Thooriga

Then I was his princess and now Raj's Rani.

I touch the tiara locket on my neck chain and the queen locket on the waist chain before getting dressed in a pair of black top and pencil fit jeans. I tie my hair into a ponytail, wear my jacket, pocket my phone and purse and tuck the file behind me which I wanted to show him since I have arrived but never got time.

After seeing the efforts he had taken to keep my childhood room as it was and his gift from his first salary, I couldn't wait until evening for him to come home. One thing I noticed when I went to visit the Estate office and his showroom cum garage is that the lunch hour is from one to two in the afternoon and the staff are not allowed to have lunch on their tables but should have in the food court or lunch room on their floor.

So, I asked Ilakkiya Aththai whether the lunch was ready and had it early around twelve in the noon. I informed Saby bro that I'm going to pack my bag which I already did last night with the help of Raj that led us to his bedroom. And I asked him not to let anyone inside as I'm going to sleep for a while after packing.

I locked the lounge room door, bedroom door and the closet door before changing my dress. Now, I also lock the bathroom door before I open the way to the tunnel and climb down the ladder. I followed the route that he taught when he took me to his garage.

Yesterday, when he took me to his flat to show the antique box which is passed on in his family, I got a bit hurt seeing the picture of his friend's wedding reception. In Siva Ashwika's reception picture girls were on one side and boys on the other side but in Mathew Anna's everyone posed as couples.

Though I love him to the sky and beyond, at the end of the day, I'm also a girl who tends to get hurt seeing her man with another woman. The girl who kissed him in the night club, Tapsiya at the reunion party and then that girl in the picture. Whatever they were, I knew they were his past but still it did hurt me.

I don't know how I could have handled myself, if I had seen him as a family man with another girl. But if he was happy with her and she loved him with all her heart, in spite of my heartbreak, I would have been happy for him. But despite being the infamous playboy, he was waiting for me without knowing that it's me who he had wanted.

His wall of photos was filled with most of our pictures. He has also framed the engagement photo of Siva Ashwika, only because I had captured it. And he took me to show the box which has to be passed on to the next generation, if its owner doesn't come in search of it. These three things became the medicine for my wound that happened when I saw the other picture.

I asked him to show the box as I would be the bearer of the Vajendra clan's next generation. Though he blushed and didn't say anything, by taking me to show the box, he indirectly agreed to my claim. Though that reception happened five years ago, I could feel his pain and fear of losing me when he saw the tears in my eyes.

He held my hand tight when we walked down the tunnel as if he was assuring himself that I'm with him. I didn't know what he thought, suddenly he loosened the grip on my hand but I held it tight and hugged his arm. I felt a visible relief on his body before smiling at me.

How could he even think that I would ever leave him?

And today seeing his gift from his first month salary at the age when I know it's worth, I just learned how special I have always been to him. I don't know how much the chain and locket cost then and now but his thought of wanting to buy me something in his first hard earned month, is worth more than zillions.

All these things just proves that I have been his special person without his knowledge. As far as I remember he has always treated me special. Now I really doubt whether I first got attracted to his exterior when I was eleven or if any of his special gestures have stolen the tiny heart that started beating only for him.

When did we start loving each other?

I reach the steps to climb out of the tunnel and leave a short prayer to God that no one should be wandering this area. I open the tunnel roof and climb out before closing it. Since it was all dark on the Friday night when he brought me here, I didn't notice the almost twenty feet compound.

People who look at the structure from the front side of the building will think the wall attached to the back of the building is the compound. But the actual compound is an extended structure which covers the tunnel way out.

Dei mama nee romba kedi thaan da.

I climb up the stairs and slowly open the backdoor to his cabin. It's ten past one now and I hope everyone has left to have their lunch. I turn on the computer and try to unlock it with my biometric and it does open.

Love you mama. Ela edathukum enaku access koduthu vachu iruka.

I check the surveillance and confirm that everyone is in the lunchroom. I turned off his computer and opened his cabin door. I sneaked out and peek over the railing to check whether the staircase to the garage is in the sight of the lunchroom. I climb down the stairs and walk closer to the walls to enter the room in the garage where he has parked his bike.

I take out the file from my back and place it in the pouch of the bike. I wear a helmet and sit on the bike. I press my finger on the lock and the bike unlocks, too.

But how to unlock the shutter to leave from here? Raj used some interface in his mobile and I don't have anything in my mobile.

Think Thooriga. Think. You cannot return home after taking all this risk.

I look around the room to check whether there is any mechanical way to open the shutter. My eyes fall on the name board leaning against the wall. Whether in his cabin or here in this room, the boards are placed against the wall instead of hanging high on the wall and I try to recollect the description he gave for the bike on Friday night.

