CHAPTER SIXTEEN

NANDINI'S POV

Happy Reading :)

~A week later~

It's a week later now. Nothing much happened during the week. Manik and I didn't fight for the whole week except the small arguments when he used to irritate me, which was daily. I don't know what pleasure does he get in irritating me. But then even I irritate him all day. He has been acting civil for once and I appreciated that he was trying to make efforts to be my friend and he was doing a great job.

He came home more often, we ate together, watched some show together, cooked together but that was mainly him cooking and me watching him from the counter. I sat on the counter or the bar stool while he cooked. I tried to make something but it ended up getting burnt. You see, me and cooking aren't meant to be friends, it's me and eating who are best friends. All the days with Manik felt so good. He is actually a good person to be with and spend time with. But that's only for a few people, I guess because he is still extremely rude to our other flat members and other people, in general.

Our college is starting in 3 days and I got to know that him and I are going to the same college and so is Cabir. I am really looking forward to going to college now because i'll at least know some people there. I'm terrible at making friends because I'm very awkward when it comes to talking with people ad socializing, I would rather stay in bed and read some book instead of talking with people and going out. Yeah so in my old school also I used to spend most of my free time in the library. I also got to know that Manik's mom was the principal of the college. Manik didn't like talking about his mom a lot, he didn't tell me that but I could tell by the look on his face.

Today, I woke up pretty early and the morning went by just the same as it does. Manik came home, made breakfast, we ate it in the porch and then went to our rooms. Then we had lunch and he went to sleep again. He sleeps way too much. I called Amms because I didn't call her much. We talked for almost 2 hours. Time always flies by when I'm talking with her and after talking with her I'm way more calm, relaxed and happy.

After that, I started reading a book. Currently, I'm reading 'Born Again On The Mountain' by Arunima Sinha. It's an absolutely amazing book. It talks about how you should never give up and that if you have thought of something and have the desire to achieve that goal, nothing can stop you. No person, relationship, heartbreak, society etc etc can stop you from achieving it. The whole world might want to bring you down but you'll prove all of them wrong. The whole world might want to see you cry and breakdown and when you do they'll be smirking at you, evilly but after that cry session when you come back even stronger and prove all of them wrong, you'll be smirking at them with pride and they will not even have the guts to even make an eye contact with you.

Yeah so after that, in the evening I finally got out of my room and went to the kitchen. I found Manik standing in the kitchen, making himself a tea. He has this habit of listening to songs while cooking and he is always dancing to it. Honestly, that's the best sight. He is always so stressed and angry but while cooking he is at ease which is great. And, did I mention that he looked really good. He is wearing a loose t-shirt and some shorts.

"Good Evening to you, Nandini. Now can you stop looking at me? I don't mind, though because I know I look great." He said with a slight smirk.

I always find a way to embarrass myself in front of him. I can never be discrete when I look at him. I chuckle nervously and go near the kitchen.

"Good Evening, Manik. I was not looking at you. Don't be so full of yourself. I was looking at the um drawers behind you. You know they have become very dusty, we need to clean the house in sometime. And you own t-shirts? This is the first time I've seen you wear a t-shirt while cooking." I said.

"Ohh so you're trying to say that you like it when I cook without a t-shirt on, huh?" He smirked at me.

My eyes widened. "When did I say that? Stop assuming things."

"Ohh you don't have to say that. I can tell that you like seeing me shirtless. It's okay Nandini, there's no harm in admitting things. You want me to remove it now? I can do it, if you want." He said, teasingly with a huge smile on his face. He brought his hand to the hem of his t-shirt and was about to remove it when I covered my eyes and shouted at him.

"Manikkkkkkkkk. Stop it na!!" I whined at him and was about to go in my room. His laughter filled the apartment. His smile and laugh is literally the best thing.

"Areyy okk okk. Sorry, I won't take it out, okay?" I turned to look at him, he still had the smile on his face. After listening to it, I also smiled at him, brightly.

