~•~

M A N I K

Fuck.

"Manik, please leave me!" She begged. Not so easily, sweetheart.

"No baby, you wanted me to love you, isn't it?" I smiled at her as I tied her hands to the bed.

"Manik! Please get away!" She cried and I laughed.

Kisi ne sahi kaha tha, I am a monster.

"So, what is your name?", I smiled as I walked to the cabinet and took a cigarette.

"S... Soha!" She stammered.

"Jhoot!" I shouted and she shivered sitting on the bed, tied.

Taking the lighted cigar to her, I traced it down her face and she screamed in pain.

"Naira... Naira Saxena!" She blurted, crying miserably.

"And may I know what are you doing here!" I said coming dangerously close to her as I pulled out the video camera hidden under the vase and laughed loudly.

"Manik- I.. I..", she stanmered searching for excuses and I took the flame closer to her face, making her scared for her life and beauty.

"I-....", she cried. "I was Soha's best friend. And I was here to take revenge from her. I came to you, flirted with you, and made you see I was interested in you! I purposely used the name Soha because I thought you still loved her! But then I saw Nandini, your girlfriend and I got to know you love her. So I purposely threw myself on you, so that you both fight and I can easily get you-....", she spat with venom in her eyes.

"Oh, so you wanted to tape me having sex with you, isn't it?" I laughed.

"But you made some mistakes sweetheart. You loved coming closer to me only when you saw Nandini was looking at us. You purposely tried intimidation. You followed us to see us fight, but baby, I love my princess way too much!" I smiled. The only thought of Nandini made me smile.

"But-.. but because of you, I had to break up with her. I had to show her my monster side, I had to make her see that I was tired of her. Just to give you the right fucking leads, I had to praise you in front of her!" I shouted with disgust in my voice.

"I am a monster, and you have messed with the wrong person barbie doll!" I laughed pressing the cigarette in her arm and she screamed in pain as it pressed against her skin.

And I? Well I enjoyed her pain. Because this pain is nothing as compared to what my princess had to go through. I had to ignore her tears, her shouts. She was smiling outside, but breaking inside.

She had to go through so much of heart break and pain, thinking if I really wanted to end it with her just because of this fucking bitch.

"But Manik! You had lead me on after you had those shots. Then how the fuck did you realise that this was a trap!" She shouted trying to free her hands.

"Your desperation bitch. You wanted to readily get in bed with me when you knew I was highly drunk, I was calling you 'Nandini' again and again, i couldn't see anything. Yet, all you wanted was sex!" I said. That was really so fucking slutty, she made me whisper things I never wanted to, to tell her that it's over between me and Nandini, do kiss her here and there.

"You're a fool. It was just to check if what I was thinking was right and guess what, it was! And I got to know about the camera position when you pushed me on the couch, while I was going to get on the bed!" I laughed dryly.

"You're a monster Manik!" She shouted with tears in her eyes.

"Yes I am. Nandini's monster!" I smiled generously. Even the mere mention of her name in my head made me smile, only I knew how I had put up the drama of faking to be tired with her. She's a drug, I can never be tired of.

"But you, you are a fool!" I spat at her. "And what revenge were you seeking, haa?"

"Manik Malhotra, Soha's disappearance suddenly, it's all your work. I know you used her and then killed her Manik. You're a monster!" She shouted.

"I am a monster, but I'm sorry to break your bubble, it was she who tried to use me, who did the same stupid thing you tried doing, tape me to have sex and separate Nandini from me!" I gritted. They were so alike, I wanted to puke on her face.

"You're lying. I will destroy you Malhotra, I wouldn't leave you. I will make sure everyone leaves you Manik, your friends, your family, your Nandini!" She shouted.

"Don't you dare take my princess's name from your filthy mouth, you bitch!", I shouted as I jumped upon her, holding her arms, my nails digging inside her skin.

"She is so much unlike you, she fell in love with the monster inside me, she taught me that not everything in this world is cruel and needs to be dealt with monsterness. She taught me that broken hearts shine too, because the cracks of the heart is where the lights sink in from!" I smiled looking into her eyes.

"And you're no where around her, even if you try, you wouldn't be able to. She's selfless, she's the purest soul. Unlike you, bitch." I gritted.

"It's a bubble Malhotra, a bubble that will break soon. She will get tired, she will get tired of handling the monster inside you, the darkness that you're made of. She will leave you for someone who gives her the love she deserves and she craves. She wouldn't be able to stay with the darkness you have, the hell you drag her through!" She spat and I smiled sarcastically.

