MaNan : Moon Light

10. Splintered

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The interior of Continental was completely empty like it was every year that Mukti dragged her to it.

Nandini didn't know whether her friend managed to buy it out - which would require a ridiculously high amount of cash - or whether she managed to pull a few strings with Abhimanyu and get the place emptied. 

Nandini had never been inside it when it had been packed with people before and she didn't ever want to. 

The kind of people that frequented the restaurant were the kind that she staunchly wanted to avoid: CEOs and presidents of businesses, famous celebrities that could afford to get around the paparazzi somehow, and even politicians.

No, she much preferred being inside when it was empty because it meant that she didn't need to worry about people staring at her, about looking good enough to be allowed in, about what she could and couldn't say.

Right now she was dressed in a way that wouldn't allow her to even step on the front porch, never mind get through the door. 

She wasn't wearing jeans at least, but her black trousers weren't expensive and a single look would reveal this fact, as would the white shirt she had managed to find folded away in the bottom drawer of one of the dressers. 

The creases still felt to be in the fabric even after she had tried getting them out with Sarah's iron in the back room of the den, using a broken table from the storefront rather than an actual board.

She had no dress shoes at all but there was at least a tie around her throat that she absolutely despised: borrowed from Mukti. It was black and had a gold cobra stitched on the bottom and looking at the colors made her think of Cabir's tattoo: the black and gold star on the back of his ear.

Nandini recalled Mukti's joke about never seeing her in a suit and this would be the closest she was going to get: a wrinkled white shirt and cheap black trousers, a friend's tie, and a pair of battered sneakers on her feet. She doesn't own that many formal suits, mostly reserved for funerals. She prefers these than dresses.

"Baby bear, you look fucking stupid," Mukti said as she climbed out of the taxi behind her.

"Look who's talking," Nandini retorted as she turned on her heel to look at her friend, hands shoved into her trouser pockets.

Mukti wasn't wearing a single piece of color and rather just black as if she was going to a funeral rather than to a restaurant. Nandini had made her remark upon seeing her back in the den and Mukti had said that she was wearing the colors in mourning for the cow that they were going to be eating soon.

She had chosen a black shirt with a high collar, black trousers and leather shoes that looked to have been shined. Everything was black except for her bright red straight hair falling down till her waist and she looked a lot smarter than she did. 

But there was still a feeling coming off her that she would much rather be in her jeans and a tee that was three sizes too large for her svelte frame.

"How's Navya?"

"Pretty busy, I guess?" Mukti said as she slammed the door shut and glanced at the restaurant's front window. "I haven't seen her much, she is good with numbers. Doesn't fuck around, I'll give her that. Boss likes her work a lot."

"I like her too," Nandini said as Mukti on the door pushed the door open and held it for her. Mukti stayed on the curb for a moment longer, pulling at her shirt sleeves as if trying to fix imaginary creases in the material.