As promised, delivering :") [no pun intended ;)]

𓆩𓆪

The sky was beginning to blush under the influence of its warm lover tucking into bed at the horizon.

Manik turned in her direction. She was quietly staring through the windshield at the wonderful blend of hues, utterly smitten by their beauty, just as he was by hers. The peach coloured kurti she was wearing matched the tint of sunset. Her luminous lips, coloured with a handy lip balm she carried in her pink tote at all times, were trapped under an involuntary bite as she adjusted herself and leaned forward as the colours transitioned somewhere over her head.

Was it all real, was she real? Everything blended into nothingness as the two basked under sunset, together yet apart.

Nandini's bangs flew with the misty air surrounding them, obscuring her vision. Wanting a better view of the magical face that tormented him for several days and nights at a stretch, his linked hand impulsively approached her to unveil the curtain of strands. She tucked them mechanically with her free hand and registered his gesture from the corner of her eye with a conflicted frown. He fisted his hand, taken aback, and eyed the road.

Her bangles jingled as she swiped her face haphazardly. Was something stuck on her face? Nandini pulled the visor, slid the mirror slot, examined herself in disappointment and leaned back in her seat.

She couldn't deny that somewhere in the last thirty minutes or so, her anxieties surrounding him had somehow lessened. There for sure was no rational reason for it; nothing had changed between them since the time he kidnapped her. He paid no heed to her requests, he was taking her somewhere unknown against her will and to top it off, he had barred her from speaking!

How could she, Nandini Murthy, not talk? That was her USP.  

The girl who had stolen his heart was very obviously thinking about something. Would it hurt her to just open her mouth a little bit and speak in her sweet, chirpy voice and cut the silence? Perhaps he should start a conversation; after all, didn't he like taking initiatives and making the first move, especially when it came to the women department?

His jaws decisively moved, but words refused to leave them. She had already despised the car ride with him, what if he made her mood worse? No, it was a terrible idea. Nandini was at arm's reach... he didn't need anything else to reassure him or comfort him at that point but some crazy obsessive organ in his chest needed to hear her.

Clearing his throat, Manik mindlessly uttered, "Kuch bolo."

Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked ahead. "Kya?"

"I said say something."

"Kya bolun main?"

"Anything..."

Strange. Hadn't he just scolded her some minutes ago, and said she gave him a headache?

"Is... is your top floor okay? I mean... tumne abhi thodi der pehle kaha to stay chup chaap, so I was obeying you, and now you're asking me to speak, like seriously?"

She made a fair point. That was absolutely infuriating. When has anything ever stopped her from talking in the past? "Fine. Suit yourself," he grumbled, rolling his eyes and then indicating as they went onto an off-ramp exiting NH66, the Mangalore-Mumbai highway.

Why was he angry at her? She was complying with him and doing as he wished in hopes that he would let her go soon. Maybe the awkward quietness was killing him. "Hum kahaan jaa rahe hai?" She made sure to temper it sweetly.

God, he would give up anything just to hear her ramble!

They were going through random streets of what looked like secluded rural farmlands with sparse housing in between vast acres of paddies. What was he aiming to do with her in such a remote area? The car reached a small cottage surrounded by trees and bushes, and a well attached to the premises.

Nandini had seen several movies where murderers dropped their victims in wells and their bodies were hardly ever found. The thought made her heart race. Throughout the car journey, she had been antagonising him in one way or another, what if he dropped her in here? Who would even tell her family back home about her whereabouts so at least for her funeral, they could retrieve her body from here?

Unlocking his side of the car, Manik lifted her and the hideous tote that she clutched to her stomach in his arms, almost cradling her because of their linked hands. Nandini shrieked and palmed her mouth, afraid that making a sound will push him over the edge. He pulled her with him through his door.

In her terrified state, she had completely forgotten to memorise the complete number plate of the car – a detail that could catch him red-handed, but such information would only be fruitful if she was breathing and alive; that itself had been a huge question mark.

"Manik, please leave me... please, maine tumhara kya bigaada hai?" Nandini desperately wiggled out of his grip, her face painted with soul-crushing fear. "My family will be searching for me, please don't," They neared the well and he paused over it; Nandini's free hand flew to her face, covering it, "Manik!"

Manik stopped to victoriously smirk, as if he had expected that reaction from her, and continued nonchalantly walking with her to the cottage, dropping her by the front steps next to him. She sprung to put some space between them, dusting the parts of her that came in contact with his revolting hold but was tugged back by the handcuffs.

He keyed in a unique code and the establishment unlocked. Once they were both inside, Manik put a small metal tube in a metal bracket and the strong chain joining them dropped, separating them. Finally.

Before he could turn, Nandini was already at the door pulling hysterically. "Please, koi hai baahar? Darwaaza kholo!" She dabbed her fists on the thick door, putting an ear to it to see if she could hear anything outdoors, and continued banging.

Manik gaped dramatically, and put his ear right next to hers, mimicking her fear, and then pounded similarly, "Help! Help, koi darwaaza kholdo please! Somebody heeeeeeelp!" His eyes closed into slits, "Nahi khula!'

Nandini muttered something abusive at him under her breath and charged towards a tall sliding window that did not have any grills behind it, drawing the curtain aside as she grabbed the handle and pulled as hard as she could.

"Koi fayda nahi hai, in this mansion the security system is maintained by this." He tapped at a circuit near the door. "And iska code sirf main jaanta hoon!" Gasping at the newfound news that doomed her for good, Nandini continued her pursuit; she would fight until her last breath if that was what was needed. 