High power efficient electric bike with advanced AI technology from V&D Automobiles.

I feed in the words he described on Google and the results appear. I opened their official website and realised the name has been changed from V&D Automobiles to VAD Motors.

Oh that's why the boards have been placed on the floor against the wall.

Itha kooda mathama unakku appadi enna Mama busy aana vella naan varurathuku munnadi.

I read the full description of the bike and sighed with relief when I found the download link for the security app. I follow the instructions, scan the QR code in the display panel and feed in my biometric. A small dialog box appears verifying my ownership and a list of gates appear on the mobile screen including the shutter door of the garage, gate of the establishment, cabin house, office parking lot, etc.,

I select the shutter door and it slowly opens. I select the gate of the establishment and it opens, too. I pull down the helmet visor, start the bike and drive out of the gates. The security salutes me without knowing who I'm and I look up at the establishment. In huge letters, it's written as VAD MOTORS SHOWROOM & GARAGE and at the corner as SIVARUDHRAJ MOTORS.

I smile at it and drive off after the shutter door and gate closes automatically. Thankfully, it's just a fifteen minute ride to the Estate office from here and I hope no one returns from lunch before I surprise him. The sky turns dark and the clouds move with a mild thunder sound.

I stop the bike and take a deep breath to ward off my fever. It's the first day of the month of June but it started raining for the past nights in Ooty. Yesterday, morning Raj mentioned that I didn't wake up to the thunder sounds the previous night. Today morning, the mansion grounds were wet indicating that it rained last night but I don't remember waking up for it.

Maybe he is indeed my fear chaser.

I restart the bike and drive fastly towards the Estate office before the next thunder hits and the rain starts. The security at the Estate office stops me and asks me the reason for my visit.

"Chairman ah paakanum," I answered him without removing the helmet. (I want to meet the Chairman.)

"Ippo lunch time, madam. Unga kita appointment iruka?" He checks the security tablet and I remove my helmet. He looks at me and salutes, "Sorry madam, bike ah antha shutter kulla park panidunga." He sends his assistant to open one of the five shutters which is empty and I drive the bike to park inside it. (It's lunch time, Madam. Do you have an appointment? Sorry madam, please park the bike inside the shutter.)

The owners use the shuttered parking in the ground level and the work uses the open parking in the basement level. I turn off the bike, lock it using my biometric and mobile interface and get the file before walking into the elevator.

I press the button to the ninth floor where the chairman room is located and check myself in the mirror of the elevator. My hair looks slightly dishevelled by wearing the helmet and the tiara locket shines from the ceiling light.

Will he be surprised or angry seeing me here?

Whatever his reaction would be, I want him to fully express it as in the end, it's going to be an expression of love. I hold the tiara locket, slide it to the back of my neck and remove the hair band that holds my hair in the ponytail.

I adjust my hair and let it fall behind, covering the locket. I tuck the file behind me and take my mobile out to send him a message.

Me: Did you have your lunch?

The elevator door opens but there is no reply from him. The reception of the floor is empty without the receptionist and I look into the office through the glass door. The open cabins of the staff are empty and I open the glass door with my biometric.

Has he gone for lunch too?

I turn right in the aisle of the cabins where the chairman room is located at the end and find Raj seriously going through his computer and marking something on the digital pad using a stylus. His coat is hanging on a stand and he is wearing a reading glass. My girly parts come to life looking at him in his work mode as a complete boss.

Calm down Thooriga. First uh Surprise uh mathathu ellam next uh.

I lean back from his path of vision and call him, peeking at him. He picks the call without looking at the caller ID. "Hello, This is Raj Vajendra."

Fuck, his professional tone is so sexy.

"Hello, Mama, lunch saptiya?" He perks up in his seat and looks at his mobile screen. (Hello, Mama. Did you have your lunch?)

A smile appears on his face and he leans back on his chair. "Sapten, ipo back to work. Nee saptiya?" (Just now and back to work. How about you?)

"Naan epovo sapten, Mama. And, You look so hot in the reading glasses." (I had some time ago.

He leans front and searches around the cabins. I walked into the aisle and his smile and eyes widened in surprise.

Thank god. He is surprised.

But his smile fades and his face becomes a shade of red with anger. He closes his laptop and I jump here with the force he closed. He gets up from his chair and stalks towards the door.

Thooriga, pesama odidu.

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Chapter 63 is half done, will update it once I finish it. Until then peek a read at Twisted Souls Chapter 3 which I updated this morning, if you hadn't.

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