MaNan: Breaking Free

45|Old flame

Nandini's POV-

Manik?

No, my ears have to be deceiving me. He couldn't be here.

Or maybe, it was some other Manik.

Yes, it has to be someone else with the same name.

"Ayyo Nandini? What happened beta? You broke the glass!" Murthy uncle chides. "Koi baat nahi, you sit here, beside me. Come." I walk around the table to sit next to Murthy uncle and wait for tenant Manik to come down, chanting the same words in my head, again and again. It can't be him. It just can't be him. Please don't let it be him.

Five minutes later, I hear a door opening and closing in the distance. My entire body tenses as I turn around and firmly plant my eyes on the door, waiting, fingers cross. Please don't let it be him! When he comes into view, my breath hitches and my mind goes numb for a split second.

It's him.

Manik Malhotra.

What the freaking hell!

When his eyes zero in on me, they widen in shock and he comes to a stop abruptly.

"Arey beta, aao na." Shanno aunty smiles at him, but he doesn't seem to be listening to her. He keeps standing in the same spot, eyes glued on me and almost bulging out of their sockets.

"Manik?" Aunty says again, a little louder this time. But he can't look away from me and I find myself staring right back, unbelieving. Its been ten months since we last spoke and to say that the sight of him has paralyzed me would be an understatement. All I can do is sit there and gawk at him as the shock on his face slowly morphs into horror and then uncertainty.

Shanno aunty has lost all her patience by now. She walks over to him, pulls him inside and forces him into a chair directly in front of me while I just stare at him, unable to comprehend anything else. He stares right back at me, pure disbelief etched on his face. He looks the same, but somewhat different. His hair is longer and messier than I have ever seen it before and he is sporting a stubble. This rugged look definitely suits him, I can't help but think.

After ten months of not talking or seeing each other, I'd think I would have forgotten the minute details about his face. How wrong I was! As I search it, I pay extra attention to each detail to check if it is exactly how I remember it or not. His sharp jaw, the mole above his lips, his straight, perfect nose, his forehead, which started popping veins when he was too mad, the shape of his eyes, the eyes that have given me so many sleepless nights, I recall helplessly. And that very small patch of skin, just above his eyebrow, which was slightly lighter in color than the surrounding area. You had to look very closely to see it.

It's all the same. Every freaking detail is exactly how I remembered it. It appears as though time has not been able to distort my memories of him.

"Manik! Nandini!" Shanno aunty shouts loudly, calling my attention to her. "Why are you two staring at each other?" She probably notices the tension between us because she asks us if everything is okay. I nod at her and turn to Manik.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, trying not to sound accusatory, but the way he flinches tells me I fail at it.

"Do you two know each other?" Murthy uncle raises an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, we- met in Mumbai." I answer him quickly and turn back to Manik, repeating my question a bit more firmly. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a job here. I live here now." He replies coolly. "What are you doing here?"