MaNan FF - THE GREEK GOD

~ 21 ~

Nandini was speechless and overwhelmed with the wrenching pain that kept building in her chest. Manik with his dangerous glower, clenched teeth, throbbing jawline and flaring nostrils looked like an absolute monster when he uttered those words. And he wasn't joking. He meant every word of what he said. She knew that he was serious. And his threatening stance gashed her deep. Really deep. She felt powerless and cornered. And she so badly wanted to justify herself. But how can she stand up to him?

"Okay..." was all that she could mumble before gathering her broken pieces together and shuffling out of his cabin.

As soon as she exited his cabin with slow heavy steps, she got curious, questioning glances from Dhruv and Mukti. What happened, Mukti gestured with her hand.

Their curiosity was broken up by a furious Manik who stormed out of the room and paused halfway only to pick on Nandini again. "How far have you reached with the filing?" he asked in an intimidating tone.

"H-half a stack done," she managed to say.

"I want all the bundles finished by this evening, or trust me, you're not going home."

"Okay," she stammered in reply.

Mukti waited for Manik to buzz off before speaking up. "Oye, what's happening?" she asked quietly.

Nandini wearily crumpled down onto the chair and took a deep sigh. She didn't dare to share about the mishap at the mall and the YouTube videos. If she did, it meant that she would have to share about the... ugh... kiss too... not to mention the close encounter they had on the escalator.

I don't understand this guy. I just can't understand him. He's so confusing. Why is he behaving like this? What is his problem? Why does he keep picking on me? Bloody sadist. Is he taking revenge for that speaker and coffee incident? By now, he should be done with his sadism. This is too much now. Hasn't he had enough? I can't believe that I'm stuck with him for a month. For anything and everything he keeps picking on me. Always after my ass! If I had any choice, I would simply screw him in the ass and walk out of here!

But then... Nandini had fleeting images of the incident at the mall. In that case, why did he come to my aid in the mall? If he hadn't broken my fall, I would have had a nasty accident. I mean... I've had accidents before... that accident at the door for instance... when he knocked me down... he never even bothered to help me then... so why did he help me in the mall? He also helped me on my way down. And that's something I never asked for.

"Where are you lost, girl?" Mukti's voice snapped her out of her trance.

"Nowhere yaar," she said very quietly. "I'm here only."

"I think you're not okay," said Dhruv in a concerned voice.

"I'm damn sure that this bugger has eaten her head again," concluded Mukti and leaned back onto her chair angrily. "Seems like you have become his favourite target now."

Nandini just looked at Dhruv and smiled drearily. Yeah, once upon a time, Dhruv was Manik's favourite target, that is... until I came by. "Nah, it's just that... I'm tired. Pretty fast day. So..."

Before she could complete, the door opened and Cabir flourished in with a leather bag hung over his shoulder and a large box of pizza in one hand. "Aaaaand I'm back!" he drawled and made his way in.

"Here comes the Cabir!" Mukti chirped happily.

Nandini too felt relieved to see him. It was a pleasant feeling to be around this guy. He was the exact opposite of Manik. In fact, she had actually begun to miss him. After all, he had taken a step early in the day to protect her from Manik's vicious rage.

"Alright guys, I've got some pizza, let's dig in." Cabir placed the box of pizza on his table and eagerly opened it up. Mukti and Dhruv wrung their hands and moved towards Cabir, ready to pounce in. "Then there's garlic bread and fries... and some coke..." Cabir paused as he noticed a lost Nandini sitting a bit off and smiling at them.

"Looks like Nandini Murthy is in love." That was the one comment that was enough from Cabir to snap Nandini out of her trance.

"Huh?" She blushed almost instantly. Love? I wonder what he means...

Mukti and Dhruv giggled at that. "I'm not in love," she snapped defensively.

"Oh yes you are," said Cabir, "I see all the symptoms... "

"What symptoms? Cabir! I'll kill you!" Nandini was smiling hard now.

"Who is it huh?" Cabir leaned forward and squinted curiously, "Ranbir Kapoor? Or... is it... the Greek god?"

"Ooofff puh-lease!" she snapped, got to her feet and punched Cabir in the arm, "I'll really kill you now!"

She had indeed become allergic to Manik now. Why in the world did I ever have a crush on him? I'm such a dumbass.

"Haan tho kill me later na," Cabir raised a defensive hand and warded off her blows, "first you better come and dig in before it gets cold. See, it's vegetarian too. I knew that you wouldn't like chicken much."

"That's okay Cabir," she smiled, "I've got my lunch so..."

"We'll have that too," he replied and waved at her to join, "in fact we've all got our lunches. So we'll have a round table conference after this pizza."

Nandini, who was feeling much better now, nodded her head with a smile and joined the threesome for a slice of pizza.

Several minutes into their snack, Nandini spoke up, "so where have you been? Didn't see you around for quite a long time."

"Yeah," Cabir replied with a mouth full of pizza, "had some work out... so..."

"Oh I see. How did it go?" she asked and helped herself to some coke.

"Not bad," he answered, "much easier today. Weather wasn't that bad either. Quite pleasant. And trust me Nandini, these government guys no? They're pretty tough to handle. Sometimes I really feel like kicking their butts to get them moving, but you know... things don't always work that way. Oh... hummm... tissue... got tissue around here?"

Nandini spotted a box on the visitor's table. "I'll get it."

She got to her feet and hurried to the table to get the box but screeched to a halt as she nearly bumped into someone with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. She tipped her head up to catch a glimpse of the towering and menacing figure's face. Of course, who else could it be, but Manik?

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