Chapter Two

Sansali woke up in the morning and started calling Deeptha. He was already sound asleep, and when he found his mobile phone ringing while in his sleep, he grabbed it by the hand and began to respond.

"Good Morning.."

Deeptha answered the call without even looking at the name on his phone screen, while still asleep.

"Good morning Deeptha.. are you still sleeping lazy.." he was started Sansali's voice coming from beyond.

Even the sleepiness that was escaping from the eyes disappeared with this unexpected call.

"Oh! Yes, Darling… Why are you calling me in this morning.." Deeptha asked in a vibrant tone.

"Do you have anything special to do today?.." Sansali asked in a questioning tone. Deeptha took a moment and started answering her.

"Not today darling… why?." Deeptha asked as Sansali had never asked something like that before.

After thinking twice about what she was going to say, Sansali asked it with the thought that the question that was finally bothering her should be solved somehow today.

"I want to talk with you for a while.. Shall we go to a movie?"

For a moment Deeptha was dumbfounded by what Sasali asked. This was a really weird experience for him who had never watched a movie with a girl. Not only Deeptha but also Sansali had never seen a movie alone with a man before.

"Okay, I'll come to the Havelock City bus stop at nine…" finally Deeptha gave the verdict.

It was a rainy day with a thin drizzle that had been falling continuously since the night before.

Sansali's beloved mother Ramani Ranminithenna leaned against the door and watch as Sansali pulled on a black Mickey Mouse T-shirt with a pencil cut blue denim trousers and looked in front of the mirror.

"Where are you going sweety… in this rain…"

Ramani said, looking at the image of Sansali seen in the mirror.

"I'm going to see a movie mommy with my friends today.."

"Don't get wet my sweety… be careful" she began to lovingly admonish her daughter.

Sansali kisses her mother's cheek.

"I am going mommy.." she said and got into the taxi that her mother had stopped.

Before for a while, Deeptha met Sansali. Seeing Sansali under the bus stop Deeptha made a quick decision to escape the rain.

Underneath the bus stop, Sansali started in amazement at Deeptha calling him on a motorbike in the distance.

"Sansi… you just get on the next bus and get off from Thumulla… I came on my bike… I will come there or you will get wet…"

Silently Sansali agreed to what Deeptha had said with a heartfelt admiration for him. Her heart sank as he protected her from such a torrential downpour.

At Thumulla, Sansali got into Deeptha's motorbike in fear. She had never been on a motorbike before.

Deeptha felt the comfort of the Sansali holding his T-shirt tightly. He smiled spontaneously. It was a refreshing experience for Deeptha as it was the first time a girl got on his bike and hung himself.

Deeptha who had parked the motorbike near the cinema hall was helped Sansali to get off because the motorbike was an unfamiliar thing to her. He went into the cinema with Sansali and saw that Sansali trying to grab him by his hand.

Deeptha turned to Sansali,

"Let's not hold hands, Sansi… If someone sees you, it's not good for you.."

Deeptha said so because they were not lovers and honestly Sansali thought about it.

Some corners of the air-conditioned movie theater were full of lovers. Such scenes were unfamiliar to Sansali. She looked down and walked to avoid such scenes.

Deeptha reserved seats in the middle of the rows where the screen could be seen. They both walked in the dark and sat down. Although the film had not yet begun the two remained silently staring at the screen.

Deeptha came closer to her ear as she looked at Sansali's face which was a little bit visible through the dim lights.

"Don't sleep Ok." he joked.

Sansali pinched his hand angrily.

The film began with the protagonist coming on screen in a heroic manner. Sansali knew it was an English action movie that was kind of Deeptha's choice.

Sansali turned her head and look at Deeptha's face and waited for a moment while enjoying the movie. Sansali then tapped Deeptha's hand slowly to talk to him. His eyes darted away from the screen and he stared at Sansali with a distraught look on her face.

"I have something to ask from you…"

"So ask me anything… What is it about?"

Even though Deeptha said so, Sansali's heart was heavy with hesitation.

"But you cannot be angry… Promise me…" Sansali put her hand on Deeptha.

"Alright I promise."

Deeptha slowly tapped her arm and stared at her.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend before…:"

Sansali asked the question that was floating in her mind with a calm voice.

Deeptha let out a long sigh and began to express his grief to Sansali, who had never revealed such a thing to anyone in his life because no one had ever asked anything directly like Sansali before. He began to speak in a sad broken voice.

"I had a lot of problems at home… I had a big responsibility for the problems at home… I was so tired of those things…Now people who see me think that I'm in a good place with plenty of money.. But I'm not a person like that Sansi…I'm someone who came so far with the desire to learn in the midst of so many problems Sansi…I never thought of falling in love with a girl because of the stuff in my house… I didn't think about those things because I thought that starting a love affair would lead me to more responsibilities and problems… To this day, I have not been told these things to any of my friends. You're the only one who asked me directly Sansi."

He paused and revealed everything to Sansali.

Even though Sansali got answers for her problem, but her heart was filled with sorrow for Deeptha.

Sansali grabbed Deeptha's hand tightly and opened her broken voice.

"Don't be sad anymore,,, I can hear you even if I can't give big solutions to you…"

Sansali looked at Deeptha's face and put her head on his shoulders. Though his eyes were at the screen but his heart was at his home in Theldeniya. Deeptha slowly holds Sansali's hand with a grateful feeling.

Sansali leaned on his shoulder till the end of the film and Deeptha did not interrupt it either. Deeptha realized that if someone was so emotionally close to her mind, it would only be soothing for such a long time.

At the end of the film, at Sansali's request, the two went to the Saraswathi Bhavan Hotel in Bamabalapitya for lunch. He stared at Sansali, who was talking like a little parrot with a bright emotion.

Deeptha felt a strange feeling from Sansali's side because sometimes she hanging on to Deeptha's hand and sometimes hanging around his neck.

But Deeptha thought that the matter should be told to Sansali not today but in later.

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Sansali was preparing books to take to the next day's lectures, composing a song reminiscent of how the time spent with Deeptha was.

Nisal came to her room at the moment, he took his sister Sansali with to dinner as it was the custom of the Ranminithenna family for the whole family to dine together.

Sansali's only brother is Nisal Anupama Ranminithenna who was elder to Sansali. He is the business owner of a private company called Batik Fashions. He is a handsome young man with fair skin.

Waking up the next morning, Sansali was dressed in black denim shorts and a purple T-shirt and was getting ready to go to lectures with her friends.

Sansali's loving father Mohan Ranminithenna looked at his daughter as he parked near the university.

"What time do the lectures end sweety…. What time do I have to get you back…" he asked.

"After 2 p.m we didn't have any lectures, Daddy.. After that I'm going to Lashan's… I'll come home in a taxi Daddy.."

By looking at his father, Sansali said goodbye to him and started walking towards the university.

Sansali decided to sit on the bench in the shades of the temple trees, as usual, to wait for Lashani to arrive, and also because she can meet Deeptha also.

Recognizing Deeptha's friend coming from a distance, Sansali smiled and started walking towards him.

"Good morning.. where is Deeptha..?"

Sansali asked from Miyuranga because Miyurange was the only one of the two friends who used to come this morning

"Deeptha is in fever Sansi… He will not come today.."

Miyuranga told Sansali and started walking towards the lecture hall as he had run late.

Sansali realized that even though he had protected herself from the rain yesterday, he seemed to be wet.

Sansali thought for a moment and looked at her watch. It was nine o'clock in the morning but Lashani had not yet arrived. Thoughtfully, Sansali got out of the university premises and got into a taxi.