Adorable Heart

Bonus Chapter: River waters

MANIK:

"So, when is the wedding?" He squealed making us turn in his direction, bewildered.

Covering the mobile with her palms, Nandini eyed at Cabir saying, "Sh, I'm attending a call."

"Seriously, the wedding?" I narrowed the eyes, shaking my head before adding further, "Dude, you shouldn't have said that loud. Nandini is talking to her Dadu. I hope he didn't listen."

"Yeah right, now you don't want me to ask questions. Especially, when you both disappear for a whole night and come back only to announce that 'We are a couple.' Then without any explanations, she leaves taking Dadu's call and you run behind her like a love-sick puppy. After waiting for twenty long minutes when I come here, all I see you both busy in your eye-to-eye 'guftagu'. This is the ultimate level of my patience. Someone tell me, what exactly happened last night," Cabir pulled his hair screaming the last statement.

And people called me dramatic.

"Cabir, let me ask you again, where did 'Our Wedding' come from?" I questioned in a spurious honey-coated voice while clenching the teeth.

"What?" Navya gasped walking towards me and Cabir. She looked animatedly between the two of us with a shocked face.

Shit.

What did she interpret?

"Babe, it's going to be Nandini bhabi from now on," Cabir circled his hand around Navya's shoulder giving me a genuine smile and his girlfriend gave me a surprised looked.

"C'mon, we are just nineteen. Maybe after ten years, I and Nandini would-" I stopped abruptly processing the words coming out of my mouth while Cabir and Navya burst into fits of laughter.

That. Was. So. Embarrassing.

"You didn't say that, did you? Oh my God," Navya said in between the laughs and I mentally cursed myself for being an imbecile.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You both are curious to know what all happened and please; I didn't run behind Nandini like a love-sick puppy. It was just in order to know if she's telling Dadu about last night," I explained.

"And what happens if Dadu knows about it?" He tapped the index finger on the chin.

"When we were leaving for camping, he said that I was a lucky fellow. Dadu is sweet with everyone but that old man is weird with me at times. He used to call me Yet-to-be-trained-Charizard, Eiffel tower, Loverboy, and whatnot," I blabbered remembering the denigrations while Navya shook her head vigorously.

Narrowing my eyes, I asked "What, Navya? I swear if he gets to know we are a couple, the old-"

"Manik Malhotra," Her vexation-filled words fell on my ears and I mumbled, "Shit."

Who hooked me with verbal goof ups?

Giving me a 'You-will-never-change' look, Nandini walked inside the tent. My eyes moved towards our friends who nodded in understanding and I ran behind her.

"Nandini," I whispered.

"Go away, Manik," She muttered.

"I swear... I didn't... Okay, fine. I don't want to lie on the first day of our relationship. 'Old man' those words came out of my mouth unknowingly. It didn't mean anything wrong. I really admire your Dadu. He is amazing. But then you know right, the way he teases me," I took a seat beside Nandini while she played with the chain of her sack without sparing a single glance in my direction.

Her silence made me say, "Don't be angry, please. How can we fight today? I don't appreciate the idea."

Nandini Murthy was very busy zipping and unzipping the sack. As she paid no heed to my requests, I pulled the bag from her hands and cribbed, "Tsk, listen to me na."