Do opposites really attract?

Chapter 31 - Our first Valentine's day

It was nearly 1pm and I was waiting at the reception for Manik. As I pulled out my phone to ring him, a pair of hands covered my eyes.

"Manik?" I questioned. It didn't feel like him but who else would cover my eyes like that.

"Damn! I feel a little hurt!" I heard him say.

"Hardik? Sorry I thought you were Manik..." I said as I recognised the voice. He moved his hands from my eyes and I turned to face him.

"And I thought you were single!" He said with a sigh.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Mazaak kar raha hoon!" He said with a giggle.

"Not a funny joke! And for the record, I am single!" I replied.

"You are? I thought you and Manik..."

"You and Manik what, Hardik?" Manik said with a smirk as he walked up to us and snaked his arm around my waist in an attempt to claim me as his rightful territory.

"Manik my boy! Don't mind me, I was just teasing Nandini." He replied.

"Woh toh mera kaam hai!" He said with a playful smile.

"What?" Hardik exclaimed.

"Joke! It's a joke! If you can joke then so can I. Right Nandini?" Manik said with a smirk.

"Right Manik!" I said suppressing my laughter.

"Anyways I'll leave you guys to it. I'm so busy you know. It's Valentine's Day and my date is waiting for me." He said.

"Of course she is!" Manik said sarcastically and Hardik left before Manik could tease him more.

"You're such a tease Manik!" I said as I playfully nudged his arm.

"What? He was teasing you so I teased him, simple! Besides, it's just friendly banter bro!" He said casually.

"Bro? Seriously? Don't bro me again!" I said as I pushed his hand away from my waist and turned to face him.

"Acha? So shall I call you behen then, you'll like that?" He said with a smirk.

"Ewh Manik Stop! You're making things so awkward!" I said as I covered my ears.

"So then what else would you like me to call you? Babe? Hunny? Baby? Sweety? Babu?" He said as he bent down to whisper into my ears. These words were no less than swear words for me. I never understood the need to use such endearments when addressing your partner, is their name not good enough?

"Say one more of these cheesy nicknames and I swear Malhotra, I will kick your ass in front of all these people and I will take some random stranger with me on the date. Wait, why some random stranger? I'll take Hardik!" I said quietly as I gritted my teeth.

"Feisty eh? I'm not scared of your threats okay? Besides, Hardik already has a date!" He said confidently.

"You and I both know that he was lying and frankly speaking, he would love to come on a date with me!" I replied with a smirk.

"Fine! You win! Ab chalay?" He asked.

"Hmmm! Chalo!" I said with a smile as I stared to walk ahead.

"Baap re! Aatlu badhu naatak!" I heard him mutter under his breath but it was loud enough for me to hear him. Manik had made an attempt to learn Gujarati for me and it was so cute seeing him speak in my native language sometimes.

"Aadat paarilay!" I said as I turned to face him with a smirk.

"Tu ekdum impossible che!" He said as he walked up to me and forwarded his hand. I giggled and put my hand in his and we walked out together.