'After you' Adhiran lead her through the common park grounds of the University, narrating stories of his academic expeditions and his minimal social interactions. Srishti smiled and shared comments, reviving his days there in Oxford, sharing her own aspirations with him,
' Hey, enkooda variya ? En classroom kaamikren!' It was Srishti's turn to be in absolute awe of the man infront of her, the composed Scholar was replaced with a curious child who doted all the little things in life,
' Where did you sit?' she asked him, tracing the walls around the room that told her scintillating stories past time,
' First row.. I used to study like a mad man.. ' he chuckled underneath his breath, tracing one of the desks with a soft smile,
'It's a previlge afterall, Srishti took a step closer, sitting infront of him as he stood on the other side of the writing desk, 'To get oneself ruined over poetry is an honour ' she whispered, Adhiran leaned forward putting, there was still some distance between them,
'Poetry mattum dhaana?' his dark brown eyes were hickory, matching the age old aesthetics of Oxford itself, ' Is it enough to get you ruined, Srishti?'
Srishti breathed out, ringlets of her breath forming beside her as she seeked warmth, his warmth. ' Vera ... Vera enna, Professor?'
The expanse of thier eye contact was soon broken when Srishti coughed, making Adhiran instantly concerned if she was too cold.
That evening, She roamed along with Adhiran around the cherished part of Boston under the pearly white stars that envoloped the cold night. Srishti felt enticed by his eyes as they were no less than the glittering stars above thier heads,
The dimly lit space made his brown eyes glow like molten amber, his alabaster skin and his warm brown eyes made her feel intoxicated effortlessly, She hadn't gotten the previlge of eyeing him so closely in low light and now that she had, she made the most of it without protest,
She opened her eyes, now lying on her bed, the reflection of the moon in his eyes had become an eternal portrait in hers,
A flash of worry filled her and broke her trance as she eyed her phone. It happened when she was walking back with him to his car , she had opened the messages to notice a notification from an unknown number,
Enna avoid panita nimathiya irunthrulam nu nenachiya di?
Her heart skipped a beat in pure distress making her delete the message immediately as she locked her phone, looking up at him as he made a few comments about a show that went on in the radio. Srishti faked a smile, not having the heart to ruin the perfect moment.
She had hardly slept that weekend, her eyes made it painfully obvious that she didn't. Srishti looked at herself in the mirror, covering up her tired eyes by a thick line of kohl, hoping it'd shade it all ,
She was still shivering from the massive wave of disgust she felt by reading that message, ' Srishti... you are shaking ma' Priyanka handed her a cup of coffee,as she hugged her around her shoulders, warming her bestfriend up,
' Thookam pathala Priyu.. ' she leaned on her shoulder,
'Dinesh ah pathi kavala padala... onnum prachana illa nu sonne la?' she made Srishti face her,' Ennayum vara vanda nu solita'
' Unmaya dha sonnen.. avanaala laam onnu illa.. nethu edho thookam varla.. ' True to her character, she didn't bother to trouble her bestfriend again,
' You sure you don't want to stay home?'
Srishti simply nodded and drank her coffee, not having the energy for any more explanation and Priyanka clutched her closer . She watched Srishti stagger to her class with a big frown on her pretty face,
