Hello Fam :)

Warning: Manik is trying to deal with something here. Keep your head away from any hard surface to stop your urge from banging it somewhere. 

Happy Reading...

Manik woke up with a frown on his head when he felt the weight of Nandini half lying on top of him. As far as he remembered, they were sitting on the bed and talking late in the night. Probably, they had fallen asleep like that. It must be an accident because when she is in her right senses, Nandini would have killed him for sleeping beside her.

To save both of them the embarrassment, he freed himself without waking her up and slipped to Cabir's room to get ready for the office.

XXX

It was ten in the morning and Cabir was goofing around in his cabin. The workload was less and his baby brother demanded a much-needed break. "I am multitasking and even the professionals need a break", said Cabir, the first thing half an hour after they came to the office.

"Why didn't you take a break then? You could have rested there?", asked Manik.

"I am multitasking and even while taking a break, I am doing work and my work at home is completed. It's at this place I have to deal with", he said the last line to himself.

Manik had a guess of what's going on. He hadn't read all those novels just for nothing. "I don't know if you are being smart or stupid but whatever you are doing, don't hurt anyone."

"I am dealing with my closest people. I wouldn't dare to do that, Manik."

Manik believed the sincerity in his voice. Cabir can go overboard at times but he wouldn't willingly hurt someone. It was easy to slip into their usual banter after that assurance. The past few days when he had his own mission to plot something involving Nandini, there was a passive-aggressive argument between them. Manik doesn't like to argue with his baby brother but he wanted to let him know about his disagreement with Cabir and making him understand by having a civil conversation was out of option when he doesn't want to listen.

Half an hour later, there was a knock and Manik remembered texting Meera in the morning to meet him. "Meera, hey. Good morning. Sit down, please."

Once she was comfortably seated he turned to Cabir. "Baby, I need to talk to Meera alone?", he said. Manik made sure to let him know that there was no option to argue.

From the way Cabir was gaping at him, he understood the hidden order in Manik's voice. To show his displeasure, he banged the magazine on the table before banging the door of his cabin while leaving.

Manik laughed at him and made sure he was out of the cabin. "Ignore him. He is just being dramatic. Meera, I just wanted to know if you are happy working here?"

"Of course, Sir. Why the sudden question?", she asked.

"It has been long since we had a casual conversation. I love your work and I respect you. It's also my job to make sure you are happy", he told and sighed. "Meera, apart from this, I would really appreciate it if you don't mix up your personal life with your profession."

She laughed and it was anything but the pleasant one or the sweet smile he was used to. "It's about your wife then?", she asked. "I wasn't the one who mixed their personal and professional lives. Is that why we are sponsoring Murthy Industries?"

"I heard you have a crush on me. Is that why you are doing this?", asked Manik. If his tone was sarcastic, he didn't bother to apologize.

"Sir?"

"Meera, I understand your attempts to impress me. You offer me coffees when I am tired, or to bring the files home when I couldn't come to the office or even work overtime. But I have always declined your attempts, haven't I?"

Meera nodded.

He hated to do this to someone, especially to one of his best employees, but sometimes everyone needs a reality check. "I haven't said anything till now because you hadn't ever crossed the line between us and it's not really my right to tell you whom you should or shouldn't like. This conversation is happening only because you have crossed that line now", said Manik.

"What? I didn't-"

"You think you would shoot daggers at my wife, drag her to conference rooms and I wouldn't notice a thing? I don't want to show authority over my people but I am the boss of this company. I would have the information about every single detail that's happening in every single corner of my office", he said.

Manik thanked his stars when he stumbled upon the CCTV footage as part of the random check-ins according to the company protocol. The person who was in charge of the job had sent him the clipping and then Manik requested the footage of all the times when Nandini had visited the office. He was surprised that he was oblivious for so many days but then it was expected from his head girl who would deal with everyone in her own way. But that's what made him feel like he was on cloud nine. This was something his head girl would do and his hope bubble was just increasing to see his Nandini back to her original self.

