Kalaba Kadhala | Part 1

Chapter 4

Italics- translation

Anushkha and Prabhas walked towards the small canteen nearby the hospital parking. They had minimal items on the menu and they both ordered tea and snacks. Anushka proceeded towards an empty table by the window and Prabhas followed her. They took a seat and again an awkward silence prevailed in the air, both guessing who should make the first move. Anushka quietly stared out of the window when she heard him asking-

"Where do you live?"

"Um... in chennai only. Half an hour from here".

"Oh! With family?" He asked.

"No... I live in a women's hostel. I'm not from Chennai actually." She said and he passed a nod framing the next question in his mind.

"What about you?" Anushka asked.

"Haa... we were born and brought up in Chennai."

"Oh! I thought you were Telugu... I heard you speaking over the phone when I called"

"Yea actually my mother was Telugu. She taught us. I mostly speak in Telugu with Dhruv. Aana enak Tamil nalla teriyu" (but I know Tamil very well) They both smiled at each other. "You mentioned you're working?"

"Ah yea... I'm into IT".

Prabhas hissed sarcastically hearing her answer. "Sssss... tch tch. Boring life".

"Hey! Excuse me" She tried to sound offended but giggled at last making his eyes sparkle seeing that. How beautiful can someone look when they smile? He wondered.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Business". He replied with the usual lie that he says to everyone. Well, he cannot go around and say he's Don. He has got to maintain a civilian image in the society to not invite unwanted legal issues to his business even though all his illegal actions happened with the consent of police and political officials.

She nodded accepting his answer.

Prabhas noticed his quota of questions was over and they weren't speaking to each ither anymore. Clearly, they both were smitten by each other's personality and wanted to learn more but the situation was not right. He can't flirt around with a girl who saved his brother's life that too in a hospital.

"Anushka..." He called her name, and she felt goosebumps. Her name was so melodious? She thought to herself. She looked at him while he continued saying – "I don't know how should I thank you and for what all I thank you... Dhruv is the only family I have left. I cannot imagine a life without him. And he's still with me because of you. You saved him Anushka... you got him to hospital, gave him blood... I don't think anyone else would take such a risk". She admired the genuinity in his words. At this point, she actually felt proud that she helped Dhruv.

"Hey no need to thank me! It is all Dhruv's luck..." She said humbly.

They got silent seeing a waiter approaching them with the ordered item. He left after setting up the table. They both took a sip of their tea and continued the chat.

"But I must say, you're so brave... Intha matiri social service adikadi pannuvingala?" (do you do this kind of social service often?) Prabhas asked smirking.

"You know what? I'm petrified of blood. I get panic seeing it". She said making his eyes go wide.

"You're kidding?" He asked unbelievably.

"No I'm not. Nejama... enak ithellam romba bayam". (Seriously, I'm scared of all this).

"Then how did you manage to do all this?"