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...

I tried to back away from his body but he pulled me towards him holding my leg. These days I am wearing only his blazers in the day time and his pajamas at night. My bare legs were exposed sending shivers all over my skin with his hold. 

"I am marking my name on you," he puled out the black paint from the bag and waved it on my face. "Where?"

Manik hungrily eyed my body to find a perfect spot to paint his name. I pulled the blazer to cover my exposed legs but it did not help as they hardly reached my knees while standing, now they covered my knees. My stunt only got his attention as a smirk appeared on his devil face.

"Perfect!" Manik dipped the brush into the black paint and held it tight in between his fingers. He sat between my legs and locked my legs around his waist. With his free hand he lifted the blazer exposing my thigh to his hungry eyes. "At least we agree on the same spot."

"What? No! I did not agree to this spot." In fact I was covering it so that he would not see my bare skin. He always misunderstands me.

"So, was it your left thigh?" He released my right and held the left leg. "This is perfect too."

See, he is built different!

"Nandini, chose fast. Left or right?" He questioned slowly training his fingers on my exposed skin.

"None." I said with difficulty as I felt ticklish.

"Wrong. It's either left or right. Of course, I wouldn't mind marking both." He kept the brush aside holding both of my thighs in his hands. 

I sat up and tried to push him away but since he locked my feet under his body I am sitting directly in his lap. Shit! My face turned red with his intense eyes staring into my soul. I slowly slid from his body but he left the right thigh and snaked his arm around my waist preventing me from going away from his hold. 

"Manik, I will pull your hair if you will paint even a single drop on me." I mumbled. 

What happened to my voice? My hands are not cooperating to pull his hair instead they are happily resting on his broad shoulders. 

"Did you say something?" He teased. 

He took the paint brush and moved everything which disturbed his view of my skin. My breath hitched as the bristles almost touched my skin. "I will give you a final chance, Nandini."

Hope filled my chest as I eagerly waited for him to continue. "Call me, Boss."

"In your dreams, Monster." I said without thinking. I would never call him boss, even if a human blood turns blue. He shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to bring the brush to my skin but I stopped him. No matter how much I tried I could not call him Boss neither I can have his name on my thigh. 

"B.O.S.S." I spelled it instead of calling him a boss directly. "What? You did not say it must be said in a whole word. I did the task and you must back off."

Manik wasn't satisfied with my smart hack and he dipped the brush again as it previously dried. "You lost your chance." He pushed me on the bed and locked my hands with his fist above my head. My feet under him and he trailed the back of the brush from my toes to my thigh. I shut my eyes as tight as possible in fear and the tickling sensation. 

After what felt like an eternity I opened my eyes as his weight shifted and left me lose. I immediately shouted at him gaining all the energy now that he is far away from me. "You monster, how dare you write your name on my thigh? Do you this body part will be called Manik? No, it will still be known as THIGH."

He folded his muscular arms over his chest covered by his vest. "Look at your legs first."

I frowned and looked down at my skin. It was flawless. I did not find anything not even a single drop of paint on my skin. Manik did not paint his name on me, such a sweetheart.

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Manik. You are such a cupcake. I shouldn't have yelled at you without checking."

He shook his head. "But I am hurt. You yelled at me." He turned his face away from me.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Do you want a piggy back ride?" I tried to lighten his mood but he still had a pout on his face. I stood in front of him and kept both his hands over my shoulders trying to lift his weight over my tiny body.

He surprised me by pulling me up from the ground and threw me over his shoulder and twirled me around. At least he is no longer angry. I laughed happily seeing the world from this height. I almost touched the chandelier with my arm as Manik was tall. 

He brought me down on my feet and tucked the hair behind my ear. "I never lose."

I frowned. What does it mean? He turned me towards the mirror near the painting and gasped with surprise. That donkey wrote his name on my FOREHEAD. Literally on my face. 

"You said you didn't paint your name on my body." I yelled rubbing my forehead roughly.

"I didn't say that, Miss Overthinker said it herself." He chuckled and walked away from me.

