Celebrity Castaway | COMPLETE | MaNan Fiction

10| Baes of Showbiz

A/N : Hello Readers! Time for mid-week update! :D

So, about this chapter, I will only say this: I absolutely love it. A lot of subtle things come to light and Manik, well, maybe finally you will get a sneak peak into what's going on in Manik's mind? Excited? Me too! Let's hop on then!

Happy Reading!

***

Manik was going through Nandini's social networking feed report that was sent by Zubin an hour back. After a lot of persistence on Nandini's part & multiple assurances from Zubin, and a few more consulting agencies, that it wouldn't affect his brand, Manik had reluctantly agreed to let Nandini appear with Aryamann for the release of his movie poster, as his best friend. Now going through the reports, he was relaxed to see, as forecasted it didn't affect him much, if anything, he was mentioned in some content in a positive light. There were a lot of talks on Nandini & Aryamann's amazing friendship, the ease with which they made fun of each other & played games & chatted with Aryamann's fans online during the launch. There was nothing negative written about it, and a lot of talk was about the content of the movie. However, Manik still couldn't understand why Aryamann was keen in doing this with Nandini & more importantly, how in one visit Nandini Murthy trusted him enough to want to do such an appearance with him.

As he scrolled through the content & all the pictures from the event, he stopped at one particular picture, where they were playing 'Who blinked first?'. It was a closeup shot of both Aryamann & Nandini looking deeply into each other's eyes, as if lost in each other. Manik stared at the picture for a long time, before deciding he didn't like it. Maybe the aesthetics of photography or lighting weren't great? What was the need to publish it? He scanned through the comments on the pictures & saw it was appreciated by all in a positive way; however, his eyes found one comment which made him frown.

aryas_angel0212: Wow these two are lit together! Won't they make a perfect couple? <3 <3  #AryaNan forever!

Manik made a mental note to ask Cabir to call the agency to remove this comment.

***

Over the next couple of days, what happened was not something any of them ever anticipated. It was true brand Manik or brand MaNan wasn't affected, but all social media platforms were trending with #FriendshipGoals & #AryaNan. Noone spoke ill about Aryamann & Nandini's relationship, no one rumoured them to be dating. They were perceived as friends with crackling chemistry & the fans loved their innocent & honest banter! It irritated Manik to see that although nothing went wrong, for the first time in years, any other male actor trended longer than him! Was this a threat?

Was this what Aryamann was aiming at? Was this why he wooed Nandini? Wait, did Nandini even need wooing? This could very well be a plan between them, isn't it? Nandini wasn't happy to be a part of his charade anyway! She was doing it for Abhimanyu's safety right? Maybe this was her way of getting back? Wow, never had Manik thought Nandini Murthy would become such a hypocrite.

***

Manik had just flown back to Mumbai and was sitting by the coffee table at his ancestral home at Jannat. He was invited for drinks and dinner by his parents. It was a single invite, meaning, Nandini wasn't there with him. He was yet to go home and meet her. He wasn't ecstatic about having to meet her anyway, but what choice did he have? He was papped at the airport, so the media knew he was back in Mumbai after so long; they were expecting a mushy status update, along with a picture of them, talking about some romantic date night between MaNan. For now, the rate at which AryaNan was trending, he'd do anything to trend over Aryamann. Even if that meant spending a romantic evening with Nandini, when all he wanted to do was avoid her and go out for drinks with his friends. However, that had to wait for later into the night. Right now, the Malhotra seniors wanted to have a word with him. He tried to stay calm by breathing evenly, as he glanced at his mother, who nodded in assurance and gently tapped his shoulder, whispering, "Relax, son"