Tarun was seated with Sivaangi's friends after she had left with Ashwin. He tried to get some information out of her team mates.

T: Athu yeppadi unga workla, ivunga rendu per mattum last minute la flight cancel panni car la pogarathuku allow panni, reimburse panaraanga?

(How do they permit last minute changes with their travel plans? How can the two of them just cancel and go on road, will your work reimburse it?)

Rohit: Athu Ashwin oda car. He doesn't care about any of this.

(That is Ashwin's car. He doesn't care about any of this.)

He wanted to be wrong but something about his fiancée's relationship with her so called best friend gave an unsettling feel in his stomach.

He has never been jealous of anyone before, so he hated this new weird emotion. He has had his fair share of girlfriends and breakups in the past but he has never been bothered even when his ex-es got married and had their happily ever after.

He has known Sivaangi for 6 months now and has grown to really like her and her unconventional attitude towards life. She was all a man could ask for. A nice, compassionate girl who is well educated and independent. And of course she is very pretty and comes from a good family. She is passionate towards her work and hobbies, her interest in working on corporate philanthropy sounded very unique. He had no reason to say no to the proposal.

He remembered weighing his options when his family decided on an arranged marriage. He met Sivaangi a few times and understood that she is a strong, principled woman who lives by her ideas. She is so calm and composed most of the time but she is feisty when it comes to anything against her ideas. She had never brought his past relationships into any of their arguments or discussions. She has clearly come to terms with it when he confessed about it and she had told him that she has never been in a relationship before which he believed with no doubts. 

But Sivaangi and Ashwin seemed to have a deep connection that did not go well with him. It wasn't about hurting his ego but having fallen in love with her over the last couple of months, he did not want to lose her. He intended to have a heart to heart talk with her as soon as possible.

T: Oh, team lead na enna venumnaalum panalaama?

(Oh, being a team lead gives him the right to make any decision?)

Rohit and Vaishali looked at each other.

Rohit: Ashwin engaloda boss.

(Ashwin is our boss)

T: Theriyume. Unga team leader thana?

(Of course, I know that. He is your team leader right?)

Rohit: Illa, he is on Triumph's board of directors. He is Mr Sridhar's only son.

T: WHATTT!

Ashwin loved the undivided attention he received from the girl next to him who was talking animatedly describing all about the hen party that she went to last weekend. He watched her from the corner of his eyes. He noticed how she had her waist length wavy hair pulled in a high bun. He loved playing with her hair, he was tempted to pull over and bury his face in her hair. He had imagined the scene in his head atleast a thousand times. Her almond shaped dark brown eyes was filled with laughter as she wrapped her fingers around his wrist trying to explain a joke. He was trying to keep up with the joke but failed miserably.

She was dressed in a purple joggers and a white short sleeved tees, and her face had no traces of any make up except for the strawberry lip balm which she had used a couple of times over the last few hours. It has been tempting him to lick the flavour off her lips. He smiled at her watching her bite her plump lower lip as she bent down to take her shoes off.

A: Seat belt ah thirumba podu ma.

(Please wear your seatbelt)

S: Iru, let me make myself comfortable.

(Wait, let me make myself comfortable.)

She turned her body towards him with her legs folded and feet under her bottoms and then she buckled herself.

A: Yenna position la ukaandiruka?

(What's with this weird seating position?)

S: Ennaku unkita pesarapo unna parkanum.

(I want to look at while I speak with you)

A: Shall I turn around to face you too?

S: Accident ayidum. Nee drive pannu, naan mattum unna paatha pothum.

(We don't want any accidents. Just keep driving while I watch you)

Anyone listening to the conversation between these two will naturally assume that she is his girlfriend.

A: Let us park somewhere and take a break. I need to stretch for a bit. I would like a cup of coffee.

S: Awesome! Ennakum inniku coffee venum.

(Awesome, I would love some too)

As he took a small detour through a quaint little town, Sivaangi took her camera out and got ready to click away. He stopped in a place where it looked like the perfect spot for some lush landscapes. Sivaangi was changing her lens while he got out and walked around to open the passenger door.

S: Wow! I love this place. But inga enga coffee kidaikum.

(Wow! I love this place. But how will we get coffee here?)

A: Amma sent some coffee in the thermal mug.

She was busy clicking a picture while he helped her slide her feet back in her trainers. What she failed to realise was that she wouldn't have let anyone else touch her feet and help her with such things. It felt completely natural with him that she did not even notice it happening.

She stepped out to click more pictures while he leaned on the car and sipped on his coffee as he watched the patterns in the clouds. She walked back to him.

S: Still hot?

A: Check for yourself.

She reached out for his coffee mug and took a sip and closed her eyes enjoying the nuttiness of the coffee with a slight bitter after taste. Ashwin smiled at her.

S: Yen sirikara?

(What is so funny?)

A: Nothing is funny. I am just capturing the beautiful sight of you closing your eyes and enjoying the coffee. The golden sun behind you just makes it a perfect frame.

S: Did you take a photograph?

A: The best moments are captured in your eyes and stays in your heart. You don't need a camera for that.

Ashwin's inner self was holding the little winged toddler captive.

A's inner voice: Stupid Cupid! You better strike her this time! Look I am trying my best, but you need to put some effort in too. I am doing your job, you are such a waste!

Cupid: I did hit her multiple times. Something isn't right! Did you watch her? Did she dodge my arrow?

A's inner voice: You are completely useless! Next time, you better hit her with your fking arrows.

