Anbum Aranum Udaiththaayin

Unmai Tharunam

Mullai woke up feeling distressed. She checked her phone to find no messages nor call from him. She panicked if anything ill happened to Kathir. He has never missed to call her back, no matter how busy he was. She tried calling him again only to find his phone still switched off. She wanted to visit Pandian house to check on him when she received a message from Kannan. She calmed down immediately seeing Kanna's message on something trivial. She understood Kathir was just busy and she could meet him in the evening as they had planned.

She took her own sweet time to dress up. She wore a simple white saree, Kathir's favorite color with red thread work throughout. She let down her hair with just a pin. She checked herself on the mirror and a slight blush adorned her cheeks that added to her beauty.

During the day, she messaged Kathir confirming their plan to meet him after work at the coffee shop and felt happy seeing that he read the message. She mentally scolded him for not charging his phone and scaring the hell out of her.

"Inaiku varatum. Mandailayey naalu podarean", she said it loud earning few glances her way.

Rest of the day, she got engrossed in work to realize he has not responded to her message nor he returned her call. As soon as the clock stuck 5'0 clock she was up and out of her chair grabbing her things. She quickly messaged before driving towards the coffee shop.

      Naan kelambitean. Coffee shop la pakalam

As soon as she entered the shop, the excitement started to form inside her as only minutes from now, she would be seeing Kathir after a week. Also, she would be letting him know how she feels.

She waited in the coffee shop and browsed through her Facebook and Instagram feed to avoid the nervousness that already hit her. She felt butterflies in her stomach every time she thought about how this evening would unfold for them. However, after one hour had passed, she started to get worried. She twirled her phone in her hand pondering if she should text him.

                                                      Kathir, naan coffee shop la than irukean. Enga iruka nee?

She noticed the two blue ticks immediately however never got a reply. After setting back her phone on the table, she looked out the window that was now dark. The sun had set a little bit away and it was beautiful. It was gorgeous pink and orange color. She was not able to enjoy the view, as she was anxious about Kathir's whereabouts.

Her stomach was growling, as she did not have proper food all day as she was panicking about how she was going to confess her feeling. But, she didn't want to eat without Kathir. She knew he should be there any moment and waited.

She watched as many people came and went from the cafe. People came, had their food and left as she sat in the same seat. It had been over 2 hours since she came in. She kept checking her phone to make sure she did not miss a call or text from him.

She noticed the time was almost 8. She kept telling herself that Kathir might have got held up in work but she was starting not to believe it anymore. She felt like an idiot still sitting there waiting for Kathir. Her heart sunk as even more time passed. Her love for him was the only reason she was staying. She wanted to believe he would show up any minute and apologize to her.

Tears were burning her eyes and she swallowed the lump in her throat. After another half hour, knowing he was not coming anymore, she grabbed her phone and bag before sliding out of the booth.

She was angry and hurt as she went back home.

"Thirumba latea vara aramichutiiya? Oru varam timeku vandhiyenu pathean", Parvathy's voice boomed as she entered the home