The Nerd and The Brat (Sequel) ✔

Chapter 22 (Part 2)

...Continued

A/N: Manik's panic attack in previous chapter will be explained later. Something's bothering him. That would be taken care of too. :)

Happy Reading...

Nandini woke up alone in the bed. Last night, after giving a mock demo in front of Cabir post-dinner, she slipped beside Manik on the bed. It was only a handful of times when she had slept beside him, could be counted on her fingers of a single hand, but those were the best of the sleep she had without waking up in the middle for a nightmare or a stupid midnight scare or the thoughts that kept her awake at night. Today was important for her and she had the burden of not letting Manik down in front of his employees. Hence, deciding she needed the sleep to function at her best, she found her safe person, who had disappeared so early in the morning. She thought of waking up before Manik and slipping off the bed in order not to scare him but looks like she failed and she wouldn't be able to check if he was okay with it or not.

"Hey, good morning", said Manik, coming into the room. He was dressed up and munching an apple while stuffing his things into his laptop bag. "I have an early morning meeting, so I am leaving now. Cabir will accompany you to the office later. Okay?"

"Okay?", she said, unsure. She thought she would go with Manik, give the talk, and ignore all the people. She hasn't done this before and her nerves had started building already.

It might be visible on her face because Manik walked to her and sat in front of her. He took her hand and gave it an assuring squeeze. "Hey, I will be there waiting for you at the office. I have to make sure everything is ready for your meeting too. Cabir will be with you all the time. If you have any problem, anything that's bothering you, give me a call. I don't care what I am doing, I will be right there for you. Okay", he told.

Nandini nodded and managed a smile. Manik didn't have to babysit her. She can do this.

He palmed her cheek, gazing into her eyes for a few moments before withdrawing it with a slight shake of his head. "I will see you in a few hours, Nandini."

XXX

Nandini was fifteen minutes short of strangling Cabir. They were on their way to Malhotra Industries. Ever since he saw her that morning, he hadn't stopped asking if she was fine and it only increased when they were alone in the car. He was concerned but his nerves were increasing hers right now. She checked the time. Fifteen minutes after which either she will strangle him or abandon him and take a cab to the office. Ten minutes later, when they finally reached the office, Nandini sighed. Office meant Manik. It also means Cabir lives, at least for now.

"Good morning, Nat", wished Cabir to the receptionist as she let her eyes wander to find Manik. "This is the recipient lady of the flowers from yesterday."

"Cabir, shut up."

She turned around and found Manik rolling his eyes at Cabir. She took a breath. Things should be fine now.

"Nandini, this way, please", he said and led them to the conference room, while texting on his phone. Cabir followed.

Reaching the conference room, she found twenty pairs of eyes snapping at her, some curious, some judgemental and there was Meera. She didn't glare as per usual but everything made her conscious about herself. "Am I late?", she muttered to Manik.

"No, we stayed back after the meeting. Discussing and just chilling until the next one", assured Manik.

He took her to the front such that she was facing the crowd. Someone was already setting up her presentation. There was a chair for her, the copy of the file of their deal in front of that. Everything was taken care of leaving her the only task of talking to them which was looking no less than sea diving without an oxygen cylinder.