N A N D I N I

There was darkness around us, yet I could feel something shine in his eyes as they looked into mine. I have always observed him, but never so close. And now that he stood so close to me, just a centimetre apart, I saw things of him I never had, like the way his eyes were dark as they peeped into mine, yet there was something so bright in them, shining in the dark store room.

There was something about his touch that created magic in every time his fingers brushed my back, I shivered despite the fact that it was very hot around. Looking at him so close was like a dream, every girl wants. After all, which girl could reject Manik Malhotra?

I still couldn't rest my mind over the fact that this was actually happening, he being so close to me, our faces being inches apart, his lower body stuck to mine, our breaths mingling with each other's and his hands slowly caressing my back, making me shiver with the sudden proximity.

And yet, not for a fraction of second could I blink my eyes away from his. They were too beautiful to look away from, even after knowing how miserably they were broken. He made broken look beautiful, and strong look invincible, he carried the entire universe on his shoulders and made it look like the devils wings.

I was so lost in him that I didn't realise how his hands traced my back, all the way down to my finger tips as he snatched away the photograph and my pupils widened as I realised I had been fooled by his thoughts once again, like always.

Mentally covering my face, I stared at him nervously, as he stared at the picture in his hand. His expressions changed from dark to confused, and from confused to amused while I enjoyed how his eye brows cringed as he slowly picked his face to face me and I looked everywhere but him. This was so embarrassing, especially when he was my boss and I wasn't even an employee under him.

"Where did you find this from?" He squeezed his eyebrows and I rolled my eyes. Isn't it evident that it was me who had clicked it? Was he actually this dumb or was he just pretending to be?

"Internet," I covered up taking a sigh of relief and he looked quite convinced as I left the breath I didn't know I was holding. Leaving the photograph aside, he looked at me with a small smirk and I slowly gulped. Manik Malhotra and smiling was not a good sign.

"So, does that mean you are my fan?" He smiled raising his eye brows and I squeezed my eyebrows back at him, crossing my arms against my chest.

"No," I lied with a smile and he raised his eyebrows asking then. "I am the leader of the the anti Manik Malhotra fan club!" I smiled proudly as I lied and his smiled widened into a small chuckle as he looked away and stepped behind, convinced.

I couldn't help but admire the way he smiled at me as I smiled looking at his smile. His smile was so beautiful, or actually, everything about him was. But there was something about the way he looked at me and he smiled which made me love him even more.

"What are you smiling at?" He asked as his smile disappeared slowly and the darkness of his face returned and I took a deep sigh, still smiling.

"I like the way you smile when you look at me, it reminds me of the way every hero smiled looking at his girl, just the way Edward smiles at Bella," I smiled dreamily biting my lower lip as I remembered the most beautiful love story, and a smile of admiration spread on my face which soon faded when my eyes met his dark ones that spit fire my way. Had I spoken something wrong?

"But this is not a love story," he whispered coldly and slowly, hey his words were like a thunderclap on my ears as my smile slowly faded away.

I hated listening to it every time that he couldn't be mine and it hurt my hurt though he never was. Our love was a silly illusion of mine, which could never exist. My world was small and full of love unlike his cold and cruel world, which had no space for me. Our love was just as impossible as sugar and spice; sweet and sour; or like...... Stars and Fireflies.

"but don't opposite's attract?" a small voice in my heart whispered and I sighed at my impossible heart and the amount of hopeless love it had for a devil.

"I'd just call someone to get us out from here," he gritted taking out his phone and I gave a small nod in positive as I licked my lips and looked away, trying to open the jam door. Despite everything, I wished I could stay here with him for a bit longer.

"No network!" He gritted in disappointment, kicking one of the shelves and my face and heart lit up. This means, I have some more time with the monster all to myself.

But on the other hand, from the little sitting outside the store room, I could see the sun avidly setting as the sky blushed in shades of purple and blue, stars all ready to replace the setting sun.

"Sir, it's getting dark," I whispered nervously staring out and he shrugged it off casually, still concentrating on ways to get himself out of the locked prison.

"Please don't tell me you're afraid of the dark," he made a disgusted face and I squeezed my eyebrows back at him. There's nothing so good about the darkness that should make me happy or anyone happy actually.

"I'm not scared of the darkness, but I don't like it either," I sighed rubbing my arms at the increasing cold as I stepped out into the sitting that had a huge grill window from which I stared out at the city lights.

