Almost Not Love! |COMPLETE| MaNan Fiction

10. The Dinner Party from Hell

A/N : Hi all, sorry for the late update. May has been and will continue to be a crazy busy month for me. So, I am back at work after my maternity leave, and now that Covid is sort of phasing out, I have a 5 days travel to work schedule & two children at home, where one has forgotten how it was back in the days when mommy went for work, and the other one, well he is just training; oh add to that, this was my first long travel for work, away from the li'l one after his birth! Lots of new things cooking up in our Ahluwalia household, I hope you guys had a sane week!

Coming back to the story. So about this chapter, there is a nugget I will share but that's at the end of the chapter. Until then, happy reading!

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Manik was sitting by the bar of a plush nightclub and sipping his Macallan 1926; he was waiting for Alia to arrive, since he had promised her drinks and dinner to make up for forgetting her birthday the night before. He was sporting a black V neck tee and a pair of beige chinos. He was looking around and enjoying the vibe of the place, the pool side bar, the huge dance floor and the lounge in the open terrace, the club had three levels; suddenly he felt a pair of hands grab his waist from behind, he exclaimed out of reflex, "Nandini?" the hands froze, and Manik automatically shut his eyes in despair. He slowly turned around and saw a slightly crestfallen faced Alia.

"You were expecting someone else too?" she asked timidly, Manik sighed.

"No, no. Not at all. I was just.. never mind, what matters is that you are here, finally! I have been waiting for fifteen minutes now"

"Yes, sorry. I was looking for parking, the place is jam packed" she replied back, but she still looked a bit off, Manik noticed.

"That's okay, you are forgiven – it's your birthday celebration after all! And you are looking absolutely stunning Al!" Manik complimented her, it had always worked with her; it did this time too. Alia smiled, a genuine one now.

"Really baby? Thanks! Come let's get some drinks"

They were a couple of drinks down, Alia was being her usual self, trying to pull Manik to the dance floor, fishing for attention and more or less Manik was obliging. After all he did miss her birthday and that wasn't a 'boyfriend-y" thing to do. After a couple more of shots and a lot of head banging on the dance floor, both Manik and Alia were high and was having a great time, Alia even suggested to jump into the pool and join the party there, but Manik pulled her back, he knew Alia's wild side and if he indulged her more, she'd get out of hand; he convinced Alia that it was a bad idea and managed to pull her towards the lounge where they could sit and have some food; food in the system would sober them up he thought.

They were sitting in the lounge, the terrace was beautifully decorated with lamps and plants, here the noise was much lesser from the levels below them; he relaxed and ordered food, while Alia excused herself to use the washroom; Manik was waiting for her, it had been ten minutes now, he was starting to get worried. He tried her phone but she had left the phone on their table. Finally Manik decided to check himself, as he reached the ladies room, there was no queue outside, so he couldn't ask anyone to check and let him know; he was about to open the door when he heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Bro, that's the ladies room" Manik turned around to find Abhimanyu standing before him. Abhimanyu looked surprised to see him.

"Manik? What are you doing here? That too outside the ladies room?" he asked confused.

"Arre hi Abhimanyu, actually I am here with a friend, she's very high and has been inside for quite a long time, so I got a bit worried. I thought I'd check myself"

"Oh okay, hang on, don't go inside, I will ask one of the girls to go in and check up on her" replied Abhimanyu to which Manik nodded.

"Girl(s)?" he asked on second thought.