A cloudy Saturday evening, in the sizzling Chennai. Shakthi was putting all her efforts to open her scooty, but she couldn't. She slapped her forehead and blamed her for her carelessness. Shakthi went to the railway station to drop her cousin. Unconsciously, she had locked the seat with her bike key inside it.

The parking area was quite deserted and she did not find anyone to seek help from. The clouds were getting darker by every second and her worry increased manifold.

Thankfully, she had her purse in her hand which had her mobile phone.

She called her dad but she was not confident enough to tell the truth to him, because this was the first time her dad has allowed her to take her scooty out alone. Now if she tells him about her stupidity, he would yell at her.

"Hello pa... " Shakthi took a deep breath as her dad answered the call.

"Yes da. Have you started from the station?" Her father asked her in concern.

"Pa.. it has started to rain here. I'll wait for sometime and come home." Shakthi informed him in fear.

"That's why I asked you not to go alone." He told her in disappointment.

"Paaa... I'll come home as soon as the rain stops." She promises him.

"Do you want me to come?"

"No no.. I'll manage pa." Shakthi replied and ended the call.

She looked around and found two guys looking at her. She had no other option, so Shakthi decided to seek help from them. As she was seeing them, they neared her.

"Anna... I kept my keys inside the seat and closed it. Can you please help me?" Shakthi asked them in tension.

"Oh.. we cannot open it without a spare key ma..." A guy replied and he looked at the other guy and blinked.

"Hey! My friend has a mechanic shed nearby. I'll take your bike and unlock it. You stay with sister da." The second one said and fear started building inside her stomach.

"No no.. I'll also come." Shakthi replied nervously.

"You have to walk till the mechanic shed ma.. you wait here, we will take care." The guy said and Shakthi clearly understood that she was in danger.

She did not know what to do or how to escape. She was trapped. An idea popped and she took her mobile but the guy held her hand and stopped her.

"Trying to escape huh?" He said with a devilish smirk and she started panicking.

"SHAKTHI!" They all heard a bold voice and turned towards the direction.

A talk and handsome guy who was around the same age as Shakthi was standing at the entrance of the parking.

A faint hope appeared in Shakthi's heart as she saw him. It was not the first time she's seeing him. Infact she had always hated seeing him, but today....

"Babes, I asked you to wait near the platform 3 right? What are you doing here?" He asked as he neared her.

"Shiva..." She whispered his name as her tension started relaxing slowly.

"What happened dear? What are you doing here, instead of waiting for me?" He asked her casually.

"My bike key got struck inside. I couldn't take my bike... So I asked their help." She informed him.

"You're so careless babes. Leave it. Let's go home and take your bike later. And thanks for helping my girlfriend brothers." He said and forwarded his hand to Shakthi. The next moment she grabbed his hand and walked out of the parking area. She did not care about her bike or the scoldings she is gonna get from her father. She wanted to escape from there, and her saviour Shiva was there to rescue her from those assholes.

He took her to a nearby cafe and gave her a glass of water. She drank it in one gulp and took a deep breath.

"One cold coffee and one hot chocolate." Shiva informed the waiter. Shakthi's lips twisted into a smile as he remembered her favourite drink even at this kind of situation.

"Thank you Shiva... If you weren't there... I..." Shakthi shuddered and looked away as she thought about the possibility.

"Cool yaar. I thought you would be angry at me by now!" He teased her.

"Angry for what?" She asked him clueless and started sipping her hot chocolate.

"I called you as babe, my girlfriend etc in front of them, and you are asking as if you are having amnesia. " He chuckled.

"Haha those endearments made them believe that we're really a couple. And what are you doing here?" Shakthi questioned Shiva.

"I went to Madurai for a family function. And I'm returning from there. What about you?" He asked her back.

"I came to drop my cousin.. and that's how things happened."

"What are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know Shiva. My dad would scold me if he comes to know what had happened.. but I don't want to lie either." Shakthi told him.

"You have a spare key right?" He asked and she nodded her head. "Fine, then bring that key tomorrow and take your bike from here. Tell your parents everything and assure them that you'd be careful from now." Shiva calmly replied to her.

"I never thought you'd be nice to me, Shiva." Shakthi grinned at him.

"Well madam, if you had given me a chance to speak you would have known about me " he winked with his ever charming face.

For the first time Shakthi wasn't annoyed because of him. He paid the bill and they both came out of the cafe.

"I'll take an auto, Shiva. Thanks for the help." Shakthi smiled at him.

"Hey, I'll drop you and then go to my home. I don't think it's good for you to go alone at this time ,and the weather is also bad." Shiva told her. Shakthi thought for a while and agreed to him.

He booked an auto and dropped Shakthi at her place and headed to his hostel.

Shakthi went inside the house and her parents were waiting for her expectantly.

"What took you so long, Shakthi? Do you know how much we both were worried??" Her mother asked her in worry.

"Maa... Actually my key got struck inside my scooty, that's why I am late. I tried to open it but I couldn't. I seeked help from two people but that was the worst decision I ever took." She gulped remembering those two minutes with the strangers.

"My friend came there and rescued me from there. He dropped me home now." Shakthi told them and her mother was about to cry then .

"Maa.. nothing happened.. " she hugged her mother.

"That is why I told you not to go alone. You never listen to me,Shakthi." Her dad said.

"Paa... I'll be safe here after. I promise." Shakthi convinced her parents and went inside her room.

After getting freshen up, Shakthi sat on the bed and leaned back. Until that evening, Shiva was one of the most hated persons in her life.

Shakthi was doing her final year of B.Com. She met Ananya, on the first day of her college and they became best buddies in a short span of time. And through Ananya, she got to know about Aarav and Shiva.

