SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 42

Manisha had been thoroughly confused by the strange request and even stranger location, and had immediately questioned the need to meet at the beach in stupidly cold weather when she could meet up at a nice and warm cafe instead. But kritika had argued that she was already at the beach for a shoot that would run late into the night and it would be most convenient for
her to meet manisha at the filming site itself since she was one of the assistant directors and couldn't really leave midway.

So she had obliged, warning kritika that whatever she had to share better be worth it or else she would have to re-evaluate her entire friendship.

Manisha really wished that kritika had picked another place to meet because this beach was littered with memories she shared with Abhishek. Being there and walking along the path as one when it had normally been two - when it should have been two - made her heart ache and
made the weight of the ignored messages sitting in the inbox of the phone in her pocket feel even heavier.

She could deny it all she wanted and could try to avoid it as much as she wanted too, but she missed abhishek with every single fibre of her being. She wanted nothing more than to feel his arms wrapped around her again. Shaking away her untimely thoughts, she made her way down the beach, growing more and more puzzled when she saw no lights and no camera crews and no trailers or people or any other sign of life. The beach was calm and quiet, and kritika was nowhere in sight. She was about to take her phone out of her pocket to call kritika and ask her what the hell was going on and where the hell she was, but before she could do anything, she felt two
strong arms engulf her from behind and her back was suddenly pressed against a solid
chest.

"Manu," Abhishek whispered into her hair, softly kissing the side of her head before
tightening his arms around her.
She almost jumped in surprise, wondering how her unspoken wish had come true so fast. She closed her eyes and relaxed, melting in his tender embrace and momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be upset with him because her body was craving his touch and
She was honestly tired of running away from him.

Abhi:-"I'm sorry," he murmured, his voice wobbly and vulnerable as the sincere apology left his lips, "I understand now that I shouldn't have told vishal anything. I didn't realise it then but I was wrong. And you were right, it wasn't my place to fight your battle for you like that,"
He perched his chin on top of her head as he intertwined his fingers with hers, never
wanting to let go, "You didn't deserve that at all...and I'm sorry I got sensitive over the whole Ashish thing. It wasn't jealousy or anything like that, I just...I couldn't stand the fact that he caused you so much pain yet he didn't suffer for even a single second,"

He paused, growing anxious when manisha remained silent and unresponsive.
He had swallowed his ego, the same one she had blamed, and had
uncharacteristically laid
himself bare in front of her - but had that not been enough for her to forgive him? Had it not been enough for her to let him in again? Had it not been enough to save the of two of them from falling apart?

Abhishek waited for her to say something, to say anything, but it didn't come and his heart shrivelled up and dropped to the floor.

Abhi:-"Aren't you going to say something? For the love of God, I can't lose you, please don't call off the wedding or something, I -"

Mani:"Do you really think I'm going to cancel our wedding after all the time and effort I've spent planning it?" She finally responded, swiftly turning around in his arms so that she could face him and erase all of his ridiculous fears before they spiralled out of control.

He blinked once, twice, thrice before his face burst into a dazzling smile. She couldn't help but smile in return, eyes sparkling with tears as she affectionately placed a hand on his cheek.

Mani:-"I'm sorry too, for saying you have too much pride and that you don't care about me. I know you do, you care so much and I was wrong and I just wasn't thinking straight -"

Abhishek wasn't even listening to what she was saying anymore, immense relief filling him as the massive weight was lifted off his shoulders and he realised that he hadn't lost her, that she wasn't going to walk out on him.

"I love you," he interrupted, not needing to hear her apologies at all and she couldn't help but giggle at the sudden - and rather eager - confession.

He leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss that he'd been starved of for way too long, all of the emotions tumbling out of him as he palmed her face and slipped past her barriers without facing even an ounce of resistance, feeling the familiar flames at the bottom of his stomach because of the way she gave herself to him so willingly.

He pulled back, knowing that he still owed her an apology for something else, "I'm sorry I called you a doormat...God, that was really horrible of me, even if I was angry, and you didn't deserve that at all. It...it makes me no different from Ashish," he muttered, averting his gaze to the ground.

Manisha shook her head, because Abhishek couldn't have been more different from Ashish. Ashish's eyes had always been cold, but Abhishek's were warm as he gazed at her. Ashish's eyes had always been empty, but right now, Abhishek's were full of sincerity and remorse.
Ashish had never loved her, but Abhishek loved her more than he loved himself.

"You're nothing like him," she whispered, leaning in once more to leave a swift peck of sweet reassurance on Abhishek's lips, "We both said things we shouldn't have out of anger and we were both at fault. And you reached out first so it's definitely more my fault than yours. I'm sorry I ignored your calls and texts...I just didn't want to lash out at you or say something else that I didn't mean and would probably regret later. I was hurt and angry and I just needed some time to clear my head and get my shit together. I really didn't mean to push you away like that, honestly," she explained, tears steadily streaming down her face as she realised how harsh she has been on Abhishek.

Abhishek simply wiped her tears away before enveloping her in the biggest and warmest hug, "In the future, you can say whatever you want to me, you can shout at me and curse at me, but please...please don't cut me off like that again. We need to talk about things next time, okay? No more fights like that and no more silent treatments, please,"

His words only made her cry even more. She had known that there was nothing in
the world he was more afraid of than being abandoned yet she had still shut him out. She had watched as he waited outside her house for half an hour from her window and she still hadn't let him in, but here he was, embracing her instead of pushing her away, whispering words of love in her ear rather than words of hate.

Mani:-"I'm sorry," was all she could repeatedly mumble into his chest, and she hoped he knew just how much she meant it.

Abhi:-"You know, vishal went over to Ashish's house that day and ended up breaking his nose."

Mani:- "Good...he should have broken a couple of his ribs too while he was at it."

Hello lovely readers.......i hope you guys enjoyed this series and thank you for all your support and appreciation....but this series is just one part ahead to complete........in next chapter this story will be completed

Soooo comment your and you liked this story or not...

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