I was about to succumb to the intensity of his hug when he suddenly left me with a jerk.

"Why on earth were you hiding it from me?", Manik looked a bit agitated after his initial round of celebration. "Do you have any idea how much I have toiled for this"

"Apparently I do which is why I need to know...what is this circuit thing and why are you after this and why is this so important...why did you hid it in my luggage and how and when?", I shot out one after another while Manik was still in awe with the damn thing in his hand. He hardly paid any attention while I gasped animatedly question after question. I was so damn irritated or should I say jealous of that circuit that held his focus more than me, I pawed like a tigress and snatched it from his hand and held it high with an action of throwing it away.

"Nandu are you crazy? give it back to me..come on fast"

"No I wont... first you answer my questions...what is this and why were you after it"

"Nandini stop being childish..it is not funny and give it back to me", he tried to grab it from my hand as I tossed it from one hand to the other. He finally got fed up and grabbed me tight and locked my hand with his and snatched away the circuit roughly and stepped aside. I picked a pillow and threw at him, it hit him on the head and he glared at me angrily while dialing on his phone.

"Yeah Cabir..great news guess what I have the circuit..yes yes yes I finally have it...no no you don't have to come here...do one thing meet me at the Indiana pub near Kolevar in the evening today at 7 okay..we will take it from there...yeah don't worry everything will be on track from now", Manik heaved a sigh of relief and hung up. He looked at me and I sat on the bed making a grumpy face. He suddenly realized he was a little harsh on me.

"Woohoo someone's angry", he remarked in teasing tone and walked up to the bed and tried to touch my cheek.

"Dont you dare touch me...you have no right on me..tum mujhe kuch nahi batate"

"That's because I cant"

"Why Manik what is this secrecy about?"

"Fine I will...i will tell you when the right time comes", he came and sat beside me. I had had enough of this waiting business and he sensed I was angry and traced my cheek bone with his thumb and slowly moved his fingers into my hair. He looked into my eyes while his hands tucked my hair behind my ear so that he could have a fuller view of my face.

His touches were magical, I closed my eyes and almost instantly I found myself losing to him. But then suddenly his soft touches changed into vigorous movements and his face changed color in a split second.

"Where is the earring that I gave you?", Manik rushed his fingers through my hair with a hope to find it.

"Huh??"

"What did you do with them?...I saw them on you last night then where is it now", now he was all aware and alert. He pushed my hair aside trying to make sure if it was somewhere there, "Oh God!! How idiotic can you be Nandini ...one thing I give you to keep safely and you.."

"Excuse me firstly I never asked for it...you gave me and how cheap of you Manik...you give a gift to someone and ask that back..cheee!!!", I made a disgusting face at his ungentlemanly behavior.

"Nandini stop irriating me and tell me where is it?"

His continuous inquiries flustered me big time, "Fek diya...yes I flushed it in the toilet tank"

"Are you crazy? It had my god damn chip you fool..I can kill you for this Nandini just tell me where the hell is your earring ", he roared into my ear drums.

For a moment I couldn't comprehend what he was talking about..chip..earring. I looked at him with a dumbfound expression.

"You hid a chip in my earring??", Gosh!! I felt like some robot. I had a circuit in my luggage, a so called chip in my earring. What was I and what was he intending to do with me. I was still trying to arrange the abstract pieces of information when Manik grabbed my arms and blasted into my ears.

"Where is the goddamn earring Nandini?"

His maddening rage told I needed to tell him the truth "Manik calm down I haven't thrown it..woh you went to get food and the manager came..he wanted his money...I tried to convince him but he didn't listen so..."

"So what?", he gave me another jerk to spill the rest of the information

"So I gave those to him", I mumbled sheepishly, ".. but just till the time we had money to pay him"

"Uggrrhhh!!!Nandini why dont you just kill me instead...you are a truck load of problem"

Manik didn't wait me for my reply to his valuable comment on me and rushed out of the room. I was thoroughly puzzled as to what was happening not that I was any sorted before this but the sudden change in his behavior irked me. I knew whatever it was I need to stick to him to get my answers and more importantly to be alive. I ran out of the room without wasting any more time and found Manik at the reception literally strangulating the bellboy.

"Tell me where is the Manager before you are unable to answer anyone ever in your life", Manik had grasped his throat in his gigantic palm and the other hand was resorted to punch him after every word, two other staff stood horrified in one corner waiting for their turn to be beaten black and blue. I quickly rushed to Manik and grabbed his hand trying to save the poor soul. He never would have imagined in his wildest dreams this was how he had to re pay for the tip. He coughed and pleaded me to save him.

"Manik leave him first or else how will he speak", I tried to inject some common sense into the wild monster. Manik gave me a deadly glare for interrupting him in his favorite work, "Chodo usse", I repeated myself giving him an equally dangerous scowl and he finally left his neck huffing like a bull. The guy could barely stand on his feet, he grabbed the reception desk for support and panted 'badly. Manik charged him again for replies while he was still trying to catch up with his breath and Manik rose his fist to award him with another punch.