"So she came complaining to you then", muttered Meera.

Manik shook his head. "I rather think you are lucky because she isn't in her normal element. You haven't seen her on her bad days. Don't push her to that extreme. She could take down this entire company."

Meera snorted. "The amount of trust you have on her capabilities. I can't believe you are taking her side even after divorcing her."

"I am not divorcing my wife. It's the other way round. I gave her an option to divorce me."

"Exactly. This whole conversation would be pointless when that happens and you will be single again. So, why are we talking about this now?"

She was getting agitated and Manik gave her a glass of water. "Calm down, please", he told and waited for her to drink a good amount of water. "Meera, what do you even know about us? What do you know about me that you are planning to share your life with me? You know Manik Malhotra, son of Nyonika Malhotra, who worked as an intern with you and then took over the company. You don't know anything about the plain simple Manik who was so scared of this world that he wanted to dig up a hole and disappear from everyone. Leave everything. Do you even know what my favorite book is?"

"Harry Potter Series."

Manik laughed. This was what people assumed about him without ever once talking to him. "Just because I discuss Harry Potter with Cabir, it isn't my favorite series. It's because it's the only series that Cabir had ever read. Wait a minute", he said, took out his mobile, and dialed Nandini's number. This question was everything to him. Nandini was one of the people who had understood him like even Cabir and Nyonika sometimes couldn't and this one question could prove him right like a few million times before.

"Hey, Manik", said Nandini from the other side of the phone.

Manik had put the call on speaker. "Nandini, do you know what my favorite fiction is?"

"Favorite fiction? I am sorry, I don't know, Manik. But hey, do you even have a favorite? I have seen you read every book with equal passion."

This one line and Manik could forever fall in love with Nandini, not that she isn't his forever now. He could gush about his girl for hours but he wanted to handle his assistant first. "Thank you, Nandini. I will call you later", said Manik and had cut the call without waiting for her answer. It was the max he could put his personal life in front of someone. "Did you listen to her? I never told her what my favorite fiction is. She just noticed it. She understands me perfectly, even the things I don't tell her about. She makes me a better person. Meera, do you know what's most special about her? She never tries to impress me. She is just there for me."

"Have you fallen in love already? It has been hardly a month since you have got married to her. I didn't see any changes in you that made you a better person than you already were. Nor were there any situations that I witnessed where 'she was just there for you'", said Meera.

If she wasn't his friend, Manik would have thanked her, walked away from this conversation, and would have never talked to her again because he couldn't continue being friends with people who don't respect his family. But Meera was his first friend and falling for someone was something one couldn't control. Even though he had confessed his feelings to Nandini, she hadn't hated him. Though they stopped staying in contact, it was because of her parents which were not at all because he loved her. It was one of the reasons why he never reacted to Meera's feelings even when he had an inkling about it, not until she had hurt his Nandini.

"Meera, I want to make a few facts clear, so I would respect it if you would understand this. I have been in love with Nandini for the past four years. It doesn't matter if she divorces me or not. I have been married to her, in my head, for the past four years and she would be my wife for the rest of my life. No decision of hers, no force from outside, and no opinion of others will change this fact. I hope you understand this. I really do. Otherwise, I am sorry but the company would regret parting ways with you", he said. Manik didn't want to take a professional decision based on his personal life but family is something he wouldn't compromise about.

When Meera was about to say something, Manik raised his hand. "Don't say anything in haste. I have told you everything I had to. Go to your cabin and think about it with a calm mind. I would support any decision of yours."

She nodded and left the cabin. Manik dropped his face in his arms and rubbed his forehead with the thumbs. Why did he have to deal with feelings at his workplace?

A moment of precious silence later, Cabir banged the door open, walked around the table, and pulled Manik out of his chair. He smashed a kiss on Manik's cheek and squeezed him in a hug. "Bhai, I love you. You have been married to Nandini for the past four years? That's so adorable of you."

Manik broke the hug and narrowed his gaze. "How the hell did you know this?"

