Kathir didn't like to be disturbed .

He was very much in peace and comfort ; burying himself in the soft fluffy heaps of pillow that he was clinging onto .
But the pillow didn't seem to understand him .
It constantly slipped away from his grip as he tried  pulling it back .
His peaceful sleep got disturbed .
Without opening his eyes his hand searched near his bed for the soft cushion to tug back .
Lo !
He couldn't reach it _ that irritated him!
Shhpp_
His sleep was totally gone now with his temporal artery pulsating fast with a throbbing headache.
The pain was unbearable .
He couldn't open his hooded heavy eyelids too .
He immediately knew why it was so

Hangover !!

Last night  he was indeed too much drunk that now the headache was killing him like hell with an urge to throw up .

With much difficulty he opened his eyes ..... first with a  little flutter of his eyelids which then fanned out wide with shock and suprise on seeing her move away and sliding down from the other end of the bed .

Was it really she ?

Or is his hallucination ?

Where the heck  was he ?

With clouded thoughts and a confused mind he sprang up his bed and sat only to realise that he was cropped up nude in his very own bed .

And for heaven's sake it was she only in flesh and blood .

He then looked around the whole room .

With the blinds pulled down the whole of the  French window and the slow humming of AC the room was still dimly lit .

The clock struck past 5'o clock in morning .

The sun had'nt woken up yet !!

And here he was in his room ,his own bed ,sans clothing ; along and alone with her !!

She by now had hurriedly dissappeared behind the curtains  of the dresser .

He didn't know whether she saw him or not .

What the hell had happened ?

With his headache throbbing painfully he looked around to witness his room that was in utter mess .

His trousers were tossed off clunging halfway from the sofa in the reception area !

His shirt ?

He had no idea about it !

AN : Dai ,nee thanada ,naan cementu _ sengalunu , awakitta scene pottu atha corridor layae kalati veesina ?
Roomkulla thedina epadi kedaikum ! 🤦🤦🤷🤷

The thick quilt alone was safeguarding his dignity .

Dignity ?

Nope !!!

He sensed it had already bid him adieu !!

The raggled sheets ,

Toppled water bottles near the bed ,

The clasp of his wrist watch and a piece of gold ( her broken bracelet ) lying together nearby ,

One strand of dried jasmine flowers .... with many loosened flowers splayed all around him ,

Her appearance ( he felt she too had covered her with a blankets while dissapearing behind the curtain) _ the scanty laced fabric of hers that was still on the ground , his fatigued body ....and ...and

Something else caught his sight !!

He really couldn't believe it ....the bedspread !

Apart from being raggled as hell ,the  neat white satin sheets of the bed displayed amber brown coloured stains here and there all over ; as if laughing  back at him , implying the raw truth .

Damn !

F***k !

He said it loud _

His mind mocked immediately _ that s what you have just done !

The realisation and the truth of the situation shocked him to the core .

He didn't how !

But it was the truth .

He had slept .... slept with her !

She ?

He looked around to see that she hadn't come out  .

With his headache increasing multifold ,not knowing ....not remembering a moment of the previous day's night ,he felt bile gush up his oesophagus .
Before he thrw up in the bed itself he rushed to the wash room and threw up a couple of times .
His legs were still wobbling and heart was racing fast .

He just couldn't digest the truth .

How was it even possible ?

He remembered returning home hell drunk after a bad mood off the whole of the previous day .

He somehow landed at home and then ....then ,...he tried hard and recollected his memory .

Flashes and Bits of him falling down in the reception veranda itself appeared in .

That too he wasn't that clear .

Then,

Then,

Smudged images of his mom , comforting him appeared _ and now he understood that it must have been hallucinations .

Hallucination of his mother comforting him .

Who else ?

And then ,

How come he landed up here in his room .

That too with her beside him !!

Not just beside ,

He had slept with her !!!

Damn you Kathir _ what the hell have you done !

Vendaam nu othuki vacha ponnu koodavae ....nee..nee .....he couldn't imagine further.

Another thought hit him too hard ,

Had he forced her into this ?

She must have helped him reach his room and then he had shamelessly forced her ?

God ...enna panni vachruken ...oru Vella ....awala ....awala....force panni , rape .....he froze on that thought.

Cha ,what a disgrace for me !

Apadi mattum naan antha ponna panniruntha enaku evlo asingam.

Am I such an uncivilized man ?

And what about her ?

Now Kathir wasn't a bad ass guy who jumps at every other woman he comes across , though he had had encountered women throwing themselves at him .

He wasn't that type _ infact he was clean with women .

In that way he was a true gentleman .

But he possessed extreme selfpride and an attitude that made him loathe in disgrace for having being intimate with a woman whom he had kept at bay .

It didn't strike him she is his wife !!

