Not A Simple Engineer Boy!

H' & Forty Two: Murugan Thunai (Part 4)

Not a warning, just a piece of information: The chapter has a bit of Tamil conversation; I have explained it in the dialogue itself or it is added in the expression details of the character. You don't need to translate to read :)

I like to keep the conversation real, and this chapter required Tamil to have all the characters' emotions in place.

--

In her absolute delight to see her daughter returning home after years, Saranya's vision probably blurred to glimpse at the people who accompanied Krithika. Composing herself immediately, she smiled, "Oh, sorry, I didn't notice.", she nodded at Satya, "I remember you both.", turning to face Krithika, she asked her, "Why your sir, ma'am, and all these people are here with you?"

"Surprise, the sir is fucking your pretty babe hard!", Farhan muttered to himself. Krishna stomped on his right foot and he winced.

Krishna muttered, "Shut the hell up."

Listening to the muttering noises, Xavier turned his face around and scowled, "Dafuq you guys are my wingmen?", he whispered.

"Vannakkam, Aunty.", Satya held a pleasant smile as she added, "Naanga ulla varalama?", she lightly chuckled while asking Saranya if they were allowed to enter her house.

"Oh, kandipa... Sure, ma'am!", Saranya shook her head, "I just saw you guys and... Sorry, I am not usually this bad when it comes to hospitality."

"It's okay, you saw your daughter after years and probably got emotional.", Xavier helpfully pointed out.

"Yes... You are right, sir.", Saranya nodded.

Letting out a nervous laugh, "Please call me Xavier.", he swallowed a lump and continued, "Sir is unnecessary."

"Oh, no way, you are Krithika's boss how can I not respect you.", Saranya refused to bend to any requests and Farhan silently snickered.

Satya cleared her throat, "Shall we?", she started towards the villa. She pulled Xavier with her, slipping past the mother-daughter duo and striding ahead of them.

--

As soon as they entered the hallway, from out of nowhere Karthik leaped in front, "Hey, Mama, you arrived early!", he hugged Xavier from the front and winked, "See, I kept my promise to support you guys, I came here yesterday itself. Mama, now you have to teach--"

"Yenne!?"

Someone muttered behind Xavier and Karthik's eyes widened. He peeped over Xavier's frame to see Saranya's sallow face as she looked at him in plain horror.

"Yenne nu kupte avare?", she asked her son about what he addressed Xavier to be, to which he just squeaked.

"Karthik!", her voice slightly rose, her face turning red.

"Amm--amma... Akk--akka...", he stammered, "Akka va--"

"Thambi avare Mama nu kupta.", Krithika cut through Karthik's nervous speech, replying on his behalf that he called Xavier as his Mama, "Because that's what one calls their sister's husband."

Xavier sharply inhaled and turned around, "Aunty, I--"

"You...", Saranya held her daughter's hand in a solid grip, so hard that it started to hurt Krithika. Raising her condemnatory index finger, she pointed it at Xavier, "I am not Aunty to you, it's Mrs. Ashok."

Her eyes held so much anger that Krithika had never before in her life had observed. Her Amma had been the gentlest woman she had ever encountered. She had never raised her voice at anyone, fought back her husband, hit her kids, or even tried to threaten them. She was forbearance personified.

But this Saranya was different.

And it scared her.

--

"Mrs. Ashok, we can talk. Please, you are misunderstanding my relationship with your daughter. My intentions are honest and pure."

Xavier's patience met the burning rage within Saranya's eyes. She was beyond angry. Maybe even unhinged.

It was an obvious reaction, he expected her to be enraged at him.

He knew... oh, he knew very well that Krithika was Saranya's little doll, and according to her, he- a guy much older than her baby- had lured her doll into his trap. A twenty-five-year-old flower falling in love with a nine-year-old senior guy was not a daily event- a guy from a different religion, culture, and worst of all a divorcee. The list was too lengthy to make it through a neat conversation.

Even with no age gap and just a tag of 'Christian Mallu', it had been the same reaction of Mrs. Singh when Subhadra had announced that it was either him or no one. Mrs. Singh had been violent, slapping him and throwing him out of her house.

Thankfully, Mrs. Ashok wasn't as brutal as his ex-mother-in-law. Perhaps being a rich businessman of four-and-thirty years helped him gain some respect in front of all the protective Indian mothers.

Wait before you judge...

He understood her sentiments; he wanted no harm and wanted her to relax before he could say anything. His gaze flicked to the hand gripping Krithika's wrist. They were too tight, almost crushing her child's hand yet she didn't care. He sensed that she just wanted to mark her boundary and show Xavier that crossing the limits could cost him more than he would like to know.

"Amma...", he heard Krithika whimper and stared at Saranya's face. There was nothing other than pure wrath and disgust for him. It would have offended him if he hadn't experienced how mothers act against their rational logic to protect their daughters.

His Aai- whom he had witnessed as a progressive woman from childhood- had called Krishna names when he had asked her for Samiksha's hand in marriage. Despite Samiksha living happily with Krishna, she still nursed some lingering resentments toward her younger daughter's love of life.

Perhaps, the mothers had had enough of shitty experiences with males in their lifetime, that they couldn't rely upon the men whom their young daughters chose to lead their life with. It was a sad reality; it was a dangerous wager for them to trust the naive love of their babies and perhaps they preferred to avoid it.

Xavier wasn't a woman to comprehend every thought of Krithika's mother, but he didn't doubt the love of a mother.

And he wanted to try his best to persuade her.

--

A/N

My mom has always been an angry bird, so it was a given fact when I told her about my love- she blasted my ass with her curses. Mothers, I tell you...

In any case, she gradually calmed down over a few days, and as years passed, our bond flourished better than before.

Initially, I wasn't planning to add any song to this chapter, but I was watching Star Vijay's Super Singer; the episodes were dedicated to K. S. Chithra's songs. "Malargal Ketten" is such a joyous song and for some reason, I wanted to add it here.

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