Nandini's P.O.V :

Did I just actually open up to a stranger! Okay not a stranger, but I don't even know him for that long. I, Nandini Murthy, who hardly opens up to anyone, opened up to Manik Malhotra today! A man she has barely known. I just felt like I could trust him. I felt like he would understand my pain. I've not shared about the real reason why I don't want to get married to anyone but my Nana and Nani, after them I shared it with Manik. Was it because he needed to know why I didn't want to marry him? Was it because I just felt like I could trust him? Why did I feel the need to explain anything to him? My mind is so messed up right now! And whilst trying to clear my mind, I made him upset. He was only trying to help me. He's such a kid though, he could've understood that I was stressed out and that's why I didn't realise what I was saying. Manik Malhotra, you will drive me crazy! But then again, why should he be the one understanding all the time? Why can't I understand for once? He's always understood me, he's always beared me and my tantrums, I should be the one bearing it for once! "Even I have the right to be upset", his words echoed in my ears. He was right!

"Manik! Manik!" I shouted as I ran behind him on the beach. He had long legs so he could walk fast, my poor little legs had to run to catch up to him. I received so many stares from people but I paid no heed to them. Those people clearly have nothing better to do. He finally stopped at a pani puri stall. Thank goodness he stopped! Otherwise, I would've collapsed of all the running. I stopped in my place and caught up with my breath. Phew! I didn't think I was this unhealthy! Then again, he made me run a lot! As I looked up towards him, I saw him eating pani puris, continuously! One after the other! None stop! Is he mad? I quickly ran towards him!

"Are you mad? Itni pani puris kon khaataa hai? That too continuously!" I said in shock.

"Madam abhi to sirf paanch pani puri khaayi hai! Aur khaanay do naa!" The pani puri seller spoke.

"Exactly! I've only had five!" Manik said plainly. Only five? That's enough to make you ill!

"And when you fall ill, will his pani puri help you recover? Or my medicine?" I said irritatedly.

"Anything but your medicine!" Manik said as he rolled his eyes and ate another pani puri.

"Hawww rude!" I exclaimed.

"Waise bhaiya, only you said that you can only stand at this stall if you are eating pani puri!" Manik said cheekily to the pani puri waalay bhaiya.

"Maine kahaa thaa?" He asked cluelessly.

"Haan! Aray abhi to kahaa tha!" Manik said as he winked at him.

"Ohh haan! Madam sorry but aap koh jaana parega! Unless aap pani puri khaa rahe ho, then you can stay!" The man said to me. I am not leaving without talking to Manik.

"I don't want pani puris! I just want to talk to Manik!" I stated like a little kid.

"Sorry Madam! No pani puris, no talking to my customer!" He said as he folded his hands.

"Ridiculous!" I said as I rolled my eyes in dishelief.

"Now will you please leave! And let me enjoy my pani puris in peace." Manik exclaimed.

"Who said I'm leaving?" I said with a smirk.

"Urm I did! Because you're clearly not going to eat pani puris! You know being the health freak that you are!" He said sarcastically as he put another pani puri in his mouth.

"Oh Mr Malhotra, trust me I will! Mujhe bhi pani puris dijyai bhaiya! And keep them coming until I say stop!" I said with enthusiasm.

"Yes madam!" The pani puri seller said as he handed me a plate.

"Bring it on Doc!" Manik said with a smirk.

"Oh VC, its on alright!" I too said with a smug look.

"VC?" He asked cluelessly.

"Vice captain! Duh! Have you forgotten you're the vice captain of team India?" I stated.

"Please don't say that again!" Manik said as he shook his head in disbelief.

"What! It wasn't bad! Okay!" I stated.

"It wasn't bad! It was lame! It was pathetic!" He exclaimed in disgust. Only cool people understand my references, and he ain't cool.

"Manik all that aside, I just wanted to speak to you about what I said earlier!" I said as I put a pani puri in my mouth. It was quite nice but a little too spicy for my liking.

"Actually I... I..." I was about to speak when the seller handed me another pani puri.

"Bhaiya a little slowly please! And make it sweet and spicy for me please!" I said as I took another bite of the puri.

"Madam I'm not fast, you're slow!" He stated as he passed me another puri. Even pani puri bhaiyas have become so savage these days. All this time Manik was pretending to ignore me.

"Manik I shouldn't have behaved that way, I just..." I said as I was handed another puri which I put in my mouth and tried to speak once again.

