Hustle For Love |COMPLETE| MaNan Fiction

27. The One Where We Tried Being 'Friends'

A/N : Hello Readers! Rise & Shine now! I am back as promised, with my new chapter & as the title suggests, you guys will FINALLY get some MaNan moments! I thought it's time to break their chips of hurt & indifference a little, and I tried doing just that in a way that is compliant to my narrative. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much I enjoyed penning it down for you!

More on the other side, when you're done reading this chapter!

Happy Reading! <3

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Vommuli Island, Maldives circa 2018

(Dance Studio, The St. Regis, Maldives Vommuli Resort)

Nandini Murthy

It was evening now, I had finally selected the darn song for the 'Sangeet' ceremony for the day after. Priyank was being extra b*tchy with everyone and treating us like herd literally! Since we'd not get time to practise in the first half of the next day due to the 'Mehendi' ritual, he had set the rules that no one could go to bed today, unless they had perfected the steps & sequences! Needless to say, Mukti & Abhimanyu had it easy, they had practised all day & by now they were perfectly coordinated! I sighed looking at the time and kept glancing at the door, Arya was running late. He wasn't going to turn up in another couple of hours & Priyank had literally dictated to me to keep practising our stuff till Arya came; and when I pointed out that I couldn't do the twirls & lifts without a partner, he promptly put Cabir to fill in for Arya!

"Nandini, shall we continue? You know staring at the door won't make him come any faster!" I turned around to see Cabir smirking at me playfully. I smiled a little. I mean I know this guy was known for his sense of humour and in the past he had apologised to me as well, but somehow I couldn't ever forgive him. In my heart of hearts I knew it was him. This guy. He had played the dice & Manik had entered my life. What if he had stopped Manik? Maybe that way either we'd never have met or had we met, ours wouldn't have been a story of revenge & vendetta. Who knows.

"Er..earth to Nandini" he spoke this time by waving his palm before my face, trying to draw my attention. I nodded and raised my hands to hold his shoulder to start practising. I was uncomfortable & acutely so. I hadn't interacted much with Cabir, and I didn't like him but mostly I was uncomfortable in the way he was looking at me. I felt he was trying to read me. He had sharp eyes & I feared if he tried too hard, he might actually succeed in reading me. As if in a queue, he spoke.

"Nandini, you really love Aryaman, right?" he asked casually like he was discussing the weather! Urgh.

"Not sure why you thought, I'd answer that question, Cabir." I replied, looking at him with a poker face. I don't know why, but his question rattled me, was my lack of love for Arya that evident? Could Manik see it too? Hush, Nandini. Why do you even care?! Cabir looked at me pointedly for a moment, while we both kept practising the steps & shrugged.

"Thought I'd give it a try, and see it worked. You did give me the answer to my question" he smirked again.

"Huh? When did I answer you?" I asked, perplexed.

"Well, you got defensive. That's the answer. Not a straight one, yes, but an answer nonetheless!" this time the f*cker chuckled much to my annoyance.

"Aah I see, you're still not done poking your nose into other peoples business & playing God." I replied with a stiff smile on my lips this time. I knew I had hit close to home, it must have pinched him. The moron deserved it. Hmph.

Cabir's face froze for a moment. Clearly he hadn't ever had to deal with the sassy side of mine, but he nodded anyway. "And for what I did last time, Nandini, I have already apologized. I am still willing to say sorry, if that helps. I ..I was a kid too yaar, I couldn't predict how bad it could go; but for what it's worth, I am sorry for it. Again"