When starts align

Part 13

She saw him walking towards her and there was a momentary havoc in her delicate heart. 

"Eii ivlo azhaga hot ah irukan... oru thadava koodava sight adichadhu illa?", her close fried Rathi had exclaimed. 

That was the first time she truly looked at him with focus. Since their very first interaction which had been very unfortunate, they both tried to keep their distance. She never stayed in the same place as him and even if she delayed by more than a minute he would find a way to go elsewhere. 

That day she had her friend over for a jam session as their exams were finally over and Rathi was one of the few that knew about the broomstick incident. 

She always addressed him as "Anna oda friend" because that is all he was. No one had ever seen him until that day.

When she heard Rathi asked with such unconvinced tone, she was intrigued. 

"Apdi enna di iruku? He is yet another guy", she had answered before moving her gaze to look at him. 

The first thing she noticed was a black thread on his legs. He had worn a beige jogger pants, sitting on their day bed in the living room with one leg crossed and the other on the floor. 

Her eyes moved up and fell on his silver kada on his left hand and then his biceps that were elevated by the tight sleeve.

He was in a coffee brown athletic button down shirt. 

He was holding her favorite coffee mug on his other hand. The one that read 'Live. Laugh. Love'. The one her "Anna's friend" had gifted to her brother but she eventually made it hers. 

She chuckled at that memory.

Her eyes slowly fell on his jawline that made her gulp a little. It was as if it was sculpted or painted. The beard was trimmed and yet did not hide his dimple entirely. 

She still remembered how she had held her breath before looking at his eyes. 

She did not know why but it was just too intense for her. 

Their eyes had met for a split second and it had her paralyzed but she recovered quickly before there was any true damage done. 

"Semmaya dan irukan aana namakku set aagadhu", she told herself  after enjoying one of those guilty pleasure moments. 

Memories that rushed back like a wave as she saw him walking towards her.

"Tara...", he whispered into her ears breaking her stupor. 

"Kanava?", he teased with a smirk. 

She hated that he had this effect on her. She was a mess every time he was close. 

"Did he feel the same way when she was around?", she was curious. Wishing that she had the ability to read his mind, she nodded between a yes and a no. 

---------------------------------------------------

After a long, self pep-talk Aakash built up his confidence to call Vasisht to get Tara's contact. 

Although he was skeptical after the events of that morning, this was his best shot at reaching her and he was not going to hesitate. 

He clicked on the call button, anxiously waiting for him to pick. 

"Hello.. sollu da", Vasisht answered and he let out a relieved sigh after hearing a calm friendly tone which was certainly not what he was expecting. 

"Am so sorry for being very ...", he could not find the right words for the way he behaved.