"Darkness is... beautiful. It is still yet chaotic, silent yet screaming out loud, empty yet so full of emotions. It dims itself every night to let the stars shine. And yet so ironic, everyone wants to be as beautiful as the stars, yet no one wants to be the darkness in which stars shine," he whispered as he slowly sat besides me and I looked at him in admiration.

There was so much more to him than what he shows. With Manik Malhotra, I just have two moods~ either I am in crazily in love with him; or I feel like murdering him and throwing him out of my life. But this is the Manik no one knows, not even me; the one who thinks deeper than the ocean and darker that the sky.

"So you like the darkness?" I smiled slowly turning my head towards him but he continued to stare outside the top floor, at the city lights shining like stars admist the darkness.

"I don't only like darkness, I am the darkness people fear," He smirked and ironically though, this sent shivers down my spine as well as comforted me in the most odd way possible.

"But there's going to a point where you meet someone, someone who'd love you so much, that all the darkness of your life will be replaced by the light," I smiled looking away from his flawless face and he laughed dryly, picking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Love? There's nothing called love in this cruel world. Love can be found only in fairy tales, real life's are so much different," He gritted picking out one cigar and lighting it up as I hit my lower lip and looked away from him killing himself slowly by smoking everyday.

I see himself killing him in the most pathetic method and yet I can't stop him, because I have no right to. So I simply looked away.

"Don't you believe in fairy tales?" I asked giggling. As a kid, my father had always told me about fairy tales, about how my mother died yet he continued to love her till his last breath. Those were the kind of loves you live for, the ones that enlighted your soul and were a delight to even hear about, the kind of eternal love.

"Fairy tales? Yeh sab sirf stories mein hi acha lagta hai, so kiddish and stupid!," He cringed his nose and eyes together and he looked so cute, just like a little child. From the sinfully hot Manik and the cruel monster Manik, this was a new shade of Malhotra that I was seeing, the one you could just adore and keep adoring.

"Fairy tales exist, I have seen the most beautiful love story shape in front of my own eyes," I purposely argued, and an immediate smile blew on my face thinking about Mukti and Zubin. Another pure love story, by just the way he continues to love her even after she has left us long ago. Dad always had me, a resemblance of mom, but Zubin had no one, and yet he continues to love her and always will.

"I-.......," his words were cut off as there were some noises behind us and we both got up immediately as the watchman opened the door and Manik smiled looking at him, which I'm sure must have scared him to see his khadoos boss smiling.

"Sir, Ma'am... were you both stuck in?" He asked concerned as we both walked out and Manik's smile disappeared turning towards the watchman and I slowly snuck in his photograph lying on the table inside my pocket without him noticing.

"No. We had too less work to do today, so thought about playing hide and seek in the storeroom today," sir gritted, wearing the last two buttons of his tuxedo with the signature smirk on his face as he rolled his eyes and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Thank you kaaka!" I smiled politely as sir rolled his eyes at me too and we both got in the elevator and I looked everywhere but at him, biting my lower lip as the elevator rushed down.

"Miss princess?" He mocked a smile as I looked at him. No matter how much I hate that name, it sounds good from his mouth.

"Please come out of your fairy tale world now, the real world is cruel. You can't wait for a prince to come and save you, because there are no princes in the world, there are only monsters. You have to save yourself," he said in a cold tone as the elevator stopped and we both got out of it, his words leaving me confused.

Why does he always help me somehow if all he has to do it is push me even lower?

"Sir, I have a reason to believe in love, and so I do. Fairy tales do exist, and one fine day, you will find someone who'd love you, humesha!" I wished from my heart, and I immediately knew it couldn't be me, but that didn't hurt anymore. All I wanted was him to be happy, to be loved, even if that requires me letting him go.

"Humesha?" He laughed as we both moved out of the office, stopping outside the office door.

"Humesha!" I agreed as we both walked our own ways.

Of course the fact that I will never have him hurted me, but not at the cost of his happiness. He deserved happiness, he deserved all the love in this world. Because today, I feel that all the cruelty in him is a mask that he hides with all the darkness in his eyes and coldness in his voice.

Behind it all, he's just afraid to be loved and to fall in love.

<Little did she know, he was dark; darker than space and deeper than the ocean. She was so blinded by her love, that she almost forgot, illusions still exist>

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