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Manik traced the corner of my lips as he laid me on the sofa giving the hand rest as a support for my back. He was sitting facing me leaving a feet of distance between us. His hand travelled from lips to cheeks and into my hair which was secured in a bun.

He pulled out the tiny brooch from my hair and threw it away making my long, black hair fall loose all over my shoulders and covered the exposed back. The midnight air was blowing softly and my hair moved according to the flow.

He swept the hair falling on my face with both his hands and pulled me closer for a kiss. He looked at my lips first and then at my eyes before fixing all his attention to my lips.

There was a hair breadth gap between our lips when my eyes fell on something shining under this full moon night. It was the brooch holding my hair together which Manik threw it earlier. That shining item belongs to Alya!

She gave it to me in the evening as a gift to wear for tonight's party. It belongs to her and only her. I related it Manik's and my position and this brooch explained my situation.

He belongs to Alya and not me just like the brooch!

What am I doing here? How can I kiss someone who belongs to someone else? But Manik announced that I belong to him, didn't he? He confessed that he loves me as well then why does it feels wrong?

Manik is ready to give everything except my respect and it's unsettling with me. He has promised to marry Alya and now he is in this position with me. What does it make me and him? We do not have any bond between us?

"Is it just a physical attraction, Manik?" I didn't know I said it out loud until Manik removed his lips from my skin and frowned.

"Whom am I to you, Manik?" As soon as his deep eyes met mine I felt weak and my eyes became moist. A big drop of tear fell from my face rolling down my cheek making Manik grit his teeth.

He stood up leaving me alone on the sofa ran his hair into his hair making it a mess. He kicked the chair next to him and the chair fell down making a thud sound on the ground. I hugged myself pulling my knees closer to my body and rested my head above it.

"You tell me Nandini, what were we doing here? Is it just physical attraction between us? Don't you feel any connection towards me?"

I looked him with my teary eyes. "I don't know what's happening here or to me. All I know is everything happening is wrong and I... I... am not getting any respect."

"Stop crying, Dammit!" He said pulling his hair. "And what's wrong with us? Don't you feel a strong pull towards me like I feel about you? Didn't you feel the loss when we were standing so close to each other but unable to touch?" Manik made me stand on my feet and held me by my arms pulling me to himself. "Now don't say you regret everything we did  because I know that's a big lie."

And he was absolutely correct. Every single thing he mentioned is true. I do not regret any moment between us and infact I want him to hold me in his away from the world. But that's impossible and I am thinking so sinfully. My parents would be ashamed to see their princess behaving like this and having such thoughts about a man.

More tears came out my eyes making his hold on my arms get tighter. "And that makes me feel disgusted about myself, Manik. How can I even ... I shouldn't have done it. I should have kept my distance from you. I should not have lost my manners."

"It's not entirely on you! We both participated equally, Nandini. We want each other and there's nothing wrong in it." He shook me by my arms.

"Want each other? How? We do not belong to each other. We do not have any bond between us. Nobody arranged for our relationship and nobody is wishing for us to end up together. It's obnoxious to even have such thoughts."

"Stop making me feel like we are having an extra marital affair! I am still unmarried and so are you. Nobody needs to arrange our relationship as long as we have our consent." He frowned. "Above everything else we love each other."

"Love? No Manik, I was never in love with you. It was you who confessed it. Infact, now I am starting to think our definition of love is different. Your love is selfish and is limited to physical attraction, but mine..." I stopped.

What is love? I don't know! How should I explain it to him even after not knowing the meaning of love I still feel what we did does not explain it. He belongs to Alya, everyone is waiting for them to get married and I am nobody to him.

More tears formed and I freed myself not wanting to cry infront of him. I fell to my feet and covered my face with my palms and cried.

"Alright, if feelings are so important for you, then why did you agree to marry Harshad? I need an honest answer."

I looked up to him staring at me with an unknown emotion on his face. I stood up matched his height and looked into his eyes. "If I say no to Harshad, will you marry me, Manik?"

