On spotting him at the lobby she moved in slow strides towards him .

If not for , the public place ,she wud ran into him .

Considering the surroundings , she paced slow ....

As she progressed with each step , her heart thudded ...

No...it wasn't merely the embarrassement post night , but something in his eyes , which he locked with hers , less a second , was sending confusing strides along her .

For a person ,  who instantly brightens up with a happy smile ,on seeing her this Kathir appeared alien .

He used to check on her comfortably and happiness , even for petty things .

But to just leave back ,at the place where they  ......where they had just started their live ,made love .....was something fishy  !!!!

She noticed that his eyes  haven't yet met hers properly even for  those few seconds ....

And in the wink of the eye , she could decipher ....the difference in them .

An absolutely blank look !!!

He looked gloomy . !!!

She had a gut feeling that something was wrong and had to be sorted out !!!

Just as reached him , with a step or two lacking behind .....she was interrupted with Jeeva s & Meena s voices , quarreling ,just barging btwn them .

Mee : ...avlo aasaiya unakaaga wait pannen da .aana neeyu ? Nalla weight ah potutu vandhu kupura paduthuv  thoongura . Thoo....

Ithuku than kodai ku kootitu vanthiya ??

Dei ennangada panni vachrukinga karadi brothersu ?

Jee : yei ...kathadi ellarum erukanga .....epdi pesara ?

Mee : Pinna pesaama  ? Kodaikanal vanthutu sambar maathri eruntha ?

Their open quarrrels and confrontations took in place right before Kathir and Mullai. ,giving them no chance to speak .....
Finally Meena calmed down and called up Kathir ...

Mee : Neenga vamdiya edunga .....evan vera vandilla varatum . Evan ootra
car la naa varamaten ...erukura kovathalu , avana .......

Jee : 😳😳🤭🤭

Kathir side eyed to Mullai to only find her in confusion !!!

Meena's insistence to drive ,gave  Kathir a relief , better than worse , he needn't face his wife" s accusations for last night .

Ka.: ..Haan saringa .Anne poi antha vandiya yedu ...ithulla naa kootitu varen .

All this while Mullai s face displayed a variety of emotions .... but always known for her calm behaviour ,nobody noticed the change in her ....

Kathir : ..... only if he had looked into hiswife's eyes he wud have known it .

Averting her eyes was his biggest mistake ..... billowed in guilt he didnt have the courage to even look at straight .

He had to apologise ,but not in this mood _ totally breaken !!
Maybe he can summon hisself and give her a clear apology .

With such thoughts he started the car , and with all the family members assembled in , the family started the explorations for the day .

Since it was a little bright , they headed first to the  the kodai solar museum , spending time in exploration of the sky !!!

Later on they split in patches ,with few taking a stride to the Bryant's park .....and the youngsters took a walk along the Coakers walk .

All these while , both of them played hide and seek at their best .

When she looked in for him , he seemed busy in exploration of the planets and solar system ......

And when they strode along , he was careful enough to keep Kanna alongside them for company .

Nope ...this wasn't a matter to be discussed with the family around .

On and off , either of them could take off their eyes from one another !!!

Ofcourse only when the person  wasn't aware of it .

The Coakers walk ,seemed to be a long walking path , alongside the mountain views , encircling the princess of hills and ....ended with a top slip ....a spot , with a higher altitude , designed in artificially for ... people interested in bungejumps and other sports .

Heights were always a threat to her ,and feeling both mentally and physically weak , Mullai opted to be at the plains .

With Jeeva meena ,Kathir and Kanna climbed up for the sport leaving ,Mullai and Dhanam behind .

The rest of the family were returning from the Bryant's park .

The heights of the hills scared Mullai , she didn't want him to go in for the deadly sport ,but with so much of distance between them , she cudnt ask him to be quite .

She sat along side the few stalls , keeping an eye on the sport and tall hills .

Once .

Twice ..

Thrice ...

She saw him jump and ebb up ..

Later turns were taken by Jeeva & kanna .

Meena tried a little and as usual came dropped it halfway through and came running down .

The guys had planned , to step ahead the sport .

She could see the precautions  they took , but as they climbed upwards more ,she lost track of them .

.............

.............

...........

..............

It was almost 30 _ 40  minutes  roughly or so , when she felt a thud .!!!

What was that ?

Her intutuion scared her !!!

To add oil to the fire ,she saw Kanna running downhills to them ......

His face was scary and he panicked heavily ......tears flowing down his cheeks .....

He shouted out to them

...Ka : ..Anni ....Anni .....

Mu & Mee : enna kanna ,ennada aachu ? Yen epdi kathura ..? yetho satham kettuchu ?

Ka ... Panting in bits ......

Athu vanthu vanthu ...anga oru accident aagipochu Anni ......

Those words freezed both the girls .......

Literally Mullai was shaken to the core .

What happened to him ?!

Was it so ?
...

No way. .....

As if proving her  thoughts are wrong he threw the second bomb ...

Ka : ...Aaalaamana pallam ....anga poi ....velayaduna ? Jeeva anne appanu paathu anga ella ....namma Kathir Anna than .....
Kathir anne than solla solla kekaama ........aiyo ....romba bayangarama eruku..anni .....Anni apuram ......
 

Those words were enough for her .

The love of her life is in danger or is he already endangered ?

The very imagination shook her upside down and with an agony that exploded like hell , she screamed her life out , mad as hell , without even wasting a minute she ran as fast as she could uphill ........ forgetting the fact that heigh altitudes always induced her vertigo !!!

The path was so rugged that she bruised herself so badly as she ran ,her only thought s being him Kathir .

Ka : kanna who opened his mouth  was again speaking to the air !!!

By the time she ran up , the place was little crowded , she could see Jeeva ... sitting on a rock with heads down , crying people moving here and there , information was being passed to emergency services.......

But

But ...

Where was he ?

She searched as much she could ........the whole day he had been right before her , without a word to speak , she thought she I'll put things in place that day ...but now ?

What is happening ?!

Worst comes worst , was he badly injured or , or ....

Something else ?

Her heart bled and mind prayed ...so ....when ....

Something caught her eye sight !!!

Was it ?

A red piece of clothing was left hanging in the branches of the cliff ... very near the base  ....

Was it a shirt ?

A clearer view , made her nightmare come true .

It was ofcourse a shirt !!!

Pressing her thudding heart , she breathed iiregularily. !!

Then it struck !! .

Wasn't he wearing a white shirt today ? .

His appearance today was sculpted for life in her heart .

She left a second of relief  , again when something crossed her mind .

It wasn't a red coloured shirt .......

It was a white shirt , soaked in blood for almost the entire front ....

The torn back of the shirt ,flew across , clearly stating the shirt was the one he was wearing !!!!

Eyes dimming in shock ,legs shaking , her mind reverting back to yesderday night ,her heart screaming in pain and agony , her whole body trembling with the message the shirt conveyed ,

She screamed her heart out as hell and collapsed into an inconsolable sob .....