Manvi was not sure for how long she was staring at him, but her senses came back as soon as she heard a vehicle honking, signaling him to move the car... That's when she noticed his irritated expression, 'typical' she thought.
"Will you stop staring and get into the car... I'm heading home anyway..." he tried to sound nonchalant, but she knew that he was holding back his anger. The ruckus around them was too much to ignore so she obeyed him without any further delay, not that she would decline his offer anyway.
Manvi glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, his stiff and serious posture was starting to annoy her. Cant he at least acknowledge her presence... she knows that he is the big headed and extremely self obsessed Virat Vadhera... No that came wrong... neither was he big headed nor self obsessed. Virat was that person who carried around that aura which screamed 'do not mess with me', but being the stubborn, adventurous and somewhat inquisitive girl she is, she couldn't help but find him intriguing, for her he was this magnet which kept on pulling her towards him. Falling in love with him was easy, and expressing it came natural for her... somebody said that 'You get strength when you're loved by someone deeply, but you get courage when you're deeply in love with someone'. Manvi was the most fitting example for that quote; she wouldn't believe that she confessed her love for him if not for his distant behavior. They were not those inseparable best buddies but they had shared quite a unique relationship before all the chaos of confession and confrontations. They did not talk to each other on daily basis or spend time together but there was a connection which no words could explain, like there were those situations where she was in dire need for help and he would be there to help her, like now... It was all same yet different, Virat was here but he was not being himself.
Manvi had enough of it, the car was barely moving through the mass of vehicles and the awkwardness was slowly killing her,
"Stop doing it..." she blurted out with an annoyed look,
Virat didn't look shocked or affected by her sudden outburst, he continued to look straight ignoring her,
"This is ridiculous..." Manvi turned to face him completely, "You're being ridiculous... I didn't commit any crime to deserve this treatment from you... What I all did was express my feelings, and that too only after I turned twenty one..." She completed, as if turning twenty one makes everything right.
Manvi noticed his grip on the steering wheel tighten as if he was trying to control himself from shouting at her, but nothing could stop her today,
"You're behaving as if... as if..." she fumbled trying to think of a worse situation, but Virat interrupted her search,
"Don't try Manvi... You won't find anything worse than proclaiming to love someone who is ten years elder to you..."
"Nine..." She interrupted him.
"What?"
"Nine not ten..." she cleared the confusion making Virat's held up anger flare,
"Are you crazy?" Virat's anger was taking over him, he paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "Try to understand Manvi, I mean nine years... Nine... Do you even understand?" Virat tried to make her see the real situation.
"So what? People don't fall in love after considering all these things... It just happens and anyway age is nothing but a number..." She argued,
"Stop it... just stop this nonsense..." Virat yelled making Manvi jerk with his harsh and loud tone,
"I..." Manvi tried to speak but he was not ready to listen to her,
"No... I don't want to hear a word from you... Not today... not ever again..." he continued with the same tone,
