SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 34

Manisha shook her head in response to Abhishek's apology, plucking it out of the air and throwing it back to him because it was completely unnecessary and unrequired.

She would have cancelled the meeting even if abhishek had woken up in time for it. He'd had a rough night and she wanted him to have some time to recover. Besides, she has texted the wedding planners and then drifted back to sleep herself so there was no reason for him to feel guilty at all.

She got up and shuffled towards the pull-out bed before she kicked her slippers off and ungracefully dropped herself down next to Abhishek. She wasn't sure what came over her, but she just felt like he could use a hug so she wordlessly nestled herself into his side. She poured all of the love she could possibly find into her arms and latched them around his torso, hoping that he would manage to feel some of the happiness that she was so eager to
extend to him.

Mani:-"How are you feeling?" She asked instead, her voice softer than any silk and gentler than any lamb.

Abhishek felt his heart pounding at the sudden gesture from her, and it was pounding so hard that he could swear she could hear it. The satin fabric of her pajamas felt like melted chocolate against his arms and he revelled in the warmth that she was radiating, the warmth that she always radiated.

In that moment, he came to the realization that in his universe, she is the Sun - big and
bright and blindingly beautiful - while he was the Moon; small and bland and nothing
without the Sun who selflessly shone her light on him so that he too could become something beautiful worth admiring.

Abhishek's arms wound themselves around her smaller frame, his eyes welling up as he
thought about her question for a moment. He knew that she wasn't just talking about his physical health. All of her words and actions and looks and gestures in the past twelve hours had touched his heart so much that he felt overwhelmed; it was a feeling that he wouldn't be able to describe even if he tried. It seemed ironic after last night, but he felt so full that he
thought he might burst.

He pulled her closer until she was pressed against him and he rested his chin on the crown of her head, "I'll be okay," he replied, and unlike other instances in the past where he'd uttered the same exact words, he actually felt like his reply would hold true this time, "I'm sorry I...had a meltdown last night, I -"

Mani:-"Shut up,"
She smiled, the special kind of perfect smile that always made Abhishek's stomach drop and soar at the same time, and it was a real pity that he had the tendency to miss out on the sight of it more often than nought, "I'm glad to hear that," she said, adjusting in his embrace until she was able to face him. As she looked up at him, her hand reached up toward his face and she gently stroked his cheeks, purely driven by impulse, "I really am," she added in a whisper, her feathery touch on his skin leaving tingles in its wake, every brush of her hand
feeling like a tiny zap of electricity running through his body.

They held each other's gaze steadily for a few seconds, inexplicable emotions coursing through both of them as she found herselves unable to look away. Her eyes unknowingly flickered towards Abhishek's lips, and it was at that point that the sheer intimacy of her position struck her like a bolt of lightning.

Manisha knew that she needed to move away as soon as possible before her stupid impulses drove her to do something that could potentially ruin everything that she worked hard to build with Abhishek so far.

Mani:-"Mom and Dad aren't home," she blurted out suddenly, internally crying out in despair as she wondered whether he had noticed where her gaze had shifted to, awfully hoping that he hadn't, "They've gone to some fancy brunch thing,"
She quickly untangled yourself from a very confused-looking Abhishek who had no idea what had caused such an abrupt change in her,