SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 12

"Thank you," Manisha said softly, "For what you said earlier," she clarified when Abhishek tore his eyes away from the moon and looked at her in confusion.

His reply to her father's sentimental dad speech had really touched her heart and made her feel a single butterfly fluttering around in her stomach.

Abhi:-"I meant it," was all he said in response and she was glad that she is sitting in the dark with only the dim light of the lone streetlamp illuminating her surroundings, because she Was almost certain that her cheeks were bright pink and not just because of the blusher
She'd dusted on them earlier.

Mani:-"What's your favourite colour?" She questioned suddenly, resting her chin on her palm as She waited for abhishek to answer. He was a bit surprised by the random question that had come out of nowhere but he'd noticed that she had the tendency to say things out of the blue quite frequently, and as always, he indulged her.

Abhi:-"Red," he answered after a moment, "Why?"
She grinned at him, satisfied with his choice, "I'll wear a red dress when we get our engagement pictures taken then,"
He couldn't help but chuckle at her words and the unique way in which her mind worked. We. Our.
She almost fell off the bench at the sight of Abhishek laughing, the way his nose scrunched up was so adorable and his eyes shone like tiny stars and his smile was so lovely and she felt Herself smiling back automatically.

Mani:-"You should smile like that more often," she blurted out completely instinctively, her voice turning a notch softer once she realised what she'd just said, "It suits you a lot," she murmured, her embarrassment at her hasty words fading and her smile growing at the
sight of Abhishek's startled expression.

He coughed, adjusting the collar of his shirt and averting his gaze. Manisha is so good at saying and doing things that caught him by surprise, and the way she is quick to offer praise and make jokes and shoot him that horribly intimate smile really flustered him. (He would never admit it, but he felt strangely warm every time she did either of those things).
She'd assumed the conversation was over, but after a few seconds of silence, she heard Him speak up, "What's your favourite colour?" Her eyes sparkled, just like they always did when he let his defences drop just a little and humoured her; it was the bare minimum, but it showed her that he was at least trying to make an effort with her.

Mani:-"Wear all black so I know it's real."
The two of them laughed at that, identical smiles on both of their faces as Abhishek slowly began to let go of his initial reservations and she slowly began looking forward to what tomorrow would bring for both of them.

After sometime

???:-"You've lost your fucking mind, manisha," She was sprawled on her bed with her hair pushed back by a hairband, charcoal face mask freshly slathered on her face and sliced cucumbers resting on her closed eyes. She had just finished explaining the events that had unfolded over the past week to vishal, and she
smiled in amusement at the completely expected reaction from him.

Mani:-"I can assure you that I haven't," she replied, speaking into the microphone of her earphones.

Vishal:-"I can't believe you've actually agreed! This is insane," Even without vishal reminding her, she was more than aware that everything that was going on in her life right now was kind of insane.

Her engagement pictures were going to be taken in a couple of days - more of a formality rather than a pressing need - and then the news was going to hit the public, after which JDB and Golden would hold a joint press conference to announce their collaboration. Following that, there would be an engagement party which would serve as a declaration to the social circles and then she would have a whole wedding that needed planning within three months
in her hands.

Mani:-"Get ready to get a lot busier, future Chairman," she smirked, setting a mental reminder to pick up her evening gown for the engagement party from  boutique tomorrow afternoon.

Vishal:-"I almost collapsed when Uncle announced the news at the board meeting today. How did you even agree? It's because he's hot, isn't it?" She chuckled,

Mani:-"Maybe that's partly why," she said to humour vishal (even though she
wouldn't be able to deny that there wasn't at least an inch of truth in her words),

Mani:-"Seriously though, he's been nothing but nice so far and I don't know why I don't have a very big problem with any of this. Is that weird?"

She'd debated and deliberated a lot and she'd come to the conclusion that Manisha had just shared with vishal. She knew she was supposed to oppose the idea and feel that it was strange and unfair and God knows what else, and she knew that she was not supposed to accept the
prospect of getting engaged to a guy that she hadn't even met until last week. However, she had...because this decision was the best for everyone.

But was it the best for her?

I hope you are enjoying this story..💜💜🫰❤️