12.You & Me - Sandhya
“Sir, we are near Gemini fly over, which way should I go?” asked Vasanth looking at Dinakaran.
Dinakaran who was lost in his own thoughts only then realized that he doesn’t know the address of Thulasi’s boutique. He thought for a second and then called his mother number,
“Hello Dinu, what a surprise!”
“Come on mom, don’t talk as if I have never called you over phone”
“Ah yes, once in a blue moon day and today is such a day!”
“Nothing like that mom, I just called you to get the address of the boutique… your new investment…” said Dinakaran, trying to sound a bit tiresome.
Seetha was quiet for a few seconds and then asked,
“Why do you need the address?”
“I don’t need it mom, it’s for our auditor, he was asking me for the details and I have no idea about it…”
“Oh! Then maybe I will talk to him directly on this. Why should he disturb you?”
“Hmmm… ok that’s fine, you can give him the details too… I will ask him to contact you…” accepted Dinakaran to make it look normal and then quickly added,
“By the way mom, what’s the name of this boutique? Sorry, I forgot”
“It’s fabulous boutique…”
“Oh ok, fine mom… I will be in home in another hour or so… Bye…”
For another half an hour or so, Dinakaran’s car kept circling in the area trying to locate Fabulous boutique. Finally somehow they managed to identify the shop. It was not in the main road but in a street that was adjacent to the main street. Dinakaran asked Vasanth to park the car nearby and went inside the shop.
Dinakaran entered the shop with lots of expectations and eagerness and he was not disappointed. The interior and the arrangements looked perfect. There were three salesgirls and all three of them were engaged with some customers and there were also some eight to ten people waiting for their turn. Dinakaran looked around but was not able to locate Thulasi anywhere.
“Hello sir, come in, please come in…” Uma came out of a room with a pleasant voice.
Dinakaran smiled at her and said,
“Thanks…” and followed her.
“Sorry, sir, we were not aware of your visit… I am surprised…”
“Oh that’s ok, I had some other work nearby and I thought I will stop by to visit your shop.”
“Give me a minute sir…” said Uma and even before Dinakaran could open his mouth, she went outside of the room. In a few seconds, the door opened and Dinakaran turned back expecting Uma, but Thulasi rushed in, saying,
“Uma, we got it…” and she stopped abruptly realizing that the person in the room is not her friend but Dinakaran.
Dinakaran admired her astonished look but got up from his seat and said,
“Sorry, I think I have startled you…”
“Oh no, no, no… nothing like that… I was just…I was just…”
“Relax… You can tell about it later… If you don’t want to share you need not tell me too…”
“Oh no, nothing as such sir… I went to talk to Shri’s drama troupe. I hope you would have heard about them… They are very popular… They have accepted to give us one year contract for various dance and drama costumes. That’s a very big deal for us…”
“Oh cool, congrats!”
“Thank you…” said Thulasi with a smile.
“Good to know that your business is picking up…”
“Oh I should really thank your mom for her belief… We wouldn’t have gone anywhere without her investment, motivation and encouragement… And ofcourse I should thank you too…”
“But Thulasi, I don’t deserve it… You know that too… I should actually apologize to you… I have no justifications or explanations for the way I behaved during our initial meetings… I am really sorry about it…”
“Oh! No problems…” said a surprised Thulasi not just for his apology but also hearing him address her by her name for the first time.
“I know you will say that but I have learnt a lot of good things from you Thulasi…”
Thulasi replied with a shy smile and exactly at the moment Uma came in with a juice.
“Sorry sir, our sales girls are busy with the customers… Hi Thulasi, good that you are here…”
“Yes your friend a.k.a. business partner is here with good news…”
“Oh yes, Uma, we have got the order…”
“Wow!!!!” exclaimed Uma in joy and both the women shook their hands. Dinakaran kept quiet watching the friends enjoy their small success. He has obtained so much success in his business but he had never felt like celebrating any of it… Once his target is achieved, he usually starts planning for the next goal… But how many small small things has he missed in his life…
“Please drink the juice…” said Thulasi, seeing Dinakaran holding the juice without drinking it.
“What about you both? “
“Oh that’s ok sir… You are our guest…”
Dinakaran didn’t hesitate after that and while drinking his juice he also collected more details about their business. And finally said,
“Ok Thulasi & Uma, I am very much impressed with your shop and your progress… So as one of your investor’s close associate, I would like to appreciate and would also like to tell you that I am going to suggest more investment here…”
“Sir!!!”
“Oh yes, I remember mom telling me that you both wanted to extend the shop little bit and it will also help you if you can recruit few more fashion designers and if required sales women also… So come up with your extension plan and tell me about your estimate, ok?”
“But…”
“No if’s and but’s Thulasi madam… Go ahead with your plan… And I need to leave now… Bye…” He gave a friendly smile, got up and started walking towards the door. While crossing Thulasi, he saw the rose in her hair. His eyes showed literal signs of amusement, he slowed down, turned towards Thulasi and said,
“This pretty rose is very lucky Thulasi…”
Thulasi’s face changed color again. He noticed her reaction with a smile and left the place. Uma looked at Thulasi curiously,
“So, Thulasi, when did this new romantic saga begin?”
“Uma, come on, stop it… there’s nothing like that… Today morning this rose fell down from the plant and since I went there to meet Seetha amma, I took it and that’s what he meant…”
“Oh!!”
Thulasi reached home in a very good mood and shared her small success with her mother and sister. Her family also congratulated her. Saradha and Kavya also told Thulasi about Kavya’s boss’s visit to their home.
“Really Thulasi, he is so very simple and very jovial and this girl always told us he is a short tempered person…”
Immediately Dinakaran came in Thulasi’s mind and so she replied,
“Yes it sometimes happens like that amma. One day a person will be in a good mood and another day he may not be the same…”
“Exactly akka, I never thought he would mingle so easily… And you know what akka, amma shared everything about that Kumar, Krishna, your whole history to him…”
“Amma…”
“Hi hi hi… Sorry Thulasi…”
“But akka, he saw your photo and he said he has visited your boutique also…”
“Really?”
“Yes, Dinakar sir said he has seen someone similar and when I asked about it he said he has seen someone looking alike in a boutique…”
Thulasi who was arranging some documents in a folder, stopped it, turned towards Kavya asked,
“What’s his name Kavya?”
“Dinakar… Dinakaran akka… at office we call him DK… You know akka, he has promised to help us find whereabouts of that absconding uncle also…”
Kavya kept talking but Thulasi ears were not listening to her words… She was lost in her own thoughts… Dinakaran visiting her house accidentally, coming to know about her family, visiting her boutique and promising more investment… So it’s all because of sympathy???
To be continued...