Happy Reading.💞
___

"Manik, ab hum kya karenge?" Nandini asked as they exited the forest and moved towards their car.

" Ghar jaayenge, aur kya?" He replied.

" What? Nooo. I don't want to go. Mein nahi jaa rahi hoon." She screamed and sat down on the green grass while crossing her legs.

" Nandini, what is this? Utho yahan se." He said in a stern voice.

" But I don't want to go. I want to roam around." She said with a sad face.

" Accha we will roam around. Ab toh utho." He said as he gave her his hand.

" Pehle promise karo?" She said as she pointed her finger at him.

" Tum aise nahi maanogi." He said and immediately picked her up in his arms.

" Maaanikkk. Put me down. Cheating! Cheating!" She screamed as he made her sit on the passenger seat.

" Utarne ki kosish bhi matt karna. Child lock laga hua hai." He said with a forced smile making her frown.

" Mein tumhe child lagti hoon?" She asked with an angry face.

" Usse kam bhi nahi ho, vaise." He said while chuckling make her turn her face towards the window.

" Accha tumhe meetha as in chocolates and all bohot pasand hai na?" He asked while driving.

" Haan, toh?" She asked.

" Toh yeh ki aaj mein tumhe New York ka best shake pilaunga. It's really too good. And too high in calories too. But you know, uss shake ko banane ke liye there's a special chef who literally takes two hours to make every shake." He explained making her smile inwardly.

" Aisa kya hai uss shake mein?" She said in a curious tone.

" You'll see." He said with a smirk.

" And what will we do for two hours then?" She asked again.

" Nandini yaar, kitne sawaal puchti ho. Trust me, it's gonna be amazing." He said enthusiastically making her smile.

~~~

" So, here we are." He said as he stopped the car after they ordered the 'special New York Shake' for Nandini. They stopped in front of a huge glass like building touching the clouds with run rays reflecting on it.

" The Empire State Building! Oh my god!" Nandini squealed as she jumped a little in excitement.

" I'm sure you're gonna love it." Manik said as they proceeded towards the lift after they got their already purchased tickets checked.

" I already love it." She said with a wide grin as they entered the huge golden lift.

" So which floor are we going till? 86th?" She asked in a low voice as they were surrounded by a bunch of other people in the lift.

" No. 102nd." He said with a smile.

" WHAAAAT?" She screamed grabbing attention of all the other people to which she mouthed an inaudible " Sorry".

" But I've heard you need special permission for going to the 102nd floor and it's kinda expensive too." She hesitantly asked.

" Ohoo Nandini, not again please. One of our clients works here, so it wasn't that difficult. And as far as expenses are concerned, you need to shut up otherwise I'm gonna send you back from here." He said in a stern low voice making her nod immediately.

" This feeling you get in your stomach. It's so funny and weird." She said in a low voice as she kept her hand on her stomach as the lift almost reached the 102nd floor.

" Well, gravity at its play, my child." The old lift attendant remarked making Nandini chuckle a little.

They finally reached the 102nd floor which wasn't much crowded due to the fact that people prefer the 86th floor more and also, you need a special clearance from the authorities.

" This looks so unreal." She spoke in an awed whisper.

" Indeed it does." He replied as the high speed wind kept gushing through them.

" I mean all of this looks so tiny. It's like you feel like a giant and everything just appears like you're in a miniature world." She said as she admired the view making Manik adore her a little more than usual.

They took a bunch of crazy photographs, heaps of selfies which they sent to their family and friends and it was almost time to leave.

" Ab tumhe tumhara special milkshake nahi chahiye? It's almost past two hours." He said with a smile.

" Sure. Let's go." She said not before taking the last view of the magnificent view.

~~~

" Manik, are you sure this is a shake? I mean, it looks like a cake." She said in astonishment looking at the silver jug decked up till top with chocolate, m&m's, muffins, whipped cream and what not. It was a dream come true for a chocolate fanatic!

" And this is for you." He said as he handed her over a large spoon to eat and got himself chicken pretzels to eat.

