SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 17

Mani:-"God, my  graduation picture's floating around too!" She suddenly exclaimed, sitting up straighter and leaning forward, the sudden movement almost causing Abhishek to drop his mug,
"How did they even find that?"
Manisha impatiently tapped the link with her index finger and scrolled vigorously, the clicking of her nails against the screen growing both in sound and in frequency,

"The article has 683
comments!" Manisha shrieked, shooting a brief apologetic smile to the only other customer in the shop who looked up in surprise at the sound of her loud voice.

Abhishek glanced at the tablet screen over her shoulder, holding his mug in one hand and holding onto her wrist with the other one to stop her from scrolling through the article at a speed which was way too fast for him to catch anything. Of course, Manisha looked perfect in school too and he wasn't even surprised at how well her picture had turned out. School
pictures weren't supposed to look even half as nice as hers did; he didn't write the rules.

Abhi:-"Are you like...a professional artist or something?" he asked suddenly when he saw the next couple of pictures, which were of her standing next to paintings.

Manisha shyly nodded when Abhishek looked up at her curiously, "Yeah, I, um, paint. It's more of a side thing...I've held a couple of exhibitions before," she said bashfully, acutely aware of Abhishek's comfortable hold on her wrist.

He put his mug down (and thankfully released her wrist) before taking the tablet from her, inspecting her work more closely.

Abhi:-"Wow, you're good...really good," he commented and she felt a sense of accomplishment flood her at the sincerity in his voice. Since she came from a place of privilege, it had been
difficult for her to be acknowledged purely for her talent rather than her family
background and the perks that came with it. Manisha didn't know why, but it meant a lot coming from Abhishek.

Abhishek scrolled down to the comments section and she looked on in anticipation, "Her visuals rival the top actresses of our country," he read the most upvoted comment out loud, his amusement more than evident on his face.

Manisha groaned in embarrassment at the highly exaggerated comment, "Oh god, Abhishek, please don't," she mumbled, feeling extremely flattered albeit extremely flustered about the fact that she was the subject of such inflated praise. It wasn't helping that Abhishek was clearly enjoying the situation.

Abhishek smirked when he finished reading the last comment, tapping the like button next to it.

Manisha knew that the action was small and totally meaningless but it still coloured her cheeks pink nevertheless. She swiftly took hold of the tab again, juggling it in one hand while she used the other to pick up a brownie from the plate in front of her on the table. She turned to Abhishek, "How come nothing of yours is going viral?" She asked as you took a bite from the brownie.

Manisha still remembered how her Google investigation the night before she met him had led her absolutely nowhere, and she still wondered how it was possible for him to remain a mystery and maintain such a low profile on the internet given his status and his stupidly good looks.

Abhi:-"Not all of us are mini celebrities who lead such public lives" Abhishek retorted with a small grin, leaning back against the couch as he took another sip from his coffee. She'd noticed that Abhishek had opened up to her a bit over time; he was speaking to her more, he was smiling at her more and he was even joking around with her. Manisha welcomed the change and really appreciated it.

Mani:-"Fair enough. Slightly inconvenient though, I'd love to see your graduation picture," she said, "If you don't mind," she added sheepishly, not wanting to sound overly curious or overly intrusive even though she knew she probably already did.

Abhishek was quiet for a few seconds and she took it as a rejection, knowing that she should have expected it. Then he suddenly fished out his phone from his pocket and she watched in confusion as he tapped the screen a few times and scrolled around before reluctantly handing his phone to her.

Manisha face lit up when she saw a picture of a very young looking Abhishek on the screen.

Mani:-"You look so cute and tiny!" She exclaimed, laughing when Abhishek looked a little offended, "You used to be so much squishier! Look at your big eyes! You look like Bambi!" She gushed, laughing even more because Abhishek looked even more offended, "I'm sorry," she apologised, no real hints of apology in her voice as she continued laughing, and he couldn't help but crack a smile.

Manisha returned Abhishek's phone to him and slipped her tablet into your handbag before she crossed her legs and leaned back into the couch, "Do you think people will start recognizing me in public now?"

Abhishek grinned at the genuine worry in her voice, putting his empty mug down on the table, "I really doubt it, manisha,"
In that moment, she thought that Abhishek's smile was one of God's greater blessings and she thought about how the way he said her name sounded like smooth velvet to her ears...and then she proceeded to shake the ridiculous thoughts out of her mind. She'd clearly had way too much sugar today.

Mani:-"Excited for tomorrow night?" She asked, trying to divert her thoughts into safer territories.

Abhi:-"Absolutely buzzing," , Abhishek answered, his face blank and his words drenched in sarcasm, "I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not a fan of big parties,"
He shuddered at the thought of the painful amount of socialising he'd have to do tomorrow night at the engagement party. His engagement party.

Mani:-"Same, to be honest," she agreed with a frown, resting her head against the couch, and abhishek found it a little hard to believe given the bright and outgoing personality of hers that he'd witnessed,

Mani:-"Really big gatherings make me nervous,"
Manisha sociable and didn't struggle to hold a conversation but she just felt uncomfortable in big crowds and she is not looking forward to facing the 150+ guests that would be at the party tomorrow. To make it even more daunting, all the attention would be on her and Abhishek.

And on top of that, she'd have to put up a convincing act of being a real, super
loved up couple.

Abhi:-"Oh well, at least we'll have each other...we can get through this," she shrugged, her signature smile back on her face as she raised your fist towards Abhishek for a fist bump.There it was again. We.

Abhishek looked at her fist and then he looked at manisha and then he smiled, bumping his fist against hers gently.
He wondered if it was weird that he liked the sound of 'we'. But like he'd decided earlier, he wasn't going to question it.