As all the employees there watched in shock as she was being taken away, Bhadran quickly pulled Mullai and made her sit on his lap. She pushed him away, placing her hand on his chest, saying, "Sir, what is this? Let go first!" As she tried to get up, he held her waist tightly with both hands, preventing her from moving, and leaned closer to her face.
With her heart pounding, she held her chest with her hand and looked at him, saying in a soft, fearful voice, "Sir, let go first. Everyone will misunderstand."
Looking into her eyes, he said, "Listen carefully to what I'm saying. If I see you with him again... no, not just him, if I see you getting close to any other man, nothing will happen to you. But he won't be alive." As Bhadran warned her in a deep voice, staring intently at her, Mullai's body trembled with fear.
"Sir," she tried to say something, but no words came out. Only air escaped her lips. Mullai was truly frightened by Bhadran's appearance. Looking at her pale face, he held her cheek with one hand and kissed her fluttering, butterfly-like eyes, which had been bothering him all this time, with a passionate kiss. Mullai's eyes widened as she stared at him.
He then moved down slightly and kissed her cheek, and as he leaned in to kiss her strawberry-like lips, Mullai, who was breathing heavily and staring at him, did not stop him. Her emotions were also in turmoil. With only an inch separating their lips, precisely at that moment, the phone's ringtone blared, playing the song "You are my eyes... You are the wind... You are my breath... You are my life..." Mullai instantly pulled away from Bhadran, picked up her phone from the table, and answered it, holding it to her ear.
It was Theeran calling. Wiping the sweat from her face with her hand, Mullai said, "Tell me, dear," and Theeran on the other end asked, "Mom, did you eat?" Mullai replied, "I ate, dear. Did you eat? Did Vaishu eat?"
"Yes... we ate. How is your work today? Is it difficult? Do you like working there? If you don't like it, tell me, I'll get you a job in another company," Theeran began asking seriously, like a grown-up.
At this, Mullai glanced at Bhadran. He was also looking at her. Mullai was still sitting on Bhadran's lap. Bhadran was holding her waist tightly, wasn't he? How could she possibly move away from him? Yet, she didn't move.
Bhadran's mind was filled with thoughts of Theeran. "Tch, he doesn't let me get close to her in person. But now he's started bothering us over the phone too?" he thought irritably.
Mullai said, "Theera, I've only just started working today, haven't I? I'll only know how it is as time goes on," she said, looking at Bhadran. Bhadran glared at her, but she turned her gaze away and continued talking to Theeran. What could the mother and son have been talking about? They talked for almost fifteen minutes.
Bhadran watched them enviously. Then his phone rang. Without even checking who it was, he answered the phone and held it to his ear. The moment he heard the childlike voice on the other end say, "Appa...", a wave of joy washed over his heart.
"Kuttima, my sweet daughter," he said excitedly, and when Vaishu asked, "Appa, what are you doing? Did you eat?", a new feeling overwhelmed him. No one had ever asked him, "Did you eat?" before.
A few years ago, his mother was the only one who had asked him such questions. After her death, he hadn't given anyone that much space in his life, nor had he expected such things.
But today, a relationship, his beloved relationship, was asking him. With an indescribable feeling, he said, "Kuttima, I ate... and you?", and even as he was speaking, Mullai got up from his lap and ran away. He didn't stop her, and instead, crossed his legs and continued talking to Vaishu.
While talking to Theeran, Mullai opened the door, and there stood Hari. Seeing Mullai, Hari asked in a teasing tone, "What, dear? Have you finished talking? Or will it take some more time?"
Hearing Hari's voice, Theeran on the phone said, "Amma, give the phone to him. I'll talk to Uncle." Mullai then handed the phone to him, saying, "Brother, the phone," and he took it confusedly and put it to his ear.
Theeran on the other end said like a command, "Uncle, when you come home, bring Amma with you," and without even waiting for Hari's reply, he hung up.
Hari, handing the phone back to Mullai, thought to himself, "Look at the audacity of this little brat. He hung up before I could even speak. Just like his father." Just then, Bhadran also came out.
He was still talking to Vaishnavi. Mullai saw him coming and left from there.
Immediately, Hari, rubbing his rumbling stomach, said, "Master, I'm hungry. Let's go eat, it's already 3 o'clock," to which Bhadran casually replied, "Cancel it," and walked away.
Shocked by this, Hari muttered, almost in tears, "Cancel it? Is this a meeting to cancel? I'm hungry, so hungry... How can I bear this hunger? So, is it going to be another day of starvation?"
When he saw Bhadran still talking on the phone ahead of him, he felt irritated. "In this same office, he has fired so many people for talking on the phone during urgent work. I've even been scolded for using my phone. But today, he's the only one who gets to keep talking..." Hari thought resentfully as he followed him.
Mullai went to her cubicle and sat down, and all the employees there were staring at her. Feeling uncomfortable, she thought, "Why is everyone looking at me strangely?" and started typing on the computer.
Nisha, too, was glaring at Mullai from her room. Anger was raging in her heart. Because just a little while ago, her assistant Raghavi had urgently brought her phone and handed it to Nisha.
"Madam, look here," she said, showing her a photo. The photo showed Bhadran pulling Mullai's hand. Shocked by this, Nisha asked, "Raghavi, what is this?" Even the woman who said, "Madam, this is spreading on the company website. Sir reportedly grabbed that girl's hand, pulled her towards him, and made her sit next to him. Everyone in the canteen saw it," had hatred in her eyes.
Raghavi's mind was filled with many confusing thoughts: "It hasn't even been a full day since she joined, and how is she already getting so close to our boss? How is she doing all this?" This confusion was mixed with hatred. She knew Bhadran very well. He wouldn't even look at any woman. His face always wore an expression of severity and indifference.
To be precise, once Raghavi herself tried to get close to Bhadran and went to talk to him, but he slapped her and pushed her out. Since then, she would stay far away from him whenever she saw him. Yet, she had a great liking for his charisma, handsomeness, and wealth. She also knew that Nisha liked Bhadran, just like her. She also knew that Nisha was the daughter of a wealthy man.
To get rid of Mullai, she knew only she could do it, so she immediately informed Nisha about this matter. While Nisha was looking at the photo, Raghavi said, "This girl is definitely not a good girl, Madam," and left the room.
Thinking about this, Nisha, with a burning gaze at Mullai, immediately started investigating her. Only by knowing the truth about her could she drive her away from there. That's why she had started working on it.
As time passed, the office closed. Mullai got up from her seat, walked out, and took the elevator down. As she stepped onto the road intending to catch an auto-rickshaw, a car stopped right in front of her. From there, Hari opened the car door and affectionately invited her, "Come in, Amma... Get in, let's go home." Nodding, she opened the back door and got in, only then noticing that Bhadran was already sitting in the car.
A look of shock spread across Mullai's face upon seeing him. Thinking, "Why is he inside?", she sat down close to the window and glanced at Bhadran. He was leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep. Or perhaps he was just pretending.
"Oh, he seems to be asleep," she thought. Then, for some reason, she looked at Hari, who was driving, and then turned back to Bhadran. She raised her hand as if to hit him, but stopped just short of touching him.
She did this, wanting to take revenge for all his mischief and teasing. Next, she playfully moved her hand towards his nose, as if to punch him, and at that moment, Bhadran opened his eyes.
Startled and shocked by his sudden awakening, she stumbled and, with her trembling hands, actually punched him on the nose. Bhadran glared at her, while Mullai looked at him with a pitiful expression.
Fear and anxiety continued to flicker across Mullai's face. "Oh no, I just did it playfully, and now I'm caught!" she thought.