FOR ALL THAT IS LEFT - A MaNan ff

3. ALL THE FIRSTS

Hey, guys.

I hope all of you are doing well. Staying safe, probably at home.

I'm back with a new chapter.

Enjoy reading!

Nandini woke up to loud sounds and frowned at it. It took her a while to note that she is with Manik in his farm house. She felt her heart sigh in relief at the thought and got up to start her morning which stretched much beyond her routine.

Meanwhile, Manik Malhotra was waging a war in the kitchen. He woke up early in the morning or rather say he couldn't sleep properly the previous night after his conversation with 'her' and there he was, trying to cook a healthy breakfast for his love. He wanted to make some good poha and veg sandwiches, along with fresh orange juice and searched for the recipe on the internet. He was all set to make it.

But unfortunately for him, he didn't even know how to hold the utensils. They kept slipping out of his grip and he couldn't differentiate between a cucumber and bottle gourd. He also ended up putting a table spoon salt instead of teaspoon, which he didn't realise yet. On the whole, the kitchen looked like it was hit by a tornado and sounded like a rocket being launched from there.

Amidst all the disaster, he heard a melodious laughter. He turned around to face the door of the kitchen to look at Nandini laughing so heart fully. He felt it had been decades since he watched her laugh like that.

Yes, she laughed in that one year too but it was not like that laughter which made him fall for her. His recent encounters with her smiles and laughter felt incomplete and obliged. It was not because she wanted to but because she had to.

Now, seeing her laughing her heart out, a warmth spread through his soul. For the first time in the last few months, he found the girl he actually loved.

Nandini, on the other hand, was oblivious of all the things running in his mind and kept laughing at his cost. He looked so cute while scratching his head and juggling with those dishes to try hard to prevent them from falling. She was not someone who would use the word the 'cute' on anything and everything but she couldn't help it here. Her fiance was truly cuuttteee!

What were you trying to do, Manik?Preparing for battle of Kurukshetra?she asked him between her laughter spree. Being surrounded by men who knew cooking better than ladies in her family, she found his disastrous cooking skills strange.

Erm... I tried preparing breakfast for us as you were dead tired and sleeping.... but, turns out I'm really bad at cooking. He said embarrassed of the mess he created in the kitchen.

Nandini smiled at his attempts to make her comfortable. He looked different when she met him six years after she saw him last. He is no more that handsome guy who carried the weight of his past on his back but didn't utter a word of complaint. He is nowhere near to that person who vowed to destroy himself for something he didn't do. The person in front of her is more lively and celebrated the smallest joys of life.

Her mind reeled back to those days when she first met him.

SPACE INSTITUTE OF HUMAN SCIENCES,
MANGALORE
2013

Nandini walked into her new college which would be her place of study for the next four years. She was admitted into Bachelor of Dental Surgery and was very excited about it.

SPACE was spread in an area of about 10 acres, surrounded by large trees and tiny garden patches all around the main campus. It consisted of three separate buildings connected by a walkway for easier displacement.