"She loves me much more than that. She never fell in love with the Prince Charming, she fell in love with the monster inside me. And about the cheat thing, she wouldn't ever do that. That's trust. And I might be so possessive about her, but that isn't because I don't trust her. That's because I want to protect her, I want to make sure that each evil touches me before it crosses path with my princess", I scowled.

"But, why am I explaining this to you? I'm sure you've never got love in your life, and that's why you want to separate two people who love each other, isn't it?" I smiled. "But I'm sorry, that couldn't come through. Our love is much stronger than all of this, it can fight a hundred Soha's like your best friend and you."

I took the video camera and crushed it under my foot, as it broke into two pieces.

"I will take care of you, my way sweetheart. You want to go to Soha too soon, isn't it?" I smirked as I inched close to her, and she pressed her body away from me, trying to cover herself.

"Ab Kya hua? Don't you want to have sex with me?" I smirked as my fingers trailed her arms, pressing the wounds that the cigarette had given her and she screeched in pain.

"Don't worry. I love my princess too much to cheat on her with a bitch like you, and even if not that, I wouldn't even want to touch any girl without her consent. That's the respect I hold for girls, unlike your best friend Soha who being a girl herself, insulted another girl by playing on her character on television!" I spat. Even thinking about what Soha had done makes my blood boil and I didn't really want to take any wrong step.

"But nevertheless, let me send you where Soha is!" I laughed as I removed my phone from my pocket.

"No Manik, please leave me. I promise to go away from your life, a lot away, please!" She begged.

"Not going to help, Miss best friend. Too conferenced for Soha, aren't we? Because of you, I hurt my princess so much. You have to pay back!" I laughed dryly and the frightened kitten in front of me cried louder.

"I am a monster, you bitch. And having Nandini as my girlfriend, being Nandini's monster is my strength, not my weakness!" I laughed dryly.

I bet she was regretting messing with the wrong man.

"Hello, mental asylum?" I spoke as the phone connected.

"Over a year back, a patient Soha Kapoor was admitted. Is she doing fine?" I enquired, and the fright in Naira's eyes made my heart calmer.

"Tell her, she might have a permanent visitor, and the visitor might be her best friend!" I laughed dryly as I cut the phone.

"Manik please! Please leave me!" She begged.

"Okay. I can do this, I will leave you till the mental asylum", I smirked and even the last colours from her face drained.

"Manik!" There was a familiar whisper behind me.

"Nandini!", I whispered to myself as I turned behind to see her standing by the door.

Her face was full of tears and sweat, her hair were messed and her clothes were disheveled. There was no colour on her face too, and the unknown emotion on her face told me she had heard everything.

"I was so wrong!" She whispered to herself as she held her left hand to her mouth, crying miserably.

"Nandini, princess!" I whispered as I ran towards her, collecting her in my arms before she could collapse crying.

"Nandini! What's wrong?" I cooed and she cried more bitterly.

"Manik! I was so wrong! Meine... I- I insulted your love for me so miserably and you never cheated on me. You are praising me here, and I was thinking so wrong of you!" She cried.

"Nandini! It's okay bacha. If I would have been in place of you, I would have done the same thing. It's not your fault, I could have warned you previously...", I whispered tucking her hair strands behind.

"I should have trusted you Manik!", she cried.

"Looking at my previous 'messing around' history, I can't trust myself, how can I expect you to?" I laughed dryly.

"No, Manik!", she hugged my coat tighter, "you're right, mein- I am too naïve, mein kisi ki bhi baaton mein aa jati hu....", she whispered in trance.

"Nandini. Did something happen?" I asked breaking away from her and she stared at the ground, staying silent.

"You're scaring me!" I whispered. "And one second, what are you doing here. This is Naira Saxena's house!" I screamed.

"I came here to apologise to Harshad", she mouth inaudibly.

"Apologise? Why?" I squared my eyes at her.

"I slapped him!" She looked at me with a baby face. "I got carried away while talking to him, and I was going to do something I might have regretted all my life. And when I got a grip over myself, I slapped him", she whispered, making me more confused.

Everything was connecting slowly. Harshad. Naira. Saxena. Nandini. It was taking time, but I was able to join the dots slowly.

"I'm not getting you, what are you telling? Kya karne wali thi tum?" I asked playing with her hair and she stayed silent.

Whatever she was going to do was okay, it couldn't be as bad as cheating on me, as being with another person, what I had put her through, being with this fake Soha or Naira or whatever she was.

"I was-...." she shut her eyes tight, "about to kiss him!"

My hand left hers and my mind was busy processing her words as my heart thumped louder.

Was I actually such a monster who deserved nobody's love?

~just because our heart is strong enough to take the pain, it doesn't mean we overloading it with that~

~ • ~

I told y'all, keep some faith in me.

Thank you!