MaNan FF - THE GREEK GOD

- 36 -

It was close to afternoon when the meeting finally wrapped up. A rather uneventful one. Though Mukherjee looked and sounded a bit strict, Nandini was liking him already. He had the kindest pair of eyes she had ever seen. Not to mention, he always looked pleasant unlike some people she knew.

Some people! That reminded her. Mr. Manik Malhotra. The devil's incarnation! And there he was! Standing around with Cabir and Mukherjee. Chatting away to glory as if he was the most dependable guy in the world. I wonder if Mukherjee has ever seen this guy's true colours! If he hasn't I wish that he does! I'm just dying to see what would happen when that day finally comes!

Nandini had an uneasy feeling in her guts. This was a day she never wanted to be reminded of. Twelve years back on this day, the car which Nandini, her parents and brother was travelling in met with a terrible accident. Fortunately or unfortunately, she was the only one who survived after suffering a serious concussion to the head. Ever since, she had made sure to hold special prayers every year in their memory.

Nandini glanced at her watch. The Puja's this afternoon. I need to leave soon, like now. But how am I even going to ask this guy to leave me? Hope he doesn't come up with any of his nonsense.

Her heart skipped a beat when all of a sudden Manik was no longer accompanied by Cabir or Mukherjee and he now had his full attention on her. Oh shit. He's coming. Whew! Just calm down. It's going to be okay. I'm sure he will understand. He will let you go. She took a deep breath as he closed in on her.

"Nandini Murthy!" From the way he called her name, she had this ill feeling that he's not going to make it easy for her. Surely, he had devised some of his evil twisted plans to screw up her life. Nandini found herself searching eagerly for Cabir and Mukherjee. She so wished that they were around. At least she could take Mukherjee's permission and leave. But of course, he had already left. Why else would this guy raise his hood?

"So!" Manik stood tall with his hands jammed into his pockets. "How far has the filing reached?"

"Actually... it's done," replied Nandini meekly.

"Done!!!?" Manik expressed fake surprise. "Good job! You know what? I didn't think that you..." he gave her a quick sarcastic glare from head to toe "...could finish it. I'm sure that you had help. Isn't it?"

Nandini's mind raced back to the time where she was stuck in the filing room and struggling to execute a simple task such as segregating the documents and pinning them together. Dhruv had managed to slither in without getting spotted by Manik. "It's fun when we do it together," he had told her. "Two is better than one."

Manik's voice snapped Nandini out of her pleasant flashback. "Dhruv!" From the way he beckoned his subordinates, this guy should have been in the army. He was not at all soft. Not at all!

In Dhruv's case, Manik's voice had this special something in it to instantly dissolve his muscles into liquid protein. "You called, Manik?" he asked nervously.

"Did you help her with the filing?" A simple and straight but stern question from Manik. Enough to give Dhruv that impending sense of doom. The poor, frightened lad gulped down the huge ball that had begun to form in his throat. "Well... Manik... I... erm..."

"Did you or didn't you?" Manik snapped firmly with his eyebrows raised in question.

"Y-Yes," came Dhruv's quaking reply after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Why?"

"That... Manik... I... erm..."

"Why?" Manik repeated. Dhruv flinched at this.