"Please please don't hit me I will tell you..sir must have gone home", he meekly rose his hands in front for his defense and blurted the address in the next moment. Manik looked at me annoyingly for making his tasks difficult but I was no less in giving it back to him tough looks.

"I hope you guys are smart enough to not call your Manager and inform about us coming to get him because I can always come back and break your limbs", he stated with a curt threat in his voice and the 3 of them gulped and nodded in agreement. They looked like a bunch of chipmunks dodging there heads from getting slayed. We set out to out next destination which was the Managers place.

Even though we had a car but Manik chose to hire a cab. We were still not aware of the place properly and taking a local cab would have us reach our destination smoothly. Manik made sure I had my scarf on properly and he messed his hair a bit. The cab dropped us near a busy market place, the driver told that he couldn't make through the dingy lanes so we had to be on our foot. Manik inquired with a street food vendor and he gave us the further directions. After a good 10 minutes of rampaging one lane to another we finally located the managers house. We climbed the spiral stairs to reach his flat and rang the door bell.

Manik stuffed some notes in my hand, "Give this money to him and take your earrings back quietly...I don't want any fuss here", for the first the so called Mr. Fuss didn't want any fuss but I was still wondering here did he have the money from, "Look kya de rahi ho...I sneaked it out of his pockets while he was trying to catch up his breath", Manik reminded me the moment with the bell boy a while back. This man was really something he almost had every thing organized only I was there to spoil his plans. The door was answered after we pressed the bell for a couple of times. It was the manager himself. He was almost dumb found to see us in front of him.

"Wh..What are you do..doing here?", he stuttered badly looking at Manik behind me being pretty sure as to why we were there plus the cold look in Manik's eyes could give any body a threat for their life.

"Uncle here is your money please give me my earrings back", I extended my handful of notes to him

"You were pregnant last night right?", his brows furrowed in scrutiny and he looked at my tummy which was now completely flat. I glanced at Manik for rescue and he heaved a cold sigh and pulled me behind him and walked inside with an air of dominance.

"Look old man...you wanted your money so here is it... now if my wife is pregnant or not should not be a matter of your concern right..so just take this money and give me those earrings", Manik strode around the living room picking the vases and putting them back.

"Oh so I was correct you are not husband of wife and if I am not wrong that earring also doesn't belong to you..you must have stolen it from somewhere right", the man seemed to have made some deductions about us.

"See I tell you to mind your own business and you keep bugging me", he said coldly and thumped on the couch. I stood like rat in between them. On one hand I really wanted to have those ear bobs back and on the second I wanted everything to be done calmly without any fight but with Manik around the latter was hardly a possibility. The old man was although a little scared but tried to put a brave face

"I will call the police right away", the man tried to show some guts and dragged the phone out of his pocket and tried to make a call when Manik sprung on his foot and snatched the phone off his hand in a go and banged it on the floor breaking it into pieces. I leaped back in terror and an old lady supposedly his wife came running from inside on hearing the sound. My eyes bulged wide to see her wearing the same pair of ear bobs. I looked at Manik and his eyes twinkled at the sight of it, relief hit him as he finally saw what he had been looking for.

"Manik let me talk to them please", I stopped him before he decided to do things his way and he let me. It was strange but we had sort of built an understanding in between us where he covered me when I wanted him to and he submitted when I needed to.

"Aunty those are mine...Can I please have them back", I made an innocent face and pointed at my belonging which now ornamented her ears.

"But my husband gifted them to me", she immediately stepped back guarding them with her hands.

I could sense Manik losing his patience. Probably he couldn't understand why I was pleading to have my own thing back because he was almost tailor made to have things as per his will all the time. I pursed him a look to stay calm and returned my focus to the lady.

"Aunty we didn't have money to pay for the room so I gave them to Uncle till we arranged for money...please these are his first gift to me and losing them would somewhere mean losing him and I cant lose him please give them back... please", I felt a slight prick of tear in my eyes as if I genuinely meant what I said and I knew somewhere I did mean them.

The man was still in shock and the lady looked utterly confused. I held her hand and requested once more and her eyes softened. She immediately reached her hands and took them off. I could see a tinge of pain in her eyes, it was probably her first ever precious gift from her husband but I was helpless. She handed them to me. Manik came in with a wide grin and skilfully slid his hand into mine and took them in his possession.

"Manik shall we leave now", I asked without looking into his eyes as the tears were still there blurring my sight.

"Itni jaldi kya hai Nandini...I am kindda sure that Aunty is a superb cook..I can see it from her hands..right Aunty", he flashed a suave smile at her and almost instantly her gloomy eyes twinkled with an endearing smile. Manik surely knew his ways with ladies I was a living example of that.

"Yes sure beta", she quickly coiled her into a bun and tightened her dupatta by her waist and geared up for the feast. Uncle on the other hand was trying to grab her attention.

