Stars | completed

10. Confessions

Maybe he just didn't remember that I was going to make us lunch.

Or maybe he just didn't consider it really special, now that we're going to be together for all the coming months and we'd have to cook alternately many times.

I couldn't help myself from wondering what important work must be be doing. It was a Sunday today and there were no extra lectures or colleges. Maybe he went out with a girl?

That's the thing about such introvert girls like me. Once we like a boy, we can keep overthinking about everything about them and find our own theories.

Like. I don't like Manik. I decided to settle on infatuation. It was very common to have a small tiny winy crush on a hot boy who happens to live with you and is surrounded by you at almost all the times. So that's it. I was just attracted towards him.

My empty mind was really a devil's workshop. So I went out shopping for taking something to Manik's house, and ended up buying a small Gold coloured Ganpati. I didn't know anything about the Malhotra's or their taste in things except the fact that they hand a son who was egoistic but sometimes sweet and extremely positive towards life. A ganpati was a safe bet.

And then came clothes selection, the worst job. I thought about something Indian, but then again, I wasn't going to get married to their son. My western clothes were either casual and Home wearing or full of sequins and party wearings, I had no in betweens. So I settled on a white drape with chicken work and my light blue wash jeans.

It was almost seven and there were no traces of Manik. And then when he finally came, he looked so distant and aloof and cold, as if someone had pressed an off button to his happy mood. I tried making small conversations, but I was only answered in nods or one word answers. I wasn't used to Manik's this side and I wondered what must have happened.

We finally reached Manik's parent's house. It was huge, like larger than the mansion they show in Ishqbaaz. It was beautiful and elegant, and I suddenly felt nervous pangs. 

I was an introvert and going out and meeting people, socialising... wasn't really my cup of tea. And Manik was being of no help, as if we were back to our potato and giant phase.

I couldn't help think why Manik had rented a small flat when he had such a huge mansion that he called his home.

We were greeted by Mrs. Malhotra as we stepped inside. She put her arms around me and pulled me into a warm hug. "So nice to finally see you Nandini!" She smiled, "and you're prettier than Manik told me," she complimented and I blushed.

"Actually, I didn't tell her anything at all" Manik poked in between. His mother rolled her eyes at him and pulled me inside, while he walked in and went somewhere upstairs, disappearing from my eyes. And just as my eyes couldn't reach him, the nervousness returned.

"Aunty, this is for you," I said, placing the Ganpati I had brought and her eyes twinkled. "This is so sweet of you. There was no need for it, bacha," she was warm, reminding me of my mum. I didn't have a lot of memories of my mum but how much I did have, I remember her as a kind and loving woman and I aspired to be just like my mother one day.

And then, Manik's dad came. He looked so much like Manik, and obviously carried the aura with him, that probably Manik inherited from him. He gave me a nod and a smile as I got up greet him.