To answer him, Cabir flashed his teeth and removed his Bluetooth. "This is a precious little thing."

It was when Manik noticed his Cabir's mobile on his table inside the magazine that he had banged on the table on his way out. "Cabir Malhotra, were you eavesdropping on me?"

"Yes, I was", said Cabir. "We never had secrets between us and you can't expect me to obey you now just because you try to scare me with that look of yours. I understand if it was Nandini and that's your 'husband & wife' stuff but not when it's your assistant. I am your brother. I have the right to eavesdrop. I have the right to uncover what my brother is hiding from me. I have the right to..."

Manik rolled his eyes. "Will you stop ranting about your 'twisted fundamental rights'? I wasn't trying to keep this a secret but I didn't want to embarrass her. I would have perfectly told you if you would have been decent enough to come to me after she had left the cabin."

Cabir shrugged. "You didn't tell that while trying to scare me away."

"I couldn't tell that in front of her. You were supposed to know that, idiot."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does. You aren't doing this ever again. How can I trust my surroundings when I am talking to someone again?", asked Manik.

His brother just smirked. "Glad that it taught you a lesson. Never try to keep secrets from your brother."

Manik glared at him but when he realized it was of no use to Cabir, he gave up on his brother.

XXX

At the end of the day, Manik was packing his stuff when there was a knock and Meera came in. "Hey, Meera", he said, throwing in his best smile. "Isn't it time for home yet?"

"Yes, Sir. I am going. I just came here to say sorry. It was really childish of me to behave like that with your wife", she said.

"Hey, I am damn sure Nandini would understand. She is super sweet if you are good to her", he assured. "Meera, you are an amazing person and I am damn sure there is someone who would love you like you are their whole world. Don't let all this affect you. Okay?"

Meera nodded. "Sir, my job. Do I still-"

"Get me Khan's file first thing in the morning tomorrow", he said. He was happy inside because parting ways due to anything personal would make him regret but there were priorities. And if there was a middle ground, everyone could be happy.

"Thank you so much", said Meera.

The huge smile on her face at least gave a little comfort to Manik after breaking her heart. He knew the pain of rejection by someone you love. He would never wish that for anyone. "Let's forget this and get back to our work. Relax for today, take leave if you want and get back to work."

When she nodded, Manik threw in another smile before holding out the door for her. Cabir was texting someone outside his cabin.

"Bhai, I am hungry", he said.

"Of course, baby."

Cabir looked up from his phone to glare at Manik for being sarcastic. On seeing Meera, he flashed her a grin and then glared at Manik some more.

"Do you want to eat out or go home?", asked Manik.

"How about we pick up?", said Cabir.

"Have you ordered already? Great", he said and turned to Meera. "Okay, Meera. See you tomorrow and have a nice evening."

Once she was out of the audible range, Cabir grinned at Manik. "You know what? Forget about us being brothers. If I had the next life, I would want to be your girlfriend. How can you make every girl feel like they are important?"

Manik smirked at his baby brother. There were a few things he could flaunt proudly in front of his brother and this was one of them. "Baby, I might make every girl feel as if they are important but there is only one girl who is important to me."

The goofy grin on Cabir's face made him smile. He didn't understand his brother's obsession with his relationship with Nandini but it was a good feeling to share his happiness with his brother.

XXX

When the twins returned home, Nandini was working in the living room. Cabir was almost jumping with excitement as he made his way towards her and knelt in front of her. Manik shook his head, his own smile intact on his face as he sat on the sofa's armrest beside her.

"Okay, boys, I am excited to see you too", said Nandini, when Cabir continued to stare at her, grinning and unblinking.

He waved her off. "Arey, not that. I have a surprise for you", said Cabir and handed over the food parcel in his hand to her.

Nandini's brows furrowed in confusion. "Am I going to find some snake inside it?", she teased Cabir but opened it anyway. Both the men were gauging the reaction of Nandini and frowned when she had tears in her eyes on opening the cheeseburgers but as they knew her, she was quick enough to mask it off. It was Cabir's surprise and even Manik was blown over by the thoughtfulness of his baby brother.

