" Shravan...."
Suman woke up fighting with deep breath... She was sweating profusely and her heart beat was racing where the whole body was rushed in with high blood flow..
She gulped hard to wet her parched throat.. wiping the sweat that had sprung in her forehead ,she clenched her eyes , recalling the dream...
Shravan...!!!
Her lips trembled while spelling his name...
She noticed the time to be 1 o clock...
What if , shravan is still waiting here?
Immediately ,she woke up from bed removing the heavy blanket... She rushed to the window and slid the curtain ...
It was raining heavily though it wasn't monsoon... The wind was heavy and she could see some of the weak tree branches broke and fell down unable to withstand the wind..
The car was still parked under the gulmohar tree.. She had tried to see Shravan in the car but failed as the darkness was massive...
Suddenly , huge thunder stuck and the lightening was so intense which made Suman to shiver...
The bright illumination ... !!!Accident...!!!
Thoughts rolled in her mind... Next moment, she took an umbrella and rushed to the elevator...
Whatever the issue may be ,that shouldn't cost Shravan's life... Determined , she pressed the lower level button in the elevator ..
Ignoring the security's warning that it wasn't safe to go out , Suman headed towards the car ... Wrapping herself with the dupatta , she fastened her walk... It was like half run...
While reaching the car , she drenched partially..
The rain reminded her the quarrel they had earlier. ... The rainy day, when Shravan broke their friendship that made her heart shattered came in her mind as a rewind...
For a second, she hesitated...
The next moment , she shrugged off the reluctance and peeped inside the car..
He was not there... Tension built in her face... Holding the umbrella, she ran to the other side... Checking the car inside out , she baffled...
He was not there..
Where he would have gone?!
Tears overlapped her patience.. They threatened to roll down at anytime... Though she was consoling herself that he would be safe , she couldn't stay calm...
She thought of making a call to him but found his phone in the car ...
He would be around here somewhere...
She tried to calm herself... Restless , she began to crisscross along the roadside..
Time passed away...
He wasn't seen anywhere...
Slowly , fear rented her mind replacing the hope...
It was still raining..It seemed that the clouds wished to shed down all the rain it had stored in..
She looked around...
The road was deserted like an island where the potholes were levelled with rain water... street lamps were seen dimly lit at some distance ... The gulmohar flowers that had carpeted around the car gave a fiercy outlook ... It appeared like a fire in the immense darkness.. The wind started to blow again, this time stronger than before...
The spine chilling howl of the strong wind frightened Suman... The wind pushed her umbrella and the leaves flopped down quitting the struggle...
Shravan...! Where are you?
Her mind cried and she wanted to be sure of his safety..
She was restless... Helpless.. desperate.. ...
And ...
She began to give up.. The courage and hope she had so far abandoned her...
" Shravan...."
" Shravan.. "
" Shravan...."
Throwing the umbrella to the wind ,
She called his name out of breath ...
She began to run through the road , calling his name repeatedly ...
At one point , her call turned out soft sob , then to loud cry... Tears dripped down unstoppable while she screamed his name...
While she was scaring to the hell , Shravan was sitting in the bus shelter quite a distance away from the car... The chillness was unbearable and the heavy rainfall wasn't going to stop in the near future... He could neither stay in the car as it wasn't safe nor he could leave as he wanted to go with Suman...
Hence ,he chose to stay in the bus shelter until the rain stops...
He heard suman's cry and stood up immediately... He stepped out of the bus shelter where he chose to pass his night ... Listening to the voice , he ran towards the car..
It took few minutes for him to reach her... By the time , suman's cry peaked...
He shouted that he was coming which obviously was not heard by her due to the rain..
When he reached the point , she was still crying .. .. She was completely drenched in rain .. Her eyes were red and swollen as she cried continuously..
Seeing her in that condition was like going through the hell for shravan ... His eyes sprung up with tears..
He rushed to her ...
" Sumo.. "
She looked up and saw shravan..
