Meant to Be note on page 162 - Page 13

Meant to be

part 9

That week passed in a jiffy...

Its Friday eve...Raji was busily working in her system..

Suddenly she heard Vishnu's excited voice...

"Raji yenna idhu...neenga panradhu konjam kooda nallaa illai.."

She was confused ..."Yenna Vishnu naan yenna panninen?"

"Inniku yenna day?Friday..Friday adhuvumaa 6 manikku mela neenga velai seiyareenga, deivakutham aagidum Raji..its an insult to software profession...damn it...udane system ah shutdown pannitu kelambunga..."he said it in a funny way..

Raji smiled at his antics...then asked "Yenga Vishnu kelambanum..?"

"Modhalla neenga system ah off pannuga...naama dinner outing porom.."he said in an enthusiastic voice..

Raji got shocked "Vishnu.." and glared at him..

"Iyoo yaenga ..naama naa ,naama rendu perum illai...namma team la yellarum..porom...nu sonnen.."He clarified the details hurriedly..

Raji sighed now.."Sorry Vishnu. naan varalai.."

"Adhellaam neenga excuse solli thappikave mudiyaadhu..night yevlo neram aanaalum ungala koottiti poradhukku kaivasam aal ready aa irukku.so no more excuses allowed this time.."

Raji was hesitating even then...

"Yennadaa inga prachanai..."Karthik made his entry with a query...

"Unnoda aalu dinner outing ku varamaatengaraanga adhaan problem.."Vishnu said in a flow..

KR were shocked by hearing his words...

Karthik warned him with a..."Dai..."

"Unnoda team aalu varamaatennu adam pudikiraangannu sonnen..."Vishnu quickly covered up his mistake with an absurd smile..

Both KR sighed in relief ...

"Sari naan paarthukaren nee kelambu..."Karthik whispered in Vishnu's ear..

"Ok machi,kadalai podaama,seekiram vandhu seru..."Vishnu teased him before he leave..

"Yaen Raji...? Yenna problem?we r not asking for any personal dinner, oru formal dinner party nu nenaichiko..."He tried to convince her..

"Adhu vandhu..."she was reluctant.

"Yenna Raji,team la yellaarum pogum bodhu nee mattum varalainaa nallaa irukaadhu..its not just a dinner party,moreover it's a kind of team building method..ippadi onnaa ponaa namakkulla oru nalla team bonding create aagum adhaan main purpose podhumaa.."he explained her patiently..

"Veettukku poga romba neram aaguma.."finally she revealed her problem...

What a silly question, he thought in mind..

"Idhaan un problem aa?yevlo neram aanaa yenna?naan dhaan iruken la,appuram yenna bayam?vaa polaam.."

She looked at him all amazed...his one word vanished all her inner confusions of going for a late night party..

A wave of happiness passed through her by hearing his casual yet sincere voice..she felt very secured now..what she had assumed as a big issue before ,has seemed meaningless to her now..she felt some unknown magic surrounding her..

She followed him without a word..

As they reached the parking lot..Vishnu was ready with his car sitting behind the wheels,lakshmi has taken the passenger seat,as Janu was absent that day,kodhai alone sitting in the back seat...Raji went and joined with her...

Karthik gave a disappointing look to her..she smiled at him with a challenging look..

At that time Angel came there running ..."karthik naan un kooda bike la varattumaa..."

She asked him pleadingly..

Raji was shocked with this turn of events...now its Karthik's time to smirk at her..

Karthik glanced her from his corner of the eyes with a mischievous smile on his lips..

"Kandipaa koottitu poren Angel,yenakku onnum problem illai.."he talked to Angel but all his concentration was on Raji only.

Her body stiffened by hearing his reply..her eyes dilated in shock.

Karthik compressed his laughter..and turned to Angel..

"But adhula oru chinna problem irukku..."karthik was acted as if he was hesitating to say something..

"Yenna problem?unnoda varradhukku yendha problem naalum naan adjust pannipen."Angel said dreamily..

"Adhu onnum illai Angel,naan already padhu va koottitu poradhaa commit panniten,unakku triples adikaradhu onnum problem illainaa naama polaam.."he said with a serious face with a muffled laughter ..

Angel was speechless..she kicked the ground in frustration..and opened the back door of the car sat near Raji and banged the door in anger..

Raji was trying very hard to control her laughter..while she was looking here and there to muffle her smile her eyes met with the smiling eyes of karthik ...their eyes met and she forgot the whole world..she couldn't take out her eyes from him...it was attracting her like a magnet...

Padhu's loud voice break their trance..

"Annaa kelambalaam ne..," saying this he hopped on the bike ,

For a moment Karthik struggled to balance the bike and somehow managed..

Dinner outing starts...

As they reached the hotel, Raji was surprised to see the place. Actually it was a beach resort.

The tables were placed under the hut type settings...the lighting decorations gives a romantic feel to the place...the scenic beauty of the vast sea was very pleasing sight to watch.

The roaring sound of the waves, the cool sea breeze everything seemed very lovely and mesmerizing..Raji was admiring the place..

Karthik came near her and asked."How do u like this place..?"

"It's beautiful..."she said in a trance with a distance look on the sea..but he was watching her lovingly..

