Forever with you...

36- Promoted as a Friend

Jeeva's POV:

Amma guided us to our rooms. I went in and got ready for the ritual. Kanamma will be surprised to see us. I walked out of the room and saw Adithi standing at the doorstep of her room. She was looking beautiful that I could not divert my gaze from her.

She smiled at me when she noticed me. 'This suits you,' she said. I raised my eyebrows. 'I mean this dress suits you well and you're fab,' she smiled. 'Thanks and you look great too,' I said looking at her eyes. She smiled and knocked at the door.

The door opened and Uthra came out. 'You look great Anna. And how am I looking?' Uthra asked me. 'Beautiful as always,' I hugged her. 'Let's go,' we all went down. Kanamma exclaimed on seeing us.

She ran to me and hugged me and Uthra. 'Thank God you all came on time,' she said. Then she hugged Adithi. 'Let's start the ritual,' Amma said and made her sit in the seat. We greeted everyone from Varun's family. Venkat joined us. I searched for Arya. But he was nowhere.

Deiva was standing beside Kanamma and waved her hand at me. I smiled in return. Someone patted my shoulder. It was Arya. 'Where were you? I was looking for you,' I asked him. 'Answering a call Jeeva,' he replied. 'Are you ok?' I asked him suspiciously. 'Yeah. I'm fine,' he smiled in return. 'Just remember I know you better than you. We can talk about this later,' I smiled assuring. He nodded.

The ritual started and everyone applied haldi to Kanamma and Varun after prayers. I could sense that Deiva was also restless whenever her eyes met Arya. There's something wrong with both Deiva and Arya.

'Till Marriage, you both should not meet each other,' Varun's mother told both and everyone teased Varun Mama and Kanamma. Sita Athai was the only one irritated by all these things. I know that she is not happy accepting Kanamma is her family.

But she hasn't openly insulted her. Sita Athai has done a lot for us. She sheltered us when we were homeless just because we're her brother's family. And I am grateful to her for that.

'Sir. Are you Ok?' Adithi shook me. 'Yes, Adithi. Where are others?' I asked in return as there was no one except us. 'They went for dinner, sir. You were rooted in your thoughts. Is everything ok?' she asked me again.

'Yeah perfectly fine. Just thinking about the rituals. You go and have dinner. I'll be back,' I said and fished my phone out. I walked out and dialed Deiva's number. 'Come to the garden. I am waiting for you,' I said and ended the call. 'Jeeva,' Deiva came within a minute.

'Deiva I can sense that there is something not right between you and Arya. You can tell me if there is any problem. I can sort it out,' I touched her shoulder. 'No Jeeva,' before she could complete I interrupted. 'Deiva please don't lie. It is so clear. Tell me,' I insisted. Tears welled up her eyes. 'I couldn't forget Jeeva. I could not forget anything. Even though he says that I'll not take anything seriously and I am practical, I couldn't,' she cried which shocked me.

She told everything to me. I couldn't reply. 'I just want to forget everything and move on. But I don't know what stops me. The more I want to move away from him, the more I get close to him,' she cried.

I walked to her and touched her gently. She hugged me and I caressed her to console her. 'I don't know what to say Deiva,' I said as she stood separately from me. 'But I feel better now,' she wiped her tears. 'You can always count on me Deiva,' I assured her. She nodded.

'I was wondering why Arya's thoughts are affecting me this much. I am out of clues now, Jeeva,' she sighed. 'Sometimes it happens. We will find hard to move on. Because somewhere it could have ignited the spark inside us leading to the unquenchable fire. The spark may be infatuation, love, lust, anger, even hate. It all depends upon the person. I know it has affected Arya also. I can see through him. You are affecting him too. The best way to solve this is- you both have to talk,' I explained.