Aarav is Ananya's boyfriend since school. Shiva was also their buddy since then. Whenever Ananya hung out Shakthi, Aarav and Shiva would also join them. Because they both were studying in an arts college, the boys were doing engineering, and outing was the only chance to meet her boyfriend for Ananya. As her parents were pretty strict, Ananya would also lie to them and take Shakthi along with her.

This became their routine every weekend. When the couple spent their alone time, Shakthi and Shiva would be sitting simply. He would say something to irritate her, as he was also bored just like Shakthi. That annoyed her the most. They both were like Tom and Jerry, pulling eachother's legs.

They both did not have much of a conversation, except when Ananya and Aarav were around them. Whereas Shakthi's bond with Aarav was more brotherly. Whenever a rift between Shiva and Shakthi arose, Aarav would support her rather than backing up his bestie.

Shakthi chuckled when she thought about her previous encounters with Shiva. But today he erased everything by his act. Unfortunately due to the annoyance Shiva had created earlier, she never intended to take his number. Even today, she forgot to ask him. She was tired to ask Ananya for Shiva's number.

Shakthi spent her Sunday with her family. In the morning she went back to the railway station to bring her bike back. Later her aunt had come there to meet them making her occupied for the rest of the day.

On Monday Shakthi went to her college. Ananya was absent that day as she was not feeling well. That made her day even more worse. She was free for the second hour and decided to go the library then.

Shakthi took her favourite novel, that she had hid in one of those racks and sat to read it. She felt someone sitting opposite to her. When she lifted her head up, her eyes spotted Shiva sitting on the other chair.

"Shiva???" Shakthi called his name in a shocked whisper. Was he there for real, or it was her dream?

"Hi Shakthi, how are you?" He asked her with a smile.

"What are you doing here, idiot???" She asked him panicking.

"I came here to meet you. Why are you panicking?" Shiva asked her calmly as he took a book and pretended to read.

"How did you enter inside the college?? Your ID? "

"Chill babes! One of my hostel mate is from your department. I took his ID card and entered inside the campus. I was feeling shy to ask Ananya your number. And I wanted to meet you and make sure your fine after that incident. That's why I risked and came here. My friend told me that you'd be free this hour, and Ananya had mentioned earlier that you both spend a lot of time at the library, so I came here directly. " Shiva explained his adventure to her.

"You are crazy!!!" Shakthi said with an amused smile, because she couldn't believe that he did all these just to meet her.

"You didn't even care to inform me that day." He accused her cutely.

"Just like you, even I felt wierd to ask your number from Ananya." She whispered.

"Aahan!"

The bell rang, and Shakthi had to go go back to her class.

"I have to go now..."

"Hey, give me your number and go!" He said and she chuckled. Shakthi quickly wrote her number in a piece of paper and handed over to Shiva.

She went back to her class, while Shiva went to his college. It was just a beginning of their new journey.

From that day Shiva and Shakthi started talking over phone . They started going out more often than Aarav and Ananya. Both of them fell in love but never confessed it to eachother.

As days rolled on, Ananya and Shakthi completed their course and got placed in an investment company. Aarav and Shiva were doing their final year B Tech.

"How is your work, madam?" Shiva asked Shakthi when they met at the coffee shop.

"Learning new things everyday! How are your preparations for campus going? " She asked him back.

"My project is in the final phase. Almost done. Aarav is planning to do PG, you know right?"

"Yeah Ananya told me that day... " Shakthi said and looked away.

"What's it?! Tell me Shakthi. " Shiva asked her as he held her hand.

"Ananya's parents have started searching for a groom. She wants Aarav to come and talk to her family, but he wants to study further. Every other day they both are having a fight because of it. As you are busy with your project, they both didn't tell you anything." Shakthi told him.

"So? What are they going to do now?" Shiva asked her.

"Ananya wants a break... She needs time to think and talk to her parents."

"Breakup huh?"

Shakthi nodded her head positively.

"Why are you looking upset now? If they both are sure of what they're doing, then why do you look so low?" Shiva asked her as she was worried.

"If you and I were in this situation what would you have done, Shiva?" Shakthi asked him gaining courage.

He was startled to hear that question from her. He paused for a while which made her even more tensed.

"Why are you asking me this? Are we both a couple like them? We're just friends na.". He laughed and her eyes welled up in tears.

"Thanks for reminding me, Shiva!" Shakthi said and furiously got up from her seat.

"Babes!!!" Shiva hurried and hugged her from behind. Shakthi struggled in his arms and tried to push him.

"I love you, Shakthi." He whispered in her ears and tears rolled down, making her cheeks wet.

He pulled her towards the chair and sat beside her.

"It is always a fun for me to see you getting annoyed and irritated because of me. That's why I said so... " Shiva said and she hit him furiously.

"Is this the time to play??" Shakthi asked and wiped her tears.

"You very well knew that I'm in love with you. Then why did you ask me?"

"I was curious..."

"Listen... It's their life. They both are sure about their decision. If they are meant to be, they would find their way back to eachother. When we met for the first time, did we ever think that we would end up here?" Shiva asked caressing her hair and she understood his words slowly.

"You're right. Let's not interfere in their lives."

"Now let us talk about our life!" Shiva said with a chuckle.

Shiva got placed in an IT company after graduation. Shiva and Shakthi informed their families about their love after a couple of months. Though their parents were quite hesitant, the couple convinced them finally. Aarav and Ananya were too happy for their friends. Aarav also convinced Ananya's family and they happily agreed to wait for a few more years for their wedding.

Shiva and Shakthi the third wheels of the other couple, ended up getting married first making everyone surprised.

The End ❤️
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