He shook his head and looked at me. "You and your drama. One minute you're whining and next minute you're smiling." He tells me.

I just give him a bigg smile and again go to the kitchen.

"Your coffee is already made. It's on the left side of the counter." He says, I smile at him and mumble a thank you. I went there and took my cold coffee. There's a window in our kitchen so I was staring out of it. After a minute or so, I felt a presence behind me. Manik leaned down to reach my height.

"You didn't admit that you like me shirtless. But let me tell you something, you look absolutely gorgeous when you wear shorts." Manik whispered in my ear.

I almost chocked the coffee. He stood so close to me that I literally got goosebumps when he told me this. I was blushing like a maniac, I would definitely resemble a tomato right now.

I turned myself to look at him. He had his signature smirk on his face. He didn't give me chance to speak. He just winked at me and went in his room. I was trying to recover from what he had said. I couldn't stop smiling at the comment. I shook my head, took my coffee and went to my room. Today the weather was great so I decided to go sit in the balcony. Today was a kind of a rainy day. I know most of the people don't like rainy days but I really like them and rain.

A rainy day feels calm, peaceful and serene despite the occasional burst of thunder which it might bring. A rainy day washes the earth, revealing its inner beauty and the life that lay underneath. It's like that it gives a new lease of life to the whole place.

Getting up on a rainy day is like getting up with the beautiful sound of raindrops falling and a cool breeze buzzing past your ears. Such pleasant atmosphere, compels one to cancel all the prior engagements and just relax, letting the cool drizzle fall on your face.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the wind and the weather. As soon as I closed my eyes, a person's image came to my mind and immediately I could feel a smile forming on my lips. The kitchen incident came in my mind and I smiled even wider. I don't know why does he and his words have so much effect on me?

"Thinking about me?"

I almost jumped out of my seat at the sudden voice. I looked up to see Manik standing there, smirking at me. I glared at him.

"Manikk.. Ughh stop scaring me like that!"

"Okay okay. Sorry for scaring you penguin." He said while laughing.

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow giving him a what-do-you-want look.

"Ohh yeahh. I had came to tell you that we are out of groceries so we'll have to go to buy them. So do you want to come?"

"Yes I'll come."

"Okay, get ready. I'm going to wait near the car downstairs."

Then an idea popped in my head.

"Arey wait Manik." I literally shouted at him and ran near the door.

"Woah slow down penguin. What?" He said.

"Can we walk till the market, please?" I asked. The weather outside was great so I didn't want to go in the car.

"No yaar. I'm not going to walk till the store. We have a car so why can't we just use that."

"Please Manik. The weather is soo good and it's only a 10 mins walk, you can walk for that much time." I said.

"No Nandini. I'm not walking." He said.

I pouted at him and put up with my best puppy dog face in front of him.

"Pleasseeeeeeee Manik. Pleasee." I saw his expressions change by my pleading but still didn't say yes.

"Pleaseeee Elephant, let's go by walking." And I knew this would work.

"Ughhh fine let's go by walking."

He gave me an annoyed look and I just smiled at him.

I knew calling him by the nickname would work because he had gotten used to me calling him that and kind of liked it now. So did I. Even I liked my name now.

I went to my room and didn't bother changing my outfit, just grabbed my phone and purse and went downstairs.

I saw Manik standing near the entrance.

"Let's go."

We started walking. And it wasn't even two minutes when I heard Manik speak.

"Ugh I hate walking."

I just smiled and ignored his comment.

A lot of people were looking at me in a weird way. I could feel Manik tensing up beside me. He was shooting glares at everyone who was looking at me.

"Do you like rain?" I asked Manik.

"No I don't like it. It's too gloomy. But I can see that you love it."

"Yupp I love it." I grinned at him.

We reached the store from where we buy our groceries but found that it was closed.

"What the hell! We walked so much and now the shop is closed. Arey yaarr." Manik said.

