The Sound of Heart beat - chapter 2

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"Meghna... I want to call off our marriage..." 
Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother yelling out her name.
"Shiva has come to meet you". Her mother repeated from kitchen second time.
"Send him to my room mom", Meghna replied her mother and went to wash her face.
"What happened?" Shiva asked looking straight into her eyes.
"What?... What happened?" Meghna tried to hide her emotions. But Shiva was a best buddy from childhood. He can easily search and find the emotions that were hidden behind her eyes. Even Meghna wanted to exhaust all her thoughts that were bothering since a longtime.

"I think... hmmm....I think.. I like a..no. I love a person." The emotions made her to stutter.
"Please don’t say, you love me" Shiva spontaneously replied and winked.
"You..?!" she took the pillow that was on the bed and hit him hard.
"Stop beating our guest” Her mother entered the room with 2 cups of coffee.
“Aunty from when I turned out to be your guest?”
“If you are not visiting the house frequently, you will be de-promoted from son to guest.”
“Sorry Aunty. Lots of work. Could not manage time to visit your home” He said sipping the coffee.

Meghna's parents always treated him as their own child and with great kindness. Once her mother left the room, Shiva asked seriously.
"Who is that guy?"
After a long pause Meghna replied, "Karthik"
"Which Karthik? Our college mate Karthik? Or… Indian playback singer Karthik?
"I should have requested my mom to mix poison in coffee instead of sugar" Meghna scowled at him with an annoyed look.
He smiled and continued, “I knew all of your friends. Who is this new entry?"

☕.☕.☕.

     Meghna was stubborn that her wedding should be decided based on the character and not on personality of the bride or groom. She never encouraged exchanging the photos. Karthik's mother saw Meghna at some relative's wedding and expressed  her interest for her son to Meghna's mother. The horoscope match was indeed a positive sign and hence Meghna's parents agreed for the bride seeing ceremony.

On the other side, Karthik who was against the marriage, especially the arranged ones was brought to Meghna's house with some cooked up stories. He was totally unaware of the situation. When Meghna offered him coffee and Meghna's parents teased him to look at the bride carefully, he was totally thunderstruck and was angry with his mother for putting him at such an embarrassing moment. He stayed calm in order not to make the situation worse. But their parents took his silence as yes and started discussing about the marriage dates. Though his parents requested him to talk to Meghna in private, he rejected it considering his furious state. He does not want to vent out his anger with Meghna, who had zero contribution in this bride seeing drama. He took her mobile number and left the place.

Meghna who firmly believed marriage should be decided based on character, had fallen in love with Karthik the moment she saw him. She felt so loving, so tender and so overwhelming and a new feeling that she had not experienced before. Love at first sight does exist. We like a person at first glance, if they remind us of a person whom we admired from child hood or in past. Sometimes, it was believed that they meet our subconscious criteria. May be Meghna's inner voice might have suggested that he was her guy.!?

☕.☕.☕.

Shiva's anger rose to peak on hearing Meghna’s love affair.
“Do you think it’s not crazy to like a person in a first glance? How did you muster up the courage to spend the rest of your life under the arms of a stranger whom you have just seen for the first time?”
“Not once. I met him twice. The second time at coffee day” she tried to convince him.
“Fuck you… See Meghna. This is not fantasy world. Above all, I did not like the way he treated you at the coffee day.”
"Shiva, understand from his perspective. Who am I to him? I was just a stranger.. Annoyed stranger for him; His motive was only to stop the marriage. Why would he please me with sorry or kind words and actions? Think from his perspective. You might feel he was right.”
“Fine. Let him have an astonishing attitude. But Meghna, I feel it’s not right.”
“If a guy like a girl at first sight, he can proceed to make her understand about his love. How does it become wrong, when a girl does the same?”
“That’s how the world and people work. Not all guys take it with good spirit. When a guy knows a girl is behind him, there are chances of misusing her. Not all guys realize and accept the love. “
“What if Karthik was in second category. A guy who could realize my love”
“You are taking risk Meghna”, he sounded harsh.
“It has been almost 4 months. Still, I could not forget him. His thoughts keep pondering over and again. I am ready to take the risk. Please help me..”
"What's his mobile number?" Shiva asked pulling his mobile out of the pocket.
"I didn't save his number"
"Hmm.. Where does he work?"
Silence..
"Where does he stay?"
Again silence..
"Any clue about him?"
"I actually don’t know anything about him and I cant discuss or ask about Karthik with my parents now. Since he refused to marry me, the bitterness surged and they are in rage against Karthik and his family." She snapped.
Shiva was put under deep thoughts...

