15.You & Me - Sandhya

Thulasi was shell shocked! She couldn’t believe what she heard. She stood holding her mobile phone near her ears even though Dinakaran had cut off the call.

“What happened Thulasi? What did Kavya say?” asked Saradha looking at the startled Thulasi.

Thulasi came back to her senses and stammered,

“Nothing serious amma… Krishna’s cousin is also staying there in the hospital so she should be safe.”

“Oh, you mean Dinakaran sir? Hmmm.,. Can you believe such a rich person coming and staying in a hospital for his aunt? He seems to be a responsible and humble person…”

“mmm...”

“Now I can understand why he would have behaved so very harshly to you initially… He would have thought someone is trying to exploit his brother… Now since he knows Kavya, it should be fine…”

“mmm…”

“I am happy that Kavya’s marriage is almost settled now. I don’t think they will still demand that money… If I can find a good match for you, then I can also relax.”

“Amma, please don’t even think about not giving that money for Kavya’s marriage. We should give it even if they don’t demand it any more… Once we are done with that debt, we can think about my marriage.”

“Why are you so adamant Thulasi? Are we really in a situation to think about prestige etc.?”

“You are correct amma. But I don’t want anyone to find any negative aspect from Kavya’s marriage. We should make sure that everything is perfect. As you said Dinakaran had a negative thought about Kavya but now he has changed his mind. But how can we keep all the relatives of Krishna quiet? Someone will keep on saying something to hurt Kavya… I don’t want that to happen. So this money is also important…”

“You have a point…” said Saradha thoughtfully.

“Ok Thulasi, let me sleep, I am feeling a bit tired. You also sleep now…”

Thulasi was waiting to hear those words from Saradha. Though she was talking to Saradha about Kavya’s marriage, her mind was completely occupied with Dinakaran’s words. She wanted to remember those exact words… She helped her mother to settle down in her bed and then went inside her room. Since Kavya was not there, it’s all hers for a night. She sat there and re-winded Dinakaran’s words…

“Thulasi darling, I love you… I will take care of you and your family… I will not allow you to suffer any more… Now you go to sleep… Good Night…”

Color rose in Thulasi’s face remembering Dinakaran’s kiss at the end of the conversation. She felt herself a bit relaxed after so many years. All these years have been a struggle for her… Though she was very tired, she was in no mood to relax and let go of her responsibilities... She never wanted to share her burden with her little sister. She wanted Kavya to be happy…

From Kavya, her mind again shifted to Dinakaran. She remembered all the meetings she had with him… the angry Dinakaran giving her a contempt look, shouting at her, doubting her financial transactions with his mom, a transferred Dinakaran plucking the rose for her, gazing at her as if she is a beauty queen and now…

While Thulasi felt happy for whatever Dinakaran said today, she was also equally confused by his change. She could understand his doubtful nature but what can be the reason behind this sudden transformation? Again the same doubt came to her heart. Is this really affection or sympathy?

She could understand Dinakaran’s reasons for showing sympathy towards her. But she can’t accept someone who shows interest in her just because he feels bad for her situation. She really wanted to believe that this is affection but she had doubt…

Only thing that she was clear was her own affection towards Dinakaran. Though she didn’t want to confide this to anyone, she had no doubts that she has started loving that iron man. A smile appeared in Thulasi’s face… Iron man! That’s a cute name for that stupid man! She started giggling now… Stupid iron man… But does he really love her out of affection?

Thulasi didn’t sleep that whole night. She kept thinking about Dinakaran, their meetings, the last conversation and of course his first kiss via phone.

“Thulasi!”

Thulasi got up from slumber hearing Kavya’s loud voice.

“Hey Kavy, what happened? Why are you shouting?”

“What’s wrong with you akka? Are you alright?”

“Yes, why are you asking this?”

“Nothing akka, I am surprised that you are still in your bed. It’s 8’o clock…”

Thulasi is an early riser. She usually wakes up by six even during weekends!

“Oh god! I am late…”

“Come on sis relax… This happens only once in a blue moon day… But I am wondering what caused this blue moon to show up today?” asked Kavya in a teasing tone.

“Hey Kavy come on! When did you come back from hospital?”

“Half an hour back… Dinakaran sir said he will take care of athai’s discharge…”

A smile appeared in Thulasi’s face hearing Dinakaran’s name.

“What happened Thulasi madam? You are behaving funny today?”

“Kavy! What did I do now?”

“What’s there to smile when I tell you Dinakaran sir will handle athai’s discharge?”

“Oh no Kavy, there’s nothing to smile for that… I was thinking of something else…”

“Really? What was that something else?”

“Hey kavy, what’s wrong with you today? Why are you talking to me like this? See I am already late, I need to rush otherwise I will be very late…”

“That’s ok akka, I called and informed Uma akka that you will be late today”

“That’s so nice of you my little sis, thank you!”

“You are welcome my big sis! You go brush, take bath and come back fast. We will have breakfast together, it’s been a while since we had breakfast together on a weekday.”

“True, I will come fast… But, what about your office? Are you also going late today?”

“No akka, Dinakaran sir asked me to take off today’

“Oh ok… Good!”

Saradha had prepared Pongal and Chutney and that was one of their favorite dishes. They both relaxed and chit chatted while eating their breakfast. Atlast Kavya started the topic that Thulasi was yearning to hear.

“Hey akka, why you didn’t tell us that Krishna’s cousin is no one other than Dinakaran sir?”

“No specific reason Kavy. You both were so very happy after meeting Dinakaran so I didn’t want to spoil your mood…”

“mmm…”

“Thulasi, I wanted to ask this yesterday night only. Even I address him as Dinakaran sir, but what is this, you are addressing him using his name?” asked Saradha.

Kavya also looked at her sister curiously. Though Thulasi was a bit taken aback, she managed to reply to her mother.

“No amma, I don’t meet him very often, so when I talk to Uma, I usually use his name… Whenever I meet him in person, I also add the sir tag.”

“Ok…”

“Yesterday he was asking lot of questions about our family…” said Kavya.

“What is there to talk about our family?” said Sardha with a sigh.

“No amma, he asked about our life when appa was with us…”

Thulasi gave a sharp look at her sister as she continued to speak.

“I told him about our life while we were in that house, how appa used to buy us everything and how it all got changed…”

“You scolded me for sharing all the information that day and now you yourself have shared everything…” said Saradha with a smile.

Kavya gave a glance at Thulasi and said,

“For some reason yesterday I didn’t feel him as a third person amma… I felt as if he is part of the family…”