NANDINI ~
A sharp pain shot through my head. I felt dizzy. I held my cheek. It stung. My eyes were filled with tears as I dared to take a glance at Maddy. My hands and feet were as cold as ice. My whole body shivered as he eyed me nastily. I was scared of him.
“This is what you get for rejecting me. sl*t.” He growled in anger and walked out of his room. I was left all alone, trying to process what had happened to me in the past few minutes.
As I recollected the events of the night, I remembered getting into an ugly banter with Maddy in front of everyone. I refused to dance with him and walked up to his room. Of course, he had followed me. We fought and thus, I was presented with this bruise on my face.
Never in my wildest dreams, had I thought that Maddy would lay his hands on me like that. He hit me. He abused me. I was shocked to see him behave in such a nasty manner. He was drunk.
I wiped my face with the sleeve of my top and walked back downstairs. I avoided everyone and headed straight outside. While at the door, I spotted Maddy grinding with some girl, getting all touchy. I felt disgusted even by the sight of him.
Once I was outside, I ran as fast as I could, irrespective of the direction I was going in. I could see an empty road ahead with not a single soul nearby. I ran and ran and ran and finally halted. I was panting and crying at the same time.
“Nandini?” A voice startled me. I looked up to see none other than Manik. I was baffled. What was he even doing there? I wondered.
“Manik? What are you -” I was interrupted by him, as he approached me.
“You’re crying. Why are you crying?” He asked. A strong smell of alcohol drifted from him as he came near me. That’s when it hit me – he was drunk. Another shock in one night.
“Are you drunk?” I asked. Well, obviously he was drunk. He couldn’t even stand still in a place. He stumbled a little as I held him by his shoulders.
“Drunk? No, baby. Its drink. You should say drink. Didn’t you learn English in school?” He laughed. What the f**k was my night turning into?
“Why are you drunk, Manik? Don’t you know that you’re not allowed to drink? And why are you out here all alone?” I asked. He looked baffled, like he had no idea what I was talking about.
“Again you’re saying it wrong! Its drink with an i. Not drunk with a u. Do I have to teach you everything, baby?” He asked with a cute little pout. The way he called me baby made my heart flutter. I was longing to hear him say that. But at the time, I couldn’t think of anything other than my worsened situation.
Tears welled up in my eyes again, and within seconds, I was crying my heart out again. Seeing Manik had made me more emotional. I wanted him to be sober and lend an ear, but he was f**king drunk, for crying out loud.
His face scrunched and he looked worried as my cries got louder. I was thinking about whatever had happened back at the house. On top of that, Manik’s argument about drunk and drink had pissed me off even more.
“Oh. Acha, okay, don’t cry. Don’t cry. I’m sorry! If you say its drink with an i, we’ll call it that. But please don’t cry…” He said, barely above a whisper. He was a little hesitant at first, but soon, wrapped me up in his arms.
I felt warm and safe and loved. I belonged to him. I had missed his embrace, his cologne, his voice and every little thing about him. He rocked me back and forth. “Don’t cry, please. I feel terrible when I see those tears in your eyes.” He whispered in my ear. His voice cracked at the end.
I pulled back and wiped my tears in front of him. “Okay. Okay, no more crying. But please tell me, why would you drink so much?” I asked, making sure I said drink with an i.
Manik sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and smiled like an idiot. “Just like that. I needed to tell… no, I needed to ask you something.” He said. He fumbled with his words. He was too wasted.
“Okay, well, you can ask me later. Anything you want. I’ve to get you home now.” I said.
“But I want to ask you something now!” He whined like a five year old. Handling him sane was much easier than handling him wasted.
“It can wait, Manik. C’mon now.” I said.
Not to my surprise, that guy just shook his head and took a seat on the ground, folding his legs. I knew he would do something like that. I rolled my eyes at his immature gesture.
“I don’t want to go home.” He stated.
“Then where do you want to go?” I asked.
“To your home! Its much… cozy and homely with you around. Please take me there…” He pleaded. And oh, those puppy dog eyes always worked. I sighed and gave up.
“Fine. Come on.” I said and helped him up. He carried on with his random talks as I put him into the car and drove to my home. . .
***
Carefully, without making a noise, I snuck into the house with a half unconscious Manik following me. He tugged on to my finger as I led him up the stairs.
“Where am I?” He asked in a drowsy voice.
“Shh. My parents are sleeping. Keep it low.” I ordered and carefully tip toed upstairs. But much to my bad luck, this guy had to do something to put me in trouble.
“But I’m sleepy! I want my mom -” He exclaimed, a little too loud. I flinched and pinned him to the wall, clamping my hand over his mouth.
“I told you that my parents are sleeping! You better behave and sleep here without any complaints now.” I whisper-yelled. He said something that I could not fully understand. I ignored his muffled words as he took my hand off.
“I’m thirsty…” He said. I groaned. He was always such a drama queen. Nevertheless, I was in love with him. I liked pampering him at times.
“Yeah. So there is a whole bottle of water in my room. Now shut up and walk with me.” I ordered, causing him to frown.
“You’re rude.” He huffed.
“No, I’m not. Anyway, please, walk with me?” I pleaded, batting my lashes even though he couldn’t see me clearly. He nodded.
“That’s better.” He smiled.
As we entered my room, I asked him to take his shoes off. He looked down at his feet with eyes half open. “Never mind. Here, have some water. I’ll take those off.” I said and bent down to take his shoes off. I kept them aside later and made the bed.
“Take this blanket and go to sleep.” I said in a very tired tone. I was dozing off standing. He sighed and plopped down on the bed. I tucked him into the blanket and was about to leave, when he caught a hold of my hand.
“Don’t go. Don’t leave me again… please…” He mumbled. I didn’t know what to do. I tried to slip away, out of his grasp, but he held my hand close to him. Also, I did have the urge to go and fall asleep in his arms.
I don’t know what took over me, but I decided to follow my instinct. I made some space for myself beside him as he wrapped his arms around me. My head rested comfortably on his chest, listening to his heartbeats.
“I love you, Nandini…” He said, patting my head lightly.
“I love you too, Manik…” I said and fell into a deep slumber. . .
***
Okay, so how many of you want to kick Maddy out? Cause his track is going to end for a while. But before that he deserves few punches and a tight slap from Manik and Nandini, right?