Not so soon, babe. He is going out after leaving me like this? I must teach him a lesson too. I jumped on him trying to pull his head down but this time I had no chance as he was completely prepared to my attack. 

Since I couldn't grab his hair I proceeded to empty as much paint as I can into my fists. There was a mix of paint in my hand and I didn't care about the color or aesthetics. All I care about is to smear the paint on his face. 

"Don't you dare, Nandini. That paint is permanent and non-erasable." He jumped on the other side of the bed. 

My mouth went wide in shock. "You wrote your name on my face even after knowing this is permanent, Manik? You are such a rascal and you deserve it." I stood up on the bed to hold him instead of running around the room. He has long legs and I wouldn't match his speed. 

My feet slipped from the bed trying to catch him and was about to kiss the floor but Manik prevented that in a nick of a second. This gave me a chance to smear the paint on his chest and shoulder. "I didn't expect that, Nandini." He said trying to rub the paint when its still wet. But it was of no use as the paint already settled. 

Well, that makes two of us. We both hurried to the bathroom to wipe the ink of us with water and soap but it stayed the same. Oh, No! How can we roam with this face. Lucky guy, he got the paint on his body and he can cover it with clothes. What about me? How do I cover my face?

"Why can't you write your name on my internal organs? It would be easier to hide it." I screamed. 

"Hide through surgery?" He said trying to stop his laugh. 

"Haha, very funny. How do I hide this name?" I pouted.

He cupped my cheeks and pressed his lips on my forehead. "Then don't let anyone see you. Just stay in our room."

I pushed him away. "Our room? Dude this is either my room or your room, it can never be our room. Okay? And, I don't care about this name on my forehead. I will say .... I will say... that I am member of Malhotra Empire and as a fan I wrote this name."

"Wow! What a believable story! Why don't you say that black water and feather danced on your forehead creating my name?" 

I didn't have words to scold him or energy left to attack his hair so I let him go. This night belongs to him, let him enjoy my misery. I will get my night sometime, then I will make fun of his misery. I walked towards the bed and lay down covering my whole body including my face as I lost the battle. 

Long live Nandini Murthy! Long live princess! 

...

I stretched my body as the sun rays hit my face. I turned on my left to block them and looked for some water to wet my dried throat. The glass was empty and I groaned lazily. Nobody replaced my empty water glass? That's surprising!

"Navya! Navya! Water!" I shouted as loud as possible. 

"Coming Princess." I heard Navya running towards my room. "Here is your water, Princess." She was panting holding my glass of water. I lazily sat on the bed and took the glass in my hands.

"How many times did I asked you to call me Nandini." I said taking a sip. 

"Sorry..." She paused and my sleep flew out of the window with realization. We both looked at each other. We are not living in Murthy mansion, Navya is no longer my assigned friend and I am not a princess. But it was just a habit and we both did not realize this until this last second. 

Manik held the phone to his ear and did not speak anything. Niyonika did not take another step further and the staff froze to their spot. It was shocking for everyone to see Navya running towards me to serve me a glass of water. 

Surprisingly, this felt good and I smiled. Nandini 1, Navya 0. I took mouthful of water in satisfaction. She grabbed the glass from my hand and splashed the water on my face. Nandini 1, Navya 1. I didn't know what to do next so I spit the water from my mouth on her face. Nandini 2, Navya 1. 

We both fumed at each other, there is no water around us and we did the best we could to have the upper hand. We latched at each others hair and began our war. I looked at Manik for help but he shrugged and walked out in his jacket. He usually works out in his sleeveless vest but I know the reason behind the change in his attire. 

That brought me to my senses, even I have his name on my face. I kicked Navya and hid myself under the blanket. She continued pulling the blanket to attack me but I didn't give her any chance. "Navya, I don't have any water with me, if you continue to trouble me I might vomit on you." 

She gave a last punch on my head and walked out of the room. I thank my stars for her to be so busy in the fight that she didn't notice Manik's name on my forehead. After being sure that the bedroom is empty I came out of my blanket and tiptoed towards the mirror to look at my reflection. 

The paint is still there and it did not fade even a bit. "What do I do now?"

...

How will Nandu deal with the name on her forehead?