The next morning, Anirudh wakes up to find a message from Malar.
Pick me up from where you dropped me off last night.
He smiles a little shaking his head at her authoritative tone, before walking into the bathroom to get ready
***
"Bye di", Malar yells to Ayira as she walks down the pathway to get into Anirudh's car.
She settles in her seat before turning to look at Anirudh who appeared nervous. He starts driving and soon they reach his studio.He stops the car and Malar looks at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry", he confesses looking down."It was rude of me to behave like that and unnaku andha reason kuda theriyathu."
"Yaaru sonna ennaku theriyathu nu?", Malar smirked.
Anirudh snapped his head up to look at her his eyes wide. He looked so cute with that face, Malar thought smiling to herself.
"Ama nethiku, who did you think I was talking to on the phone?", Malar asked him with raised eyebrows.
Anirudh gulped before shrugging, "I-i-i don't know".
"Oh really?", Malar asked. Anirudh nods.
"It was my boyfriend.", Malar states looking at him.
"What?", Anirudh bursts out his knuckles whitening as they tighten on the steering wheel.
Malar sighs before speaking," It was my best friend Ayira."
Anirudh looks at her with wide eyes before looking away in embarrassment.
"Were you jealous?", Malar smirks at him.
Anirudh scoffs, "Definitely not"
"Whatever you say.", Malar continues smirking at him before getting out of the car.
Anirudh glares at her through his car window before getting out.
Malar walks into Anirudh's studio to see Nelson and Sivakarthikeyan there.
Malar smiles and greets Nelson before introducing herself to SK.
"Hi sir, I'm Malar."
"Neenga dhana andha pudhu assistantu?", SK asks.
"Ama sir", Malar responds.
"Sir la vena ma", SK says.
"Appe anna ok va?", she asks smiling. Sk laughs before agreeing.
"Appo naanu?", Nelson asks.
"Ninge eppovume 'ji' dhan Nelson", Sk teases him.
"Ninglum anna dhan", Malar says laughing at Nelson's annoyed expression.
Anirudh walks in and is surprised to see the three of them getting along really well.
"Itho vantaru paaru moonavidu annan", Nelson says referring to Anirudh
Sk and Malar burst out laughing while Anirudh looks confused.
"Yaaruku anna?", he asks.
"Tho namma thangachi ku", Sk says pointing at Malar.
Malar controls her laugh as she sees Anirudh look horrified for a second before he realizes the joke and glares at Nelson.
"Yenna kindle pannalena porukadhe" Anirudh mutters under his breath before stalking into this studio. The other three exchanged amused glances before following him.
"Innaiku, intha recording session aprom, oru interview irruku.", Malar tells Anirudh as she walks behind him. Anirudh nods.
"Oru session laye pattu kuduthuruvara ji?", Sk asks Nelson doubtfully.
"Adhan ennakum therila ji", Nelson replies.
Malar snickers hearing their conversation.
"Pattu ready ah?", Malar whispers to Anirudh.
Anirudh nods grinning, " Ama, chumma konjam neram wait panna vecha."
Malar shakes her head amused.
"Any work for me?", she asks Anirudh. He shakes his head no.
She nods before going to the couch and taking her laptop from her handbag. She thought of finishing some work for her office since she had the time now.
After about an hour, Malar closes her laptop screen to see that Anirudh is sitting in his chair working while the other two are nowhere to be found.
"Where are they?", Malar asks Anirudh as she walks to him and leans on the desk.
"They went out to buy food.", Anirudh sighs before rubbing his eyes.
She could see the tiredness in his eyes and asked him worriedly, "Nightu seriya thoongalaiya?"
Anirudh shook his head.
"You were composing?", Malar asked him with narrowed eyes. He smiles at her sheepishly.
"Konjam adhu odamba pathukanum le", she says shaking her head.She looks at the mini kitchen beside the coffee table and suddenly asks him, "Coffee?"
He nods okay and Malar goes to make coffee for him.
She comes back with a mug of coffee in her hand and gives it to him. He takes a sip and his eyes widen as he looks at her.
"It tastes just like how my amma makes it.", he tells her surprised.
She smiles and blushes a little before thanking him.
Anirudh plays the song again and again trying to make changes so that the final outcome will be perfect.
He sees her observing his equipment with great interest ."You want to listen?", he asks her and she agrees.
He gets up from his chair and pushes her down on it. He takes his headphones and leans forward to put them onto her. She suddenly looks up to see their faces are very close, she clears her throat before moving away and adjusting the headphones. She swore she saw him leaning a little closer but oh well it could just be her wishful thinking.
He starts the song and waits for her to finish hearing it.
Malar grinned after listening to it, "It's amazing, why do you need to make changes to this?"
Anirudh smiles shaking his head, "Just mild tunings nothing much. I will have to call Shruti to sing that part again."
Malar opens her phone and checks her calender which has his schedule, "You seem to be free the day after tomorrow. Call her and let her know when to come."Anirudh nods.
Malar then gets up before making Anirudh sit in his chair. She clears the clutter on his desk and perches on it
"You really need some rest. After lunch, you better go to sleep.", Malar scolds him.
Anirudh sighs in defeat and nods but inside he feels happy being cared for by her.She reminded him of his mother.
Nelson and Sk walk back in with their food, but they stop short when they see Anirudh and Malar sitting close together and talking happily.
"Ji ivan yenda ponnu kudayo ippudi irundhirukan?", Nelson asked Sk.
Sk shook his head, "He's usually a very closed-off and aloof type, but intha ponnu there is something different."
Malar and Anirudh look up to see Nelson and Sk, she comes towards them before taking the food bags.
"Thank you annas.", she grins at them making them chuckle.
"Nee yen pa ippadi irruka, nightu thoongale?", Nelson smirks and asks Anirudh making the latter frown.
"Naanum idhey dhan kettan", Malar huffs before unpacking and handing over the food to everyone.
The group of 4 finishes their lunch quickly and soon Nelson and Sk also leave.
Malar drags Anirudh from his chair and makes him lie down to sleep. He whines but one glare from her was enough to shut him up.
Anirudh slowly falls asleep while Malar sits beside him with her laptop to completer her work.
After about 45 minutes, Malar gets up to drink water. She comes back and covers Anirudh with his jacket before sitting down to finish her work.
Sometime later, Malar looks up to see the studio door opening and a lady entering.
Anirudh's mom Lakshmi had thought of visiting her son at the studio and had come to see him. What she didn't expect was the scene in front of her.
Malar silently gets up without disturbing the sleeping Anirudh and walks toward the new person in the room.
She smiles brightly and whispers, "Hi aunty. I am his assistant. How can I help you?Avaru innum konjam nearm thoongito, he was very tired."
Lakshmi smiles warmly at the girl's words and replies, "Naan avanoda amma ma." making Malar's eyes widen.
***
I am so happy to see that my views are increasing.
Thank you so much for giving my book a try:))