Anirudh wakes up and groggily sits on the bed. He looks around confused before realising he is in Malar's room. He smiled and shook his head, seeing Bruce Lee's poster staring directly at him from the wall before him.
He walks out of the room to see Malar watching TV.
He settles next to her as she asks, "Nalla thoonginiya?"
Anirudh nods smiling happily, "Hmm, I slept like a log.Nee veliya ponathu kooda theriyula."
"Vitula seriya thoongarudhu ille? Yen ivlo tired?", Malar asks concerned.
Anirudh smiles sheepishly, "Nightu lam compose panuven. Appo dhan inspiration strikes."
Malar glares at him, "Appo kalaila thoongu. Thookathe skip panni lam vela seiyanum nu avasiyam ille. Purinjitha?"
"Seringa madam", Anirudh grins, making Malar shake her head.
Anirudh looks at his watch before asking, "Aunty uncle lam enga? Na vituku kelamburen, enga Amma call mela call panitu irrukanga."
"Nee kelambu, na Amma appa kitta sollikren. Avanga thoonguranga nu nenaikuren. Ana Sakthi mela dhan irrupan.", Malar says.
Anirudh nods and walks up to Sakthi's room.
Sakthi looks up from his laptop when Anirudh enters.
"Na kelamburen", Anirudh says.
"Seri da pathu poitu va.", Sakthi responds.
Anirudh walks back down and Malar waves to him from the sofa. He wishes her bye before walking out to his car.
In his room, Sakthi continues typing on his laptop before suddenly stopping. Now he has something else to do other than work. He grins before closing his laptop and dialling Sadhana's number.
"Hello? Sadhana speaking", Sakthi hears a professional voice on the other side.
"Nan Sakthi", Sakthi says grinning.
Sakthi hears her smile as she says, "Oh neengala? Ippe dhan call pannanum nu thonicha?"
"Adhu vandhu, v-vela", Sakthi hesitates making Sadhana giggle.
"Appo Malar sonnadu correctu dhan, you are a workaholic", Sadhana says shaking her head.
Sakthi smiles sheepishly before his voice turns serious, "Konjam workaholic dhan, ana adhuku oru reason irukku."
"Hmm sollu.", Sadhana says becoming serious after noticing his change of tone.
"Na college le irukkum bothu oru ponne love pannen. Peru Anushka. She was in the same class as me and we were sort of friends. Na avala love pannen, so I confessed. But she rejected me because she already had a boyfriend. Aduku aprom, it was a rough few years for me. But eventually, I got over it by finding solace in my job. So I think of my job as something precious to me.", Sakthi finished taking a deep breath.
Sadhana smiled, "Neenga unga job ah ivlo pudichi panringa, so I will never complain about it. Na chumma joke dhan pannen. And unga past is nothing but your past, so present le na yen worry pannanom.On the other hand, I'm happy that you felt comfortable enough to share this with me. Kalyanuthiku aprom, I won't force you to give attention to me or anything. We both have our jobs, irrespective of that, we are getting married so I know how to balance my personal and work life.", Sadhana says.
Sakthi tears up a little at what she says but he clears his throat to cover it up.
Sadhana understand and grins, "Yenna sir konjam emotional ah ayitinga pole irrukku?"
Sakthi immediatly says, "Na unna pakanum.Ippove."
Sadhana blushes before saying, "Innum 30 minutes le shift mudinjirum, hospital vandhu pick up pannikonga.Address anipuren."
Sakthi then says bye, before rushing to get ready.
45 minutes later, Sakthi waits outside the hospital, leaning on his car.
Sadhana walks out with her friend Aditi who also works with her.
"Wow di, paiyan BMW car lam vechirukan.", Aditi says teasing Sadhana.
Sadhana glares at her flushing slightly before she realizes, 'Oh ama le indha car ah dhan na almost dash panirpen'.
Sadhana bids bye to Aditi before she walks towards Sakthi.
Sakthi automatically smiles greeting her, before he takes her lab coat and handbag from her.
"Romba velaiya?", Sakthi asks as Sadhana smiles at his sweet gesture.
"Mhmm patients konjam adhigam.", Sadhana says as she slid into the passenger seat.
"Enga polam?", Sakthi asks.
Sadhana puts her finger to her chin, in a cute thinking pose making Sakthi grin.
"Yen sirikura?", Sadhana asks raising her eyebrows.
Sakthi shakes his head, "Onnum ille, nee yosi."
"Sapda polama? I'm hungry.", Sadhana says pouting.
Sakthi nods, "Yennaku oru super ana yedam theriyum, polama?"
Sadhana nods eagerly as Sakthi laughs before zooming away.
