Raining Love for Her by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (digital e reader .TXT) 📕

the soft inner lining muscles of the nose and the eyes. This made her sneeze constantly and tears started to flow down continuously from her eyes.

“What the hell is happening here? Earth is not going to be a safer place to live in another five years.” Reema murmured to herself.

The future looked challenging and confusing. There was unrest everywhere in the world. Something or other happened to make the people feel jittery and tensed. No one looked happy and Reema at times wondered, if they have forgotten to smile.

For the past ten days, Reema did not even think of meeting Vel at least once in a day and wish him. She deliberately avoided him and did not want to meet him face to face. Somehow she felt she must maintain her distance from her. Though at heart she wished to be with him forever, she did not want to take chances by doing something that can bring down the chance of winning his heart forever in her life. She once again reminded herself that getting emotionally attached too soon may not help her to achieve her wish, her final goal of getting married to Vel.

Vel was one among the travelers who were disrupted at airports in England. The unwanted break left him waiting with heaviness at heart. Things became worse for Vel as he was there waiting for his connecting flight. If he was at the place where he attended the training programme and the annual meeting, things would be different. The company could have helped him by extending his stay at the guest house or finding out another alternative to travel by rail or by bus.
As he got stranded at a new place, for a few hours he did not know how to manage the situation.

The company may be willing to help him financially in a situation like that, but the real life situation demanded Vel to face everything on his own. Every one hour he checked the messenger to find out if any known person was on line. Unfortunately none of them came online. Even if he wanted to check the help counter, he must wait in a long queue to check with the staff. The people whoever he met on the way looked angry and irritated. No one knew when the situation will be set right and even if it is set right, when will they take up their flight remained as a very big question.

Initially people looked agitated and restless. Slowly, they learned to accept the situation and decided to wait until the next thing happened. The airport authorities provided the stranded passengers maximum support by providing them extra chairs, pillows and shawls to use. The spacious lounge slowly turned into a huge dormitory where people started to reserve their space. Unmindful of people around, the anxiety and tension made most of the stranded passengers mentally tired that made them decide to take a nap and slowly they all drifted into a restless sleep. With a hope things will be better while they take rest, people started to make use of the time by taking rest.

Vel decided to walk around and explore the place. He did not want to sleep. As a curious observer, he strolled around looking at the different facial expressions and conversation that happened in all the languages of the world. The noise that filled the air was a mix of international and national languages of the world. He could not understand the conversation in foreign languages, but could understand the emotions with the way the people expressed themselves.

The café at the airport were crowded to the maximum. Even to get a cup of tea, everyone waited in the queue. For everything there were long queues. If you wanted to use the rest room, there also waited a long queue. After waiting for more than thirty minutes Vel fetched his cup of coffee and two pieces of cheese, vegetable sandwich. Despite the cancellation of flights, the authorities took the maximum care to fill all the food counters with varieties of food items both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

Vel was simply amazed to look at the varieties of soups, the vendors provided. Different kinds of chocolates with varied tastes tempted him to taste. Packing his pockets full with bars of chocolates, he moved to a corner with the cup of soup.
The huge walls of glass across the airport lounge clearly showed whatever that happened outside. Vel could see hundreds of flights on the empty runway. As the airport received maximum number of flights from all over the world, every flight stood as an identity of the country from where they came.

After eating the cheese-vegetable sandwich, Vel decided to take a short nap. Sitting idle for more than two hours made him feel mentally tired. He felt without any physical activity, he was drained mentally and his brain needed some rest.

“Excuse me.” Someone woke up him up around 5 pm in the evening.

“They have rescheduled flights. Don’t you want to check it?” Vel smiled at the friendly man who politely asked him to check if he got a place in the next flight.

“Thank you.” Vel woke up from the lounge seat and started to tidy himself. He combed his hair neatly and walked to the already crowded rest room. After waiting for more than fifteen minutes, he brushed his teeth and washed his face. He then walked to the coffee counter and took a hot cup of coffee.

After drinking the hot, good cup of coffee, Vel felt relaxed and comfortable. Watching the restless people, who desperately moved here and there, Vel looked at the notice board that announced the reschedule of flights. To his relief, his flight was rescheduled the next day around 10 am in the morning. He has to spend the whole night again in the airport lounge.