" I'm sure that now I'm gonna take two hours just to eat this." She remarked with a sigh.

" Take your time." He said while laughing as they settled down on a corner, window seat.

" Hufff. Finallyyy!" She exclaimed after almost an hour or so as she finished 'eating' the shake making Manik laugh heartily as he kept recording her all through the time she was eating while making all sorts of cute and funny faces.

" You're so bad." She said as she smacked his arm as they moved out of the restaurant.

" Manik, let's just walk please. Otherwise I'm so going to explode." She sighed with her hand on her stomach to which he laughed and nodded and made their way towards the Chestnut Ridge Park.

" Nandini, ek aur shake peena hai?" Manik said while laughing as they walked through the roads of the park earning a death glare from her.

" I feel so tired of eating, Manik. I don't think I can have dinner now." She said making him laugh again.

" Aur piyo. Sorry, khaao." He said making her laugh a little too. They finally decided to move back towards their car as it was past 8 PM already. To avoid the crowd, they decided to take another route which is a little isolated from the rush of the city, just as they were moving down the road of that path, Manik observed a bunch of men in black jackets following them which immediately alerted his senses.

" Nandini, just keep moving okay? Don't look back. Our car is just steps away." He whispered in her ear as he shielded her protectively in his arms making her scared to no extent when the men increased their speed and moved towards them.

Just when the men were about to catch hold of them, they immediately sat in their car and drove off.

" Manik, what was that?" She finally asked.

" Don't worry. This keeps happening here. You're okay." He said as he rubbed her shoulder a little to which she nodded understandingly.

" But that was scary." She said.

" Yes. It is scary. But the more you get scared of them, the more they will target you. Most of them are alcohol and drug addicts, so it's not really safe to mess around with such people." He said making her lean back on the seat.

" Aren't you hungry? " she asked him.

"Just a little. I feel like having noodles." He said as he licked his lips like an excited kid making her laugh.

