"

Dhruv raised his head to see that person who was none other than his father, Vikram.
As soon as he saw his father, he hid those cigarettes behind him.

"Edhuku Dhruv maraikira? I can see that you have smoked so many cigarettes, Look at your ashtray. It's overflowing."

He sounded disappointed.

"Sorry, dad. Inime panna maten."

"That's fine. Come down and have your food. It's 12 am, da.", Vikram said patting his back.

"I'll come, dad. Neenga ponga."

Vikram nodded and left the terrace.

Dhruv who was smoking his cigarette searched for his phone. He got hold of his phone and looked at her pic.
He caressed her cheek in the picture and said, "I wanna hear your voice."

He quickly dialled her number without giving a second thought.

"THE PERSON YOU ARE CALLING IS UNABLE TO PICK UP YOUR CALL RIGHT NOW. PLEASE TRY AGAIN, LATER."

He clenched his jaw in annoyance. Without losing hope, he tried calling her again and again for almost 20 minutes.
He got no response from her.

He was very angry but suddenly he thought of something else, what if she's in some trouble?

He panicked and left the terrace.
He entered his aesthetic room and wore his jacket. He grabbed his car keys and without making any noise, he left his house.

"I hope you're fine and safe."

He drove his car to her house. Dhruv knew about her whereabouts and her family details. As soon as he reached her place, he parked his car at one place and rushed towards her house.

He entered the lift and reached her doorstep. The lights were off and he assumed that they were asleep.

He pressed the door bell with hesitation. He waited for sometime but got no response.

He pressed it again and withing few seconds, someone opened the door.

She was a lady, maybe in her 50s.

"Hi, I'm here for Sanam.", Dhruv said hesitantly.

"What? Sanam yahan aao. Koi aaya hai tumhe dhoond lekar."

That woman said something in Hindi. Dhruv was able to understand as he's fluent in Hindi.

"Kya? Is wakht? Kaun hai?", Sanam came out of her room adjusting her dupatta and hair.

As soon as she saw him, she froze.

"Dhruv?"

"Maasi, Mai dekhti hoon. Hey, humare college ke event pe aaye the. Isliye mujhe dhoondh lekar aaye hai yaha."

"Is everything alright, Sanam? You weren't picking..."

"Dhruv, wait outside. We'll discuss about it outside. Please.", She said with pleading eyes.

I nodded and came near the lift.

Sanam followed me and I entered into the lift with her.

"Is everything ok? You weren't picking up my call so thought of checking upon you.", I said.

"What the hell, Dhruv? Enna panra? En athai enna nenaipanga? It's 12:30 am. Indha time la oru ponna theditu oruthan vandha enna nenaipanga?"

"Oruthana? Hey, avangaluku theriyadha enna I'm an actor nu?", I smiled.

"Sirikadha. Nee TamilNadu la actor. Idhu Bangalore, Dhruv. They don't even know about you. Ipo yedhuku vandha, naan tha solten la inime enna paaka varadhanu. Why don't you understand?"

His smile faded away as soon as he heard those words from her.

"Sana, don't start again. Unnaku nee, ennaku naan. Avlo than. Nee than en life. Why don't you understand that?"

"Dhruv, Paithiyama Unnaku? You are 8 years older than me. Kitathatta en Anna Vayasu, unnaku. How can we both get married?"

"Babe, that's not even a problem. Remember age is just a number. Arya va vida Sayeesha 17 Vayasu chinna ponnu. Aren't they married and living happily?"

"You're insane, Dhruv. Neenga celebrities, all these might be casual for you. But, not for common people like me."

"Hey, it's not like that. Trust me, you'll be living like my queen."

"Adhellam illa. Just leave me. Ennaku idhellam seri varadhu."

Dhruv's inner beast kicked in. He banged his hand on the lift's side and screamed,

"Hey... Sollite iruken. Unnaku puriyadha, d. Enna panna unnaku en love puriyum. Sollu, d. Sollu."

He screamed.

Sanam who is very sensitive got scared and immediately, tears were flowing on her cheeks. She hated it when someone screams.

Dhruv came back to his senses and looked at the trembling figure of Sanam.

"Hey, Hey, Sorry, Sana. I didn't mean to. Sorry."
He moved towards her to touch her cheeks when suddenly she backed off.

"Please leave from here.", She said and left from there.

"I messed up.", Dhruv cursed in a low voice.

"Sorry, Sanam."

His ObstinanceWhere stories live. Discover now