Click here to Read Next Chapter - The Sound of Heart beat - chapter 3

The Sound of Heart beat - chapter 1

To Read Synopsis - click here

Meghna rang the temple bell three times that caught the attention of the Hindu priest. The deity was embellished with jewellery and yellow color traditional wear. The priests lit the lamp to perform the arthi and Meghna was content as she was on time to the temple. She felt it as a sign that brings light into her life. She called out the priest and requested to do a special detailed puja in “his” name. Yes, she finally found her life partner. :) She was not conservative, but she preferred to be traditional when it comes to him. Hence, she wrote his name with his zodiac sign in a piece of paper and offered it to the priest along with the puja plate. Indeed she was too shy to say his name aloud.

"Karthik - Avittam, Meghna Ashwini...." the priest chanted some mantra in Sanskrit and Meghna came out after circumnavigating the temple. While slipping her feet into the soft cozy slippers, she observed a missed call from an anonymous number.
"It must be him, Karthick." She confirmed without giving another thought. She thought of calling him back after reaching her home to avoid all roadside disturbances and also to have some privacy. But she got a call again from the same number. Her heartbeat pounded so fast and her palm turned chill. It was an emotion mixed with excitement and nervousness. She answered the phone, and spoke to him for the first time.
"Hmm.. Meghna.." the voice from the other side was dulcet and melodious. No wonder, she was dumbstruck with his voice as well.
"Am I talking to Meghna?" Karthik repeated again since there was a long pause.
She tried to answer, but she could not speak.
"Yesssss.." She tried to say, but the only sound that came out was a hissing sound of a snake.
"Well, Karthick this side..."
On hearing the name, her soul felt the feeling of being in cloud nine. She wanted to pause and cherish this moment forever. All together she was experiencing a blissful feel that she never experienced in the past 23 years.
"Can we catch up sometime today?" asked Karthik. The very thought of meeting him drove her wild. She could manage to answer him only in a low, almost in a whispering mode. Karthik quoted the meeting place and disconnected the call.
   
     Meghna had never spoken to anyone with so much tenderness. She liked him so much and her craziness towards him made her heart pulse race like cheetah and heads spin like the falcon. Her feelings towards him are so strong that she felt rejoiced and excited when she thought of him every now and then. Yet, she adored every bit of those pleasing excitements. But now she was worried about meeting him at the coffee day. For sure, on meeting him, her heart beat will pace fast, hands will freeze cold, and head will lurch. Somehow, she pulled courage to meet him. She went directly from temple with the Langa Voni she was wearing. As she opened the coffee day door, people over there shot an expression that was similar to the one people offer when a lady enters the temple with a bikini. She ignored the expression of the people, as her only intention was not to make Karthik wait.

     After one hour of waiting, Karthik reached the venue. He was not bothered to ask sorry for making her wait so long, neither tried to give explanation for being late. Meghna's heart froze like an ice cave on seeing him.
"I just have 10 minutes. So, let me come straight away to the point" Karthik initiated the conversation and came straight to the point.  In fact, Meghna preferred him to start the conversation without formal preliminary pleasantries so that she would not get embarrassed. She was not so strong to look into his eyes, hence kept her focus on the table.
"Meghna.. I want to call off our marriage..." Karthik gave her news that made Meghna's heart stop for a while.(or long!?)

                                  Click here to read the Next chapter (chapter 2)