He was spell bound by her beauty...the glee on her eyes and the smile on her lips..the childlike amusement on her face...had blown him away...

All were enjoying the ambiance ...

First they walked along the beach for some time...girls were collecting the shells..and boys were running and chasing each other..they had a blast of time by pulling each other's legs, friendly ,funny talks..there were no senior junior diversity ..

Without the office tension..as a gang of friends they enjoyed a lot...

They all felt very refreshing and thanked Karthik for arranging such a wonderful outing..

After a while they came to the dinner table...they had their buffet dinner..

After finishing the main course of meal... boys went to bring ice creams.

Raji had noticed that karthik was bringing two cups of ice creams holding in both the hands.

He was coming to her side..when he neared her.. as a reflex she raised her hand to take a cup from him,but to her astonishment..he walked past her and gave that cup to Angel without even giving a glance to her.

She was ashamed..she instantly pulled back her hand which was raised in air...before anyone would notice that.

She was fuming inside.. on seeing him enjoying the ice cream with the Angel..a tinge of jealousy sparked in her eyes..

Lakshmi saw that Raji was not eating the ice cream ...

"Hey Raji,nee ice cream saapidalaiyaa?"she asked

Raji was embarrassed...how could she told that she was expecting karthik to give her ice cream..?

"Lakshmi,yenakku throat infection..adhaan ice cream yeduthukalai.."she told a white lie..yet grumbling inside..she was dying to eat an ice cream..

Then Vishnu announced...

"Come on guys lets rock the floor.."

Everybody rushed to the dance floor with a shriek...

Raji was sitting alone and watching them dancing on the floor...

Lakshmi danced with Vishnu..whereas Padhu paired with kodhai...Raji smiled seeing them dancing ridiculously and searched for karthik..he was dancing with Angel with an utmost fun and joy..

Her eyes got moist instantly ..she was choked up..

She looked away from them to calm down herself...but the image of Karthik dancing with angel with a smile was disturbing her mind..

Suddenly music stopped and only the couples were invited to the dance floor...so all the single dancers had left the dance floor..

Music has been changed to romantic numbers, setting the atmosphere for a romantic mood...

Karthik came there and asked her to come to dance with him..but she denied

"Vaa Raji jolly aa irukkum..."he insists her..

"No karthik yeannkku aada theriyaadhu.."She was mad on him ,the sight of him danced with angel revolving in her mind...she was not ready to give in to his demands this time..

"Yenakkum dhaan aada theriyaadhu,but oru fun kaaga aaduven,it's a very good mind relaxation you know?pls Raji come on...," he was also not giving up..

"Yenakku inga irukaradhe relaxation aa dhaan irukku.."she was adamant...

"No way I am going to leave u without dancing...just try it for once..for my sake.."he almost dragged her to dance floor...

Then the music chanced to a passionate romantic number..

She was standing there like a statue stating her disliking clearly..

Karthik put her one hand on his shoulder and hold the other one in his hand...and hold her waist around her back with the other hand..and started dancing to the music ...

She looked at him in utter shock..he tucked her even closer by her waist..her body was almost touching him..

"Yenna panra karthik..? she asked in confusion and also her anger slightly popping up..

"Dance.."he answered in a one simple word.. Swaying along with her to the music..

She tried to move away but he brought her back to him with a tug..

Now her back was plastered to his front..his hands captured her both hands and embrace her around her waist,..and placed his chin on her shoulder close to her face..

The scent of her perfume was intoxicating.. he breathed in deeply with a closed eyes..

She turned to his side to say something harshly and her lips brushed his cheek for an instance..it was electrifying.

He felt a shiver ran down him..he was gone nuts...

"Karthik yenna idhu leave me.."she was supposed to shout at him but her words came only as a whisper ...she was also getting affected by his closeness.

She tried to release her hands from his grip.. She did it without gaining others attention.. as she doesn't want to create any commotion..

But he hold her even tightly.."This is how the romantic dance supposed to be...nee dance shows paarthadhe illaiyaa?" he asked in a husky voice...his hot breath falling on her neck...she closed her eyes in daze.

Suddenly he turned her around and spun her back to his embrace..then he spun her around and brings back to him with a tug as if she hits his chest hard...

He didn't let her to go away from him..he was spell bound by her beauty and didn't even understand what he was doing...he was totally gone crazy...

Raji also swept away by the storm of passion transferred from him..

They were struck in a whirlpool of emotions ...

And then there was no looking back...

They totally forget where they were and what they were doing...dancing passionately lost in each other..

Both danced in sink and there sizzling chemistry rocked the floor...

Their performance was come to an end as the music stopped..both were breathing heavily..they were so close as if each other could fell others breathe...their lips were inches apart...bodies glued to each other..Their gaze fixed to each other...

The loud cheers and clapping sounds,had broke their trance and brings them back to this world...

Raji was shocked to the core...and looked at her surroundings.. all were gaping at them.. it seemed even the other dancers also stopped dancing long back..to watch their sizzling dance performance..

Her team members' stunned face brings back her conscious fully, she now very well aware of the position she was in .. she instantly came out of his embrace by pushing him away with a force...

she gave him an accusing look and ran away from there with a whimper..

He racked his hair in frustration...He couldn't believe what a blunder he had done...

To be continued...