Half Way in Love - Chapter 26
Revathy returned two days later. Her mom had not returned from Mudappallur. Her maternal uncle, again played spoil sport. He picked up Revathy from airport.
"Hi Dev. I reached home. I wished you would have come to Hyderabad. Badly missed my prince."
Heart signs.
"Tomorrow is holiday. Meet me Revathy. A surprise awaits you."
"Oho. The man who can never surprise, coming up with a surprise. You are growing up Dev."
She laughed.
"I will definitely come. I too want to meet you, Dev. 10 AM then. "
She sent few heart and prank icons. Those prank icons were meant for the timing.
Her timing always amused Dev. Bankers. He smiled to himself.
She came in at sharp 10. Dev was again waiting at parking space of the Emerald Mall.
She got down her scooty and came towards Dev, flowing in a peach coloured frock. She looked stunning.
She was smiling, and she almost sprinted to him the last few meters.
"I am getting impatient when I am not seeing you even for one day Dev. You charmed me some way. I am not myself now."
Dev smiled.
"You charmed me from day one Revathy. I never complained."
She laughed, covering her mouth.
"Where is the surprise?"
She asked, raising her hands beautifully, in a question.
Dev waved his hand towards his left.
Revathy covered her open mouth again, this time to hide her shock.
It was a shining, red, Enfield. Brand new.
"Dev?? You bought this?"
Dev answered yes, by a slight head shake.
"You are wonderful Dev, and a bit crazy too. And, are we going to stare at this beauty whole day or are we going somewhere?"
She laughed, teasing him.
"Get on the beast, Princess, we start thundering now".
Dev started the bullet, and Revathy Got behind him. Both had helmets and wore sunglasses. It was hard to identify them. Exactly what Dev wanted. But Revathy never seemed to care about that. Defence blood.
Revathy sat, at a safe distance from Dev. She had cushioned the gap with her vanity bag. Dev himself, felt comfortable that way.
"Where are we going Dev?"
Revathy shouted in his ears, to make herself audible. The thunder of the bullet, the speed of the bullet and the wind flowing on their faces; everything made talking at low decibels impossible.
"Nelliyampathy. The hills."
Dev shouted back.
"Wow, it will be wonderful" Revathy almost exploded in his ears.
They had passed Pothundy Dam, and started climbing up, when a slight drizzle came down.
They were not prepared for that. No jackets on, both of them.
They absorbed the drizzle. And both started to feel cold, by the time they negotiated the 17 th hair pin bend. They had covered almost three fourth distance to reach the top.
Dev parked the bullet under a large tree, standing below the road.
They stood in the shadow of the thick leaves of the tree. Safe from the drizzle. But they were feeling cold. She was sitting on the bullet and looking at the Pothundy Dam view below. She didn't see Dev staring at her now.
She was bit wet. Rain drops over her hair, her reddish cheeks, lips, and the bare neck. And her beautiful, long hands.
Aware of his stare now, now she turned to look at Dev.
Colour of his eyes had changed. He now directly looked at her eyes. And he went close to her.
She was now sitting opposite to him. Her face inches away from his face.
His breath grew heavier.
She was very close. Dangerously close.
Dev took both her arms in his arms. A shiver went through her body, as he looked longingly at her eyes. Now his lips slowly came down, aiming for her wet lips.
She turned her face away. Unable to control her tears.
"No Dev. I am sorry. I am engaged to someone."
Dev stopped half way in horror, hearing her words.
"Engaged?" He asked, unable to believe her words.
"Yes Dev" she now said, lowering her eyes in guilt.
"Last time when I went to my native place. Ishwar. My distant cousin. He is a software guy, with Face book headquarters."
Dev shook his head in disbelief.
"Why, Revathy? Why now? And why this to me?"
"Every time we met after that, I wanted to tell you Dev. But somehow I didn't want to lose you. I loved each and every second I was with you. Every time I thought I would tell you the next time. And that next time kept postponing. You are too good to lose Dev. I kept holding on to you, as if I was holding on to my life."
Drizzle had stopped.
Dev started the bullet. He didn't say anything.
Revathy got behind him, shaking with emotions now. Her tears flowed uncontrollably. She didn't bother about cushioning the space between her and Dev.
She wished Dev would at least shout at her.
But he didn't say anything. His heart had seemingly stopped beating.
He just wanted to steer this bullet to the Mall. Into the parking space. Where he can safely offload Revathy. To her scooty. So that he can then dash to his home, into the privacy of his bedroom. Where the great Devanarayan, the talk of the State, can just break down, and weep his heart out.
When she got down from bullet, she looked hopefully at Dev. lest he may look at her, lest he may say few words to her.
But he just sped away.
And, weeping hard inside her helmet, she drove towards her flat.
Dev didn't stop to answer the questions of Sarada. He went straight to his bedroom.
He felt shattered.
The great Devanarayan. Young achiever. But where does he stand now? What did he achieve at the end?
He stands lost. Losing his love. Losing his heart.
He fell on his bed. And cried hard, for the first time in life, tears wetting the pillow cover.
His phone was silent till 8.30 PM.
May be Revathy didn't dare to call him up. May be she felt guilty.
Dev kept looking at his phone in half minutes interval.
And it rang at around 9 PM.
Revathy. The name flashed. She finally called.
He wanted to hear her voice now. All evening he was waiting for this call.
He attended the call.
"Dev..." Her voice was unnaturally jittery. It seemed she was struggling for breath.
"Revathy, what happened?" Dev asked almost in a shout.
The change in her voice had made Dev forget about everything that happened in the morning.
"Dev...”She laboriously drew on...
" Dev...come ...save ...me...someone ..." She couldn’t complete.
She was breathing hard. And the call got cut.
After a second of shock, Dev dashed down to his car.
On reaching her flat complex, he dashed out, without even caring to switch off the engine.
He ran up all the way to 12 A, without waiting for the lift.
Her door was half open. He entered looking in all directions. Finally, he found her, at the entrance to her bedroom, lying on the floor, in a pool of blood.
Looking at him, with vacant eyes...
Almost lifeless.
He heard footsteps behind, and turned back in hope of getting help.
It was the security. He had followed Dev, seeing his frenzy.
He raised the alarm promptly.
Just when Dev was starting to get up, I heard sirens of the Police jeeps outside home. I looked out through the French window.
Security was opening gates for the police jeeps to come in.
I turned to Dev, with an apprehensive look.
"Dev, police is here"
"Expected that Bharath sir. They may have traced my call to you from Revathy' s flat. I don't care as Revathy is past danger zone now."
He paused and got up from settee.
"But I want you to believe me. I didn't do it."
"I know that Dev"
Calling bell rang for the second time now. With one last look at Dev, I opened the front door.
Police were at the step.
"Sorry to knock you up Bharath sir. I am Inspector Vijay Bhaskar. We came to get Dev sir."
I stood aside. Dev stepped out.
"Sorry Dev sir. We need to follow the available clues. First case after new SP took charge last week. She needs you at District Police Headquarters."
Dev stepped out with him.
I went near the Inspector.
"Inspector Sir, if I can have a word. He didn't do it."
He looked at me, and shrunk his shoulders in a show of helplessness. And smartly turned and walked towards the police jeep.
Dev followed him, silently.
