Ashwin pushed his luggage inside the house and sat on the sofa completely drained and exhausted.
He looked around the empty house, almost choking. The intensity with which he felt the loneliness now is thousand times more than what he had felt for these four years, especially when that single word "Appa" reverberates in his ears continuously.
He took a deep breath and looked at the time, she would have started to college by now and the kids to school, he has to wait for hours together now before he could hear a single syllable out their mouths.
Unable to bear the emptiness of the house anymore, he called his mother.
"Sollu da kanna, reach aagitiya? " came his mother's soothing voice on the other end relaxing him a bit.
Ashwin had not informed his parents yet about their grand kids, he wanted to do it in person and not via phone.
"Vandhuten ma, neraya pesanum, I am planning to come home now, appa veetla iruppaara? " he asked
"Irukkaru pa, rendu perum veetla dhaan irukkom, enna pa edhavadhu prachanaya? Sivaangi innum kovama irukaala? edhuvume solla maatengaraye?" his mother asked in a concerned tone.
"Adhellam illa ma, we are ok now, I have tell you about us and more, not something that can be discussed via phone, I will come home and talk to you both, vandhu pesaren ma" replied Ashwin before hanging up the call.
Ashwin always found night drives relaxing so he decided to start driving at dusk. Before that he had something to settle in chennai.
Whole of the 3.5 hours journey from SG to chennai, his mind was thinking about a single matter. "How did Akash come to know about the restaurant and especially its location?".
Despite being influential, there is no way in hell he could have obtained such sensitive information from the government. Informing about shoots is one thing, but when it comes to disclosing personal information, the government has strict NDAs and no one would have the guts to break it.
Very few people knew about it, Sakthi and his girl friend, Sivaangi's parents and his manager here in Chennai.
Out of all the suspects, his suspicion is completely on his manager who will have the most to loose in case Ashwin decides to quit acting, besides that he would bet on his life that no way Sakthi or his girl friend Nithya would ever betray him.
He took his mobile and dialed his manager's number.
"Hello Ashwin, good morning, reached safely?" came his manager Badri's voice on the other end
"Yes Badri, can you come home? I am leaving to my home town tonight and have some details to discuss with you before leaving" replied Ashwin in a blank tone not giving away his anger.
"How did Badri know that he is coming today? " Ashwin thought.
"Sure Ashwin, will be there in another half an hour or so" replied Badri before hanging up.
Badri sat in front of Ashwin sipping his coffee looking at him with at most concentration.
"Ennoda business plan in SG had flopped Badri and it has caused me extensive monetary loss, the only way for me to recover from that is to resume acting" said Ashwin looking at Badri with keen eyes.
"I am sorry to hear about it Ashwin, but fret not, I already have two production houses waiting to sign you" replied Badri. trying really hard not to show his pleasure in his voice yet failing miserably to do so, confirming Ashwin's suspicion.
"Hmm, good to know, but don't you want to know why my business proposition failed?" asked Ashwin leaning on the sofa, crossing his legs.
"I am not sure Ashwin, sollunga, what happened?" asked Badri, gulping, looking at the majestic stature of Ashwin, who was sitting like a king.
"Nambikai dhrogam, stabbed in the back Badri. They think they have successfully executed their plan, and that I have ran away silently" said Ashwin pausing a bit.
"But when a tiger hides, goes silent, it is not because it is scared, it is because it is strategizing its move silently, taking in every bit information about its prey, waiting patiently, and strike exactly when the prey is at its lowest with a single kill strike" Ashwin added getting up from the sofa
Badri too followed him gulping, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Yaaru Ashwin panninadhu kandupudichiteengala? what are you going to do?" asked Badri now fear evident in his voice
"Me? what can I do? I am a normal person like you Badri, not some super hero to create a plan out of thin air and execute it, I am not going to do anything" Ashwin replied with a smirk opening his laptop bag.
Badri let out a sigh of relief.
"He will be anticipating my retaliation right now Badri, so he will be prepared, but I am not going to react, but watch silently, and when he is at the lowest, I will hit him back." said Ashwin taking out some documents and reading them once.
"The main part is he knows that I know and from this very second he will spend the rest of his life waiting for me to retaliate and hurt him, every single plan he makes he has to wait with baited breath until it is executed hoping I don't do anything to spoil it, every single decision he makes, he will always make with me in his mind. That mental torture he is going to suffer the rest of his life, waiting, is more than enough punishment, don't you think?" asked Ashwin handing him the document.
"Enna idhu?" asked Badri now clearly sweating and shivering.
"I am cancelling your managerial services, there is a check inside compensating for early contract cancellation" said Ashwin casually.
"Ashwinnn.." dragged Badri.
"From this day, every single contract negotiation or movie you sign for any one you work with, be careful, hope and pray to god that I don't interfere. Bye Badri" said Ashwin literally pushing him outside the house and closing the door behind him.
