Reality Ever After

Part 21. A Two-Way Street?

Nandini woke up late the next morning and Nandini's 'late' meant that she was up by 8 am. She and Manik were snuggled under the blanket and the air-conditioning was at the lowest temperature making it even more snuggly inside. She opened her eyes to see Manik and smiled. He looked like the most adorable child when he was asleep with his mouth open and his hair all messed up. He looked so much younger when he was asleep like that. She hated the fact that he could never let his guard down and show anyone his weaknesses or be vulnerable in front of anyone. Be it his friends or family. But he had started opening up to her more and more since they had come closer and she could see that it wasn't easy for him. She could see how difficult it was for him to share his feelings but she was happy that he was trying. She was glad that he didn't hide his conversation with his Dad from the previous night even though it involved 'not-so-nice' things about her. She didn't know how she'd face his Dad now. It would be really awkward but then she knew that she had to stay by Manik's side till his Dad and him resolved this issue between them.

She was thinking of kick-starting her day since she was up and she wasn't sleepy anymore. But at the same time, she didn't want to get out of bed. She was super comfortable in the warm blanket in the ice cold room and the best part was Manik hugging her in his sleep. She reached out for her phone on the bedside table and decided to check if she had any messages. She saw a text from her friend Sujata asking her to call back as she had something important to discuss. She made a mental note to call her back once Manik woke up. She didn't want to disturb him sleeping. She also checked Instagram and other social networking sites as she was also curious to see the reviews FAB5 had gotten for yesterday's performance. She was happy to see that all media houses had given them a brilliant review. Some said that the upcoming album looked very promising and the band was amazing and performed really well together. They had a description of the songs they had in the album and how the most appealing song was the romantic song. Almost every newspaper and news channel loved the romantic number and almost everyone had a special mention about Manik's singing and performing skills. All of them thought that he was a rock star in the making and had a very bright career ahead of him. She got so excited reading all the reviews that she couldn't help but wake him to share this amazing news with him.

Nandini - Manik. Wake up.

Manik, not being an early morning person, was in deep slumber and hence, didn't respond.

Nandini - Manik. Utho na... you have to see this.

Manik stirred a little and got annoyed at Nandini's super excited or rather loud voice.

Manik - Nandini, I'm not getting up to make you coffee. Exam is over now.

Nandini - Forget the coffee. Look at this. FAB5 is all over social media. My entire social media feed is full of FAB5. Your album launch yesterday was such a big hit.

Manik opened his eyes to look at Nandini so excited.

Manik - Your social media feed is full of FAB5 because your social media accounts know you're a big fan of FAB5. Your social media feed gets customised to what you like. Not because the launch was a hit. So stop getting so excited for no reason and let me sleep.

Nandini - Manik. Stop being such a jerk and check it out. All the big media houses have covered your launch and written such good things about you and the band. This is so cool.

Manik finally decided to wake up and check out what Nandini was asking him to. Both of them sat up and Manik rested his back on the bedpost and Nandini sat on his lap and rested her back on his chest. She was holding her phone in a way where both of them could look into it and Manik adjusted the blanket on her chest knowing she'd get conscious of their blatant lack of dressing early in the morning. The two of them read multiple articles and all the coverage the media had captured. Manik was praised in every article and every post specifically and their love song had gotten the best review. They even had various clips put up from the performance from the previous evening but since the media only covered short highlights of every event, most media houses had only put up the clip of Manik singing the romantic song. While Nandini was very proud of all that was covered, Manik was a little disappointed.