MaNan FF - THE GREEK GOD

- 45 -

Manik felt an icy tingle run down his spine. To see Cabir pass his statement and walk off like that was a nightmare indeed. His heart was taking the brunt of the day's events. Anymore and it might just stop! For Manik, today was the ultimate definition of disaster. And he didn't want one more piece of shit to be added to the list.

"Cabir!" It wasn't easy but he still took off after his colleague and blocked his path.

"What?" snapped Cabir in a sinister tone as he glowered up at Manik.

With the deep breaths and flickering eyes, it seemed that Manik was struggling to talk. "Don't..." he said breathlessly.

"Don't what?" asked Cabir sternly.

"Don't do this," Manik shook his head.

"Don't do what?" he shot back.

"What you're... going to do now..." Manik's voice was barely audible. This entire situation wasn't easy for him. Bending down before someone. Requesting. Begging. It simply wasn't Manik's cup of tea. But now? Today? Slap after slap. And he just couldn't fight back at all. He had probably never been in such a compromising situation for a very long time. That is... ever since the monster took charge of his life. Today, Manik was raw. Exposed. Helpless. And his monster? Subdued and chained up in the deep dungeons of his personality.

"And what exactly is that?" Cabir wasn't ready to soften up at this point of time. He was the only person in the entire department whom Manik had never tried to overpower. There was something about Cabir that made Manik insecure. Was it his big brother persona? Or were it those penetrating X-ray eyes of his that could see through his monster?

Manik was quiet. He was struggling to just admit the fact. He was like a skyscraper as compared to Cabir but in spite of that, he felt so small.

"Come on!" snapped Cabir. "Spit it out."

"All this..." sighed Manik. He struggled to look into Cabir's eyes.

"All what?"

"Cabir..." Manik was getting frustrated now. "You know what I'm talking about."

"No I don't," he snapped. "What is it?"

"You know what... Just forget it." Though Manik's voice was low as he spoke, his monster definitely seemed to be on the verge of surfacing once again. The moment he said those words, he knew that it was a big mistake because...

... Cabir just said "fine" before he turned around and prepared to walk away.

Manik hissed in exasperation and held him back. He was beginning to get tired of all this. "Listen... just..." He sighed in deep frustration and looked away.

"Back to square one are we?" Cabir was beginning to enjoy himself but did a good job of hiding it. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Actually Manik. What is that you want to say? Why don't you just spit it out? Why are you struggling so much?"

"I know that you're doing this on purpose," said Manik with an obvious sense of irritation on his face.

"Exactly," replied Cabir. "And do you know why? Because I want you to say it."

Manik looked away again. That feeling of being scolded for a crime committed... that was a bit tough for him to handle. Especially when it was from Cabir.

"Manik. What the hell is going to happen if you just give in once in a while? Is the sky going to fall on your head?"

This entire pinpointing talk was so stressful for Manik that he buried his eyes into his hand and wrung it. But Cabir wasn't ready to stop his dose of medicine. "You know what? This is why you needed that punch. It wasn't for you. It was to knock that hot air out of your over inflated ego."