Cupid: I am a child! Watch your language!

A's inner voice: Sure!? What an amazing job for an infant! Just do your job. Make her fall for me. You aren't going anywhere until you do it.

As Ashwin set up their tent to camp for the night, Sivaangi set her camera up to get a picture of the milky way. She was hooked to her phone trying to spot some constellations on the star gazing app.

A: Pasikudha?

(Are you hungry?)

S: Are you offering to cook in the campfire?

A: I wish I can cook! I got some packed food from Chennai, in case we don't find an appropriate place to stop for dinner. So it has come handy now.

S: Perfect. But I will teach you to cook after the wedding.

Both stood rooted to the spot starting at each other at her statement. Neither of them knew what that meant. Ashwin choose to turn around and walk away to avoid any disappointments. He wasn't ready to listen to her say that she uttered it by mistake. Sivaangi on the other hand was confused.

What did I just say? Why did I say that? I am about to get married to Tarun in 4 months, and I love him.

Do you?  Screamed a voice in her head. She decided to take a stroll to clear her head. She heard Ashwin's voice as she started walking.

A: Don't go far. It is pretty dark. I know you will be safe but please stay close.

Sivaangi mumbled a quiet yes and started walking. She sometimes wondered why they had this deep emotional and mental connection. She remembered how she was instantly drawn to this man the moment their eyes met. The familiar 'home' sensation she had with him, like she has known him from another life or from a parallel universe was something she missed experiencing with Tarun.

When she was with him, she felt like they were the only two people alive in the world.

Stop it! He is your friend.

'I like Ashwin but I love Tarun' is something she has been repeating to herself for the last few months. But there were reasons why she can't be with Ashwin and there was only one other person who knew about it. The thought brought back some nasty, bitter memories.

She was in an irritable mood when she came back to the tent. The stroll made it worse, all that she had in her mind the whole time she walked around was Ashwin.

She suddenly felt guilty.

I can't do this to Tarun. He is a nice guy, I haven't even called him since we left. Fk! I haven't even checked my texts or calls.

She noticed 6 missed calls and 10 texts from her fiancé. She felt horrible as she rang him. He picked the call at the first ring.

T: Sivaangi! Enga poita? Evlo thadava call pannuven? Evlo messages, oru reply yum illa. Naan bayanthuten.

(Sivaangi, how many times do I call you? I texted you so many times and I got no reply from you. I was really worried for you.)

S: Sorry Tarun. Phone silent la irunthuchu.

(Sorry Tarun, the phone was on silent mode)

T: Are you safe? All okay?

Sivaangi frowned at his questions.

S: What do you mean? I told you that I have Ashwin to keep me safe.

T: Yeah whatever! Have you reached Bangalore?

S: What? No! I told you. The whole point of us travelling by road is to stop for my milkyway photography. We are camping in this village, it is about 150 kms from Bangalore.

T: Yeah, but I thought it was like a half hour or maximum an hour stop to take your pictures.

S: Do you even know anything about my star gazing interests?

Sivaangi was annoyed with his behaviour. Is he doubting me?

T: You know what. I should have come with you or maybe forced you to fly to Bangalore.

S: And who are you to decide for me? I am an adult. I can make my own decisions. I don't like to be told what to do.

Tarun took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He hasn't been able to digest the fact that Sivaangi was out there, all alone, late in the night with the only heir to a great business empire. It wasn't doubt but it was some sort of an uneasy feeling and also about her being branded as a gold digger.

T: Baby, will you please listen to me?

S: What?

He did not know what to say. He had to choose his words carefully because she wasn't next to him for him to pacify her in case she gets it all wrong.

T: Babe, I really love you. I am just panicking because you are somewhere in the forest in the middle of the night with your boss.

S: Not my boss. He is my best friend.

T: Who stays with a male friend in the night?

S: Are you so narrow minded?

T: I am not. No man will entertain this sort of nonsense. Put yourself in my shoes and tell me. What would you have done?

Sivaangi abruptly cut the call. Not because she was angry but because she had absolutely no answer to that. She wondered why her parents never objected to her being very close to Ashwin.

Tarun called her back and she avoided the call. After a good few minutes of pondering over what to do, she decided to call him back.

S: Hi.

T: Hi

S: Sorry, naan over react panniten.

(Sorry, I overreacted.)

T: I am sorry too. Baby, I don't doubt you. I am genuinely worried. I wish I was there with you.

S: I know. I would have loved that too.

She forced herself to say that but in her heart, she was happy being there with Ashwin for reasons unknown to her own self. She made some small talk to make sure that her beloved fiancé did not feel bad.

Meanwhile, Ashwin was starting to get worried when she did not return to the tent after an hour and he got out of the tent to see her sitting on a rock at a few hundred meters from the tent. He silently walked over to where she was sitting and heard her giggle and, realised that she was on the phone.

S: Stop it! FINE! I admit I miss you too. I really do.

Ashwin wished he could throw a punch at the person on the receiving end of that I miss you.

Fking dckhead! Instead of putting her phone on silent, I should have left her phone at home.

He walked back to the tent without disturbing her. When Sivaangi came back, she had made up her mind to stay strong and ignore this new weird sensation of butterflies in her stomach when she was around her best friend. But the minute she looked into those magnetic eyes, she knew that she was doomed!

How was it?

Before you all conclude that she loves AK, there is more to it. It isn't going to be straight forward.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments. I love how every single person is excited about this side of AK. I would to explore it further. I hope you all like this update. Thanks xx