Hustle For Love |COMPLETE| MaNan Fiction

31. The One Where I Cried A Little

A/N : Okay this is the promised land kinda chapter which you will either love or hate. No more peeks, waiting to hear from you all at the end of the chapter :)

Happy Reading!

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Vommuli Island, Maldives circa 2018

(The Jungle Cinema, The St. Regis, Maldives Vommuli Resort)

Nandini Murthy

"Nandu, there's something I wanted to show you from the moment I discovered it, but then I thought..err..nevermind. Will you come with me now?" his voice sounded childlike & excited, as he broke off from our hug. My body detested him moving away but I couldn't help chuckle at his innocent enthusiasm. I have never seen Manik this way, so uninhibited; not that I thought between him & me there were any 'firsts' left, but him being vulnerable & open before me was definitely one!

I nodded, and he swiftly clutched my wrist and we began walking away from the beach. Soon we were walking for about ten minutes & we were at the edge of what looked like some kinda woods. Ayappa, was this mentally unstable man hatching some plan of cold bloodedly murdering me!?

"Manik, it's quite late into the night now, you want to go into the woods, at this hour?" I asked, in an unsure voice.

"Don't worry there aren't any wild animals in there you dum-dum" he chuckled back. I glared at him in vexation! That much even I knew, it was within the hotel property so obviously there'd be no animals; also what worry I'd have from animals when I was walking with the Monster himself by my side! Hmph.

"Monster Manik" I mumbled to myself. He had heard me of course & continued to laugh, how can he not, that evil minion. Argh. Ayappa!

"Nandu, it's cute when Abir calls me that but.." he began.

"But?" I asked, angrily. Ayappa, was I even jealous of the li'l guy?! Why am I so possessive of this man?

"But it's cuter when you call me that" he finished this time with a sweet smile. Hayee! Nandini, shut up!

Our silly banter continued until we reached a clearing of sorts amidst the woods. I was wondering what the place was when Manik nudged me to walk in; as I did, I gasped in surprise & bewilderment to see that what we walked through wasn't an unused part of the hotel property but a carefully manicured woods that was to eventually lead us here, an open air projection based cinema place! Ayappa, this is such a magical island!

"Like what you see, Nandu?" I heard his whisper, just behind me. I jumped and turned around like an excited five year old & Manik's face held an indulgent smile for me. I gushed in happiness, I always loved the concept of an amphitheatre but I don't particularly remember telling this to Manik; did he take a guess?

"It's perfect Manik! What are we watching tonight?" I replied back, barely able to hide the earnestness in my voice. He laughed and turned to look behind me. I quickly turned to find  the Manager of this unit bowing to us in courtesy. We quickly booked the place for the night & soon I was busy going through OTT platforms figuring out what to watch. Trust me in these moments, not even for a second did I feel that my heart was ruptured, or I was unhappy, Manik's presence always assured me despite him being the cause of my castigation.

"Manik, let's do a 'Friends' marathon for the night?" I chirped excitedly

"Nandu, but that'd take the whole night!" Manik sounded unsure. I knew his point made sense, but would it have been awkward to insist if it wasn't Manik but a friend I adored, no right?

"So what? Are you in a hurry?" I asked, childishly. A small smile spread on his lips seeing my tantrum and he softly replied, "Nope, I'm not in any hurry" I smiled at him for this, as he continued, ..but don't you think you should inform your folks that you'd turn in late tonight? They might be looking for you, Nandu"