Arjun stretched before getting out of his bed and walked with his eyes half open to the kitchen to find his mom. When he was about to enter he saw his mother with a familiar figure giggling over the burnt bread. Arjun leaned on the wall and quietly watched them with a smile on his face. They were completely engrossed in cooking that they didnt notice him standing behind them. The sound of the doorbell made his mother to finally turn around and notice Arjun leaning on the wall,
" Dei elunthitiya po poitu kulichitu vaa sapdalam", she said and handed over the bowl she was holding to shalini, " nee itha mix pannu da yarunu naan pathutu varen"
"Neenga irunga,Naan poi pakaren" she insisted and sprinted towards the door.
Arjun hugged his mom from behind and cooed, " Kulika romba lazy ah irukuma, nee enna samaikura?"
" unaku pudicha French toast"
" aunty pakathu veetukaranga thaan, unga kitta edho pesanum nu vanthrukanga", Shalini said as she walked into the kitchen
Malini once again insisted Arjun to take a bath and left to check on the visitor. Shalini turned to Arjun and wished him cheerfully, " Good morning"
Arjun reciprocated the greeting with a smile, " Good morning. Enna madam vacation ku pora maari sunday aana inga vanthuringa"
Shalini raised an eyebrow and inched closer with one hand on her hip , " yen naan vara kudadha?"
"Apadi laam illa varlaam..." he dragged
She took another step closer looking intensely" varlama illa varanum ah?"
" ma varakudadhu nu naan yen solla.."
" pecha maathama sollu varlaama illa varunuma?",she cut him off in mid sentence
" varanum" he said instinctively
With a smirk on her face,waving the knife in her hand, " hmmm antha bayam irukattum" she said and resumed to cut the bread .
Arjun gulped," rowdy enna meratura?"
Malini returned to the kitchen and seeing Arjun still standing there she said , " dei nee innum kulika polaya? Poda "
Arjun went to take bath while the ladies finished cooking and the three had breakfast together.Then they settled on the living room couch.Arjun kept scrolling his mobile while Malini and shalini settled down with a cup of coffee to chat.
" Shalu kutty aparam clg ellam epdi iruku ? ", malini asked as she sipped the coffee
" nalarku aunty. konjam busy ah thaan pothu aana nalarku"
" super. naanum nee vanthathula irunthu unkooda time spend pannum ,velila kutitu ponum pakaren, ethachum oru vela varuthu", Malini said in a disappointed tone
Shalini replied," paravala aunty enga poga poren inga thaana iruken neenga kuptadhum vara poren"
" pona vaatiyum unna bank kutitu porathukulla enaku innoru vela vanthruchu, keka marantan bank vella mudinjitha? amma innum bank kitta irunthu mail ethum varala nu sollitu iruntha?"
Shalini choked on her coffee unable to quickly formulate a lie.
" bank ponna thana mail varum" Arjun murmured under his breath eyes still glued to his phone.
" paathu da poruma",Malini patted her head gently
Shalini smiled sheepishly," pora eriduchu"
Attempting to divert the topic shalini pointed to a photo frame in the living room," Aunty athu Arjun thaana?"
Malini turned towards the direction shalini's finger pointed," aama da epdi busu busu nu alaga irunthan ippo paaru gym diet nu olli ah agitan."
"Ma", Arjun gave her a side eye.
" Shalini unnoda photo kooda iruku pakariya?"
Shalini widened her eyes," apdiya?"
" iru eduthutu varen",Malini said and walked to the bedroom
Arjun glared at Shalini with a suppressed smile," Hey Kd bank pathi ketathum evalo alaga topic mathara.enga veetla en photo illama pakathu veetu paiyan photo va vechirpanga?"
Shalini looked at him with puppy eyes, " Ivanga kitta unmaiya sonna avanga kandippa en amma ta soliduvanga aparam en amma nee padichathu pothum kelambu london ku nu kutitu poitangana"
Arjun hummed in response. They both stopped talking when they saw Malini returning with a stack of photo albums. She settled down and opened an album and flipped a few pages and finally pointed to a photo, " tho paar neeyum Arjun um "
The photo she showed was a picture of Arjun and Shalini building a sand castle in the beach while their mothers sat behind them.
Shalini smiled as she gently touched the photo , " evalo kuttiya irukom la".
" enga kaatu" , arjun extended his hand
" ungaluku ethuku? Athaan ungaluku enkooda friends ah irunthathe maranthruchu soningala ponga ", she snapped
Shalini then pointed to a picture of Arjun's mother singing in a carnatic concert with a veena in her hand, " Aunty naanum kekanum nenachen, ippo singing classes laam edukarthilaya?"
Malini's curve on her face straightened, " illa da time irukarthilla office velaiye correct ah iruku"
" ohh, seri enakaga ore oru vaati veena vasichi katungalen please"
" ippo... illa ....vena" , Malini struggled for words to dismiss the request.
Shalini pleaded " please please please aunty ore oru vaati please"
" Vena shalini aparama pakalam"
" oru vaati thaana kekaren please",she pestered as Malini kept refusing.
Suddenly a loud voice grabbed their attention, " hey ", Arjun yelled with annoyance and anger reflected on his face," athaan solrangala chumma thontharavu panitu"
" Arjun " , Malini yelled back at him .Shalini was shocked at Arjun's reaction.She couldn't understand what she did to earn a rude response from him.She felt very bad that he often behaves like this with her and later apologizes giving a reason. Her self esteem shot up and this time she couldnt tolerate his rudeness. She mentally made a decision to not forgive him anymore. She got up and walked to the patio.
" paithiyama da unaku? Epa Arjun ipdilaam pesa arambicha po sorry Kellu po", Malini said with disappointment and anger written all over her face.
Arjun instantly regretted his words. He hated himself for hurting her again with words. He walked to the patio and saw Shalini sitting on a bamboo chair. He walked quietly and stood in front of her," sorry shalini naan..."
Seeing him she quickly stood up, " odane ponna aunty feel panuvanganu thaan inga vanthen. I will leave now"
" shalini please oru nimisham naan solratha kellu", he pleaded
" Ethuku Arjun kekanum I couldn't understand what I did that made you yell at me like that. You always take me for granted.ungaluku naan vararthu pudikala na I won't come here ", she said and turned around to leave.