I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Manik you're exaggerating. We only walked for 10 minutes. It's not called 'so much'."

"Arey for me a walk for 5 minutes is also too much."

"Okay drama queen now let's go back home."

"I'm not a drama queen, okay?"

"Okay, drama queen." I laughed at him.

I started walking because if I would have stood there then Manik would have kept whining like a kid. Seeing me walking ahead, Manik followed me too.

There's a garden near our apartment but I never got a chance to go there. But today since we had time, I wanted to go there. When we reached near the garden, I decided to ask Manik.

"Manik?" He hummed in response.

"Please can we go in the garden for sometime? Please?" I asked him nicely.

"No-"

"Arey there are benches in the garden, you can sit there. You won't even have to walk. I want to go there. Besides, all we do is stay at home and do nothing. So let's go, please?"

"Fine let's go."

I literally jumped in excitement when he said that. The garden was so beautiful. There was a sense of calmness which is very rare in Mumbai. There weren't a lot of people there. It was only us and 2 kids. Manik went and sat on the bench while I walked around the garden. Me and my parents used to go in such gardens a lot when I was small. Both of my parents were working but they always took out time for me. Sundays used to be our family days when none of them were supposed to work and only spend time with me. Those were the days...

I was smiling at the memories of my parents when I felt a drop of water fall on my face and then rain started pouring down. It was so beautiful. The kids who were playing rushed to go to their houses so it was only me and Manik. He was shouting at me but I wasn't paying attention to him.

Whenever it rained, I just wanted to go and dance in the rain. I did the same thing when I used to live in Manglore. I used to take Amms with me too and we used to dance in the rain. It was so relaxing. I did the same thing right now. I know Manik was shouting at me to coming the shed but I really needed the rain and the dance. The past week was a little stressful because our college was going to start so because of that there was a lot of work.

So without thinking of anything else, I just started dancing. I know it sounds like some movie thing but it's really nice. I was smiling uncontrollably because this was the stress reliever that I needed. I looked at Manik who was standing under the shed and watching me with a smile on his face. I actioned him to come in the rain but he mouthed a 'no' and told me to come in too. But I wasn't going to listen to him so I just ignored him and continued my dancing session.

After a while, I felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist. I was frightened at first but then I knew that it was Manik. I turned around in his arms and looked at him. He looked down at me.

"You don't like rain, I guess. So why did you come out?" I asked him.

"I just came here to take you from here. You'll catch cold like this. Let's go in the shed please." He said with a worried expression.

"Please Manik it doesn't rain everyday and you know how much I like it so please let me stay here."

And then I did something very unexpected. I leaned and kept my head on his chest but I was too short compared to him so I had to be on my tip toes. I was also shocked by my sudden bravery. I felt Manik tense initially but then even he relaxed. The feeling that I felt right now was so calming. Being in his arms was really so comforting. (I know we'll be really awkward tomorrow)

I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling. Then randomly, we started swaying, like a slow dance. It was so romantic. Dancing in the rain with someone is really romantic but I never thought that it would be with Manik. I tightened my arms around him and smiled contently.

Then I looked at him to see that even he had a smile on his face.

"You know, you don't like rain, don't like to dance and don't even like to walk but today you did all of that." I told Manik.

"Yes I don't like any of it but when it's with you, I like doing all such stuff. Be it walking, rain or anything." He said.

I blushed really bad at that comment. This was the second time in a day that he was being like this. but I didn't know if he really meant it or not. But right now I was too caught up in the moment to ask him.

I looked at him, trying to hide my blush but failing miserably. I was about to reply but...

Then I sneezed really bad...

--xx--

Helloo Lovely people,

How are you all doing? I know it's been a while since I updated but I just didn't have the motivation to write anything. But now here I am with this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

And sorry for that bad ending

Thank you for reading

Make sure to VOTE and COMMENT.

~Maitri.