" I'll make them for you when we reach home." She said while laughing.

~~~

" And now I'm gonna take you to my favourite spot in this house. Whenever I can't fall asleep here in my room, I always come here." He said with a smile as they moved towards the second floor of the mansion, dressed in comfortable pyjamas with a bowl of sizzling delicious noodles.

They reached the area near the balcony where a small bed with two pillows was there and the entire area was covered with glass, giving the most mesmerising view of the night sky with the little stars twinkling and spreading light.

" Manik, this is so beautiful. Really." She said as she sat on the bed looking around the place.

" Whenever we guys come here, we spend most of our time here only." He said with a smile.

" Want some?" He asked as he passed on the noodles bowl to her.

" Oh no. Please. I'm full." She replied with a smile.

They talked about their friends, their college life from where Nandini got to know that he did his MBA from London where he still keeps visiting. While Manik got to know many of Nandini's hidden traits too such as she could draw a little and while talking over a bowl of instant noodles, they didn't even realise that it was past midnight. But still the two souls weren't sleepy, even a bit.

" Manik, I'm not at all sleepy. Kuch khelte hain." She said excitedly while lying down on the bed.

" Nandini, we're not kids anymore." He said in an obvious tone making her grunt in frustration.

" Not those children games, Manik. Let's play twenty questions." She suggested.

" How do we play that?" He asked as he sat up.

" So basically, I will put forward a question, first you have to answer that question and then I will. The same goes for your turn too. For example, I ask that what is your favourite food. So first you will answer and then I will. Okay?" She explained while he listened to her with full concentration.

" Cool. Let's play." He said.

" So, I'll go first. One adventure sport you'd like to do." She asked.

" Paragliding. In a heartbeat." He replied instantly.

" So mine is , deep sea diving" she said while he made an 'I'm impressed' face.

" What is more important, trust or happiness?" He asked the second question.

" For me, every relationship, be it friendship or love, depends on trust. Agar tum kisi ko trust nahi kar sakte toh happiness kahan se hogi?" She answered making him smile.

" Trust is happiness." He answered his part making her happy.

" So my chance now. Which food describes your personality?" She asked the third question.

" Pizza, topped with different vegetables. Because there will always be different things a stranger will get to see if he/she spends time with me." He answered with a weird face not knowing what to answer.

" Okay. That was pretty different. So my answer is Pani Purii." She said excitedly making him laugh.

" So question four, you only have three words to describe me. What would they be?" He asked.

" Hahah. This is interesting. So the first one, Monster. Two, Impulsive and Three, Golden hearted. That becomes four words technically, but yeah." She said sheepishly.

" Wow. That was new. My turn now. So one, Adorable, two; stubborn and three; Crazy." He replied earning a smack on his head by her.

" Question five. Which do you listen to the most while taking decisions, heart or brain?" She asked.

" Brain." He replied.

" Heart guides you." She replied with a smile making him nod too.

" One super power you'd want to have?" He asked one of the most cliched questions making her laugh a little.

" Read people's minds." She replied with a smirk.

" Precognition. You like with a crystal ball in those movies." He said making her laugh heartily.

" A pet you'd like to have?" She asked the seventh question.

" I already have one." He replied.

" What? How come I've never seen it?" She asked while narrowing her gaze.

" Ginger. She's in the vet, she wasn't doing well. So we had to send her away for some time. She's going to be back next week. I'm so excited to see her after four months." He said with happiness clearly showing on his face as he showed her a picture of a healthy Golden Retriever on his phone.

" I'd love to have a dog too." She replied with a smile.

" One thing about yourself that people find beautiful but you find overrated?" He asked the eighth question.

" My eyes. People just keep talking about them. But I don't think my eyes are pretty." She shrugged.

" You've got to be kidding me. You have one of the best pair of eyes." He exclaimed.

" See this is what I was talking about. Tumhari turn hai ab." She said while chuckling.

" My height, obviously." He said sheepishly.

" But that's not wrong, khambe ho tum." She said and burst out laughing like crazy.

"And this was what I was talking of." He said with a forced smile.

" Okay. So my turn now, one thing people don't know about you?" She asked.

" That I love you." He said with a straight face expression.

" Huh?" She said as her eyes turned wide and round like saucers making her heart skip a beat.

" Kidding. Look at your face." He said and started laughing.

" Shut up." She said and threw a cushion on his face to hide her red face.

" Okay okay. Sorry. So the one thing people don't know about me is that I love reading murder mystery novels." He said finally.

" Wow. I never expected this." She said with her mouth open.

" Your turn." He said as he sat with the support of both his arms.

" I can live my entire life in pyjamas. Literally. If I've been given a choice to implement one rule everywhere, it would be an International Pyjama Day. I can come to office in them too, but yeah. That's silly, I know. But yes, that's the thing." She said with her lips formed into a thin line when he immediately started laughing like crazy.