"Yen office ithuku pakathula dhan. adhunala neraiya vaati inga vandhiruken", Sakthi says as he leads Sadhana into a small but cosily decorated restaurant.
Sadhana looks around in awe, taking in the cute ambience and the delightful smell of food wafting in from the kitchen.
"Yedam romba kutti ah irukka?", Sakthi asks frowning.
"Adhalam onnum ille, nee va namba order panlam", Sadhana says excitedly pulling Sakthi down next to her.
Sakthi smiles as he lets himself be pulled into the chair beside Sadhana.
"Usual ah couples na opposite side la dhan okkaruvanga.", Sakthi says smirking at Sadhana who rolls her eyes.
"Adhu yenna logic oh", Sadhana says drily as she flips through the menu.
"Opposite la okkanda dhan face pathu pesa mudiyum", Sakthi elaborates.
Sadhana wrinkles her nose before looking up at him. "Pakathula okkanda dhane kai puddika mudiyum ille shoulder le saiya mudiyum.", Sadhana says linking her hands through his arms.
Sakthi's eyes widen in surprise as Sadhana grins shaking her head, "I'm not always shy you know."
Sakthi smirks, "Oh? Apdiya?"
Sadhana blushes a little, "If you look at me like that, then na yepdi bold a irruka mudiyum."
Sakthi burst out laughing, as Sadhana smiles and goes back to perusing the menu.
"Va pa Sakthi. Yepdi pa irruka?", an elderly lady asks walking to the table.
"Mary patti", Sakthi grins as he greets her.
"Sadhana this is Mary patti, the owner of this beautiful restaurant.", Sakthi introduces.
Sadhana smiles and says, "Unga restaurant super ah irukku patti."
Mary smiles and says, "Thank you da kanna."
"Ama idhu yaaru?", Mary asks raising her eyebrows teasingly at Sakthi.
Sakthi flushes a little before answering, "Ithu na kalyanam pannika pore ponnu."
Sadhana blushes at his statement making Mary aww at the both of them.
"Neenga rendu perum semma cute. Seri sapda yenna venum nu decide pannitingala?", Mary patti giggles shaking her head before asking.
Sadhana pouts shaking her head, "Neriaya options irruku, adhan theriyilae."
"Appo nee wait pannu, na yen specialty senju konduvaren.", Mary patti says before hurrying to the kitchen.
The good arrives in a few minutes and Sadhana digs in immediately. Sakthi helps serve her patiently before he serves himself.
Sadhana swallows down the morsel of food she was eating before saying, "Neenga sema husband material."
Sakthi laughs, "Adhuva yennaku Malar ku serve panni pazhakam. She eats just like a baby sometime. Unna maari."
Sadhana glares, "Nan baby ah?"
Sakthi shrugs grinning, making Sadhana huff.
"Ama nee yenna first paka bothu yenna nenaiche?", Sakthi asks.
Sadhana who was in the process of eating, start violently coughing. Sakthi hurries to give her a glass of water before patting her back.
"N-na yedhum nenaikula. I just thought you were such a helpful person.", Sadhana says.
"Oh? Appo veliya irrukura varaikum kalyanam venna sonnave, yenna pathone, yen othukite?", Sakthi smirks.
Sadhana sighs, "I thought you were hot okay?"
Sakthi's eyes widen in shock, "Adi paavi athukaga va othukite?"
Sadhana facepalms before responding, "Of course not, first-time oru stranger ke ivlo help panne, un wife a yepdi pathupe. Also, you were such a gentleman and always respectable and calm. Your temper doesn't get the better of you very often, I think, suggesting by the way you calmly handled the accident. Also, you were the cutest, you were so awkward because I'm a woman and you had no idea what to do. It was adorable. So your being hot was just an added bonus. But I definitely thought you were taken, indha kalathula ipdi oru paiyana? Chance eh ille."
Sakthi sat there stunned, "Ivlo notice panniya?"
Sadhana shrugs, "I am a woman, and women are usually observant and alert. Seri ippo un turn."
Sakthi smiled, "All I knew is that I wanted to see you again so badly. No other women had affected me as you did. In all these years I lost interest in dating, you were the only one who managed to turn me back into my old self. I don't think I was ever the same after Anushka, until now."
Sadhana smiles squeezing his arm before remembering, "Appo ponnu paka yen vandhinga. You should have searched for me."
"Poonu pakaruthu appa kaga mattum dhan, coz avaroda childhood friend nu sonnaru.Also naanum Malar um yepdi avudu ponna ku no sollidalam nu pathom. But fortunately, it was you.", Sakthi replied.
Sadhana grins,"Nammaliku time super ah irruku le?"
Sakthi laughs, "Definitely."
***
This is the first chapter with a proper Sakthi and Sadhana conversation. Enjoy!!