Destiny's Gamble

A Pot Of Mess

Manik's POV 

"Baba, thank God you're home." Sateesh says, rushing to the side of my car. 

"You've never been this happy about my return before. What's so special about tonight?" I ask, getting out of the car. "If you want to take a leave, then you know - " 

"No, no, Baba," he interrupts me. I watch him, surprised. He glances in the direction of the house. "Ma'am is actually - " 

"What happened to her?" I exclaim, rushing towards the front door without even shutting the car door. "Is she alright? Do I need to call an ambulance?" 

I burst through the door, the brass handle slamming against the wall behind. My eyes scan the hall for any sign of Angel, but she's nowhere to be found. 

"Angel!" I call out, pushing open the kitchen door. My frantic eyes search this space for her as well, but she's not here either. "Angel!" As I'm about to exit the kitchen, the sound of gurgling giggles fills my ears. I turn sharply on my heel, following the source of the sound. 

As I reach the breakfast counter and peer over it to the other side, my eyes land on Angel. She's sitting in the midst of a puddle of water, with Alex staring at her quizzically, his head tilted to one side. 

"What the fuck are you doing?" I ask, shaking my head in disbelief, as I pinch the bridge of my nose. I can feel a headache coming on already.

Angel looks up at me, grinning as if she's won a Nobel Prize. Her eyes glance around her, a pout setting itself on her lips, as if she just realized she's been sitting in a wet mess.

"Piss your pants, perhaps?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow, as I rest against the side of the counter. The pout quickly transforms into a grin, as Angel looks up at me, raising her index finger. 

"I was..." She trails off, her eyes flitting from left to right. "I forgot." She begins to giggle like a school girl who has just developed her first crush. I crouch down on the floor in front of Angel, sniffing the air around her. No smell of alcohol. 

"Have you been drinking?" I ask, making the gesture of a shot glass with my index and thumb finger. "Or is your tolerance so low that you got drunk on oxygen?" Angel's eyes land on the puddle of water once more, the pout replacing her grin again. 

"Did I pee my pants?" She asks, her index finger touching the water's surface, causing ripples to spread across the liquid. She brings her wet finger towards her mouth, her lips enclosing around half of it. 

I take a sharp intake of breath, gulping as I watch her finger resting in her innocent mouth. One which hasn't been polluted by any dirty words or curses hurled in anger. I never imagined something as innocent as that could hold such power over me. 

"I pray now that that's not piss." I mumble, putting in every bit of self control to bring my mind back on track. 

"No," Angel sighs with relief. She shuts her eyes, resting her head against the counter, a smile tugging her lips upwards. "It's water." I roll my eyes. "Ah ha!" She snaps her fingers together, sitting up. 

"What happened?" I ask, already regretting asking the question. 

"I remember," she says, nodding her head, eyes wide. "You remember that dark night when I dropped your dinner?" 

"No, I have the brain of a goldfish," I reply sarcastically. "Of course I remember. But what does that have to do with anything at the moment?"

"Before you came and went all Devil on me," Angel rolls her eyes. "I grabbed hold of a brownie, and didn't realize it was still with me until the events of the night ended." Oh no, no, no. 

"Please tell me you didn't eat any piece of that brownie." My tone is pleading. I want her to lie to me even if she has eaten it. Although judging from her state right now I already know what's coming out of her mouth. 

"Well...no," she frowns. "I didn't until a while ago. The thing was, Manik, I was super hungry and it was lying there. I thought to do the right thing as always and leave it be, because it's yours. But then I thought, dump the right thing. I also want to know what's so special in it that you choose to gobble that up instead of my food." 

Angel balls up her tiny fists and taps them against my chest vigorously. I think she's trying to pummel me though. Points for effort. 

"Do I even want to know the end of this story?" I ask, as she continues to assault me like a tooth-fairy.

"I ate all of it. The end." I want to smack the triumphant smile off of Angel's face. My hands wrap around her fists, stopping her movements at once. "And then I came here for some water, but..." She glares accusingly at the liquid around her, as if it purposely surrounded and trapped her within its confines.

"You fucking idiot," I exclaim in exasperation. "That was a pot brownie." I tug at Angel's fists, causing her to inch closer to me, her face just a hairsbreadth away from mine. "And now..." I trail off, my eyes making their way to her plump lips, as she runs her tongue along her bottom lip.  

I moisten my lips, clearing my throat, as I pull my gaze back towards her eyes. But that's just it. Her eyes are as hard to resist as her lips, if not more. The way they gaze into mine, with that innocent, but know-it-all look I've grown all too familiar with. The way they tend to suck out all my secrets and unsaid confessions. The way they force me to feel guilty, even when my male ego is telling me I'm right and shouldn't cave in like a whuss. 

Those eyes have the power to bring kings to their knees, so what good is a Devil in front of them? 

"Get up," I instruct, letting go of her fists and standing up. I need to get tonight under control before the reins are completely out of my grasp. And by tonight, I mean the babbling high mess, who's seated on my kitchen floor.