"I haven't had these in years", said Nandini.

It didn't surprise Manik. Not that 'they' were taking care of her favorite food while making a plan to lock her up for the rest of her life. He shook his head to push the unpleasant people away from his head and wrapped an arm around her. "You would never miss this again, I promise."

The blinding smile she gave him was every worth. "Thank you, Manik."

"What are you thanking him for?", asked Cabir. "It was my plan. It was my surprise. Thank me."

Manik rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, baby brother. My surprise for Nandini will reach her by tomorrow morning."

"Surprise?", asked Nandini. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise, Nandini." When Manik refused to reveal any detail to either her or Cabir, they decided to have their food instead.

"Are you guys having a party without me?", asked Nyonika, entering into the living room.

She took a seat on the other side of Nandini while Cabir settled down in the armchair taking his cheeseburger. Manik handed one each to his mother and Nandini before taking one for himself.

Before he could grab a bite, Nandini stopped him by holding his hand. "Do you want to share it with me?", she asked. Even though the question was directed towards him, her whole attention was on Cabir. There was a little smirk too if one knew how to look for it.

The question earned a protest from his baby brother and Manik thought if it takes a cheeseburger to get everything back to normal, he would buy a hundred for them every day.

"No one is sharing with anyone. There are enough for everyone. Have your own", he announced. When Nyonika raised an eyebrow in question, Cabir pouted. "Mom, they would always share the cheeseburgers during college days and it would make me feel very lonely."

"Not always", said Nandini. "And you wouldn't have felt alone if you had stopped clinging to my husband throughout your college time."

"Back then, he was only my Manik", protested Cabir.

Nyonika, who was happily enjoying her cheeseburger while listening to their banter, put her plate down, smirking. "Fight all you want you two but he is my Manik to start with and always will be."

"Mom, stop encouraging them", warned Manik, exasperated. These two were too much on their own. They didn't need Nyonika to fuel their arguments even more. But by the way she burst out laughing, his mother didn't care about his mental peace.

XXX

Manik almost got a heart attack on reaching his room. His whole bed was covered in papers and files, a few of them made their way to the couch. Cabir would profess poetry if he gets to know someone could make their room as messy as his. "Did a storm visit the room?", he asked, making sure his tone was lighter. When Nandini rolled her eyes and started clearing the room, he joined in only to be stopped by her.

"You aren't doing this. I made the mess and you are tired", she told, a frown appearing on her head.

"I told you. I am never tired for my family", said Manik. He knew he had taken her by surprise but instead of reacting or elaborating any further, Manik threw in a sweet smile and started helping her. If he had to repeat this one line for the rest of his life so that Nandini could believe she deserved to have a happy family, he would happily do it. If he could show her instead of telling her a few words, he would grab the opportunity with both hands.

Between them, the room was cleared pretty soon. Manik went to take a shower and found Nandini lost in her thoughts when he returned. He went to his bookshelf to grab the book for the night, all the while mentally arguing himself whether to let her figure things for herself or pull her so that she doesn't fall in the spiral of her thoughts when he felt her presence behind him.

"Manik, why did you ask me about your favorite book in the morning?", she asked. "You had just cut the call soon after."

He turned around, fighting to keep the smile off his face. "I know you wouldn't blurt out any book just because I had asked you. It was a wild guess and you surprised me too by saying that. I had never told you this but you understand me somehow and I wanted to show that to Meera."

Manik noticed the exact moment, her confusion turned into a frown. "What were you discussing with Meera about me?", she asked.

"Why didn't you tell me about your conversation in the conference room, Nandini?", asked Manik.

"How do you know about it?"

"A weekly protocol to check the CCTV footage. When the technician saw the footage, he brought them to me. I don't know what you had talked about but saw your encounter with her."