"I was wrong back then! I understand you were only trying to help me!" I stated as I put another puri in my mouth. My mouth was on fire but I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop until I apologised to him.

"At last you realised that you can be wrong sometimes too!" Manik said in a taunting voice as he ate his puri.

"Manik I'm genuinely apologising! Stop taunting me!" I said as I coughed. The spice was really getting to me.

"I'm not taunting you! I'm just stating the facts!" He exclaimed.

"Well it sounded like you were taunting me. Manik I just... I..." I started to cough non stop. I must've had about eight pani puris and my body was not liking it. My eyes went watery and my coughing did not stop.

"Hey are you okay? Here have some water!" He said as he patted my back and then passed me his water bottle.

"No! I won't drink that water or stop eating until you speak to me properly and hear me out! Bhaiya one more please!" I said in between my coughs as I took another pani puris from the sellers hand and ate it. My coughing became worse but I did not stop.

"Nandini stop being so stubborn!" Manik stated but I didn't listen.

"Bhaiya one more!" I stated and hesitantly he passed me another one. My coughing was just getting worse now and my tears were rolling down my eyes. My mouth was actually on fire. Has he emptied the entire box of chillies in that pani puri water or what?

"Okay that's enough now! No more! Have this water now!" Manik said angrily. He was irritated as I wasn't listening to him. I just ignored him and looked away.

"Don't you dare say no! Because I will make you drink it forcefully if I have to!" He stated firmly to which I gave in. He was actually angry and I did not want to challenge him. I slowly drank the water and my cough immediately calmed down. He paid the seller the money and then dragged me to a nearby stall where he brought ice cream for the two of us.

"Here!" He said as he passed me a chocolate chip ice cream cone. He remembered my favourite flavour from the last time we came to the beach! How cute is he?

"Thank you!" I replied softly.

"Hmmmm! Come let's sit down!" He said as he started to walk towards some rocks near the water. I silently followed him. He dusted the sand off the rocks with his hands and gestured me to sit down. Why is he so caring and cute? He then sat down himself.

"What was all that back there?" He said as he stared at the sea.

"What? We ate pani puri!" I said casually as I took ate my ice cream.

"Why? You couldn't handle the spice and you still ate it!" He stated.

"Because I had to talk to you!" I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why was it so important to talk to me?" He said softly as he looked at me with his intense gaze.

"Because I wanted to apologise! I wanted you to talk to me!" I replied honestly.

"Why Nandini? Why do you care if I talk to you or not? Why do you care if I'm upset with you?" He questioned.

"I don't know! I really don't know! But what I do know is that I was wrong. You were trying to help me and I just took my anger and frustration out on you! You didn't deserve to hear any of my nonsense talks, I'm sorry! And I'm sorry you had to sit and listen to me talk about my sorrows when there's probably something better you could've been doing." I said as I looked away and stared at the sea.

"Nandini, your talks weren't nonsense! You were sharing your sorrows with me! What you've gone through, it's horrible! It's painful! I feel happy that you shared your troubles with me, I'm happy you can trust me. I'm just a little annoyed because you jump to conclusions so quickly. You never listen to the entire situation. That's what you did back then. I was only trying to make you understand that you need to live openly. Just because your parents relation turned out like that doesn't mean yours will." He explained as he pulled my hand and made me face him.

"I know Manik, I know! I understand what you're trying to say. I'm just scared. I'll try. I'll try to live more openly and give others a chance to come close to me. I'll try to break this wall that I've built around me. I'll try to let people in. I'll try to be more open. And maybe I'll even try to think about marriage, about love, about my own little happy family." I said with a smile. I had never thought I would ever say this, but I wanted to give love a chance! Why? Because he wanted me to! He made me realise how beautiful life can be, if only we decided to make the most of it.

"Oh but Nandini don't you see, you've already started to do so!" He said with a smile.

"And how is that?" I questioned.

"Well for starters, you've let me in! You've shared one of your biggest secrets with me." He said.

"Well we wouldn't call it a secret!" I mumbled.

"Joh bhi ho but Nandini you opened up to me. That's a good start right?" He said in a hopeful tone.

"Right!" I said as I nodded and smiled at him.

"Nandini live freely! Explore life! Go on adventures! Give yourself a chance to fall in love! Just make up your mind to live more openly and everything else will fall into place itself." He said as he got up, spread his arms out, and jumped from one rock to the other like a little kid. He was truly a little child from the heart.

