SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 33

Manisha opened her eyes and glanced at the time on her phone.
12:22 p.m.

That's it, she decided, she is just going to get out of bed now and give up on the idea of getting any more sleep.

The fact that Abhishek was sleeping two feet away from her also made it impossible for her to shake off the adrenaline and actually go to sleep, and she kept feeling the need to check on him periodically to make sure that he was okay and still there and that he wasn't awake before she was at any point.

Speaking of Abhishek, she ignored the fact that she was so tired that she actually felt dead inside and rolled over in her bed so that she could look at him. When the two of them had come back upstairs after flipping through channels, watching snippets of whatever was playing on TV and chilling out on the the remarkably comfortable
couch in her living room, she has been faced with the task of making sleeping arrangements. Abhishek had initially said that he'd be okay sleeping in either of the two guest rooms downstairs because he thought that it would probably earn a lot of questions - and possibly criticism too - from her parents otherwise. However, manisha had scoffed and dismissed the
idea, saying that there was absolutely no need for that because her parents weren't stuck in the 18th century.

Abhishek almost choked on his spit when she flat-out declined his offer to sleep on the sofa in her room. He'd rubbed his neck and nervously glanced at the king sized bed in the centre of the bedroom, red embarrassment colouring his cheeks as he considered the implications of her denial.

Manisha burst out laughing when she realized that he'd taken her words the wrong way, and she is still giggling when she moved towards the side of her bed and tugged at the panels to reveal a pull-out bed that was ideal for one person to sleep on.

Manisha laid on her stomach and stared at Abhishek's face, counting all the blemishes
decorating his skin and committing every one of them to her memory. She matched the pace of her breathing with the gentle rhythm of his chest as it rose and fell with every breath he took, marvelling at how soft and peaceful he looked once he'd left behind all of the world's worries. Her heart ached when she remembered the vacant look in Abhishek's eyes in the park the night before, the emptiness in them had frightened her so much and had made her
wish that she could erase all of his pain.

A sleeping Abhishek coughed weakly before he changed his position, making her frown.
She had really hoped that he wouldn't fall sick. She bent down and stretched her arm out, placing her hand tenderly on his forehead. Her frown deepened when his skin felt a little hotter under her touch than it should have. It wasn't a burning fever, he'd thankfully dodged that bullet because she made sure to give him some medicine before going to bed, but he was still a little too warm for her liking.

Her phone buzzed next to her (no more silent mode, she had learned from that mistake) and she let her hand linger on abhishek's forehead for a few moments before she retracted it and checked her notifications. After that, she opened the unread conversation with her parents.

[03:02]mani:- just letting you know that Abhishek's sleeping over at our place tonight on the spare bed in my room (i'll explain what happened later), just please don't ask him any questions in the morning and for the love of God don't make suggestive jokes!!!!

[09:32] Mom♡: I hope everything's okay. We're going for brunch with the malhan's
anyway, we'll probably leave before the two of you even wake up, which I think is better
actually. We'll just leave you to it. I don't know what's happened but let us know if you need anything, ok?

[09:36] Dad♡: I hope you didn't forget you were still under my roof ;)
[09:37] Dad♡: And yeah, I hope everything's okay too.

She read her father's texts and couldn't help but roll her eyes at his antics, she could sense a lot of teasing and wiggling eyebrows coming her way later. She figured that it'd be a good idea to let her parents know that Abhishek was in their house and sleeping in their daughter's room in order to avoid any nasty surprises and awkward encounters first thing in the morning.