Ashwin was busy reading through some documents when his phone rang.
"Ashwin naan Uncle pesaren, Sivaangi's father" came the voice on the other side
"Sollunga uncle, all ok? Sivaangi? Kutties?" asked Ashwin with little panic.
"All good pa, onnum problem illa, just wanted to talk to you, can we come by your hotel today? Are you busy?" asked her father
"Sure Uncle, anytime" replied Ashwin little confused, thinking what it could be about.
Mr and Mrs Krishanan were seated across the sofa from Ashwin, all three of them sipping their coffee while an awkward silence surrounded them.
"Innum ethana naal shoot irukku?" Asked Sivaangi' father as a conversation starter.
"Innum three months at least inga dhaan uncle, neraya work irukku" replied Ashwin with a smile.
"Appo periya project pola? Full movie SG la dhaan shooting ah?" Asked Sivaangi's mother
"Work konjam perisu dhaan aunty" he replied with a smile.
"Appo enna visa la irukeenga?" She asked again
"One year multiple entry visa irukku, but can't stay for more than 56 days at a time, so have to go back to India for at least a week and then have to come back as per Visa rules" replied Ashwin
"Hmm.. naangalum adhey visa dhaan, we are leaving to India this weekend, adhaan adhukku minnadi unga kitta pesalaamnu..." her father dragged
"Neenga dheiriyama poituvaanga, naan paathukaren avangala" Ashwin said reassuringly
Both husband and wife looked at each other for a second then Sivaangi's dad took a deep breath and looked at Ashwin
"I don't know with what intention you have come back in her life Ashwin, but as always you are having a huge impact on her" he said
"Uncle" interrupted Ashwin
"Please Ashwin, let me finish" replied her father in a stern voice
"We both till now have no clue what conspired between you both, but after you left romba suffer pannitta"
"The stress caused by your separation, sudden disappearance of Mika, pre marital pregnancy, adhuvum with twins, she literally went through hell, that it changed her completely. She lost her smile, her chirpiness, eppovume oru rigidness, oru tough exterior nu oru kallu maari aagitta"
"But she didn't give up, she came here with the help of a good friend, konjam konjam ah she started living her life just for the sake of the kids."
"When we thought we will never see our old Sivaangi back again, you came and for past few days, even though she would jump from a building before accepting it, we can see the changes in her, slowly her chirpiness is coming back, and finally after eons we see our daughter smiling and being happy" said her father
Ashwin continued to look at them with mixed emotions, waiting for her father to continue.
"But...... if at all you leave her again, she won't survive it, I mean not mentally alone, but physically too." her father added when Ashwin interrupted with a raised tone.
"Uncle, please"
but it did not create any impact on the father who continued talking with tears in his eyes
"Two kids Ashwin, twins, we bought them up as apple of our eyes, but now one disappeared completely from our life and the other is living like a zombie and as a parent the only person we blame is you. " her father said trying to control his sobs.
"So please, we would prefer a zombie daughter any day to a dead one, I beg of you, leave her alone, I am repeating again, she will not survive another heart break"
"I request you, as a father to father, I need my daughter alive, please" finished Mr. Krishnan breaking into uncontrollable tears.
Ashwin froze in his place, his eyes fixated on the ground. Muffled sobs of Sivaangi's mother was the only sound that could be heard in the other wise grave yard silenced room.
After few minutes, Ashwin got up with a deep breath.
"If that is what you want, I will leave Singapore right away and promise that I will never disturb her ever again, even if it means I have to loose my daughters, but before I come to that conclusion, you both need to know somethings. " said Ashwin and moved towards his wardrobe, opened a numbered locker and took out a huge file.
He sat back down with the file on his lap, looked at the confused parents and started talking.
"I cannot tell you both what happened between us, but whatever happened shook the ultimate core of our relationship so much that I needed a break to think things through" started Ashwin
"I am an extreme introvert Uncle, except for your family, I have never been comfortable with any one, not even my parents. When things happened, I lost that only comfort zone too, that I recoiled myself into my loneliness. "
"You both should know that, when I left for London, I had no idea Sivaangi was pregnant. Yes, I was angry that I left 12 hours before the intended time, but every one knew where I was going and where I will be."
" I could have informed her that I am taking a break, but you and me both know, that Sivaangi is not the type who give you a break, she will keep coming back until she knows everything between us is solved, I am not saying that is wrong, after all that persistent character of hers is what bought me out of my introvert shell and made me fall for her, but at that moment I was not ready for that. I really really needed time to think without any intervention, that I left. I did not disappear from her life, she very well knew where I was going and where I will be for the next one month, just that I left 12 hour earlier than the intended time"
"But, you vacated your house, that is what bothered Sivaangi the most " said her mother.