“No other way. Nothing can be done. I have to wait.” Murmuring to himself, he moved to the corner where he was sitting earlier.

The evening had set in. He happened to see some of the strikingly beautiful sun set caused by the ash clouds high in the sky. The area around Newcastle and Ponteland were bathed in golden glow with streaks of red and vermillion at dusk.

Most of the stranded passengers did not want to miss the visual treat and so took the maximum number of photographs to have as a record for their stay in that airport lounge.
As the scientists said, the people were excited to look at the spectacular sunset as the sun's rays reflected off the volcanic particles, creating beautiful skies. The motorists were warned to look out for a layer of ash on their cars from the leftovers of the explosion. The temperature was colder as tiny particles of ash lingering high in the atmosphere blocked out light from the sun.

After reading the local newspapers for some time, Vel started to check his mails. The airport lounge at night became very noisy. He could hear so many wailing babies, giggling children, adamant little girls who wanted to eat only ice-cream in that cold weather, naughty little boys who kept on running here and there. Parents had a tough time controlling their little kids.

Nagging little babies not only made the mothers feel tensed and restless, they also made the people around also to feel uncomfortable. Parents took turns to carry the crying babies and walk around the available space so that they will go to sleep. Telling stories or singing songs in that environment looked ridiculous and out of question. Whatever done in privacy cannot be done in the public for it may embarrass or shock people around. Yet, some mothers started to sing lullabies to make their babies sleep.

The people who came along with their families were the most affected. Only a very few lucky ones got accommodation in the hotels arranged by the airline companies. Most of the families who were travelling in the economy class preferred to stay back in the air-port lounge, as they wanted to take up the first available flight and leave the place.

When Vel logged into the messenger, Reema also came on line. Initially, both of them were quite excited to meet online after a gap. Vel’s trip abroad was news to Reema. As everything happened within a short time at a short notice, most of the people in his office did not know about his abroad trip. So more than three weeks Vel was not there in the office.
To see him online was a pleasant surprise to Reema. Yet, Vel was the first one who wished her good day. In the beginning Reema wanted to sign off after exchanging a few enquiries. But the conversation went on for more than one hour that revealed both their hearts. It also gave an opportunity to each of them to show how they loved each other even without confessing their love to each other.

‘Hi, Vel, Good day.”

“How are you? How are things at home?”

“Good. I am talking to you after a long time. Where are you now?”

“I am stranded. Sitting in the airport lounge.”

“Stranded.” Reema could not understand anything from his one word answer.

“Are you joking? Why to get stranded?” Reema was confused by his answer.

“Yes, I am here in UK. Stranded and sitting in the airport lounge with my laptop.” Vel replied.

“Oh, my god. No one told me. Even you did not inform me before leaving.” Reema started to feel
heavy at heart.

How can he go like this even without informing her? Did he wish to vanish from her life even without telling her where he would be going? Reema felt so bad. It always happened with her. So many important things will be happening around her, but she will not know anything. To heighten all the pressure, she will be the last person to know about everything that happened. During such times, she would feel like a fish out of water and a fool among the crowd.
Vel explained to her about the volcano ash and how the flights were cancelled and the plight of travelers across the world.

“So, sad. Did you eat anything? I know it will be horrible over there.” Reema replied with a concern.

“Things are not much worse here. We get all kinds of food items here. I had my food just now.”

“Ok. When will you be here?” Reema’s question reflected her excitement over meeting him online.

“As per the plan, I must reach there by tomorrow. But, now I don’t know.”

“I am waiting desperately to meet you.” Reema sent the reply in a second.

“I know my sweetheart.” Vel replied with love, for it was the first time he addressed Reema as sweetheart.

Reema could not control her happiness. She could not control her tears that welled up in her eyes.

“Thanks. Do you really mean it?” She asked with a doubt.

“Yes, I mean it truly.” Vel acknowledged his love without hesitation.
Reema replied back with emoticons.

“Do you like using emoticons? I don’t know their meanings. So I rarely use.” Vel replied happily.

“Symbols can express thousand words. They are very powerful than words.”

“Yes, but I prefer words.”

“Do you know early man used symbols to express himself before he started to speak?” Reema questioned him.

“True, but now we live in the latest robotic age,