6:30 pm, Srivastav House, Karwar.
"So, are you both on your honeymoon, then?" Alka aunty asked us, with a broad smile on her face.
I was extremely uncomfortable with this. I was a horrible actress and a terrible liar as well. Aunty would definitely figure out that there was something fishy between Manik and me. Especially, since I was so pissed at him! My panic was increasing every minute.
"Haan, aunty...kuch aisa hi samajh lijiye..." Manik replied with a smile, pulling me further closer to him.
I looked at him with wide eyes as he tightened his grip on my shoulder. I didn't even know why I was so worried! Lying came so naturally to Manik. Why wasn't I surprised? After all, he's a first-rate con artiste. First, he lied to me and now he's doing the same with aunty! However, I had to play along. I definitely needed a place to recuperate after such a long journey.
"Beta, tum dono kapde change karlo...woh room mein tumhe mil jayenge...varna, beemar padne ke chances hain." She said pointing to one of the rooms.
Finally! What I was actually here for! I immediately stood up to go to the room, when I remembered that Manik's wound needed redressing.
"Aunty, do you have an antiseptic lotion? Like Dettol? Or even Savlon?" I asked.
"Yes beta, you'll find a first aid box with all types of medicines in the leftmost drawer of the cupboard. But, why do you need it?" She asked in an inquisitive voice.
"Woh aunty, I slipped and fell in the rain water, and I scratched myself on a rock." Manik said in a monotone. Of course he had the perfect cover story!
"Oh, I hope zyaada nahin lagi, both of you go and change immediately! Aur agar koi madad chahiye, toh please call me!" She said, in a pleasant tone.
"Thank you so much aunty!" I said, genuinely grateful for the help.
I immediately made my way towards the room and Manik followed. I opened the cupboard and took out the first aid kit.
"Sit on the bed!" I said in a tough voice, and Manik immediately complied.
I went towards Manik and removed, his t-shirt without giving him any prior warning. He seemed taken aback by my actions, but he kept his mouth shut. I examined the wound, carefully. Aiyappa, thank you! There seemed to be no infection, but the wound hadn't healed completely. I immediately started cleaning it with a swab of cotton dipped in Dettol. I tried my best to distract myself from ogling at his perfectly crafted abs, now marred by the blemish the gash had left on his torso. The cut was nasty! I had to admit-Manik had some serious will power! Normal people would be afraid to move in this condition, and Manik had driven for hours.
"You don't have to do this..."I heard him say, as I wrapped the wound with gauze.
"Just SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I shouted. I had had it with his irresponsible behavior! Did he have a death wish?
He seemed absolutely dumbstruck at my sudden outburst.
"You don't get how serious this is! You could have died from blood-poisoning if I hadn't tended to you! Do you know what a painful death that is?" I asked, giving him an angry glare.
He shook his head in the negative.
"Then stop talking and let me do my job!" I said. My scolding seemed to have worked. He was relatively submissive for the rest of the process.
"It's done." I finally said, and removed my hand from his chest. He looked at the point on his chest, where my hand was placed, just a moment ago. From his expression, it seemed as if he felt himself incomplete without my hand on his heart.
Nandini! Stop thinking about all this! I immediately turned around and started searching for clothes in the cupboard. I snatched the first set I could get my hands on and started walking towards the bathroom.
"I'm changing in the bathroom...you can change outside." I said in a hurry and rushed inside the bathroom, before he could object.
I took a deep breath and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I looked positively awful! My makeup was all over the place and my clothes were absolutely ruined due to the wet mud Manik had pulled me into. I looked like some street urchin. It was a miracle aunty had let us inside!
I promptly took a shower, to cleanse my entire body and remove all the dirt. I looked at the set of clothes I had borrowed from the cupboard. It was a lovely lemon yellow chiffon saree. There seemed to be only traditional wear in the cupboard, so I had just picked up a random set. I honestly had no mood to take on the trouble of wearing a saree, but I didn't have much of a choice! I draped the saree as well as I could in the next few minutes, and stepped out of the bathroom as soon as I was done.
I didn't see Manik around. I guessed that he had already changed and made his way out. Just as I was about to leave the room, my eyes fell on a photo frame displayed on the wall. It had a picture of a young couple framed in it. They looked blissfully happy together, in the photograph. But who were they? The house seemed to have no one else staying in it apart from Alka aunty. Maybe I was mistaken! Maybe, the couple in the picture did live here. Perhaps, they were out of town at the moment. After all, the saree that I was wearing definitely didn't seem like aunty's. It most probably belonged to the woman in the photograph.
