They spend some time in the water and explore the nearby cervices...some has plenty of tiny fish and tadpoles in it, some has worms and insects...the girls hastily get away from there.
Soon Kanna is hungry again, Gayathri and Anandhi offer to help him bring the food from the car. Priya and Jhansi have wandered off and somehow Mullai and Kathir end up sitting together on the grass.
She begins to say something...
K: Shhhhh....adhae kelu... (He whispers)
M: Yethae? she asks in a whisper.
K: Indhae amathiyae dhan.
She looks at him warily..
And then she listens....
An absolute silence... She can hear the leaves rustle in the trees, the birds calling to one another,the insects buzzing about, the fishes going plop plop in the stream. She can hear the sound of him breathing...
Mullai is so painfully aware of him that it hurts.
She glances at his face...
And it steals her breath away...
He is looking at her with such an intensity that her stomach clenches.
He is beautiful.
Never in her life, did she even think, that she would use that word in admiration of a man.
But it is true.
His hair, ruffled in the wind....
His just washed face, has droplets of water shimmering on his long eyelashes.
And his eyes...
The sunlight has changed it to a warm hazel.
She has known him all her life and has just discovered that his eyes change colors.
She is mesmerized by his beauty.
"Azhagae irrukae Kathiru" she almost whispers...but stops...
She licks her now-dry lips.
And he follows the action with his eyes.
His eyes darken to a deep brown.
Both of them know exactly what the other is thinking about.
An other worldly force pulls them together.
They're so close that their foreheads almost touch..
They spring apart when they hear sounds of laughter in the distance.
This is dangerous...
Avunge....
Naan...
Kanna..
Poren..
Lunch..
Both blabber something...
And Kathir pretends to make a phone call and leaves from there...
What just happened? What if someone had seen them? And Kanna...what if he had seen them?
He shudders to think about it...
But the thought that takes precedence over all the others is that...
She leaned forward...
She wanted to kiss him too...
He is a hundred percent sure of it..
He could see it is her eyes.
He feels a bit giddy with jubilation.
He strokes his beard and smiles...
The smile fades away quickly...
K Mindvoice: Seri...neengae rendu perum marupadiyum kiss pannirrungae...athukappuram ennae?
Avae manusale nee illae...kadaisilae nee dhan vethanaiae anubavikkae porae...ava battuku bye sollittu jolly ah college poiduva...
He rubs his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair in frustration.
This has to stop...
He knows that things between Mullai and him can never be the same again.
It all changed that night, in the dark corner of a stairway.
He sighs...
"Annae sonnathukkagae...avalukku help pannittu...athukapprom naan epaiyum polae yen vellaiye paakurren...ithu dhan nammalodae vazhkai". He tells himself...
***
Lunch is a loud and raucous affair... Parvathy has packed such a delicious lunch for them. Kathir makes sure not to sit next to Mullai... He wants to be alone...but Jhansi and Priya end up sitting next to him.
Mullai feels unsettled. What if they all had come ten minutes later? Would they have kissed? Yes, they would have, she is sure of it and her heart beats faster in excitement at that thought, and she immediately feels so ashamed of herself...it is as if she becomes someone else whenever he is around her. She has to put an end to this madness. Just one week and all this would be over and she can go back to her normal college life, till then she has to make sure that she does not give into temptation.
All feel lazy after the heavy lunch,
K: to Anandhi: Seri...polamae...konja neramavathu kadaikku ponomlae.
Ga: Engalukkum veetukku ponom...rombha tired ah irruku..
He looks at Mullai and she nods.
Both of them are subdued on their way back.
Both have a hundred things to say to each other, but neither is willing to start the conversation.
He drops them and doesn't come in when invited inside. Mullai turns at the door of her house to see Jhansi get Kathir's number and save it in her phone.
To be continued...
