It's been a week since and she tried hard to forget the conversation that had evoked a lot of memories that she had carefully hidden deep inside her heart, a long time ago. The ones she wished to forget.
She was a different person back then, a carefree girl who trusted blindly without knowing the harsh realities of the world. Today she knew better. She knew better than to be an open book, and had learnt the hard way to keep her circle small with her heart locked away. She was never going to let anyone take advantage of her unconditional love ever again.
An off day amidst the chaos in her mind was exactly opposite to what she really needed. But there wasn't much she could do about it. So, she decided to make the best use of time by sleeping it off and watching K-drama when she woke up.
But her plans came crashing down when a call from Pugazh's fiancé popped up. Sivaangi had been the first one to know when he started seeing Mithra, who is now his fiancé.
Mithra was an orphan who her brother had met in a charity function. Sivaangi had shared an instant connection with her which paved way for a very comfortable friendship over time and now she was family.
An hour later, she found herself changing out of her tracks to a simple dress as her sister-in-law had finally convinced her to shop for the wedding which was now only a week away, after a lot of persuasion.
They entered an exclusive designer boutique which was frequented by celebrities. Shopping was not really her thing but she tried to act interested by trying on different attires before picking a green silk saree for the marriage ceremony and a petal rose lehenga for the reception, just to keep the bride happy.
As they were walking towards the billing counter, she felt a familiar set of eyes on her. The gaze she could feel even when he was miles away and instantly felt a sharp pain in her heart. Time heals they say but it felt like a huge lie at this moment. All these years have gone by, but the pain he caused was not anywhere close to healed, not even a tiny bit.
Leaving immediately would have been the best course of action. But, before she could react, Mithra spotted Ashwin and started walking towards him.
It was her decision to keep their fall out private as she did not want it to affect any of his relationship with anyone. Though, he had broken her heart in the blink of an eye, he was still a gem of a person. He wanted her out of his life and she did do that but in her own way.
She hired her friend who owned a PR company to make her social handles strictly professional over night which every growing star does. She made sure that any personal post/tweet was deleted and everyone except her official fan page was unfollowed.
To the world, she just went incognito and they just lost touch owing to their busy lives. Since then she rarely did any interviews/promotions and even when she did it was only about her projects.
Seeing him today, all of those memories rushed back like an unexpected wave. She was choking with hurt but still managed to put on a fake smile as she followed behind Mithra.
Sivaangi was saved by the bell in the most literal sense. The timing couldn't be better she thought when her phone started to buzz. She excused herself and walked far away in the pretense of taking the call as quickly as she possibly could.
The minute his eyes fell on her, his mind stopped working and heart took over. If he were in the right mind, he would have walked away before she recognized him but seeing her after all these years was more overwhelming that he ever imagined it would be. With her hair set in light curls, minimal make up, casual dress and a small bindi, she looked like a dream. He almost forgot that she wasn't in his life anymore.
But the minute their eyes locked, reality struck him. He felt his heart ache when he saw pain and hurt in her eyes in place of happiness and excitement. He knew that she had changed a lot since the last time they met. From a chirpy little girl to a successful young woman, she has grown leaps and bounds. But that was not all. Her heartfelt smile which instantly lifts up anyone around was missing.
Her growth was exponential, she was loved my everyone she worked with and her success was celebrated like no other. But, none of those seemed to matter right now. The smile she adorned so beautifully even at her lowest was nowhere to be seen. Why was she unhappy?
All these years, he believed that her crush on him was not serious. But, the way she looked at him today made him feel like he had done a grave mistake in judging the depth of her feelings for him. Was he more than a simple crush?
He fought so hard to stop himself from doing anything stupid. She had kept their issues private all these years and he wasn't going to let his momentary impulse ruin all her efforts. He was lost in his thoughts that were consuming him and could not focus on anything but her until Mithra pat his shoulders to bring him back to senses.
"Ungalkum dress edukanum nu sonaru. Do you have some time now?", she asked.
Mithra noticed that his eyes were fixated on Sivaangi but tried not to read too much into it.
A part of him that wanted to walk away but a part of him wanted to atleast stay around her atleast for a little longer. He had chosen to walk away once and that did not seem to have worked well for either. He saw Sivaangi walking towards them after finishing her call.
"Free dan. We can shop now.", he said.
She could not believe what she just heard him say. He had walked away once and she was expecting him to do the same. When she glanced up questioningly, he shrugged it off without a response.
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Thoughts? Good/bad?
It was extremely hard for me to write this after watching the celebration promo.
