Crazy, Stupid, Summer Sparks |COMPLETE| MaNan Fiction

Chapter 2: 'Mukti' Isn't A Characterless 'Man'

Aryaman and Manik walked into a very busy canteen after their football practise, to see there were no vacant spots available. "Perfect, now how do we grab food before the lectures begin?" grumbled Manik and was about to walk out, when Aryaman stopped them. He pointed at two people sharing a table for six. "Look bro, your brother and her boyfriend is sitting there, let's join them" laughed Aryaman.

"Aryaman! She is not my BROTHER, and he is definitely not her boyfriend!" screeched Manik in irritation as they went to join Mukti and Abhimanyu in their table.

"Hey Mukku, do you mind if we join?" asked Manik casually as they reached them. "Mox not Mukku bhai" he corrected Manik with gritted teeth. Aryaman sniggered at that and Abhimanyu gave him a confused look. Manik didn't say anything; they joined the table and were munching food by themselves.

"Mox did you clean the trek shoes for tomorrow mate?" asked Abhimanyu while munching on a samosa. "Yep dude, I am all set" replied Mukti nonchalantly.

Manik looked up and looked at the pair of them. Trek? Tomorrow morning? What? Then he remembered Nandini's word about Abhimanyu coming and picking her up in the middle of the night for a drive - he had tried Abhimanyu's number last night, but even that was unreachable - time was ripe thought Manik, Mukku needed the talk'.

"Mukti, we need to talk." He began, but Mukti didn't seem to listen, he called her again, and still she pretended to not hear him. He needed her to pay heed to his words, so he decided to try it her way. "Okay Mox, bro we gotta talk. Man to man. Now" Mukti looked up and frowned and then she said, "Sure, follow me". Manik stood up and excused himself from Aryaman and Abhimanyu and walked out.

Aryaman noticed Abhimanyu giving a quizzical look to Mukti's retreating figure. A smirk escaped him - Abhimanyu looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Your girl?" Aryaman asked motioning towards Mukti. Abhimanyu looked startled for a second. "Girl? Mox?" then he laughed "Dude, what's wrong with you?". Still annoyed with Aryaman 's attitude towards Mox, Abhimanyu took out an assignment from his bag and flipped through the pages as he munched on samosa - too bad the canteen was so full, sitting with this jerk of a guy was annoying him.

***

Nandini walked into the canteen and was upset to see it so full, now how was she ever going to complete her assignment before class? True, last night she did begin working on it, but that Manik's chuckle and concern was too much for her to handle. She couldn't concentrate on work at all, finally in the wee hours she decided to call it a night and finish her work in the canteen and go to class - that way Manik won't know she still worked on her assignment in the last moment. But now what? She was about to walk out in disappointment, when she heard Aryaman call her from behind. She turned to see Aryaman and Abhimanyu sharing a table and quickly went to join them.

"Hi Aryaman, thanks! I desperately need to finish today's assignment" she smiled at him softly. Aryaman sighed, but he knew there was no point teling her to focus on her work before Manik's - He knew Nandini had a soft corner for Manik, and he tried to tell her subtly many times that Manik had nothing for her, he liked his cousin Soha - but Nandini wouldn't ever pay heed. So, without dweling further, he let her begin working.

Nandini on the other hand greeted Abhimanyu too. "Hi Abhimanyu? How was last night's drive? And where is Mox? I thought she..oops, I mean he left home early today!" Abhimanyu smiled at her brightly. He liked Nandini, she was soft and caring and most importantly a loving roomie to his best mate Mox - "Hey Nands! Last night was KILLER, if we ever go out with the other girls, we will get you too! And yes Mox was here, but Manik called him to talk."

When Nandini just finished her assignment, and tallied her findings with Aryaman, Manik came back to the canteen, with Soha at his heel. They came with fresh stock of coffee and joined the table.