X Crossed Paths X ( Undergoing Editing )

Demeanour

Was Kathir behaving like Prince Charming...?

No, not yet, of course. But still, Mullai was glad to see the slight changes in him.

He would wish her good morning and good night.

He informed her before going to the office.

Sometimes, he would listen to her talk while eating breakfast.

He watched films with her, discussing the plot and characters.

Mullai always prayed for the day they would have a loving conversation as a couple in love.

Days rolled by...

One fine day, Mullai was dusting the shelf in Kathir's room. Underneath the last shelf, she found something hard and dusty in the blue bag.

"What's this?" She unzipped the bag, coughing a half dozen times while opening it.

Inside, she found a small Lenovo laptop.

"I haven't seen this before," she muttered, biting her lips, putting the broom down, and sitting on the bed.

Slowly and gently, she opened the laptop, and the screen prompted for a password.

"What could it be?" she wondered, typing in Kathir's birthday, Pandian's full name, Lakshmi Amma's birthday. However, the laptop wouldn't open; every attempt showed a red line indicating the wrong password.

Mullai bit her lips, thinking, "Maybe there's something here." With sorrowful eyes, she typed in Manju's name, and voila! The laptop opened with Manju's picture as the wallpaper.

Mullai's heart broke.

"Venam mulla... venam," she told herself, but curiosity got the better of her. She explored the gallery, filled with numerous selfies of Kathir and Manju on their dates.

She didn't want to cry; no tears strained her beautiful face.

Mullai closed the laptop with a huff. The laptop seemed unused for a long time; maybe Kathir had forgotten about it, or perhaps he didn't want to revisit those memories.

Mullai convinced herself with soothing words, "Edhum irrukadhu... orukazhathula avanga virumbunanga. Ippo unga rendu perukum kalyanam aayiduchu... Nee edhum kandada pottu yosikadha, Mullai..."

That evening, when Kathir returned home, he found his wife dull.

"Ennachu ivaluku?" he wondered.

Did he do anything wrong? Mullai was doing everything robotically. The usual cheerfulness had vanished.

Kathir noticed the dullness but didn't ask her anything.

At night, when he settled for breakfast, he found her on the sofa with the blue bag.

"Ennanga... indha laptop naan shelf clean pannumbodhu kedachadhu..." she showed him the bag.

"Oh, idhuva naan rombha naal idha use pannala..." Kathir replied.

"Indha laptop-ku ennaku password theriyala... idhoda passwords enna?" she asked him, playing it safe.

She didn't want to embarrass him or accuse him directly of being stuck in memories of his ex-fiancée while married to her. She understood his situation. So, she tried to remind him indirectly.

And her trick worked.

As Kathir was about to open his mouth to tell the password, his brain struck.

"Ayyo, password avaloda akka oda per ache..." Kathir remembered.