MaNan: Breaking Free

51|Embracing

~ 1 month later ~

Nandini's POV-

It's Christmas eve and I am having a small party in my house. It's really more of a dinner to celebrate the success of the last event organized by my committee, an art competition for the kids. Most of my co-workers are invited and I've gone all out with the Christmas decorations.

The living area has been transformed completely. A huge, beautifully decorated, artificial Christmas tree stands in a corner and I have also hung fairy lights all around the room, which are giving the place a soft, yellow glow. The doors and windows are lined by numerous small, multicolored flowers interspersed with LED lights. I've placed a soft rug in the centre of the room, right beneath the chandelier, and on the rug lie big, fluffy cushions scattered everywhere. The food and drinks are ready to serve. All I have to do now is get ready and wait for the guests to arrive.

Going up to my bathroom, I take a quick shower. After drying my hair, I style it into loose wavy curls and pin it up on one side so that the curls are gathered on the other side. Satisfied with the way it looks, I start on my makeup. I don't wear much makeup normally, so this isn't going to be easy to do. I've watched multiple makeup tutorials over the last few days and also practiced on myself a couple of times. Taking a deep breath, I pick up the eyeliner and get to work, going extra slow so that I don't mess up my face.

Fifteen minutes later, as I look at my reflection in the mirror, I give myself a mental pat. If I do say so myself, I have never looked sexier. For the eyes, I have gone for the smokey look and my lips are painted a deep shade of red. There's a slight tinge to my cheeks, which are perfectly highlighted. Thoroughly pleased with myself, I pull out my dress for the evening and finish getting ready.

It's a sleeveless red dress, ending a few inches above my knee. The skin tight fit accentuates my breasts and hips. The neck is deep, showing off a very small amount of cleavage, just enough to tease. The whole thing is backless and held together by two straps at the back. I have purposely styled my hair so that I can show off my back. But the most tantalizing feature of the dress has to be the slit on the left side, running all the way up to my thigh. I haven't worn anything like this before. Hell, I've never made so much effort to dress up before. I love it and can't wait to see Manik's reaction to it.

We've been together for a month and it's going well. Having said that, there have been times when I've gotten too lost in my head, but so far, he has always managed to pull me out. It's not been easy- I'd been emotionally isolated for far too long and even though I trusted him again, I could feel both of us were walking on eggshells here. We knew one mistake could take us back to square one. It was still fragile- what we were trying to build again, but he has been making a solid effort to make this work, and that is more than enough for me at this point. I've had to visit Dr. Prasad a few times, when my doubts have plagued me a bit too brutally; he's been as effective as ever, telling me this is good for me. He had taken an instant liking to Manik, who accompanied me to one of the sessions.

We haven't been able to spend as much time together as I would have liked to because he has a hectic schedule and doesn't know a thing about balancing work and personal life. Sometimes, he goes days without sleeping, just so he can get some extra work done. I don't say much about it, except an occasional comment here and there, because strangely enough, he seems to enjoy overworking himself. He has huge plans for himself and wants to realize them on his own. He wants to start his own business one day.

I worry about his health, but I also want him to do everything he needs to do to make his dreams come true, and possibly help him any way I can along the way. Besides, his ambition is one of the sexiest things about him.