Ashwin started driving towards Coimbatore, his mind little bit clear now. He has no intentions of retaliating either against Akash or Badri. According to him, loosing Sivaangi is punishment enough for Akash and as far Badri is concerned, loosing Ashwin will be his biggest loss as Ashwin is the highest revenue creator among all his clients.
His concerns are all but one thing, how to convince Sivaangi to move to India with him as now his plans to move to SG has failed.
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Ashwin entered his huge ancestral home to be welcomed by the people who work for his family.
Even though everything looked exactly the same, yet he felt something different, there was extra glow in all the workers' faces.
He smiled warmly at them but they managed to give only a shy smile back.
"Enna Vasanth, eppadi irukeenga?" asked Ashwin entering his house, greeting his house manager.
"Nalla irukken ney, ungala paathu romba naalagiduchu, neenga eppadi irukeenga?" asked Vasant back
"Super super! amma appa ok va? " Ashwin asked while removing his shoes.
"Ellarum ok ney, thoongittu irukaanga, ezhupava?" Vasanth asked back.
"Illa venam, enakkum drive pannitu vandhadhu tired ah irukku, naan poi freshen up pannitu, rest edukaren, oru cup coffee mattum room ku eduthutu variya please? " replied Ashwin while climbing the stairs that leads to his room.
He came out from a hot water bath with just a towel around his waist, opened his wardrobe and started searching through it when he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in" replied Ashwin still facing his back to the door.
He finally decided and pulled out a white plain polo t shirt, when a pair of small hands came winding around his bare waist making him jump with shock, that he lost his balance and both of them fell on the bed.
"Ayyo Ashwineyy, ezhundhiru, ezhundhiru, valikudhu" screeched Sivaangi pushing him away from her.
Ashwin very slowly rolled over from her, raised himself on his elbows and looked at her enticingly.
"Ayyo shame shame puppy shame, poi t shirt pottutu vaanga" she said closing her eyes.
"Yen adhu 10 seconds minnadi enna katti pudikarcha therilaya?" he asked winking at her.
"Adhu, ungalukku shock and surprise kudukanumnu yosikaama panniten" she said, turning away, unable to look at his partially naked body.
Ashwin smiled, got up and slowly started changing to his clothes, his eyes totally on her, loving and capturing every single facial reaction and her real struggle to not look at him.
Once fully dressed he came and sat next to her.
"Hey kedi, inga enna panra?" he asked.
"Inga enna panrana, en veetla naan irukaama vera yaaru iruppa?" she asked back with a pride face.
"Parra" Ashwin replied with a raised eyebrows and a downward curved smile indicating his appreciation and surprise.
Sivaangi moved close to him and hugged him very tight.
"Evalo loss Ashwin?" she asked with a sudden maturity in her voice.
Ashwin pushed her away from him and looked into her eyes.
"Unakku.." he dragged.
"Ellame theriyum, the moment you left, both me and kids felt miserable, enna pannaradhu therila, I wanted to follow you right away, but the mere thought of stepping into this country again, freaked me out. So I hesitated" she said
"But the torture was real Ashwin, ungala send off pannitu I went to the radio office for a special show and that is when I spoke to Nithya by accident and she told me everything not knowing that I don't know already"
"Once I heard that, all my insecurities and fear vanished right away, but still Chennai airport konjam hesitation. So I booked a flight to Coimbatore and came here directly. Inga irundhu car la chennai varalaamnu irundhen but adhukulla Aunty said you are coming here, so I stayed" she finished.
"Sorry ma, unakkaga surprise ah plan panni vetchirundhen, but ellame spoil aagiduchu" Ashwin replied.
"Edhuvum spoil aagala, indhaanga" she said handing him a document.
Ashwin looked at her quizzically and opened the document.
His eyes became bigger, it was an extension from the shop space owner, allowing him to continue the lease for the space until he appeals his rejection and gets approval from the government, free of cost.
"Hey eppadi idhu?" Ashwin asked her really surprised.
"Indha Sivaangi ai nambinor kai vida padaar" she replied holding her head high.
After I spoke to Nithya I enquired about the shop details, I thought I will just go and appeal to the owner in person, but turns out he is a fan of my voice, my regular in all the katcheries I have done in SG all these years. When I explained, he agreed immediately with a deal that I sing at his daughter's upcoming wedding ceremony. I gladly agreed. Avalothaan, end of story" Sivaangi narrated one of her biggest feat as simply as possible with a wave of her hand and a shrug.
"My fans call me King, but they have no idea, that the King is only a king as long as he is protected by his Queen, my Queen" said Ashwin hugging her tight.
"Love you so so much Sivaangi ma." he added kissing her fully on her lips, like there is no tomorrow.
Author's note:
Hello, Hello.
How do you like this new chapter? liked it, nah? boring?
Let me know your thoughts in comments and you love via votes as always
Love,
DV