Broken But Beautiful

33. Melting into Him

Nandini

"Can you believe this, Nandi!" I put the phone away from my ear, saving it from Mukti's dramatic scream, "Manik Malhotra has hidden himself in the gym! Gym!"

"Is it really that surprising, Mukti," I heard Alya's voice in the background, "The only two places Manik Malhotra is ever known to being are his apartment and his gym,"

"Never mind that!" Mukti screamed back, "Listen, Nandini- you first go and try in the nice way. If that asshole agrees, good- or you put me on the line!"

"Yeah, alright Mukti," I said, coming out of the elevator as the doors slid open, "Calm down. If you want Manik Malhotra to play garba, he definitely will play garba,"

"The hell he will," Mukti growled, "Okay sweetpie, I'll go and finish my makeup. Go arrest Mr. Malhotra and put him in my jail. Bye!"

"On it, boss," I cut the call, laughing. I was currently on the 14th floor of our building, heading towards the gym where Manik Malhotra might be hiding right now. In an attempt to not attending the garba festival. The sound of my high block heels clicking on the tiles floor echoed through the entire floor, giving me the impression that it was quite empty. 

I mean, of course it was empty. This floor only had the gym and the open pool. And it was evening time. I walked to the gym room and slowed my footsteps, not wanting to warn him about my arrival. 

The gym hall was divided in three partial rooms- one was particularly for male, one for female and one was kept for customized use. It could be used as a personal gym and needed to be rented separately. Clearly, that was my destination.

As I slid the door open of the soundproof hall- 'Sucker for Pain' blasted my ears through the speaker. Both the male and female corner was completely empty- and the attender was no where to be seen.

So there was only one person in there. I tiptoed towards the customized room. The door was ajar. As I stood in front of the door, peering into the room- the music stopped. And my mouth was hung open. 

I blew out a deep breath. I didn't know what I had expected- 

Manik Malhotra, stripped naked except for the tight pair of denim, facing his sweaty back at me was doing hard pull ups. A sudden burning sensation coursed through my body, spiking deep inside my core. It came so sudden and hit so strong that it made me dizzy. I gripped the door knob tightly, sighing. 

I watched as if in a slow motion movie- as he slowly leapt his body up, the rigid muscles of his broad shoulder, curves of his biceps flexing tightly. While low, animalistic groan reverberated from his chest. Then he begin to lower himself-

But he abruptly stopped in the midway, restraining the relaxation his muscles clearly begged for. He just- paused. Suspended in the air. 

He knew I was here. 

How did he-

He took his time to pull himself down and leave the grip bar- letting me watch his body effortlessly stretch and relax with the course. He took even painful amount of time to get on his feet and finally- turn around. 

I instantly hated myself for making the sound I just made.

Manik Malhotra stood a few inches in front of me, gasping; his  naked skin dripping sweat all the way down his body. Every hard muscle of his beautifully sculptured and the inked body was quavering, releasing the tension of all the pressure they had been enduring for god knows how long. My eyes dared to look up at his face. His mouth was gaped and jaw clenched, eyes slightly framed beneath his dripping hair. Our eyes locked. A vein in the crook of his neck twitched.