30/11/2019, Saturday - At karaikudi.

Shiva's P. O. V:

I waited in the corridor in front of our hotel room for Hari to come out.

Hari rushed out locking the room. Shwetha came out of the other room with a confused face.

" Where is that another girl? " Hari asked her.

" She said she will order the food to the room and she also told me to not come in till she tells me to " Shwetha said and started walking to the restaurant.

" Seems weird " Hari said following her.

Weird? I should be the one feeling that!

I fake coughed and started walking behind them after giving a deathly stare towards Aparna's room.

As I was being hungry, I decided to postpone being angry on Aparna.

We ate the food and waited for the bill. I couldn't control my curiosity so I decided to ask Shwetha about it.

" Shwetha, Do you know any friend of Aparna named Michael? " I asked.

She looked at me shocked but soon covered up her reaction.

" Yeah, some old school friend " She said calmly.

I was right, he must be that guy in that photo in her room, her first love.

" How did you know him? Have you met him somewhere? " Hari asked.

" No, I was just curious " I said.

" It's better to ask Aparna directly if you want more details " Shwetha said looking down.

" And Shiva, we have to visit one building today. It's already four. We should start going " Hari said standing up.

" We don't even know how to study that building! We need Aparna to come with us. " I said.

" I am not going in! She will kill me!" Shwetha said a bit scared.

How can she be scared of her own friend?

" Fine, I will drag her out. " I said and walked upstairs.

I stood in front of the room and rang the calling bell. There was no answer.

I knocked on the door twice, and didn't get any answer again.

I knocked louder and this time I heard an yelling from inside.

" Shwetha! You are dead! Instead of saving me, you watched everything and enjoyed it! " Aparna shouted.

Suddenly the door sprang open and I was hit with a huge pillow on my face.

" You traitor! " Her voice trailed down looking at me. Her face became pale.

" Me? " I asked confused. I threw in the pillow over her bed and glared at her.

" Sorry! I will get ready in a minute , I totally forgot about the study " She said and ran to her suitcase. She started to brush her hair, all the while trying to avoid looking at me.

" Who is Michael? " I finally asked.

Aparna froze at her place and slowly turned to look at me.

" Is he your first love? " I asked. She stood silently without answering.

" Did he cheat on you or what? " I asked again.

" No " Aparna answered slowly.

" Then why were you feeling bad about him? " I asked taking a step towards her.

" Did I blabber all that in my sleep? " She finally asked.

" Yes. But I am curious. It didn't seem like you were blabbering. It felt like you were venting out. " I said.

" Shiva, I told you this already. Let me say this again. " She looked at me folding her hands and with her shaking eyes.

" You have already made your choice. And now, anything between us is just meaning less. I did give you a chance, but now,it doesn't matter.

If you keep involving yourself in my life, it would be more hard for me when you leave me again. Stop thinking that you have some right in my choices. It is already very hard for me. " She said and walked out quickly.

Everytime I tried to forget my reality, Aparna was slapping it right at my face.

She was right that I was being a coward. But the way she spoke now, it felt like a warning to stay away from her life, as if she is suffering something huge.

I didn't want to meddle with her again. I was just curious. Maybe I shouldn't.

I looked down at my ring. It meant nothing than a life sentence to me. But it doesn't mean the same to everyone.

Hope. It's a stupid thing. We think it would die easily, but it sprouts again even from the smallest gaps. How do I tell Aparna that , everytime I see her, I feel that hope again.

Everytime I thought she left me, she came back. But she doesn't see hope on looking at me. She sees me as a pathetic idiot. Maybe it's better if I give up right now.

My phone rang and woke me up from my thoughts. It was Hari.

I quickly locked the room and rushed downstairs to our car.

Everyone were inside the car already. Hari waved at me to run faster.

I ran to the car and sat on the backseat where I sat before. I decided to stay away from Aparna for my own good.

We reached the old house and started looking at the rooms inside. The house was more than 150 years old. The teak works inside that one house alone would bring us more than one crore.

Aparna was busily taking notes and I decided to photograph everything. The love birds disappeared again.

" Do you think we can recreate this? " I asked Aparna, scared at the challenge that she has pulled in.

" We won't recreate this. It is impossible to do this. We will create a new style, which would suit our modern taste too. " She said.

" I can deal with modern " I said.

" You can. We only need to add this chettinad taste. " She said.

Hari and Shwetha appeared again. They had taken notes on chettinad planning principles.

" Are you done with the work? " Aparna asked them.

" Yes! " Hari said confidently.

" Great, what is the name of the front portico? " Aparna asked.

" Isn't it portico? " Hari said nervously.

" No, it is not. Get the data properly! If you both don't do it properly, I will make sure to stop your wedding! " Aparna shouted at them.

They both ran out scared of her.

" Were you always like this? " I asked her.

" I don't compromise on work. "She said.

She was right. It is scary to look at her at times.

After completing the study, we went back to the hotel.

I slept off as soon as I fell on my bed. I was too tired from the travel and the work.

The next day I woke up as my phone rang. It was a call from Anjali.

It was 7 in the morning. Hari was snoring beside me. I ignored the call and slept again.

I woke up again as another call came. I cursed at my phone and looked at screen.

I sat up slowly.

It was from my uncle, or my father in law as he calls himself. I picked up the call , so that he doesn't call my amma.

" Shiva, are you alright? " He asked.

" Yes, uncle. I am fine. " I said.

" I heard from Anjali that you are working even on Sunday too. " He said.

" It's not work. We are studying to collect data for our project. " I said.

" Project? I thought your office was already closed! Is it some imaginary project?" He said laughing.

" No, it is not." I said controlling my stress.

" You can do anything you want now. After marriage, just get some real job. Only then I can handover Anjali to you with a peaceful heart. " He said.

I cut the call and threw my phone over the table.

" Shiva, it's okay " Hari said patting my shoulder.

" It's not okay! " I said pulling my hair.

" Let them tease you all they want. We are going to prove them wrong. Just bear everything till then " Hari said.

I nodded my head and walked out to the bathroom.

The words kept ringing inside my head. Words of everyone waiting for me to give up. I shook off the thoughts and went about with the day.

We started our second study by 10 in the morning and completed it before lunch. Aparna sensed that I was not in the good mood. So she didn't budge me.

The love birds did good job collecting all data and didn't try to hide away. We wrapped up everything and drove back.

I was trying very hard to come out of my thoughts, but I couldn't.

As we entered the hotel to check out , Hari silently dragged me to the bar in the basement.

" Are you being serious? " I asked him.

" Aparna said she will drive since she hates me playing music. So let's have some drink before we go. Come on. You can have a change of mind" Hari said.

" Still, it would be hard for her to drive all the way from here. You need to be sober. " I said.

" I drove all the way from there! You didn't even care. Now I need to help her. So you won't drink too? " He asked.

" Who said anything about me not drinking? " I said.

********

From the author,

Sorry for the very late chapter, had to take care of some college works.

This chapter is dedicated to my constant support. It was supposed to be released on her birthday, but I got caught up in some other work.

To my first listener of this story and the reader who was here will all her heart, Happy birthday. Sorry for the late wish.

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