24.You & Me - Sandhya

Thulasi reached Breeze Paradise in an auto. It is one of the best hotels in Chennai and she was aware that it is currently owned by Dinakaran’s company. The business card that Dinakaran shared had the hotel’s address and she wondered what he is doing here. May be he has one of his office here, she thought to herself.

Thulasi had reached there well ahead of time. After entering the reception Thulasi hesitated for a few seconds. It really looked like a paradise! The decorations, lightings, colorful interior… everything looked wonderful.

She has seen the hotel many times but had never got a chance to visit it. It looked as if she was the only person to come there in an auto. Though they have got their money back from Kumar, neither she nor her family showed interest in buying a car.

With slight hesitation she approached the reception and said,

“My name is Thulasi, I am here to meet m…”

“Yes I know madam. DK sir told me… You can find him in the Kaveri hall. If you go straight, you will find the room in the left side. If you need any help, please call the reception from any telephone…”

“Ok thanks…”

Thulasi walked slowly. She is almost thirty minutes early. She still had lot of questions in her mind. Dinakaran had insisted that she use this one hour to share whatever she wanted to share with him. But she had no special plans for sharing anything… But she couldn’t stay back too… Though she was in a dilemma yesterday, from the moment she woke up in the morning, she had no intentions of ignoring Dinakaran’s invite.

Thulasi found a door with the name plate Kaveri. Again she hesitated for a while and even considered going back… But then she decided that she should understand the real reason behind Dinakaran’s invite.

Thulasi knew that Dinakaran is not a teenager to follow women. She also knew that he has too many responsibilities... But still, yesterday, he had come to the beach to talk to her… Or did he come there for some other reason and see her by chance? Though she was not sure, she wanted it to be the first one…

After taking a few deep breaths, she knocked the door softly and opened the door.

It was a medium sized room. There was a big screen, a long table and few chairs. May be they rent it for some meetings she thought to herself. Dinakaran was standing at the other end with a smile.

“Welcome madam…”

Thulasi smiled back.

“Come take your seat…” said Dinakaran with the same smile.

Thulasi hesitated again, but finally accepted and sat down. Dinakaran took a seat opposite to her.

“Coffee or soft drinks?”

“No thanks, sir…”

Dinakaran gave a sharp glance but didn’t say anything. There was a pin drop silence for a few seconds…

“So madam…”

“Yes sir…”

“It sounds very much like school Thulasi…” said Dinakaran with a grin and added,

“Ok, ok, I started this, so let me leave this ‘madam’ and address you as Thulasi… Thanks for coming Thulasi… I was not very sure…”

“Even I am not sure why I am here…” said Thulasi in a low voice.

“Oh!”

“...”

“I thought you are here to share something important…”

“No I am not…”

“Hmmm… Then why did you come?”

Thulasi played with her fingers for a few seconds then looked straight and said,

“I wanted to understand why you invited me here…”

Dinakaran got up from his seat and came close to her and asked,

“Hmmm… You are not just beautiful Thulasi, you are also intelligent… Any guesses?”

Thulasi looked up, but didn’t say anything.

“Thulasi…”

“…”

“I asked you a question…”

“But I don’t know what answer you expect from me… I think I really don’t know anything about you to answer it…”

“Thulasi…”

“No Dinakaran, I am not talking hastily…”

“So, you are still angry with me? But I am supposed to be angry…”

Thulasi again bent her head, to hide the tears that were trying to escape from her eyes… She started playing with her fingers and said,

“Oh yes, nowadays, everyone seems to be angry with me…”

Her voice sounded broken… Dinakaran continued to look at her quietly. Then he knelt before her and took her palms in his hands.

“What happened Thulasi?”

His voice was soft and soothing. Thulasi looked at him. As Dinakaran had expected, his tone gave her a sense of relief… and a feel of comfort… She didn’t want to hide her tears anymore… Dinakaran slowly wiped the tears from her cheeks and eyes…

“You know Dinakar, amma and Kavy are not talking to me for the past one week…”

“I know…”

Thulasi was surprised.

“So, you are behind all these things?” she asked him angrily.