The moment was like a boon to her... She ran to him with no time and hugged him as if she wanted to become one with his soul... She buried her face into his chest and continued to cry..
." Shravan... "
Shravan couldn't control his tears.. He traced her back fondly and tried to console her..
" Sumo... What happened.. ? Look at me ..."
He spoke tear driven...
She wasn't looking him and continued to cry... She clung to him and grabbed him tighter...
" Sumo... Look at me.. "
As he spoke , she nodded no to him and buried her face to his chest even more..
He tried to cup her face but she didn't let him to hold her face and grabbed his shirt as though he will run away from her...
He was scared as this was the very first time he had witnessed emotionally shattered Suman..
He wanted to bring her back...
" Sumo... Tell me what happened...? Don't behave like a kid"
Though he was speaking stern , tears were rolling down his cheeks...
Slowly ,she looked him up...
Sliding the hair strands away from her face ,he wiped her tears and pressed his lips over her forehead ... Looking into her swollen eyes he whispered...
" Sumo... Babe... What happened...are you alright..?"
She nodded feeble... " Shravan... Don't leave me even if I wanted you to..."
She stated into his eyes...and buried her face into his chest again , garlanding her arms around his waist...
A soft smile rumbled over his lips with tear...
" Idiot... Do you think I will leave you so easily.. ? You are my everything... A part of my soul... How will I leave you.. ? "
He winked that made her to smile a bit...
Although she was getting the composure slowly ,she didn't want to go away from shravan...
She glued herself to him ... That moment was frozen for both of them.. Infact ,they wanted it to continue for their life time...
Still Shravan muttered under his breath...
" Sumo... It's raining... I guess we have to go home..."
She shook her head negatively , breathing in his scent...
His grin widened in indulgence...
" Babe... If you continued to drench in rain ,you will get fever... Then , Arora uncle has to give you injection.. "
He didn't complete.. she looked up him in fear...
He scoffed , nudging his nose tip with hers...
▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️
" Shravan... Use my room to change... I will use poorna ' s "
Saying so , she threw a towel to Shravan..
Shravan took his dress and went to change himself...
Suman had changed her dress when he came back... She was trying to plug in the hair dryer.. Shravan told her to sit down , holding the hair dryer.. He softly rumbled her hair and blow dried the hair...
" Shravan.. I can do it.. "
He wasn't listening but , he made sure that her hair was okay before letting her go...
" Coffee.. ?!"
He nodded instantly to her offer...
As suman went to prepare coffee , Shravan sat in the bed comfortable...
Tring... tring...
Sumo's phone rang ... Looking poorna's name in caller ID , shravan picked up the call...
" Hey poorna... Thank you ..."
On the other hand she laughed...
" I know you guys.. you love each other enormously but couldn't show it to each other.. I guess everything is fine between you.. ?"
Shravan sighed...
" Yes... I believe... But , I can't thank you enough poorna...I know you don't have a night shift "
She took some time to react...
" You're right... I don't know what misunderstanding you both had...but ,she loves you a lot as you love her... You needed some space ... I thought I could do it.. that's all"
" Yes... It worked.. " he agreed...
" Shravan... Show your love to her.. Make her to feel that she's yours... Make her to smile... Always..."
" So far I was blinded with ego poorna... I won't let anything to come in between use... I will make her to smile ... Always.."
Accepting him , she hesitated to speak ...
" Shravan... It's raining outside...!!! It's too cold... !!!I didn't disturb you both ...am I right ... ? Or did I really spoil your the time.. ?"
Her tone echoed sarcasm , while pressing the word _ the..
Shravan had never been this much embarrassed...
She must have understood his state...
" Yaar... That's okay ... I am your friend..... see.. why I called is , I will go to the work directly... so , make yourself comfortable... Convey the message to sumo... Bye.. "
She cut the call , that made Shravan to sigh in relief..
Thank you poorna...!!
He said from the bottom of his heart...
▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️
Sumo came up with two cups of coffee...
Giving him a cup , she sat beside him and dongled her elbow to his...
Sipping the coffee , she saw him...
His eyes were gaped into her eyes.. In a moment ,her large adorable eyes sprung up with tears...
Shravan was anxious to witness her tears.. He let the cup on the table and knelt infront of her..
" Sumo... Wha..."
" Isshhhh... "
She didn't want him to talk. Stopping him from his statement , she spoke...
" Shravan.. what ever it had happened was just happened... Let's leave everything.. Promise me that you won't go away from me ... I can't go through all these again... "
She began to weep... He gently caressed her face while kissing her forehead...
" I promise you Sumo... Only death can distant us ... I love you Sumo... I love you so much..."
He promised to her lips... She sniffed in and garlanded her hands around his neck... He drew soft circles over her cheeks with his nose tip... She clenched her eyes and stopped him to do so...
She went near the window and unveiled the curtain...
The rain was a drizzle then , Yet it was cold terribly.. she rubbed her arms , breathing in...
He walked behind her and put his arms around her ... Indescribable , her sight turned to the three pink tulips that he gave...
" Shravan.. you know that I like white tulips ... Why is the pink tulips then...?"
He smiled merrily to her interrogation...
" Actually the tulips were white when I bought them for you... My heartfelt love for you turned them to be pink... "
" Funny.. !!!" She laughed...
" Then... Why only three ?"
She asked intrigued...
" Those flowers are literally me..
. My heart...
My soul...
My mind...
I have surrendered myself to you ... You're the amazing part of me Sumo... Love me ... Love me always.. "
He spoke in dream , where she stood spellbounded...
Intertwined her fingers with his , he kissed them gently...
" Sumo... You came as a light in my life... I wasn't aware of your value... Then ,you left me ... I became breathless..save me ... Bless me with life by accepting me... "
He was talking from his heart. His each facial muscle twitched in support of his request.. His eyes were ready to go with tears at anytime..
She embraced him in no time and gave her lips to him where he nibbled them to regain his living...
He lifted her and walked to the bed. He made her to lie down ...
Sighed in relief , he stated...
" Thank God... I have decided to divorce you..."
The next moment ,her love filled eyes adorned with fury.. she sat up from bed and asked..
" What did you say...?"
He shrunk his forehead for wrong dialogue.. but said genuinely...
" Sumo... Otherwise, I wouldn't have understood you... Perhaps we would have lived with the same misunderstandings.. "
Stating , he stepped away from Suman as she was getting ready with fisted arm... She ran behind him to chase ... Finally he fell on the bed and she grabbed his arms ,to give fierce punches..
I some time ...
He pulled her to his top and held her tightly..
" Shravan ... leave me.. "
She said...
" No ... I won't... Even if you wanted me to leave you... I won't.. "
He said firmly...
Nodding , she rested her head on his chest..
He softly traced her head and patted her back...
" Babe... You are too tired.. I am with you ... Sleep tight.. "
He pressed his lips over her head... She sighed in deep and grabbed his shirt collar like a child who holds her mother's clothing... He gently stroked her back , where she began to sleep on his top...
The sun began to unfold his rays..
It was the first glimmer of the dawn ... Not only for the day ,for their life too. Perhaps , she is going to be his child and he's going to be her mother. At times , that may be the vice versa..
But... They will be united till the death do them apart as he had promised...
___________The End___________
Hello friends...
This is the last chapter of this short story... I will miss this shraman a lot.. To be frank ,this track came into my mind abruptly while I was thinking some other stuff... And ,the response I got from you all is massive.. Until I post this chapter ,it stayed in #1 rank in edkv stories... Thanks for making it happen.. it really engaged me so much to this story though I have started my hectic life after the lockdown..
I take this chance to thank you all...spl thanks to the silent readers .. 🤚...
Have a great read and do drop your comments...
Love
arulpirai...