Nandini rubbed her forehead. "It was your workplace and she was messing it up. I didn't want to make a bigger mess by complaining about it to you. Wait, did you fire her?" When Manik shook his head, Nandini crossed her arms. "What did you do then? Congratulate her?"

If he wasn't wrong, it was her defensive stance. He didn't know if it was unintentional or if she thought Manik would ever take anyone else's side than his family, but it hurt all the same. "Nandini, I don't believe in firing people", explained Manik. "I point out their mistakes, give them time and advice to rectify them. But I am proud of you."

"Why?"

"You stood up for yourself. You didn't let Meera win over you if by the way you walked away was anything to go by. The warning you gave her, I saw the glimpse of my head girl, Nandini."

"I don't know why you didn't fire her even after knowing everything", asked Nandini.

Manik frowned. "And what's the reason to fire her? That she was rude to my wife?", he asked. He winced at the sarcasm in his tone. "Nandini, I apologize for my tone. But these catfights-"

"Because she is trying to trap you, you idiot", screamed Nandini. She breathed in for a moment before calming herself down. "It's not a catfight, Manik. Hell, I don't even care about her. It's just that, I don't feel safe when she's around you giving those dreamy looks to you and having mental thoughts about god knows what especially when you are not interested in her. And with that desperation in her feelings, she could go to an insane level of forcing you. She is capable of hurting you or becoming another Alya and I don't want either of them. Manik, I would have accepted her if instead of shooting daggers at me, she would have approached you and talked to you."

Manik wanted to scream, jump, and cry all at once. Instead, he pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her, letting the tears flow free from his eyes. This wasn't a glimpse of his head girl. This was his Nandini, the girl who yelled at him when he took a wrong step, the one who protected him from getting manipulated by anyone. This was the girl he fell in love with and as it seems, continues to fall in love with. Breaking the hug, Manik cupped her face and kissed her head, longer than the previous day. It was the most he could do to express the emotion bursting out of his heart without taking advantage of her. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

Holding both her hands in his, Manik pulled her to sit on his recliner and took a seat beside her. "Nandini, I trust Meera. I love the way she works. She is efficient, hardworking, and understands my work and ideas perfectly. We started together as an intern in the office and she is my first friend in the office. We are more colleagues now than friends but I think we are great together as two professionals."

He felt Nandini trying to free her hands from his grip and the frown on her head only got deeper. Instead of letting her go, he entwined their fingers. Her fingers between him grounded him to her presence. It assured him every time that she was here with him, safe and holding his hand. He wished he could do that for a hundred years and never get tired of it. "We might work the whole day together, but at the end of the day, she is my assistant. I know how she works and our relationship just ends there. Whereas you, Nandini Manik Malhotra, are the one I share my name with. Do you know what the biggest difference between you two is? I am capable of protecting myself from Meera but I would willingly give my whole life for you to take over. I would choose to read you like my favorite novel, Nandini, every day for a lifetime."

The force by which Nandini hugged him caught him off balance and Manik wrapped an arm around her head, making sure she didn't get hurt as they stumbled back onto the cushion. If the time had frozen right at this moment, he would be the happiest person but Manik pushed her aside.

"What happened?", asked Nandini.

"I am crashing in Cabir's room today. Call me if you need something", he told.

"Why?"

"It's just been days. Good night, Nandini", said Manik. He took his book and left the room to sneak into Cabir's room. His brother might have questions in the morning, might even yell at him, but Manik needed to clear his head. He hugged Cabir's hand to his chest and drifted to sleep. 

I told you Manik would deal with Meera in his own polite way. Did you like his way of dealing with people trying to harm him? (Also, if you want to see a monster Manik, screaming at the girl and shutting her up, sorry but that would be too away from his character. There was a reason why no one has seen Manik Malhotra raise his voice or him being angry, except the day when he married Nandini.)

Manik's behavior in the last few lines would be discussed soon but he is close to confession. Cabir would be happy. :P

Nandini was more trying to protect him than being jealous. It's her instinct apparently to protect Manik which didn't disappear after all these years. Did you like her little burst out in front of Manik. :)