MaNan FF - THE GREEK GOD

- 56 -

Wonder what he wants to do with the file, thought Nandini as she nodded angrily and headed to the filing room. Shove it up his uptight ass? But Dhruv was already at the filing room's entrance with the file she needed. "Dhruv!" she whispered in surprise.

"You don't have to do all this," he whispered back. "All this bending, running, standing on your head and all that, right? You'd better leave it to me. Is that clear?"

"But Dhruv..." she said in a hushed voice. "I'm okay! I really am! If that monster finds out about this, he'll eat you up alive. And I don't want that!"

"Is that clear?" he repeated firmly but quietly. And this time, he had a mischievous grin on his face.

"Fine," she smiled at him and took the file. "Thank you so much. But please... don't do this again. I don't want him to yell at you because of me."

"Let me think about that," he said with a sheepish grin and headed back to his work station.

***************

Nandini presented herself before His Highness Manik Malhotra in no time. Without a word, she placed the file on his desk.

"Close the door," he said grimly with his eyes glued on some paperwork spread over the table.

Though Nandini felt uneasy about this, she followed his instructions quietly.

"Sit down," he said in the same monotonous grim voice.

Done again. No questions asked.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked with his eyes still on the paperwork. There was an air of authority in his voice that pissed her off. She had nearly died that day and there was hardly any concern in the way he questioned her.

"I thought I already told you before," she answered in a polite tone.

Manik gulped down the huge globe in his throat as his eyes flickered involuntarily. Her words felt like a tight slap but he was determined not to look weak. "Oh right," he replied as he scratched his temple furiously. "Yes. I forgot about that. So... did your roommate return?"

"Yes..." she replied to the point. Her one liners and single word answers stung him fiercely. It was obvious how much hatred he had managed to stir into her over the days.

"What was her name again?" he asked and tried to sound interested.

"If I remember, I've never discussed anything about her before."

"Umm..." Manik was speechless. Slap after slap and he didn't know how to get to the point. "Yeah. Right again."

"So... did you... take your meds?" Manik felt very uncomfortable when he said that.

"Yes," she replied bluntly. "Thank you so much." Manik swallowed the ball of saliva once again as the sarcasm and hate in her voice stabbed him mercilessly in the chest. He could feel the tears of humiliation stinging in his eyes and threatening to spill over. "You still haven't got to the point," she continued in the most courteous manner possible. "I was wondering... if it's nothing urgent... maybe I could return to my desk."

"Y-yeah," he fumbled with the papers before him as he looked into her eyes with great effort. "Actually... I wanted to... discuss about that day..."

Though she tried to look normal, her features began to harden beyond her control whilst Manik's faltered and broke apart. "...about what happened in the stairwell..." he said in a very low and quaky voice.

She could remember nothing of what happened that day. All what she could recollect was being pinned to the wall by the aggressive monster who was before her now. Right now... he looked like a guilty puppy. She so badly wanted to snap at him and storm out of there. But she held her tongue and listened to every word.

"I swear... I never wanted any of it to happen... I just wanted to... scare you... that's it...."

But Nandini snapped at him. "I've heard this before. Like a broken record. Do you have anything new to add?"

Manik's guilty eyes shot up to meet her wet ones which were struggling to hold back the hurt and angry flood. "Yes... Nothing... nothing happened that day..." his brains were so messed up and out of circuit now that he simply couldn't figure out how to line up his words and present to her. "That's the truth. I wouldn't have hurt you... anyways... but... you just... went into a fit... that's all what happened... nothing like... what you thought it was..."

"And why should I believe you?" she asked hoarsely.

Manik opened his mouth to reply but shut up immediately as he realized that he had nothing to say. He screwed his eyes shut and buried them in his hand whilst taking a deep, composing breath. Why should she believe me? I've done nothing for her to trust me.

"I know," his voice came out in a whisper as he struggled to talk. "I know that it's hard for you... to trust me. But... this time... you must... it's the truth. Nothing happened... I don't want you to think like that... You went into a fit... you blacked out... that's the truth... and I took you to the hospital. That's all what happened. Trust me..."

"Fine," she said quietly after managing to compose herself. It was a one-worded unsatisfactory answer for Manik. An answer with no closure. An answer that left him hanging mid-air. What did she mean by fine? Does it mean that she accepted his explanation or does it mean that she doesn't give a damn to anything that he had to say?

"... I know that I could've been a better person...." He continued in the same low tone. "But... I know I was like... really bad... and... I'm... I'm sorry..."

Nandini couldn't believe what she just heard. Did he just apologize? A true to the bone, genuine apology?!!?

"... For everything...." He added. "I really am..."

It seemed that the uncomfortable silence would consume the room before Nandini finally spoke up. "Wow..." she replied quietly with a sarcastic smirk on her face. "Sorry...!!?"

Manik was so disturbed. The mounting stress was beyond his capabilities and he was no longer sure whether he could handle her.

"That must have been difficult for you," she spoke again in a low voice, audible enough for him to hear. "But do you think that it will change anything? No, right?" Her lips quivered as her own question reminded her of the loss she had to face because of her absence. Chikoo. It reminded her of the insult that was showered on her family's memory. It reminded her of how alone and broken she felt and how hard she had struggled to pick up her pieces and move on.

The tears that had started to spill over her eyes told Manik that it was going to be really tough for him to pacify her. He had no clue what to say. His tongue rolled within his open mouth searching for words to say... that will calm her down. But nothing came. Nothing at all.

Nandini's mind was like a raging storm, tearing away at the seams of her tolerance. She wanted to scream at this man before her... for everything... He had made her run around with the least bit of remorse, mocked her, harassed her and even hurt her to a personal level. And now... he thinks... that a simple sorry should do the trick? There was a lot she wanted to dump onto him.... But why should she bother? He's nothing to me...

"I got to go," she mumbled as she quickly wiped her face, shot to her feet and made off to the door.

But Manik was there before her, holding onto the handle like his life depended on it.

There was an entire essay at the tip of his tongue. Explanations... apologies... but he just couldn't get himself to spit it out.

"Manik," she said strongly. "Let me go."

"I'm... I'm sorry..." he repeated. He was so desperate to get her to accept his apology that it looked like he would break down crying. "Please just..."

"Manik," she repeated more firmly this time. "Once more. Let me go. Or I'm going to scream."

Absolutely delirious at what could happen if she were to stand by her words, Manik finally let go off the handle and stepped aside. He watched helplessly as she walked out of the door and sunk into her chair.

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