Nandini was taking interest in everything but the biggest distraction on her side. They had been walking silently since past five minutes and hadn't unttered a word to each other. Why had he come outside if he didn't want to talk? Nandini thought angrily, but then remebered that Manik hadn't suggested this. He was obeying chachi. Great, so he didn't want to talk. That was the truth! Oh well, in that case he could eat up his offer to drop her home tomorrow and shove it up his...
"Something wrong?"
Nandini nearly jumped out of her skin. "Huh?"
Manik gestured at the lines between her eyebrows. "You were having that famous angry frown of yours. So"
"Angry, frown?" Nandini touched the lines and realized she had been frowning hard indeed. "Oh" she smoothened her expression and smiled nervously "It's nothing." While she had been thinking of vicious plots to turn him down, he had been watching her.
Amused, Manik stepped closer. "Sure?"
"Of course!" Nandini stepped back immediately, not realizing that they had reached at the end of foyer near the stairs. Her foot did not get the support. "Aaaa!"
Her hand was held in a firm grasp. With an obtuse view of her eyes she saw Manik looking at her. Her fear vanished instantly. Slowly, he pulled her closer and Nandini, in a trance, didn't even blink. The fresh scent of his cologne was intoxicating. This man, this tall and handsome man was the man of her dreams and she would never be able to change this fact. For an eternity, they stared in each other's eyes.
"We should go" Manik said quietly.
"Huh?" Nandini felt like she had woken up from a dream. She looked around. They were at the end of the foyer. Downstairs was the entrance gate of the garden. She looked back at their joined hands then at him. He was right. They should go. Anyone could see them here, like this. Yet, neither did Manik make any move to leave, nor did Nandini. When she made a feeble attempt to free her hand, the grip on it tightened.
The first bud of happiness bloomed in her heart.
"Nandini?"
Scared to look up, Nandini closed her eyes. There was something different about the way he had spoken her name. Something ... sensual about the way he had asked for her. She felt herself being taken into a warm embrace. Her heart melted. Sighing, Nandini raised her head and let her heart take over her body. The warm breath on her neck was doing wonders to her chilled spine. Gradually, she let herself become comfortable and after a few minutes, it was her arms which were wrapping around the love of her life.
"Nandini" Manik said in a painful whisper. Her breath got caught in her throat when he hugged her tighter. "I missed you so much" With the heart wrenching confession, he placed a warm kiss in the crook of her neck.
Wham! And she was back to reality! Horrified at what she was doing, Nandini let go and pushed him away at the same time. Shivering uncontrollably, she was shocked to find Manik looking shaken too.
"No" she whispered with quivering lips and turning on her heels, ran away from him as fast as her legs could carry her.
Manik looked at the retreating figure with a mixture of anger, hurt and longing. He couldn't do this anymore. He had run out of patience. He had been walking on eggshells since weeks and God knew what toll it had taken on him. All those times when she had refused to acknowledge his presence, looked at him with those beautiful accusatory eyes, been unapproachable and had tried to stay away from him as far as possible had done nothing but made his insides burn more and more. What did she think? Was she the only one who had got hurt, who had nearly died out of the misery of missing that one person you hadn't known was your life? He alone was not responsible for what she had gone through, what he had gone through, for god's sake what they had gone through! Then how could she hold it all against him? How could she be angry with him when she hadn't stopped him from leaving? She hadn't even come to the airport to say goodbye. She had no right to blame him for the silence for all these years when despite every means of communication she herself hadn't bothered to send even a text.
