MaNan: Breaking Free

46|Jitters

"Hey!" He says excitedly, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside. The simple touch sends a jolt of tingles shooting up my arm and my stomach does a backflip. A bloody backflip! "You know, Nandini, I am baking after a long time. I'd forgotten how much fun it could be. Thanks for letting me use your kitchen." He notices me looking at the utensils and says, "I was trying to find the right size. I hope you don't mind. I'll put everything back later, when this is done." He looks at the pie in front of him, his grin infectious.

Blast. How do I ask him to leave now? He looks so happy!

"Listen, Mani-"

"Really, Nandini! Thank you so much!" The happiness is practically radiating off him in waves. "You know, cooking has always been a stress buster for me. Work has not been easy this week." He shakes his head and for the first time, I notice the exhaustion in his stance. His eyes look a bit tired, there's a hint of dark circles there, which I haven't seen before and his hair and beard are longer and messier than ever before. I know for a fact that he leaves before me every morning and cames back late, but I never put much thought into it. Now, as I watch him beaming at the food he's prepared, I can't seem to find the words to tell him to leave.

"I really needed this, Nandini. Thanks." He looks straight into my eyes. "The people here are so nice and I don't miss home too much because they've been great to me. I wanted to do something for them in return." He holds up the pie in front of my face.

Damn you, Manik Malhotra.

Sighing inwardly, I move away from him and run a finger over the oven surface, in an attempt to distract myself. "How did you manage to get sugar here?" I ask incredulously.

"Oh!" He gives me a sheepish smile. "Sorry. The container slipped from my hand."

"Manik." I groan his name. There's a flare of emotion in his eyes at that as he looks at me intently. That look.

"You've ruined my kitchen." I look away from him and shake my head, effectively breaking our eye contact.

"I'll clean it up. Don't worry." He gives me an innocent smile. Yeah, right.

"Of course." I roll my eyes. "And I trust you to clean up."

"Just drop it, okay. I'll clean up later. Now come here and taste this." He grabs my hand again and pulls me closer, giving me a spoonful of stuffing. "How is it?"

"It's really good." I tell him honestly, aware that he is still holding my hand.

"It just needs to be baked now." His answering smile warms me up. Letting go of my hand, he puts down the bowl and reaches over to grab the tray. Just as he is about to turn around, his foot lands on the gooey stuff on the floor and he slips, falling down on his bottom with a yelp.

I look at him and burst out laughing, unable to hold it in. He relaxes after a moment and joins in, his own laugh ringing thought the kitchen.

"That didn't happen." He gets up, shaking his apron.

"Yes, it did." I giggle. "The mighty have fallen." And because I can't resist, I add in a mocking tone, "serves you right for messing up my kitchen." My laughter stops when I look up because I find him staring at me again, the intensity in his gaze unmistakable. But before I can say anything, he turns around and walks over to the oven, sliding the container inside with his back to me.

The ingredients are all over the place and there are still a bunch of pie crusts lying on the slab, waiting to be loaded. Ignoring the warning bells going off in my head, I decide to help him. Anyway, it's impossible for me to sit in the next room and ignore him, I might as well do something productive.