I finally made my way out of the room and saw Manik chatting jovially with aunty. Aiyappa, how does he manage to twist every woman around his finger? Whether they're young or old! I had seen the envious glances the women at the restaurant threw me when they saw me dancing with him. It wasn't fair! As I came closer, I got a good look at him. He looked unbelievably dashing in the ethnic, deep blue kurta, he was wearing. Pair that up with his messy hairdo, and he looked sinfully sexy! Aiyappa, why? Why does he have to look so good all the time? I had come in to the house looking like a mess, and he seemed entirely unscathed by the entire day's events!
I finally decided to join in the conversation and said. "Aunty, thank you! Thank you so much for these clothes."
She immediately turned around to look at me and said. "Thanks bolne ki koi zarurat nahi hain. Waise...tu saree mein bahut pyaari lag rahi hain." She said, making me smile. "Hain na, Manik?" She questioned.
When I looked up to see Manik's face, I was beyond surprised. He seemed absolutely enraptured by me. He remained speechless for several seconds, as my entire body came under his intense gaze. A blush began to spread on my cheeks, and I looked down, to avoid those bewitching brown orbs.
"Manik...?" aunty, asked attempting to get his attention.
"Haan...aunty...bohat acchhi lag rahi hain." He said in a hurried voice, as if he'd been caught stealing something.
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before aunty spoke. "Beta, you both must be hungry,na? I'm so sorry...my cook didn't come today. So, there's no fresh food at home. Main abhi kuch bana deti hoon..."
Aunty had been so nice to us. It seemed wrong to ask her to exert herself further just for our sake. Maybe we could make the food for her? It was the least Manik and I could do to repay her.
"Aunty, please don't bother. Let us make the food?" I asked politely.
"Arre, but..." aunty tried to object.
"No aunty, Nandini's absolutely right. There's no reason you should strain yourself in this manner. We'll make the food!" He said, authoritatively.
At least both of us agreed on something! It was a welcome change!
She finally agreed and both of us made our way to the kitchen.
"So, tum khaana khud bana logi, right?" Manik asked, seconds after we had entered the kitchen.
"What? We told aunty that we'd prepare the food together! So, you have to help me!" I said. There was no way I was going to do all the work by myself!
"Listen I can't do all this cooking and cleaning and all..." He said.
"Of course! You must be having ten different servants to do all this for you!" I said, mockingly.
"Whatever...I can't do all this. There's nothing you can do to change my mind." He stated coolly, and sat down on the kitchen slab as if he were waiting to watch trapeze artistes perform before him.
Fine! If he wasn't willing to help, I wasn't going to beg for it! Obviously, I wouldn't let him take credit for it either!
I quickly gathered the requisite vegetables and other basic ingredients and started my work. I used the spices and made the curry for the vegetables. Now it was time to cut and sear the vegetables that I was going to add to the gravy.
However, when I started chopping the vegetables, I had a sudden lapse in concentration, and ended up cutting my finger.
"Ouch!" I exclaimed, in pain. The cut was small, but it was bleeding a great deal.
Suddenly, I felt someone grab hold of my hand. The next thing I knew, Manik was sucking my wounded finger, in order to alleviate the pain.
After a few seconds, he removed it from his mouth and said in an invective tone. "Nandini! Dhyaan nahin rakh sakti kya? You're so careless!"
I continued to stare at him in silence as he blew air on my finger. He could be so sweet and caring when he wanted to be. When he was done tending to my finger, he caressed my hand slowly, and lifted it up to his mouth to place a soft kiss on my finger. My heart filled with warmth as I saw his concern for me and a smile spread on my face unknowingly. The pain in my finger suddenly seemed non-existent.
I continued to look into his eyes and he stared right back. However, in a few moments, flashes of his earlier hurtful behaviour came back to me. I immediately yanked my hand out of his grip.
"This cut will heal, Manik, but jo pain nahin dikhta uska kya?" I asked angrily. "I mean nothing to you right?! Then you should have just let me bleed to death!"
His expression was filled with anguish as he listened to my words. He opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it, and moved away from me.
I stormed out of the kitchen, and walked into the room where the first aid kit was kept. I immediately removed it, and applied a band-aid on the cut.
What did this monster think of himself? That he could come close to me whenever he wanted, and push me away when he fancied. I wasn't going to let him play with my feelings in this manner! I had just about had it with his erratic behaviour!
I made my way back to the kitchen, after a few minutes. However, what I saw gave me one hell of a shock!
I looked at the cutting board, where I'd left the uncut vegetables. Since it was empty, I turned my head to the side, to see all the vegetables cut and placed in a bowl. As I moved closer, to examine the pieces, I realized that although they were cut decently, the job had definitely been done by a novice. Did Manik cut them? I wondered to myself.
I moved the bowl a little, and was about to start cooking, when I saw something that made me feel like I had been gutted.
I noticed a small drop of blood on the kitchen counter, probably as a result of a small nip, one may have acquired while chopping vegetables. What alarmed me further was that- I was sure that the drop of blood wasn't mine.