Distance plays Cupid

9

Dear readers!! Hello! Long time! Sorry for having kept yall waiting. Exams and stuff kept me too occupied for the past few weeks. Now I'm back and hopefully will be able update frequently. Thank you for the patience

One thing I will be implementing henceforth is bold & italics. When dialogues are in bold & italics, it means they are the character's thought processes. Like avangaluke avanga pesikkura maadhiri. I realized calling them mindvoice wouldn't be too apt. and it's also inconvenient to read if I were to randomly put in words like "mindvoice", "manasaatchi" here and there. Henceforth, manasaatchi and MV will remain, self-talk will be in bold & italics. So yeah..hope this makes reading easier!

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The clock ticked by the hours
just like that, it was already 9.30pm

Mullai was in her room, pacing back and forth, lost in thoughts.
It felt like she had just spoken to Dhanam but no, that was some 9 odd hours ago. Now was the time she had been impatiently waiting for.

It was a mix of feelings. She was a little excited and a hell lot nervous!

The whole day, she kept herself busy by cooking her dad's favourite dish, playing a game of cards with the family and massaging her mom's leg. So much happening, but her impending phone conversation with Kathir was at the back of her head throughout.

9.30mani aachu. Anga veetla ellarum saaptrupaha, velai ellam mudinjirukkum. Ippo avughaluku phone panni pesalama?
Pesuvahala?
Dial panni paapom..

At the same time, Kathir was staring at his phone while seated leaning on the cot. His thumb was positioned on the call button in a way that he would press on it any moment now and his eyes were fixated on the name on the screen, Mullai.

enna pannitrupa? Oruvela ava amma appa kooda iruppalo? Indha nerathuku phone panna eduppala? Pesuvala? Kaalailaye onnum perusa pasala. Anni'kitta pesa dhan kooptadha sonna...

He kinda felt bad that she didn't speak much with him in the morning. Not that he had a lot to say either. But hearing her voice after 24 odd hours gave him a sense of content, some kind of gaiety he had never experienced before. But when she asked to talk to Dhanam, he felt dejected.

He wondered if she wasn't missing him like he did.
He wondered if she didn't feel the same emotions that he felt.
He wondered if she wasn't happy talking to him

These thoughts had kept him rather occupied throughout the day, to an extent that once in a while, he gave wrong items and change to customers. Kumaresan mama and Saravanan couldn't make out the reason because according to them, Mullai had dialed the shop number to talk to Kathir. So the option of Kathir missing Mullai, and thus being absent-minded, was ruled out. They thought he was just tired or something and didn't probe much. Only Kathir knew how fidgety he was, and the reason behind it.

Without thinking more, he decided to give it a shot.

Ava koopdala'na enna? Naama koopduvom. Epdiyum ava ippo inga irundhirundha, ukkandhu edhavdhu pesitu dhane iruppom. Andha maari nenachitu pannuvom. Eduthu pesina, okay. Pesalana....adhu apram paathukalam

And he proceeded to press the green call button

"the number you have dialed is currently busy. Please try again later"

Mullai: oru vela kadai vishayama yaarkittayavdhu pesitrupahalo..?
Kathir: indha nerathuku yaarkitta pesitruka..?

Seven minutes later,

"the number you have dialed is currently busy. Please try again later"

The jittery feelings were gone. Now it was all about impatience and curiosity. Kathir had never seen Mullai on a call at this hour, unless she's talking to her parents