Adorable Heart

Bonus Chapter: The New Couple

NANDINI:

The night was serene.

Drinking the sparkles of moonlight with the strands of its soft cerulean blue waves; the river sang an opera caressing the shafts of tiny-shiny pebbles and juvenile thin-green stems danced with the flow wishing her all the love for the journey she started eras before to meet the ocean whose depth had allured her senses, making the stream always wonder if she would ever meet him in some part of the world.

The melody of waterfall molded immaculately with river's opera while wind moved through the spaces between the darkened olive green leaves as if ad-libbing to the already blissful piece of music.

My head resting on his shoulder, eyes closed, hands placed leisurely somewhere around the thighs, those arms embracing me in his warmth, playing occasionally with strands of my hair and his head taking the support of my one from time to time.

Could life be more perfect?

Feeling his gaze on my sleeping figure, I asked in a lazy voice, "What happened, Manik? Why are you still awake?"

"I'm not sleepy. How can I even sleep after all this? Everything feels so perfect. I just don't want this night to end, Nandini," He said entwining our fingers while I arched the neck and looked at Manik's face opening my eyes.

"Trust me, the morning will be even more beautiful. The first day of our relationship," I blinked my orbs grinning ear-to-ear and he chuckled softly in anticipation.

Kissing our entwined fingers, he smiled, "Our relationship! Sounds so surreal to me! I just can't believe this! That means from tomorrow you will be my-"

Stopping abruptly he stared into my eyes as if trying to find out the missing pieces of a puzzle and I smiled raising my eyebrows, "Girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend... Well, that... That is... Although, I would love that, but I don't think the words boyfriend-girlfriend suit us. These words are not for the two of us," He explained with a little hesitation in the voice.

Shifting at my own place on the swing, I looked at him while he suddenly blabbered widening the eyes, "I'm sorry, Nandini. Really sorry if my statement broke your bubble or made you feel sad. That's the last thing I would want to do on this beautiful night. It wasn't the way it sounded. I didn't mean to-"

Placing an index finger on his lips, I said, "Sshhh... Do you actually think I won't understand what you meant? For the last time, Manik, I do, I understand you, even without these lines of explanations. The words boyfriend and girlfriend really don't suit us, because they make an altogether different meaning for you and about me, well, I haven't experienced anything close to these words, so, it doesn't matter."

Holding my hand over his heart, Manik said, "This is far more than anything superficial to me. I can't imagine another Nandini Murthy in Manik Malhotra's life. The word relationship is still fine with me because I have changed enough to believe in long relationships but the only girl who made me feel this way can't be called my girlfriend. Now, I don't know if it's magical or ironic. Why do I suddenly feel I have so many flaws?"

Shaking my head, I chuckled, "You do. The white shirt guy sitting beside me says wrong things at wrong times, breaks my bubble when I'm in a dreamy reverie, confesses the truths people might simply avoid by lying in front of their girls. Still, the propensity of your words to make the most offensive statements appear as flowery ones renders a smile on my face. So, please remember, I'm not just in love with your looks or your goods; I'm in love with these flaws, too, because they seem like a blessing to me. They are a reality check for my dreamy world. Even I have flaws, either you don't notice them or maybe you already accepted them. Okay then, I guess, it is like this, we are in a relationship but we won't be called girlfriend-boyfriend. The word is just lovers."