Ten days, Ten reasons ✔

Day 7

Your smile

The night was cold and chilly wind blew past them but the shining stars above made the night beautiful. Nandini shivered a bit when a cold breeze passed by touching her face.

"Hey Nandini." A very familiar voice hit her ears making her smile. She turned, only to see Manik waving at her from the other side of the road. She too waved back at him.

He looked at her as he waited for the lights to turn green. When it did, he ran towards her. She laughed shaking her head a bit.

"Did you wait for long?" Manik asked as he breathed out.

"Not really." Nandini replied. "It's just been a few minutes."

Manik smiled. He looked at her and realized that she hadn't been wearing muffler.

Like last time he simply took out the thick muffler that he had wrapped around his neck. He took a step ahead and slowly wrapped it around her neck.

She looked at him and he smiled. "I don't want to get blamed if you catch cold."

Unlike the last time this time she smiled and she then gently touched his cheek and said,"Thank you for everything."

She gently withdrew her hand from his cheek. He touched his cheek and smiled. "Let's go."

"Where?" Nandini asked.

"Somewhere." He smiled.

"And where is that somewhere?" She asked.

"You will know very soon." He gently held her hand and intertwined their fingers. He then slowly put their entangled hands inside his pocket.

She could feel her stomach flip flop and it would be a lie if she said her heart didn't shiver. She looked at his pocket then his face, a content smile playing on his lips. She too smiled and didn't withdrew her hand back.

They walked slowly through the road, hand-in-hand. "Isn't that Manik Malhotra?" Two high school girls who had been passing by whispered to one another.

Manik looked the other way trying to hide his face to which Nandini chuckled. "You should always remember to cover your face."

"I will remember that." He said as he took out a mask from his pocket and wore it. "Hey I guess the girl beside him is Nandini Murthy." The two girls tried looking at her face clearly.

"That applies to you too." Manik whispered as Nandini tried hiding her face with the muffler.

"Excuse me." One of the girl said as she came towards them.

"We need to make a run." Manik said and the very next moment they were running hand-in-hand.

After covering a good distance, they stopped and looked at each other, hyperventilating. They laughed looking at one another.

"But that was fun." Manik laughed even more. As he laughed, he looked at Nandini and he couldn't stop himself from admiring her.

The way she threw her head back when she laughed or how her eyes seem to sparkle with happiness. Manik could feel a wave of protectiveness flow through him as he looked at her laughing carelessly and that moment he knew he could go to any extent to make sure her smile never fades away.

"Is there something on my face?" She asked, ever so innocently when she noticed him staring at her.

"Yea there is." Manik smiled at her.

She rubbed her cheeks slightly. "Is it still there?"

"No it isn't."

Nandini smiled. "It came back." Manik said, confusing her.

"Huh?"

"Your smile." He said.

Nandini laughed shaking her head a bit. "You are just impossible."

Moments later, they were sitting on the bench of a park, staring at the night sky with a content smile on their faces.

Manik looked at Nandini and he couldn't hold back his smile from getting wider seeing her smile. He could see the shine in her. For him, that was all he needed.

"Your smile is precious. Never let it fade away." Manik said softly, making her look at him with an even more wider smile.