SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 22

Vishal:-"I didn't invite Ashish to the party!"

Mani:-"I know you didn't, vishal," she said tiredly, shuffling downstairs to the kitchen with her phone pressed to her ear.
The engagement party had ended about two hours ago, a grand affair that all the guests had been sad to see coming to an end. Abhishek hadn't let go of her hand for even a moment after she'd left the balcony and returned to the room, and the reassuring grip of his hand around hers was probably the only reason she managed to get through the rest of the evening with a convincing smile on her face and a nonchalant air about Manisha ,as if nothing
had happened.

Nobody had actually realised that the couple of the hour had been missing for a good thirty minutes, except for karan (who had seen her leave), Vishal (who had happened to catch sight of Ashish leaving the room) and kritika (who had been returning from the
restroom when Ashish stormed past her and she'd easily put two and two together after that).

Vishal:-"I was surprised to see him there too, but I did manage to check with security to find out how he got in. He came as rashi Mehra's plus one, you know, the daughter of Mehra the famous fashion designer?"

Mani:-"Yeah, I know who she is," she replied, disinterest seeping into her voice as her soft slippers soundlessly padded against the  carpeted floor.

Manisha really didn't care how Ashish had come to the party or who he'd come with. She didn't want to talk about him or let thoughts of him and his arrogant smirk cross her mind Never again.

She'd been able to tell that vishal had wanted to speak to her as soon as the party started wrapping up, but she had insisted that he should accompany riya and make sure she got to her hotel safely (partly because Manisha was still playing cupid and mostly because she did not
want to have this unavoidable conversation in person).

Vishal:-"I don't think he's actually dating her though," Manisha didn't understand why vishal felt compelled to share that information with her, "Okay," She said, not knowing what qualified as an appropriate reply to that statement. She opened
one of the cabinets and picked up a box of paracetamol before she headed over to the fridge, gently rubbing her temples while she did so.

Vishal:-"It shouldn't have happened...he shouldn't have come. Did you get the chance to speak to him?"

Abhi:-"Yeah," she answered briefly, juggling the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she
retrieved a pitcher of cold water. Manisha set the pitcher on the counter and poured yourself a glass of water.

Vishal:-"What did he say?"

Manisha paused in her movements for a second, closing her eyes as she bit her bottom lip,

Mani:-"He congratulated us and he said he wished us well," she lied through her teeth, trying to keep her voice as merry as ever and as steady as possible.

To this day, she didn't really know why she always covered up for Ashish and projected a favourable image of him to vishal. Manisha didn't know why she went to such great lengths to conceal her pain and hide Ashish's reality from his best friend. But it was a habit...and old habits die hard.

Vishal:-"That was nice of him,"

Mani:-"Yeah," she uttered, popping two of the pills into her mouth before downing them with water, hoping her pounding headache would magically go away now,

Mani:-"vishal, listen, it's been a long day and I'm tired. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She said, wanting (and needing) to get
away from the world and dive into her warm and comfortable bed.

After ending the phone call with vishal, manisha trudged up the stairs of the sleeping house, finding the pin drop silence surrounding her quite soothing. She felt her phone buzz in her hand as she reached the last step and she unlocked it, curiously wondering who was texting her this late at night.

[01:03] Abhishek: you asleep?
She was deliriously tired and had just been through one of the most emotionally exhausting days of her life, but she instinctively smiled when she saw the message.

It was the first time Abhishek had initiated contact with her on his own accord, without
having to or needing to. She also found it kind of pathetic that two simple, plain words had unleashed the restless butterflies in her stomach and set her nerve endings alight.

[01:04]mani:- no, although I should be :(
She wondered if sending an immediate reply made her look too eager or something, and she wanted to face palm because she probably should have waited at least two minutes before replying. She looked at her phone nervously, but couldn't worry about it for long because
Her phone vibrated again.

[01:04] Abhishek: don't lose sleep thinking about that shithead...he'll never be worth it.
ever. good night

As the widest smile invaded her face after reading that text, the realisation suddenly hit her like a pile of bricks.
The timing was ridiculous, Manisha didn't know when exactly it had happened and she didn't know how either, but the line between fake and real had blurred for her within the past two weeks.
And she'd managed to catch feelings for abhishek. A lot of them.

After sometime..

Mani:-"The living room furniture's definitely going to be white, but we need to decide the colours for the feature wall," she said, flipping through the paint catalogue with one hand while the other jotted down reference numbers of potential candidates onto a sheet of paper, "Should it
be something bold like turquoise? Or something more muted, like a nice grey? What do you think?"
She scribbled the number for a pretty salmon pink tone, looking up when a few seconds had passed and she hadn't received any input from Abhishek.

She saw the blank expression on his face and sighed, "You weren't even listening, were you?"
The two of them currently shopping for furniture that the penthouse - their penthouse - would need to be equipped with to make it a comfortable, liveable space.It had been two weeks since the engagement party and the wedding was now only two and a half months away. Given Manisha artistic personality and her horribly picky self, she had rejected all the interior designers her mother had suggested and had taken the initiative of decorating the penthouse herself. It was a lot of work - way more than she thought it would
be - but she is really enthusiastic about it, treating it more like a fun art project than the creation of her literal new home that she is  going to share with her literal new
husband.

She didn't want to leave Abhishek out of the process since he was going to be living there too; again, she'd somewhat detached herself from the reality of it all and were going about it as if he was simply going to be her roommate or something.

It was much easier to cope with it that way.
Abhishek shrugged as he became the subject of her pointed gaze, and he shrugged again when her pointed gaze turned into a mild glare that looked more like a puppy trying to appear threatening to him, "I'm just here to push the trolley and carry the heavy stuff," he answered, leaning his arms against the handle of the shopping cart, "Hey, you're the artist here. This is your department, not mine," he called out in his defence when manisha rolled her eyes and started walking into the next aisle, leaving him behind in the paint section.

Abhishek pushed the trolley into the wallpaper aisle and followed her, making a mental note to offer more of his opinions in these matters, even if he didn't really have any.

Mani:-"Don't complain when I get all the walls painted neon pink," she said with a grin on her face.