Monday dawned sooner than usual and Srishti had an eventful Birthday weekend and she welcomed it with new found happiness and gratitude, except for the momentary strife with Chandru at home, accusing her to be the one creating all the drama , putting his innocent best friend at risk.
Srishti shrugged it off, pain wasn't foreign to her anyway.
She decided to embrace all the blessings that the almighty has bestowed upon her and proceeded to walk to college.
Her feet strolled aimlessly through the corridors without actually realizing that she had crossed Adhiran's classroom, Srishti bit back an amused chuckle and was about to walk away when he called her,
He beat her to it, finding her standing outside his classroom sooner than ever,
'Sasha.. May I have a minute?' echoed his masculine voice across the empty corridor.
She gave him an answering smile and went to stand near his desk, 'Good morning, Professor Adhiran '
'Athu… Idhu na tharlama nu therila.. it's late.. but… he dragged his syllables one by one as he slowly reached the drawer under his desk and pulled out a novel, Srishti got it from his extended hand,not noticing the cover,
Perhaps he wanted her to include it in her book club, or analyze and write an essay about it. She had no idea what for,
Srishti 's eyes fell on the cover and her heart stopped beating for a second as she held it in front of her. The book was binded with a dark red cover that looked worn off till the edges, it looked so well loved as Srishti turned the cover for a revelation, it was the first edition copy of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, printed in the year 1938.
Srishti 's eyes teared up at the magnificent sight as she held it tighter,
' idhu en collection lernthu eduthen…I thought I'd hand it over to you since it's your favorite book.' he smiled easily, pushing the book closer to her,
'Idhu.. idhu enaka?' she couldn't believe her eyes,
He wasn't really surprised by her reaction and chuckled, ' Unaku dha, Thangam '
'I cannot accept this, Professor Adhiran '
Adhiran smirked at her, countering immediately, ' En?'
'This is too much!' she mumbled looking away,
' Epdi? ' he wasn't going to let her go easily!
' Idhu.. intha book oda first edition… if you didn't want it , you can resell-
' Resell? Sasha ma, we both know I cannot do that, and I never will.
This book is valuable to me.. idha ennavida better ah paathukara oru aal kita handover pannanum nu nenachen. That's why I'm giving you this,as a belated birthday present
Keep it, it'll please me ' he smiled, crossing his arms. Adding the last line on purpose in order to make her accept immediately,
Srishti bit her lips, and Adhiran's eyes followed suit, relishing the natural shade of her plumpy lips with his hazel eyes,
' En?' she asked him and he mirrored her look, he didn't have the answer to that question as well,
He didn't say anything for a moment and proceeded to pick up the books that he had laid on the table before walking past her, towards the door, ' Therila..'
'Wait a moment ' she couldn't help but let out a little yelp,
Adhiran turned to look at her, his palms frozen as they rested on the door knob.
