"Akshu! Come and learn some cooking at least until you go to Chennai. It will help you
there!" Sumathi, Akshitha's mom, was shouting from inside the kitchen.
"Mee! I'm busy now. Will learn during dinner." Akshitha shouted from her room.
Coonoor is a beautiful place. It's very close to Ooty! But it is not commercialized like Ooty. Coonoor has its serene beauty still maintained. Akshitha and Sumathi have a little land and a house of their own. They plant strawberries, carrots, beetroot, celery and broccoli. The local farmers market buys their yields for a good price and that serves them for their living. They have 3 people working on their farm. Akshitha and Sumathi also work their part.
Akshitha is now busy cutting out her recent admiration's picture from a magazine. She has a problem called 'celebrity crush'. Over the years, she has crushed on many people. Her first celebrity crush was actor Vijay and then Hritik Roshan and then Surya and then she liked Virat Kohli and then Rana Daggubati. After him, it's now Yadav Rishid!
She's been following him since last year when he got the young Entrepreneur award. Every news channel talked about him. Since he looks so hot and handsome, he's become the most searched man on g****e. But then, he came in all the magazine covers. He's caught in a lot of gossip. He is seen with many actresses. That gave him continuous media attention.
Akshitha is actually happy about those gossips. Because that is what is keeping him seen. She has downloaded almost all of his pictures online on her phone. She is crazy enough to paste his pictures on her room walls.
Kavya, her friend, always used to tease her for her fantasies. Kavya lives in Coimbatore.
Akshitha and Kavya studied in an engineering college in Coimbatore. Akshitha stayed in
college hostel.
"Hey loosu, open your eyes and see the guys who are behind you. What is the use of crushing on someone who doesn't even know you exist? Our class Suman is dying for your looks. And you are looking at this man who lives far away."
"Pch! I love this man, Kavi! Look at him. OMG! He is so handsome. Awww look at that
dimple on his cheek when he smiles. If I happen to see him face to face, I will surely kiss those dimpled cheeks."
"Nut case! What happened to your love for Rana? Has he disappeared?"
"No! Rana has a special place in my heart. But this man owns my whole heart. Never once have I ever felt so much pull on someone like I have on him, Kavi. Yash is totally killing me."
"Huh this is what you say on every new crush you have. Yash? His name is Yadav, right?"
"Hehe! Yadav Rishid for everyone. Yash for me."
Kavya just threw her a look which says Akshitha is a lunatic. Akshitha has been doing this stupidity from her 3rd year of college. She almost knew everything about Yadav. Like where is his house, how many cars he does he own, where does he travel, his favorite car, how many actresses are behind him, etc.,
Sumathi knows everything about what her daughter is up to. She just let it go, because these crushes won’t bring any harm. Or at least that is what she thought at the moment.
Behind Akshitha's home is a tea estate. It's one of the biggest estates in Coonoor. There is a big mansion in that estate which has its backyard facing Akshitha's house's backyard. The shared compound wall separates both the backyards.
Benjamin is the owner of that estate. He is a 60yrs old man. Akshitha calls him 'Jamin Uncle' in short (Zameen is a title given to landlords). He lives all alone with a servant in that mansion. He has a daughter who lives in Mumbai. She won't visit him often. But his granddaughter Emily will visit him every summer.
Emily is a couple of years elder to Akshitha. They don’t get along well from childhood. Akshitha will call Emily as 'Eli' (mouse) that infuriates Emily. Emily is a beautiful girl and she knows it. She hails from Mumbai and hence wears all modern outfits. It suits her the best. She always looks down on Akshitha and it irritates Akshitha.
Since Jamin uncle is lonely, Akshitha serves a good company to him. He will listen to anything and everything Akshitha has to say. A part of his estate is covered with corn fields. Akshitha will steal sweet corn from the field with her friends Manoj and Rahul every other evening. Jamin uncle knows it but he let go of it because it's her who makes his life lively and colorful.
Manoj and Rahul are 3years younger to Akshitha. They are her neighbors. She knows them from their birth. They are like brothers to her. Since she is a single kid, she appreciated their company. They used to do all sorts of mischief. They all even got beaten up by Sumathi for their deeds. But nothing has changed them.Akshitha usually jumps the compound wall to go to the mansion! Her mom is literally against this but Akshitha holds Jamin uncle's support! Yeah! Who will walk almost 2kms around, to go to the mansion when it’s just 2minutes away!?
Akshitha ran as fast as she could to catch up with Yadav. Yadav has 2 bouncers alongside him. She has a very little chance of meeting him. But she is not letting go of the chance she has got. She was in The Express Avenue when she saw him coming inside. She took off without telling her friends. Once she got close to him, she just stood in front of him stopping him from going further."Hi! I'm your die-hard fan. Can I have a selfie with you please?" He had a puzzled look on his face but nodded his head in agreement. His bouncers moved aside, giving her way. Akshitha went near him with her phone. He posed for her a little bent."um... Smile please." She said when she saw him posing without a smile.She clicked many pictures with him. When she saw his dimple, she couldn't stop herself. She stood on her tippy toes
Shiva's PoVI'm now rushing in this damn traffic to reach Le Meridian! Yadav is there stuck in a room. He went with a popular heroine to a party there. God knows what happened, they ended up together in a room.For god's sake, it's a cine industry party with a pool of media waiting for some cheesy story. He's now stuck there. The reporters are waiting outside like ants in sugar. I still don't know how I am going to bring him out without getting caught in the media.Aravind uncle is already upset. If aunty gets to know or happens to see a picture of him in the news tomorrow, she will be shattered. Hell with his flings. He shouts at me through the phone to shoo away the media. He is worried for his mother. I don't know where he rented his worries when he went along with that bitch.
