Mananff-Forever Mine

Chapter 16

It was approximately 2 am a.m. as Manik saw the time yawning. He shut his laptop as he finished preparing presentation he had to do for his college. A few days had passed after the concert and he had working on it since then.

Just as he was about to get up from the sofa, Nandini's door opened and she came out of it. She looked a little surprised to see Manik sitting on the sofa.

'Hey' she said and walked over to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water.

'Hi' he replied.

Nandini rubbed her fists over her eyes to shoo the sleep away from her dropping eyes. She wore a long navy blue tshirt and shorts. The shorts stopped near her mid thigh, showing her legs. She stood near the dining table, gulping down the glass of water. She is looking so sexy. He thought.

Trying to remove these thoughts from his head, he cleared his throat and tried to start a conversation.

'So...Kyu uth gai... Koi Bura sapna dekha kya?'

'Uhh haa aisa hi kuch.' She replied.

'Konsa alien aata tha sapne me...Jadoo?' He teased.

She laughed.

'Jadoo acha alien tha...he wasn't scary'

'Haa so what...alien to alien hota hai na'

'Ughh...itni sari horror chizo me tumhe sirf Jadoo hi mila?'

She made a face and he laughed. His thoughts wandered back to the day of his concert. They were so much comfortable with one another. He told her the things he would barely tell anyone, even to Cabir. He told her about his brother, Mayank. He never talked about Mayank, to anyone. Not even his sister. But here, he voluntarily told her, and he didn't know why. He felt like he could talk about anything with her, she wouldn't judge. He knew it.

His mind then went to the dark room in which they were in. He shared his part of story and in return she gave her part. She was really a wonderful girl, he thought.

As Nandini finished her glass of water, she went to the kitchen to keep it along with the bottle. As she turned around, there stood Manik, near the kitchen door and she stopped in her tracks. The air suddenly had turned awkward. It had been happening since the had almost kissed. When they were around other people, it wasn't so obvious but when they were alone, in situations like this, then they didn't know what to do. Confused and frustrated, that's what they had been, controlling themselves.

Nandini looked everywhere but at him, trying to find something interesting to stare at. Manik also tried to say something but his mind had gone to another world. Totally blank.

'Uhh...to mai sone chalti hu...goodnight.' She gave a tight lipped smile and awkwardly tried to go. Manik didn't know what happened to him and he caught her wrist, stopping her from going. All he knew was he didn't want Nandini to go away from him.

She looked at him surprised. She wasn't expecting this. Just as his eyes met hers, both of their minds went for a walk. They didn't say anything to each other for a few minutes, just staring at each other. But at the same time, it seemed their eyes were talking volumes.

She pulled her lips between her teeth and lowered her head. His eyes lowered to her lips. God! She needs to stop doing that. He thought. He really wanted to replace he teeth with his own.

He took a forward, and her eyes met his again. They were standing very close now. He bent down to her level, his breath fanning her face. She didn't look scared, nor did she take a step back. She stood where she was, eyes boring into his.