"Nandini you help Aunty in cooking..isi bahane kuch sikh logi.. I shall be with Uncle in the study", he wrapped an arm around him and gave him a tight pull of warning.

I figured out what Manik intended to do. He had asked Cabir to meet him in a pub in the evening, we couldn't go back to the motel and roaming openly on the streets were not an option so it was a safe place to be till it was time for us to go. Aunty nudged me to follow her and I pursed a smile.

"Amm Aunty I will just come in a moment mujhe Manik se thodi baat karni hai"

"You really love him right...it shows in your eyes...even he loves you a lot", she stated with a heart warming smile.

"Really Aunty you felt that", I wanted to convince myself that she was right. I badly wanted it to be true.

"Yes..his eyes are always on you...he doesn't miss out on you for a single second...now come on finish up your talk and come back we need lots to do", she patted my shoulder with a warm smile and I blushed like a fool.

***

In the Study

"I can see that you are really intelligent and wont do things that will screw my head", he drew the gun out of his pocket and placed on the table quietly. The man panicked at the very sight of the gun. It would run down shivers for any commoner to see a gun, for Manik it was like his toothbrush that he religiously used twice a day and for me ahh I had also grown used to it now. When I entered the room I saw that the man was about to faint while Manik was busy taking aims at him.

"Manik put that back right now", I ordered him fearlessly standing right in front of him. It bothered him a little that he couldn't scare me more often now. He flared his nostrils in annoyance of being obstructed and finally followed my direction and shoved the gun back in his pocket.

"Please you can go and relax", I asked the man to loosen up and be comfortable till the time we were there.

"And do remember what I asked you not to do", Manik yelled once again to remind him and the man literally tripped thrice before he got out of the room safely..

I rolled my eyes at his attempts to scare people but now I was out of that list. Now I had to do what I was there for. I pushed him against the table and tried to lock his giant body with my petite frame. Manik was completely taken a back by my sudden attack. We had been intimate on several occasions but every time he had taken the lead and I followed him obediently. My hands roamed around his entire body as if they had every right on him.

"Nandini what are you doing?", Manik giggled, danced and hopped like a frog as he felt ticklish.

"Stand still Manik", I moved my hands all over his body to locate it and finally found it in his back pocket. I yanked him closer to get proper access and he submitted like a good boy. I had not realized that I was leaning on him completely, our bodies were molding onto each other. Manik's breath hitched as I moved my face closer to his. He was losing it may be for the first time ever. I saw a cute pout brew on his lips, he wanted to be kissed but this time I was focused. I fiddled my hand in his pocket and dragged it out and separated from him in the next instance.

I looked at the twinkling ear bobs in my hand while Manik was still lost in his trance. Both the times I wore it Manik had put them on me, I hardly had time to see and admire them by myself, they were etheral. I flipped them backwards and found something stuck on it and used my nails to scratch it off and finally had the chip in my hand. I slapped Manik on the chest to come back from his lala land. This guy was seriously a lost cause here in one instance he was ready to shower bullets to get the chip now he was lost in the wait of being kissed. Manik zapped out and found me standing with his thing. He looked irritated that I fooled him.

"What is in this chip", I questioned him again.

Manik huffed arrogantly and pressed his finger over my lips and took the circuit out of his pocket and the chip from my hand and moved to the desktop system kept in one corner of the room. I followed him quietly.

"Go close the door", he gestured me to close the door in a low cautious tone and I did that without any questions.

Manik pulled out an USB cable from the drawer and connected one end of it to the PC and the other to the circuit and carefully inserted the chip in it. Though I was basic computer literate but programming and all was never my cup of tea. A flow chart started rolling on the screen with a plethora of coded signals.

"Manik what is this?", I was completely jammed as to what was Manik trying to decipher in those codes.

"These codes have all the information about the drugs smuggling business thriving in our country, from peddlers to dealers to smugglers to their locations, secret dealing and the high profile people that are involved. This chip has all the information about them",

"But I don't see any names these are just some numbers some random numbers"

He let out a quick snort, "Nandini these are not random numbers..they are codes and once they are cracked we will we able to track the entire drug racket spread in our country...if this information leaks out then a lot of big shots will be in trouble...police and smugglers both are after this...ye jiske bhi haath lagi samjho dusre ki watt lagi", he nodded his head in a rhythm as if he was explaining Pythagoras theorem to me.

"So you are trying to protect them or reveal them", I looked at him with confusion written all over my face.

"For the time being I am just trying to decode them..come one you know more than enough now...go and help Aunty.. mujhe bhook lagi hai", he made an adorable face and I couldn't help but respond with a smile and moved back to leave.

Even though he hadn't still spill the beans but at least I knew something now. I don't know why I felt he wasn't wrong, he couldn't be. I stopped by the door and turned around to see him, he was engrossed in the computer.

"Manik", I called on him softly and he just hmmed without looking at me, "I trust you", and confessed with a vulnerable tenderness in my eyes . His eyes froze at me as I quietly stepped out and closed the door behind.