MaNan: Breaking Free

47|Demons

Nandini's POV-

All these activities are fine, but we need something more, Nandini." Aryaman complains for the hundredth time.

We are sitting in my living room with banners and posters sprawled in front of us, brainstorming ideas for our fundraiser, which is in a week from now. It has been a long and tiring day for us and as the hours went on, tempers had started flying and patience was running thin. At one point, an argument had broken out between Aryaman and Innaya and they had almost ripped each other's hair out, after which I suggested that we take some of the work and come to my place.

The new me refrains from indulging in physical violence at all costs.

So here we are, at five in the evening, sipping coffee and trying to finalize the details. We have prepared a general outline for the evening. Aryaman is oficially going to open the event with a speech about our organization, briefly stating it's history for the audience. The speech is going to be followed by a powerpoint presentation giving an overview of all the work we have done over the years. Many of the kids that the organization rescued had been put up for adoption afterwards and now have loving families and a safe environment to grow up in. Some of those families have been invited to the fundraiser and they have all happily agreed to come. We are planning to make a special zone just for the kids where they can play games and have fun.

The adoption agency we work with and officers from the local police station have also been invited to say a few words about our organization and they are going be felicitated as well. Apart from this, we are going to organize an auction of paintings and handmade decorative articles made by the women of our sister organization, which works for victims of domestic abuse. Many of our co-workers have even agreed to put up personal items for the auction. I have spent a good amount of money buying shoes and accessories that I am going put up.

Even Innaya has grudgingly agreed to part with some of her designer bags and sunglasses. She has a very classy personal collection comprising of the most expensive international brands and she hardly uses any item twice. They are as good as new. I didn't tell her this, but her things are probably going to be the highlight of our auction.

Overall, I have a good feeling about this. We have covered all the areas. But Aryaman is not satisfied and seems to think something is missing. He keeps saying we need something more.

"What more do you want?" I snap at him, finally losing my patience. "You had better start giving ideas about what 'more' you want instead of just cribbing."

"I don't know! Why don't you think of something." He snaps back, making me glare harder.

Just then, a knock sounds on the door and Manik pokes his head in. "Hey!" He winks at me and comes inside, but the moment he steps in, his playfulness vanishes. His eyes land on Aryaman, who is busy examining one of the posters, and his expression becomes rigid. As his gaze travels between me and Aryaman once, his lips press into a thin line. The reaction is momentary and very subtle, and he quickly morphs his features into some semblance of a smile. But I don't miss it, probably because I pay too much attention to him.

"Am I interrupting something?" He looks at me uncertainty.

"Not at all." I beckon him inside and scoot over to make some space for him beside me.

Since Manik's welcome brunch, he has managed to integrate himself into my life again, slowly and seamlessly. The two of us have been on much better terms and I have learnt to be more relaxed around him. We haven't talked about anything that happened before, even though the temptation has been strong on my part. He hasn't brought anything up either and we mostly talk about our lives now. He leaves early for work every morning and comes back late in the night, but whenever we do come across each other, he makes it a point to ask me about my day and tell me about his. His bosses are overworking him and he is always pressed for time, but from the way he talks about it, I can tell he enjoys every bit of it.