He hated himself thinking he had sort of forced her somehow into this .

Still he was in the wash room with a spinning head .

He vomitted again _ his stomach was burning .

Washing his face ,he tried to recollect his memories . Again it ended in vain .

He couldn't recollect anything .

He had fluttered his eyes open only to see her moving behind the dresser .

How the heck did it happen ?

He had only two possibilities before him .

One _ either he should have forced her hard and manhandled her _
Ji and if so ,he just  couldn't excuse himself .

The second _ it was a bizzare possibility :  it must have been with mutual consent  !!

Kathir shook his head ,

Was she too really into this ?

If so ....why ?

If they had lived as any other normal couple. ,that thought wouldn't have suprised him in any way .

But ....

Them !

They were to part ways in another 6 months time .

She was the one who actually intiated this divorce and almost stood  solid in her ground  these 6 months .

Kathir wasn't that oblivious _ she had really maintained her distance with him and he was thankful for that .
Just that he didn't express it _ to be honest he was comfortable with that sort of life these 6 months .

So how was it even  possible for her  , who knew  very well that this marriage won't last long;  to end up making love with him .

It made no sense ...... atleast to him !!

Now that the effects of liquor had drained off totally he was thinking as Kathirangan of Ranghan industries , without any emotional turbulences nor sentiments .

The small yearning boy and the lustladen husband inside him had dissapeared !!!

Mullai s fear was fast coming true !!!

He just thought practically _analysing the consequences of the deed .

It was over ...well ,

But how and why _ ?

And what would be her stand now _ was all he was thinking .

Ofcourse he did feel extremely bad and ashamed for getting drunk and ending up sleeping with a woman ,

But he wasnt emotionally connected to it now ,

Because however much hard he tried he really could recover any moment of the previous night .

Irony of fate _ now he truly and absolutely  didn't remember a word of  what at all he blabbered to her that night  and how much he had longed for her presence !!!

It wasn't his fault _ just like that all their intimate happy moments together , the boyish tantrums and his emotional outbursts of the previous night were washed off his memories .

Hid memory was now a clean slate _ poor guy ,he didn't have any idea of how much fate was cruel to him _ if only he remembered atleast one little joyous moment of the previous night , he wouldn't have had lost his paradise forever .

He didn't know it then !

Completed ignorant of everything that had happened between them , he was now thinking of her stand hereafter .

Anyways ,

He felt he had to take responsibility for it if he had forced her _ he was strong in that point alone , and he said to himself .

Cleaning himself he came outside , exactly at the same time she too came out dressed pushing aside the curtains .

Her shocked and instantly reddened face by itself said that she didn't notice him getting up nor rushing to the wash room .

She must have thought to clear the room before he got up .

And it was the exact truth .

Because ,

Mullai didn't want to face him in the morning like this , him hugging her tight as if she was some cushion and cuddling into her .
Moreover none of them wore a scrap of clothing .
She didn't want an embarrassing encounter .
But every time she tried to free herself from him ,he was constantly pulling her into his clutch .
She would have hardly slept an hour after they consummated . Though within his arms , in his bed , right royally adorning his thaali around her neck ,she very well knew all of this would be only short lived.

He will definitely change to his original colour once he is back again to senses .

That thought didn't make her sleep .

She couldn't wink an eye to sleep thereafterwards .

However much she had made up her mind ,it was now painful to think off !!

Well ,

This was her decision .

Nothing to regret hereafter .

That was her stand _ she had a promise to keep up .

With all those thoughts clogging in her mind she lay awake unable to move an inch away from the octopus clutch of her darling husband .

How much childlike as well romantic he had been all night !!

If only he remained the same for life _ she will be the luckiest wife in this whole world _ she thought with a sorrow smile .

He had nuzzled into her as a babe but had held her in a machoman grip .

Finally ,when she heard the digital clock in the wall shine 5:00 am she slipped off him though he was trying to pull her back even in that deep sleep .

Anytime more ....if she stays like this around him and he happens to see her ,it would be very embarrassing for both of them .

Not budging to him she slipped off , covering herself with a blanket , picked up her clothing and disappeared behind the dresser .

She didn't notice him getting up _

And now ,

Mullai s face instantly reddened to the core .

Last night it was something different .

Now she couldn't look up to meet his eyes .

She bowed down turning her face sideways not noticing the shock in his face .

What was he to conclude from her red face that turned away from him ?

Was she angry ?

At him !

Why ?

Damn _ it might be true that he forced her ?

Easing his chest ,he cleared his throat and spoke in an emotionless tone .

Kathirangan was Back !

Mullai stiffened in that tone of his _ this wasn't her dear husband .

Kathir : hoomkoom , see ....I ...damn...I ...

