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💖 Chapter 16 💜

'Aadhi💜' her contacts read as Laxmi went through her phone

"Hmm chat pannalam" Laxmi thought, why not, he is going to be free anyways

--

Ping!

The phone vibrated, and Aadhi nearly dropped the whole box of toothpaste he was holding.

'Laxmi 💖'

Laxmi: Hey :)

Aadhi grinned so widely he was sure anyone could’ve seen the idiotic smile from a mile away.

Aadhi’s fingers hovered over as he tried to find the perfect reply. Alayira maariyu iruka koodadhu pudikadha maariyu iruka koodadhu.

Aadhi: Hey! How’s your day going?

As soon as he hit send, he realized how generic that sounded. But Laxmi didn’t seem to mind. The next moment, her reply popped up.

Laxmi: Pretty busy! Had to deal with a client who was insisting on glittery eyeshadow for a daytime event. Can you believe it?!

He chuckled, imagining her expression. Laxmi’s  casual ease with which she shared things were refreshing.

From there, it began. Summavae aadum, salanga vera katti vituruku... Chats la thodanguna talksuh voice notes ah maruchu aprom....  Neegalae parunga

"Dei, you’re distracted,” Chithra said, snapping her fingers in front of Laxmi’s face.

“Umm, irunga Chithra akka,” Laxmi said, absentmindedly applying eyeliner to a mannequin’s face, clearly not paying attention to what she was doing. “Aadhi, unaku onnu theriyuma, clients have the weirdest demands? Like one lady wanted me to do makeup that would ‘outshine’ the bride. Che yevolo kevalam la!” she said, laughing.

On the other end, Aadhi was at his father’s store, pretending to arrange shampoo bottles while listening to her. He snorted. “Yeah, well, people have strange ideas, especially avangaluku adiyula dhaan bhoomi iruku nu nenaikuranga la avanga.”

Just then, a loud crash echoed through the store. Kadhireshan’s voice boomed, “Enna da?!!”

Aadhi had accidentally knocked over an entire shelf of bottles. “Ayyo!” he muttered, frantically trying to gather the scattered goods.

“Enna nadandhidhu?” Laxmi asked, suddenly concerned.

“Er... nothing. Keela potuten,” Aadhi confessed, sheepishly laughing.

Laxmi giggled. “Oh, romba busy da, neenga store manager pola?”

Aadhi sighed. “Paathiya, store manager ah? I’m messing up everything. Appa kola panna poraru.”

Laxmi couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Vidunga, it happens. Naanum when I was working on a client’s face, I accidentally applied lipstick on her eyebrows once. I was so distracted during a call!” She paused and smirked. “Actually, adhu unnoda calls ah kooda irukalam”

Aadhi let out a laugh. “Seriously? I must be a bad influence.”

“Bad influence, illa, the wrong influence,” Laxmi teased.

----

Oru evening, Aadhi called Laxmi while she was at home. She was relaxing with her favorite cup of tea and unwinding after a long day at the parlor.

“Aadhi, unaku onnu theriyuma, santhosh irukan la, avan yedho ponnoda suthura nu nenaikuren” she said, sipping her chai.

“Ponnah? Ayyo pavam yar petha ponno, romba kashta pada pora andha shadi maata vechutu,” Aadhi joked, causing Laxmi to nearly spit out her drink.