Not A Simple Engineer Boy!

H' & Seventeen: Gifts of Love (Part 4)

"Hel...hello, sir!"

Xavier noticed a few kids- well, college students but for him, they looked like school kids- standing next to his cabin and nodded his head for them to enter.

What are they, nineteen or twenty?

He flashed them a professional smile that he had practiced for board meetings.

He had been expecting this particular bunch of kids, especially after a huge fight with his Kanmani about how he was trying to rush things.

Maybe he was hurrying- funnily, he wasn't getting any younger- but what options did he have when Krithika started to lie to him? There was some issue, something was bugging her but she was trying to dodge it, clearly avoiding sharing it with him.

She had huffed, jabbing his shoulder with her tiny hand, "Muruga! There's no rush to marry, Xav, I was just joking!", to which he had snapped, "Lies are no joke. You are hiding, Kanmani. Don't lie to me, I can read you like a book. Tell me, what is it?", as a reply she had stomped before sprinting out of their home, escaping from his questions.

And after that, for the five weeks, she had been ignoring him. Shunning his attempts to meet her, or respond to his calls, only chatting over WhatsApp whenever she had felt it was crucial to reply.

Seeing her constantly fiddle her fingers, fist her kurti with visible anxiousness, or get annoyed at everything was disconcerting. Xavier wasn't able to see her worried to death, it was paining his heart.

The unanticipated visit of her brother had to do something with her mood shift and there was no other way than to ask the person for the reason, the one who had caused his Kanmani to be as agitated as river currents.

As he had claimed, he had gone out and had advertised for the intake of a set of fresh enthusiastic interns under his research wing. Knowing her brother admiring him and the Xhasis was enough to plan such a scheme. His team had scanned through profiles- thankfully, Karthik had applied for it and had cleared the tests as well as the scrutiny- and fixed a meet-up with him.

It might have been extreme to go through so much shit, but he had no other alternative. Calling a single college for a visit could stir a negative view. At that moment, the Xhasis had no time for a grand multi-college fair setup as well.

Satya had asked him the reason for an impromptu intake in R&D, but he hadn't shared much of the details. If she had known his real intentions, she, for sure, wouldn't have allowed any of the shit.

They had planned a two-day tour for students, inclusive of each department, and a thorough explanation of everything to understand the working strategies. Finally, they were to meet him and discuss their ideas with him.

"Do introduce yourselves."

His eyes were focused on only one boy. Krithika had shown him pictures of her family, he knew who Karthik was amongst the twelve selected students.

"I am Karthik Ashok, B. Tech. final year from--"

"Hmm... Let's move to the conference hall, it feels a bit congested here.", he swiftly cut through the animated introduction of Karthik and observed disappointment paint on his face.

Like sister, like brother...

A smile tugged at his lips as he watched how alike his Machchan was to his Kanmani. Keeping aside the physical appearances, their nature were almost similar. He was able to read the kid like he could read Krithika. And he tried too hard to not grin when his eyes noticed Karthik's lips pouting as he angrily muttered something to his neighbor.

Mr. Ashok did give birth to the dynamo kids.

Moving to the conference hall, Xavier realized that it had been a good decision to skim through untouched talents. All the twelve students had outdone their part, he was a bit taken aback by the passion running through the youngsters. After four hours of long session, he welcomed everyone, "Hope you find your purpose here in the Xhasis!"

"Thank you, sir", they all sang together and started to dash out of the hall.

Walking behind them, he called out, "Umm... Karthik?"

Karthik pivoted within a flash of time as if he had been electrocuted, almost losing his balance and falling over Xavier, "Muruga! Sorry, sir!", it was an inaudible whisper.

Tamilians and their Muruga.

Xavier couldn't back himself as he grinned while holding Karthik straight, "No problem."

"Did you call my name?", Karthik was still surprised that Xavier remembered his name.

"Yes, I did.", Xavier left the kid's arm and continued, "I have something important to talk about with you, could we go back to my cabin for that?"

He could see Karthik's eyes widening like saucers, "O...Okay, sir."

Well, if not your sister, I want you to be honest with me.

--

A/N

No reason to add the "Kadhalium Penin" song here. It was just ringing in my ears for the whole day XD