Akshitha's PoVYay! Finally, in Chennai. My mom and Kavi's mom came along with us to settle us down in a house as Paying Guest(pg) in Chennai. Kavi and I are going to share our room. We are going to work in the same company.Our moms stayed with us for a day and showed us around the place we are going to live. Our PG provides us with breakfast and dinner. We have to manage lunch in the office. They will provide lunch during weekends. We also have many good restaurants around our PG. We have a grocery market nearby too.My mom has shipped my two-wheeler (scooty) here for our use. It will reach us by this weekend. Anyways, we have decided to get to know the places around first by travelling by bus. We still have 3 days for our joining date. We are now getting ready for bed. Our first night in Chennai, all alone.
Akshitha's PoVThis girl is tiring. She woke me up at 6am saying it is a trial run for tomorrow! 6AM!? She says it’s a practice day. We got ready just like we will go to the office. We stepped out of our PG at 8.30. We boarded the right bus at 8.35. We made sure that this bus's timing is the same everyday. We got down like a soaked paper, at our destined stop at 9.15am. We started walking to our office building from there and reached it at 9.30am! Bingo! We are here before 10!"I think we should start a little early tomorrow. We should be here by 9am. If we are here by 9am then we can leave by 5pm. It takes almost an hour to reach. So, we can reach our PG by 6pm safely."I just threw her a look. She is ridiculous. We woke up at 6 to reach here at 9.30. She wants me to wake up at 5.30? No way. Besides, I was living in paradise
Yadav's PoV My mom has gone nuts! She says she has invited a stranger girl to our home just because she helped her with Bruno! She even has that audacity to tell me that she would be happy if a girl like her comes home as her daughter-in-law! I can't believe Bruno let a stranger touch him. I'm so mad at him. Tiger is now in my room and Bruno is scratching the door to let him in. He is staying out tonight. Bruno and Tiger are my life! They are my stress relief! They give me immense happiness. I actually love how they both love me! Now hearing mom, that stranger girl has not even held his mouth during the shot and he just whined? That means, he loves her! Whoever she is, I hate her for this. Bruno can't love someone like he loves me!Mom has asked me to stay home on Saturday for lunch! I'm so not meeting that girl. I'm not leaving Bruno too! I will take Bruno to our guest house
Yadav's PoVAfter that long lecture from my dad last Saturday, I decided to stay home this weekend. It's kinda boring but I have no other choice! My college mate Rakesh has started a pub. He has invited me! It will be fun, but I just have to think about the consequences. It's a new pub and it didn’t have so much popularity. So, I can go there and be at peace and enjoy myself!A beer and some music will be fun for a weekend! I totally wish I could go to some place where no one will recognize me! But for this date, it's almost impossible in India! I should go to our Australian branch for a few days!When I came in, mom was busy talking on the phone. It should be grandma (mom's mom). Because it's just her to whom mom speaks with wide smiles. It's nice to see her smile. Once in, Bruno and Tiger jumped on me. That brought mom's at
Akshitha's PoV This damn phone got switched off when I was navigating to my pg! I tried to remember the way. But I got confused. I pushed my luck and drove through all similarly looking roads. I’m lost! I feel a ball of fear gather in my stomach. The time just runs, and I was scared to approach anyone for help. Like Kavi said, everyone who passes me looks like an accused. I drove again when I felt eyes on me. It's 11pm already! I've been stranded on a road for 3hours now! Kavi would be freaking out now! She will kill me for sure! I don’t know her number byheart! For the record, I don’t know anyone's number except for my mom's. Ofcourse, I cannot call her! She will come and drag me back to Coonoor. I can’t go back without seeing my man! I prayed to all the gods I knew, to get me to safety! The human traffic on the roads reduced eventually and now there is no one around! Many
Akshitha's PoVKavi is getting ready to go out for lunch with her team-mates. She keeps looking at me while getting ready. I'm having these bad vibes from her."Hey niyum kelambu de! Un muliye seri illa. Unna thaniya vittutu poga bayama iruku! (Hey, you too get ready! I doubt you are going to do something bad! I'm not leaving you alone!)""Kavi please, de! I don't know any of your batch mates. It would be awkward! I promise, I will be a good girl.""Akshu! I will call you every other hour. If you didn’t pick my call, I will call your mom!""OkOk! I will pick up your call! Now get out! Take the scooty if you want! That way you will be at peace that I'm not roaming out! Forget about me and enjoy your first outing!"