Mullai : .....! With a pain in heart she heard him stammer again but in a different way ,not like yesterday night .

He didn't speak for sometime .

Then ,

He came straight to point .

Kathir : Did I force you ? _ uff ...he finally asked

A nod was the answer which he didn't know to decode .

She wasn't even looking in his direction .

Kathir : then...then , I understand was drunk .
Drunk like mad ....f**k ...and ended up in nonsense.
he course allowed stomping the ground and cursing himself only but it pained Mullai s delicate heart .

She couldn't bear it to hear as nonsense .

For her last night' s Kathir was more than the most precious diamond in the whole world .

And last night was something to cherish _ but who was to explain this to this arrogant tycoon .

He was behaving as if he committed some greatest sin
,
His face displayed a hatred( over him only ) as if he bumped into dung .

He was actually angry over hisself for misbehaving with a woman.

But , for Mullai she had made love to her husband .

There was this difference in their perception of the previous night and this difference in thought widened the gap between the couple .

Instead of resoluting it ,they moved apart more .

Mullai : Hm...

Kathir : I was knocked off . I don't remember anything .
I am......am .....he didn't apologize .

Mullai : MV: Nethi mattum vaaila yethana please ....yethana sorry...v vanthuchu ,evlo kolaiva pesinaanga .
Athelaam maranchu karanchae pochu !
Ithu than nitharasam Mulla _ anupavi !

Kathir : Sariya nyabagam illa ... yethuvamaae ,

Mullai : .....!

Kathir : Yepo vanthen ?

Mullai : Raathri ...pathinonnu maniku mela .

Kathir : Nethi enoda mood sari illa . Konjam personal issues naala .....he stopped at the controversy hidden in his own word .

Talking about a personal issue to the woman with whom you slept the night  !!!

He looked at her _ the very expression in her face implied that she too thought the same .

Mullai : MV : Konjam personal issues ah ? Athunaala kudichenu ipo vilakam sollraangalaama ?
Nethi amma amma nu aluthu polambinethalaam therincha ,enna pannuvaanga !

Her face displayed sarcasm and a kinda mockery that kindled his ego .

Kathir : MV : Yethuku nakkala paakara ? Ipdi paakra alavuku naan enna sollirupen.
Shh ... Kathir , get to your point and settle this off now .
Yerkanavae periya kolapam nadanthaachu.
See atha vidu.....

Mullai : mm,

Kathir : Pl..s.....haan tell me , I didn't force right ?

He asked it again as if it was the most important issue now .

That irritated her as hell .

Mullai : MV : Ithu enna kelvinu ithaiyaae kettutu erukaanga .
Panniruntha enna ....panaati enna ?
Iwanga en husband ...antha maathri oru nimisham kooda yosichu paaka maatangala  .
Athu yen ipo ?
She gave another question as her answer.

That totally confused him now .

What does she imply by this ?

He looked around and said coldly ,

Kathir : Yen ipo kekrana, I understand what has happened .
Aana paaru enaku yethuvumae nyabagam illa .
I regret ... really regret for whatever had happened last night .
But if you ask me now , I don't remember a second of last night !

Mullai : Athunaala ? She asked in a sudden anger that sprang inside her in the way he said he ain't remember anything .

Her angry only added fuel to his egositic pride.

Leaving aside the  guilty consiousness he held till then he answered in a harsh tone .

Kathir : Athunaala ennanu ketta ? Enaku yethuvum nyabagam illa . So athu ennaiya porutha varaikum oru accident. You see ...Mullai ,no one remembers an accident !!!

She felt like hitting her hard on the wall _ how hurting to hear this ,well this was expected .
And even in that agony she didn't fail to notice that he had addressed her by name for the first time .

Mullai didn't waste time anymore .

She immediately cleared the room not giving his space to speak again .

Kathir stood like a tree rooted to the place itself .

He felt insulted .

As well was confused of what her stand would be hereafter .

Not making him wait for long ,she came up some time later with a faint knock and a file in her hand .

Mullai :
Nethi enna epadinu athukulla thoondi thuruvi virumbala .
I am sorry for this.
Nethi ....nethi night than ....naan intha room kulla vanthen ,athuvum .....athuvum ,

Kathir : See but ,

Mullai : Naan solli mudichudrenga .
Itha vachu naan yentha advantage yeduthuka maatenga .
Promise .
Naan sonna vaakula erunthu Meera maaren .
Anaiku oru vaati than , sonna vaarthaiya maathi pesinen .
Inimel apadi nadakaathunu annaikae solliten.
Ipovum athu than solren ,naan en promise eh meera maatennga.
Inum 6 months la namma divorce nadakum .
Naan sonna maathri naama pirinchuralaamnga.
Intha papers laam sign panni yeduthutae vanthuten !!!

That was the last they both had a face off !