Rapid knocks at Nandini's bedroom window woke her up from her dreamless slumber. It was rare for Nandini to not have a dream, to be exact Nandini had a superpower to dream about the things that particularly fancied her. Whether it was a blessing or a boom that the destiny would decide. It is often said that too much likeness and addiction can lead to ill- conclusion.

She wore her cotton fluffy slippers and looked outside the window, only to witness two tiny birds still knocking on the window with the help of their peak. Nandini chuckled when she found out that those tiny creatures where probably threatened from their own reflection and trying to shoo it away. Adorable she shook her head. She carefully opened the window and took one of them in her hands softly, the other one flew away, probably to find food. Nandini frowned she can give them food too.

However her sadness flew away as it came, when she saw the other bird come back towards her along with few of its mates. More people to feed, and she loved feeding the needy, so she ran away to collect the sunflower seeds from her kitchen.

When Nandini came out of her shower, she noticed the buzz of her phone. Since she had a bizarre habit of leaving it on silent every time, a habit her parents and friends hated of hers. Well she couldn't help it, notifications from her phone gave her nothing apart from headache. For the time she decided to ignore the buzz of her phone and focused on her skin-care. Nandini wasn't a looks obsessed girl, her skin-care consisted of minimum but important things. Having an oily skin didn't her that much, acne felt like a guest to her skin every now and then.

The buzz of her phone repeatedly again caught her attention. She grew concerned when she saw Mukti's contact flashing, is she alright? She recently recovered from fever. Even though she appeared perfectly fine when she repeatedly teased Nandini the other day when she went to collect her consolation prize of participation from Mr. Malhotra. She frowned at the memory of him, he was not at all subtle at glancing her way, it was noticed many students around her who gave her confused looks, not to mention miss ruby, purposely scolded her without any of her fault, just because she figured out the direction of Mr. Malhotra's gaze was on her.

She huffed, at least he could have made it a less obvious. She didn't want to lose her perfect student image in front of the teaching staff. Even though miss ruby was entirely unfair but she was a teacher after all. Nandini had to obey her without any questions.

"Mukti? What happened, are you ill again?" Nandini started panicking as she picked up her call, but was relieved to hear her cheerful voice back, "Nandu, shut up for now and tell me have you packed your bags?" Mukti questioned excitedly, "bag for what?" Nandini's brow creased as she wondered about all the possibilities her brain coming up with none.

"What do you mean 'for what'? Of course for our road-trip dumbass. Did you forget already we all were going on a road-trip this weekend? Just after our tiring annual sports day." Mukti nagged, irritated with Nandini's loss of mind for such an exciting occasion according to her.

"Road trip, but I never agreed for a road-trip?" Nandini scrunched up her nose, trying to remember whether she was ever asked about this. "What the fuck, Nandu? Have you forgotten our bff code#101 we never inform each other, if one goes the other has to come." Mukti dead panned extremely annoyed to have this disagreement with her best-friend early in the morning. She was never an early bird, but for the road-trip all her sleep flew away. Of course it would she had overheard Cabir speaking about Abhimanyu Thakkar joining their trip, who was fellow goal-keeper of the football team and needless to mention Mukti might have a teeny weeny crush on him, about which only Nandini knew about. Mukti would rather evaporate than tarnish her bad-ass reputation in front of others like that.

"Mukti." Nandini sighed, her heart hurting to turn down her best friend like that, but she had to she had already gave her word to someone else, and Nandini Murthy never goes back on her spoken words.

"Nandu? Please na" Mukti cried, trying use her ultimate weapon. Emotional Blackmail, and history has been an evidence that no one has ever escaped Mukti Vardhan's emotional manipulation.

"Mukti please understand. It's not about me, it's regarding Mr. Malhotra." Nandini muttered timidly, trying to suppress the growing heat on her skin. She just told Mukti about meeting Mr. Malhotra alone outside of someone's presence.

"Mr. Malhotra" Mukti screamed in excitement, which attracted Cabir's attention who just sat few inches away from her. Nandini cussed Mukti in her mind, when she over-heard Cabir asking about Mr. Malhotra, to which Mukti's intelligent mind came up with an excuse that Nandini was talking about Dhruv, she will be missing him since she can't join the road-trip today due to her prior commitment to her parents. Nandini took a breath of relief and thanked her Ayyappa for blessing her with Mukti as a friend.

Ayyappa: a Hindu god, described as the son of Shiva and Vishnu

Nandini smiled to herself in the mirror while drying her hair with her towel, she didn't like to use the drier, disliking the way it made her hair look after using it. Her thoughts kept going back towards the intimidating yet sinfully gorgeous man, she often dreamed about. His interest towards her made her palms sweaty and flushing warm. Why was he showing so much interest in spending his time with Nandini? She was just a silly teenage girl with boyfriend problems and parent's issues. He could have any women he wants then why her? Did he by any chance like her?

No, she muttered to herself. Mentally hitting her head, why would the Manik Malhotra ever like her? On top of that she was dating his own son. Maybe he was just trying to scare and intimidate her. But then those nicknames and the forbidden glances they shared between them. Was that a misunderstanding too.

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Manik was badly trying to calm his nerves, but there was absolute no way he could do so. She was finally going to be alone with him, after all these years of sexual tension and denial. He couldn't hold himself back anymore. He had to convince her to go with him. He needed this time with her or else everything's going to be too late and long gone. Although he knew that nothing can take her away from him but didn't want to scare her away by showing his want for her so savagely before her. She was fragile and kind, all she ever needed and deserved is love and affection. He vowed to himself that he would exactly give her that. Love.

But the question is, was he capable of the love that sweet angel would provide to him? He was a ruined man, his hands were filled with pure traces of sins, but having her was the last sin he ever wanted to commit.

He gave his driver off that particular day, when he saw no hindrance, he meant it.

Nandini murthy was pissed off with her own self, when she rushed through the pathway around the park near her locality. She was supposed to meet Mr. Malhotra half an hour ago, but her mom's kbc hot seat round made her this late. She was so disappointed in herself. She knew how it felt to wait for people, so she never wanted others to experience. Especially the person who meant so much to her.

"Nice scarf" Nandini heard a voice that she very well recognized, she eyes snapping up at an instant.

Manik Malhotra Stood in all his glory, against his car. His thin lips forming into a half-smirk when he looked at her from bottom to top, his eyes struck at her face. She looked beautiful, but then she always looked beautiful. His pretty girl.

His eyebrows furrowed when he looked at her hands." It's quite cold. Don't you think?" he stepped closer to her, enclosing her hands within his. "Yeah" Nandini mewed. "Then why aren't you wearing your gloves, sweetheart?" he questioned looking down at her sternly. His rough yet gentle hands rubbing her palms between his.

"I forgot." Nandini felt her heart flutter, and her knees falling weak. No one has never shown so much care towards her except Mukti. She felt like to hug him so tight that he could hardly breathe but then she felt he wouldn't like it. Manik Malhotra didn't seem like a person who liked to hug.

"I am buying you one on our way." He deadpanned looking down at her flushed cheeks and shy smile, he wanted nothing else than bite those cheeks. But he needed to be patient.

"But you don't-"her protest was cut out, when he grabbed her waist and pulled her near him, dangerously close. His other hand playing with the loose ends of her hair strands, gazing deeply into her hazel ones. "I know I don't have to. But I want to" he whispered above her nose. Nandini felt her heart stop when she looked into his eyes. Those emotions his eyes portrayed confused her. Manik Malhotra did like her. She could totally hear her subconscious mind screaming into her pillow and texting Mukti about it aggressively with all the typos included.

Oh my god.

Manik Malhotra liked her.