I questioned him. He stood rooted to the spot and did not answer me for the first few minutes. I did not move from the place and waited for an answer. "No." He finally spoke up making my heart break a hundred times.

Rejection from Manik, rejection after spending all this time with him, rejection after being comfortable with him, rejection after getting a tiny bit of spark, rejection after missing him. After all this, I got a rejection from him, a big, blunt, NO. There was no explanation just a simple No.

I let out a sad chuckle with tears still in my eyes. "You have your answer for your question, Manik."

I turned on my heels to walk away from him and this situation. I should have just stayed with everyone in the party instead of coming to this lonely place. I would have been eating all the food instead of crying on the new year night and getting rejected.

"Nandini." I halted on my steps hearing him calling my name. My heart beat rose with hope as I felt his footsteps behind me walking towards me.

What will happen now? Will he say he was joking? Will he explain what's happening to me and us? Will he say I was just dreaming and I have to come to the hallway for the countdown? Will he say what exactly I need? Will I get my answers finally?

My thoughts came to a stop as Manik brushed my hair away and clasped the back of my dress. He then wrapped the shawl around me and secured it on my shoulder. I didn't even remember my state when I was walking away from him. What would have happened if people saw me like that?

"Now you can go." Manik said and turned back to face him with confusion. "What? Didn't you say that you were happy getting into a loveless marriage with Harshad? Then go to him and leave me alone."

Anger rose in me with the mention of Harshad. "You have no right to speak against him, Manik. Atleast he wouldn't play with my feelings and hurt me as a hobby like you. Yes, I am happy tied to a loveless marriage with Harshad. It proves that feelings are not needed to stay happy in a relationship. It also proves that respect and being kind to each other is more than enough."

Manik rolled his eyes at me. "Please spare me your Adam and Eve bullshit. You are already getting on my nerves by not accepting your feelings towards me and speaking about your ideal relationship with Harshad is not helping either." He rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. "Now please go to your kind and respectful man who must need help to serve him food."

Why am I not getting angry on Manik for speaking bad about Harshad? Instead I am getting angry for playing with my feelings and hurting me. Manik has no right to speak about my choices when he himself couldn't make a perfect decision.

I will not leave him tonight. This new year I have to have a fresh start. I can not carry all this burden with me all the year. I need my answers now!

I saw Manik turning his back on me and taking a few steps away from me. I immediately bent down and pulled out my heels with my hand and held it in both of my hands. I aimed one of the heels at Manik's body and threw it at him which perfectly hit his back.

Manik turned around in a second with a frown in his face looking at the heel which hit him on the ground. "What the f--"

I interrupted him. "Why did you say 'NO' to me?"

"What are you speaking?"

I took a step forward with one heel still in my hand. "If you really love me and can not live with the thought of losing me as you mentioned while you confessed your feelings, why did you say 'NO' to me earlier? Why do you not want to marry me?"

"I am not answering it." He said and turned on his foot to walk away.

I immediately ran towards him and took quick steps to stand infront of him and blocked his way. "There's no way you are going away without answering me Manik. I need an answer."

He still decided to take a step further when I continued, "I still have another heel in my hand. And this time I won't hit you from far."

He folded his hands on his chest challenging my audacity to question the Mafia Boss.

I blew the hair falling on my face and tried to stand on my tippy toes to match his height as I removed my heels and I am now a feet shorter than him. Still on my stumbling feet I tried to threaten him till he give me an answer. "You might be the mighty boss of the Malhotra empire. But remember I come from the Mafia family as well. Infact, the Mafia Boss of Murthy Mafia, my father pampered me, which makes me stronger than you. Are you getting what I am saying, Manik? I was pampered by a Mafia Boss and that makes me..." He interrupted my words in mid sentence.

"You do not have any quality to become my wife, Nandini." Manik said casually as if it is a universal truth.

If his earlier rejection broke my heart into hundreds of pieces, his explanation broke it into thousand pieces further.

...

How is the update?

What will happen next?

Poor girl's heart is getting broken!!

What do you think of Manik's behaviour?

Do you have any ideas for Manan scenes you wish to read?