Ashwin opened his file, took out a document and gave it to them
They both read it silently eyes growing big with surprise. It was the ownership document for a new house, which was just few blocks away from their house.
"Ennadhu idhu? " asked her mother confused
"As I said before, Sivaangi is not the type to give space when on a fight, I should have realized it then, but my mind was so clouded that I didn't think things through, I never expected her to come to the house and see the shifting, I thought once things settle down, I will buy a house and take her there directly, I did buy a house, but by then it was too late" said Ashwin.
"I didn't know that she was pregnant aunty. The Sivaangi I knew when I left was some one who was having a booming career and who won't disappear from the face of the earth just because she fought with her fiancee, I mean even if he had broken up completely, she wouldn't have vacated the house, the city or the country, so you must understand my shock, when I came back from London and realized your entire family is missing. " said Ashwin.
"First I enquired among the closed circle, but all I heard was she finished all her accepted assignments within a month and after that she disappeared completely without a trace."
"When I tried contacting Mika via our company, they said she had quit her job and they had no idea where she was"
"I subtly searched as much as I could without involving third parties much, but everything went in vain. I even called the college she is currently working, but some one from the administration said that they never heard from her after the guest lecture, so I completely removed Singapore from my search grid. When I thought I would never see her again, I got a call from my assistant's girl friend who got a new job as a producer in the local radio here, saying that Sivaangi hosts a show for the radio during special occasions. That was all I needed to hear" he continued
"Thankfully, I was on a break between two projects, I refunded the advance I got for my next movie, finished whatever small works that was pending on my side and got on the next plane to SG."
"I lied about the shoot, there is nothing for me in SG other Sivaangi and the kids, I could have told all these to her on the very first day, we met, but I wanted to win her back being myself not by showing off what I did for her or what I am about to do" he finished, took a bunch of papers from the file and gave to her parents
The both froze with shock when they saw the contents.
"The other day Sivaangi told me she can never come back to India, so I decided to move to SG. Running a restaurant has always been my dream, so I have a leased this space and planning to start one. I have applied for all the necessary permits, waiting for approval from the government. "
"I am not telling any of this now to show off, actually I would request you to not tell Sivaangi about this, as I said before, I want her to accept me whole heartedly not by seeing things like this and accept me out of guilt or anything."
"After all this, if you still think I am a person who will leave your daughter, if you still did not get the confidence and trust in me, let me know, I don't care about this lease loss or anything, I will just drop everything and go back quietly wiping my presence entirely from her life" finished Ashwin.
Her parents continued to stare at the documents in front of them, too dumbfounded to talk.
"SG la business start panradhu avalo easy illaye " asked Sivaangi's father with little hesitation
"I earned a lot in these four years uncle, I liquified all of my assets except for that house, and have also got some help from my father" Ashwin replied
"Unga appa kittaya? but neenga.. I mean unga appa..." stammered Sivaangi's mother not knowing how to finish her sentence. She very well knew about the ego clashes and feud between Ashwin's father and him when it comes to money.
"My ego is nothing before my love for Sivaangi and my family, aunty" replied Ashwin with a smile understanding what she was trying to ask.
"We are extremely sorry Ashwin, I spoke a lot without knowing the complete truth and thank you for explaining to us patiently. There was no need for you to, even when we came we were little worried that you might shut us down citing Nethra and Mithra, but you didn't, thank you so much for clarifying things to us. " said Sivaangi's father with a clear smile.
"I just have one more question.. " he said
"Uncle, I am also a father now, so I can understand your predicaments, please sorry, thanks elaam kekaadheenga, vera enna doubt irundhaalum kelunga, I am obligated to clarify" replied Ashwin
"Marriage? " asked Sivaangi's father
"The very next day she accepts me" replied Ashwin instantly making a happy smile bloom on both parents' face.
"Idhu podhum pa, we will take our leave now" said her father standing up followed by her mother.
"Whatever happened between us had happened uncle, there is no point in doing a post mortem, but I can guarantee you that whatever is going to happen will only be good things" said Ashwin assuring them before sending them off.
Author's note:
Hello!! A chapter that conveys different set of emotions. Good? , bad?, boring?
I have tried to convey the emotions of Sivaangi' s parents regarding Ashwin's arrival. Please let me know whether it is convincing enough via comments
As always boost me and shower your love for the story through your invaluable votes.
Love,
DV