" Oh god. Nandini you're so cute." He said while laughing.

" Yeah yeah. You can laugh." She said with a bad face.

" Okay let's continue. One secret you'd like to share. And I'll answer this one first." He said excitedly.

" So once during the Holi party, I ended up mixing vodka in the juice drum and everyone got drunk. Cabir thought it was Mukti, Mukti thought it was Dhruv, Alya thought it was Cabir and Dhruv also thought that it was Mukti whereas it was me. Nobody took my name. Even today they end up fighting on this." He said and ended up giggling making Nandini laugh too.

" That was something. Okay so, I have two secrets. Dono batadun?" She asked nervously.

" Out with it." He said with a smirk.

" Okay so, the first one, I drink only with Cabir. Like all the hard drinks and all. Only with him. Nobody else knows about it, not even Navya. It's our secret." She finished just to find him sitting with his mouth open.

" Googly pe googly daal rahi hai tu." He remarked making her chuckle a little.

" Okay the next one, my boyf.." just when she was about to finish, he interrupted her knowing what was coming.

" Kya? Kab? Kyun? Kaise?" He said with anger flowing in his veins.

" Tum mujhe bolne toh do. He's a baby." She said with a huge smile making him almost ready to erupt like lava.

" Wait, I'll call him." She said excitedly and picked up her phone before he could snatch it.

" Hi Darling." She said as the call was answered, making him immediately snap his head towards her in shock. [Refer to Chapter 4.]

" Yes baby. I'm okay. How are you?" She said with a wide smile making him go all green with jealousy.

" Baby, video call pe aaoge?" She asked and just as she got a positive answer, she dismissed the call and immediately called him on FaceTime.

" Hello Boyfriend." She said with a wide grin.

" Hi girlfriend." Came a shrill babyish voice from the other side making Manik suspicious.

" Toh mere baby ko kya gifts chahiye?" She asked softly with a huge grin.

" Mujhe naa, dhel saaali chocates chaiye." Came the same tiny toddler voice.

" Okay baby, done. Accha mein aapko ek new friend se milvaaun?" She said happily and handed over her phone to Manik who was sulking with a bad face.

" So, Darling, this is Manik and Manik this is my darling boyfriend, Aarush." She introduced making Manik's mouth drop in bewilderment. A four year old kid was THE DARLING who he was getting jealous of?

" Hi Aarush." Manik finally said after a couple of seconds as he recovered from the shock.

" Hi Bhaiyaa." Aarush replied in his little voice happily.

While Aarush and Manik bonded like jam and bread, Nandini was all this while smiling warmly seeing the happiness of the two boys, one who was enjoying to the fullest with his new friend and the other who had become a child along with the other one. Soon Manik handed over her phone back,

" Bye baby. I love you. Dhyaan rakhna okay?" Nandini said affectionately as she blew a virtual kiss to him making Manik think that why couldn't he be that kid? After talking for a couple more minutes, she ended the call.

" Aarush is an orphan, he lives in the orphanage. His parents died in a car accident. And since the day I've met him, he's always been very close to me." She said with a smile.

" I would love to meet him." Manik said with a smile to which she nodded.

" Vaise, why does he call you Girlfriend?" He asked curiously.

" Hah. One day he came up to me asking me that " Girlfriend kon hoti hai? " he was three back then. So I had to tell him that jo girl aapki friend hoti hai usse girlfriend kehte hain. So since then he calls me this." She explained with a smile.

" So technically, tum bhi meri girlfriend hui nahi?" He said mischievously making her cheeks turn rosy.

" Manik, stop it." She said with a stern face trying to hide her embarrassment when he immediately kissed her cheek making her eyes go wider and her cheeks redder.

" My question now. Who's your favorite actress?" She asked as she changed the topic successfully.

" Emma Watson." He replied instantly with a dreamy expression making Nandini scrunch her nose in annoyance.

" Who is your favorite actor?" He asked.

" Shahid Kapoor. No question." She said with happiness on her face making him turn his face away.

" Madam, he's married and he even has a baby now." He said with a forced smile.

" Toh? Pyaar yeh sab thodi dekhta hai." She replied with a happy expression.

" Toh ussi ke paas kyun nahi chali jaati." He said in anger and moved away to the balcony. She followed him just to find him leaning on the wooden grill with his hands on both sides.

She bent down a little and moved under his arm to enter the 'protective space.'

" But you know, now that favorite title belongs to someone else." She said with her tongue in her cheek.

" Who?" He finally asked as he looked at her.

" A guy. You know his name starts with M. M for Monster." She whispered with a smile making him smile a little too. And the game was long forgotten as more than answers, they got to know each other better.

While they stood there looking at the twinkling night sky, their minds and hearts were at peace.

" Manik, let's go inside. Thand hai yahan." She said as she rubbed her arms a little.

" Better?" He asked as he pulled her close to him making her body stick to his, radiating the much needed heat to which she nodded a little.

" Are you comfortable?" He softly asked.

" I can never be uncomfortable with you." She replied with a smile as she rested her head on his chest.

She whispered, " I'm afraid of falling." He smiled and said, " I'll catch you."
___

So, two updates in a week huh?
Do drop in your reviews, because I'm not really sure about this update.🙈
Next update,next week. Happy Friday! 😚
Much love.
~Vx.💕