The Nerd and The Brat ✔️

9. The Talk and the absence

Hello Fam :)

A/N - I am not getting time during the weekdays. I am having work from 9-9pm and then I am sleeping after talking to my parents. It's really hectic. I will try to update once a week during the weekends. I don't know if this schedule is permanent but I hope you will understand. And thanks for all the love during the last note and chapter.

Also any Derek Hale plans? Or Tyler Hoechlin in general? 😋😜

Note - The chapter starts from 'Manik returning home after college and studying' and ends when 'Nandini leaves the canteen after Harshad's conversation'.
Just let me know if the order is fine or if the paragraphs are jumbled up?

Happy Reading...

Manik, after returning from his 'college', took a nap and started studying feeling refreshed. He had put some light music so that his mind doesn't wander in any wary direction. Two hours into the study, he was disturbed by a knock on his door. It was his head butler, an elderly man in his late 60s. He has been associated with the Malhotras even before the birth of Manik and his brother and is almost like a family.

"Manik baba, it's time for your dinner. Shall I arrange the table for you?", he asked, politely. 

Manik glanced at his watch. It was 7 in the evening. He didn't even notice the time and stretched his limbs before facing his butler. "Uncle, I am not hungry yet. I will have my dinner later. You people go ahead, don't wait for me", he said. He hated it when they all waited for him or his family to finish their dinner before having theirs. A person should eat whenever he was hungry instead of waiting for someone else, even if they were working for them. When Manik told this to his mom, once, she explained to him that they do out of respect and there wasn't any rule or order by the Malhotras. Even when both his parents have always asked the staff not to wait for them, they did and Nyonika had given up after a while.

The butler nodded. "Baba, Alya has called to the home number. She said she will be coming here in an hour."

"What?", he all but screamed. "Didn't you inform her that mom is out of town?" If his tone was sharper than normal, he wasn't worried. Nothing he does would ever make anyone in Malhotra house judge him. 

The butler gave him a sympathetic smile. "I told her but she wanted to meet you." 

Manik groaned and rubbed his forehead for some quick thinking. He glanced at his books. He was almost done the studying part for the day. He already had enough adventure for the day, first at college with Harshad followed by the incident at the pub. So, he grabbed his car keys and mobile. "I am going for a drive", he said. "Can you not tell mom about this, please?" When the butler sealed his lips animatedly, Manik grinned and rushed out of his room. 

His mom wanted to maintain a polite relationship with every business associates of theirs and Saxena's were family friends. While the elders were sweet it was just their daughter who behaved like a clingy leech. The other Saxena, too, prompted some part of his brain about Harshad. He drove on random streets following the map on his phone and halted when he saw a beach. He got down the car and leaned on it, admiring the sea waves. 

He never went to a beach during his stay in England. All his beach visits were from a distance and he never got an opportunity to go in. If he went while he was in Mumbai when he was a child, he didn't remember much. Sometimes he missed playing with his brother like any normal siblings. Even though they had video calls, their personal interactions were limited to the time when his brother had holidays and he visited England with their mom. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the presence of a person beside him.