"So Ms. Nandini Murthy, welcome to your safe-house!" With an antagonistic undertone lacing his words, he strolled, locking his fingers and stretching his arms until they cracked. He deeply sighed. "It's been a long day, so keep your volume low, hmm?"

It was the perfect time for him to make a hot cup of black coffee for himself. He began walking towards the kitchen.

Some human beings would have lost all energy after all that fighting, panicking, and more fighting, and would have resorted to a peace treaty of some sort as a thank-you for keeping her alive for that long, but Nandini... the disgusting thing he did with her several months ago was one thing, and now forcing her into a huge prison with him had been yet another grave sin.

Rejuvenated by a simmering fury that dated to seven months ago, Nandini stomped towards his delighted figure, flung him around, and smashed one tight fist into his agar jaw.

He reeled backward from the incredible blow, taking a solid moment to register what just happened. Feeling the corner of his lip, a stream of red appeared on his fingers, and then the throbbing sensation overtook his veins.

He was bleeding, the monster was finally bleeding, and that too because of her. Nandini should have been pleased to see the bright crimson streak, but her counteraction had been quite the opposite. Her jaw dropped at the sight, and she examined her own fist in such disbelief, unaware of the steeling power it had to blister his lips.

Never in her life had she raised a hand at anyone, she never needed to, but Manik... Manik made her do that also.

Her fury that could rip through their plane of existence and directly battle with the Lords of Hell was clouded by an unnamed emotion that made her eyes sting.

No, no, she was not supposed to cry, she was supposed to seize control of the situation... to give the naive Nandini from seven months ago some closure, knowing she had hurt him physically too, against his will and that though they were not even, she had fought back... in some puny way.

She rolled her palms into fists by her sides, grounding herself from the restless sensations bubbling within her, feeling the fabric of her top in one of her closed hands. Which didn't last long.

The room echoed with a screech, as out of instinct almost, Nandini forcefully ripped an edge of the peach garment she was wearing and bundled a strip of it in a ball. Closing the gap between them, she gently dabbed the wound with it, her eyes releasing big swollen tears as she was being extra careful and on high alert for the mildest twitches in his perfectly sculpted build.

Thoroughly confused by the gesture, Manik gawked at her until he felt her fingers on his cheek again, soothing him with tremendous care... at the same spot she administered his injury.

The bipolar gesture stirred something in him. It was not the first time he was being tended to, his line of work often had him and his peers bandaging each other out of moral obligation. Their code of conduct required them to help a friend in times of need, because it was one for all... all for one.

Nandini had no need to do so; there were no moral ties surrounding her, nor was there hope or expectations. but those gigantic tears... they spoke volumes about her remarkable kindness. He gently blinked, frightened that any flinch would snap her away from him, because how... how in the world had he gotten so lucky?

She was at a handspan's distance, if he reached out, he could touch her, and tend to her. His fingers shivered as they made their way to her, rethinking their move every milli-second of a stretch, until they settled on her gorgeous round cheek. A thundering heartbeat hammered in his ears at the first contact of her skin. Tenderly, he brushed the valley of her under-eyes, wiping a droplet before it rolled any further and tainted her. He had to protect her at all costs. 

"Ho gaya... saaf," He muttered in a trance, implying his busted lip which had stopped pulsing the second she stroked it. His hands had cupped her face as if it were a delicate piece of precious glass that would fall to the ground and shatter into a zillion pieces if Manik's hands were to leave it. Overpowered by a physical instinct to tenderly caress her lips, he inched closer.

Her gaze flickered to his approaching captivating lips. She resurfaced from her puddle of emotions to reality, and slapped his hand away, shaken by how freaking close she was to surrendering.

As she forcefully separated herself from his frame, he regarded that it truly was as if her beautiful face was wrecked into shards.

How had she almost melted in his arms like that? A pang of deep-rooted guilt slowly resurfaced, as she fiddled with the ball of fabric in her hands, her tears unstoppable now after he gently caressed her, just like old times.

Imagining his face in that cloth, she squished it as tightly as she could. Hell, she would even strangle him with her newfound physical strength! After everything he did to her, he deserved no amount of sympathy or care... especially not from her.

Manik studied the ground impatiently, unable to look her in the eye. He looked at himself, his red button-up shirt and made a split-second decision. As he began undoing it briskly, a dazed Nandini who hid her tears was alarmed. Had he assumed she had given in, or was he under the wrong impression that he could now have his way with her?

She glowered at him. "Main chilla doongi!" Ignorant to her warning, he rebelliously took off the last button, and Nandini stripped her eyes away from his vested chest while he ripped the garment off, and tossed it on her head.

Turning his back to her, he said indifferently, "It's payback, for dressing my wound."

Nandini's eyes grew into saucers.

𓆩𓆪

Is it even Manik Malhotra if he doesn't throw his shirt on Nandini's head? Not hand, not leg, but head!

Is it even Nandini Murthy if she doesn't give ek zorr ka jhatka and aspire to become a boxer, dush dush dush!

Bas ab aap sabki wishes maine puuri karli hai, aage ka kya hoga... jaanne ke liye, vote kijiye, comment kijiye, aur follow kijiye :P

Jusss kidding, agla update will be In His Custody, so I'll be back here maybe sometime end of the weekend :P

Adios! I love you guys khoob saara!