"I can't do it myself! Could you help me?" I asked quietly as I too got up and went towards him.

"Well urm I'm a bit busy but..." He said with a smirk.

"Really?" I said as I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Yes... wait, wait, what are you doing? Utho!" He said as I bent down on one knee in front of him and held my ice cream cone out in the place of a ring. My little action gathered the attention of some people who were sat around us but I didn't care. They probably thought I was proposing to him or something. Technically, I was proposing to him. Okay not a marriage proposal though!

"Mr Manik Malhotra, would you please take some time out of your busy schedule to help me live more freely? Can you take me on some adventures and help me to explore life? Can you teach me how to fall in love? And can you be my 3am friend?" I said with a big smile and hopeful eyes.

"Hmmmm of course I will! As long as you promise to come on more street food dates with me and teach me some Gujarati!" He said as he took the cone from my hand to show that he accepted. We received a lot of awhs and claps from the public around us. They probably didn't hear what I was saying. What if they thought I proposed marriage to him? Can you imagine? Doesn't matter, it's not like I'll be seeing them again.

"Gujarati yes! But street food, really Manik?" I said hesitantly. He knows I try to avoid street food and he was simply taking advantage of the situation.

"Yes!" He replied with a smirk.

"Fine!" I said as I rolled my eyes.

"You've got yourself a friend then!" He said with a genuine smile.

"Yay! Can I get up now? My legs are hurting!" I said childishly. My legs were hurting so much because of the rocks.

"Paagal chokri che tu!" He said with a giggle at my childish voice.

"Don't call me mad! And wait you just said that in Gujarati!" I said in shock. He just spoke gujarati to me!

"I know a little! Come!" He said as he extended his hand out to me and I happily placed my hand in his and got up.

"Thank you!" I said as I dusted off the sand from my jeans.

"Haven't you heard, no sorry and no thank you in friendship!" He said as he handed me my ice cream cone back.

"Haven't you heard it's always good manners to say thank you and sorry!" I said as I took a bite of my ice cream cone.

"Haven't you heard you don't need to have good manners around your friends!" He said with a smile.

"Haven't you heard Nandini Murthy apnay asulo ki paki hai! I've always been taught to be polite to others!" I said with a smirk.

"Haven't you heard there is no such thing as being polite amongst friends!" He said as he ate his ice cream.

"Haven't you heard you should just accept the gratitude when given!" I stated.

"Okay, okay! You're most welcome Doctor! Come it's getting dark, we should go back to the hospital now to see your Amms!" He said.

"Yup! Thank you Manik once again for just being here with me and hearing me out!" I said with a genuine smile.

"I'll always be happy to hear you out!" He said as he looked down! Was he blushing? OMG! He was blushing! Why is he so cute?

"Why are you so sweet?" I questioned.

"I don't know! Mum did feed me a lot of sweet things as a child! By the way barfi is my favourite, if you ever feel like getting me anything sweet!" He said cheekily.

"And why would I want to do that?" I asked with a smirk.

"I don't know! Maybe you feel like getting your new friend a gift or something!" He said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"You're such a foodie! Chalo!" I said as I pulled his hand and proceeded to walk.

"Haan toh kya hua! I love food and I don't care!" He said like a little kid.

"Paagal chokor che tu!" I said with a giggle.

"Nai tu paagal chokri!" He replied.

"Check you out! Already learning gujarati!" I said. I was impressed!

"I'm a quick learner you see!" He said as he lifted his shirt collar.

"I can see that!" I said as I rolled my eyes and carried on walking.

"Zyaada sarcastic bannay ki zaroorat nahi hain!" He stated.

"I'm not!" I replied.

"Whatevs!" He said as he too rolled his eyes and walked ahead of me. I simply giggled at his childish behaviour and followed him to the car.

"Make friends who will force you to get out of your comfort zone and live life a little better. Friends who will identify your fears and try their best to help you overcome them. When that happens, you know you've got a good friend! A friend for a lifetime!"

~Me 💕

A/N: Chapter 15 updated! Hope you all liked it! I'm sorry I'm late, I'm just super busy with things at the moment! 🙈 But a long and hopefully a cute chapter for you all! Let me know what you thought! 😊 Have a lovely day! 💕 Lots of love xxx