I roll over, my arm draping itself over a lump beside me. My eye pops open, immediately followed by a smile. Manik is lying beside me, his front facing me. His hands are buried under the side of his head, stray strands of hair covering his forehead. What a beautiful sight to wake up to.
I sigh with satisfaction as my fingers brush away the hair from his forehead. Right in this moment my husband looks like a peaceful child, ignorant to all the worries of the world. I wish I could form a bubble around him and provide him with such peace throughout his life.
Manik's eyes fly open, startling me. His black orbs widen as he gazes into mine. With a jerk the man sits up and gets off the bed.
"I-I fell asleep," Manik says. He moves himself to the far corner of the room, conversing with me from there. "I...It won't happen again."
"Why not?" I grin, getting off the bed as well. "I mean, we are married, Manik. Sleeping in the same bed is perfectly normal, no matter how tiny it is. The space will always be enough for us." He frowns, his gaze focusing on a spot on the floor. He furrows his brows as if he's trying to solve a tough equation in his head.
"I'm going to be heading out mid-afternoon towards the forest," I say. "Ira told me a bunch of beautiful wild flowers are found in that area, and I want to check them out."
"Okay," Manik nods his head.
"And...well, I wouldn't mind if you tagged along," I offer.
"Um...I think there will be work for me to do here," Manik says hurriedly. "I should check up on the machine and apologize to Rakesh for being a dick to him yesterday and - " I cup Manik's left cheek in my palm, cutting off his rambling. Lifting myself on my tiptoes, I place a gentle peck on his other cheek.
"Good morning, Mr. Hubby." I say, winking at him.
*****
"And you're sure we aren't walking straight into the mouths of a couple hundred mountain lions." Manik says, following close behind my heels. I roll my eyes, focusing intently on the uneven ground beneath me. One wrong step and I can lose an ankle out here.
"You didn't even know this place existed before I brought you here," I retort. "So how in the world would you know whether or not there are a million lions out here, or just a handful?"
"Aryan said so," he replies matter-of-factly. A giggle escapes my lips.
"And you believed him? Manik, he's just pulling your leg," I shake my head in amazement. "You know, for a Devil, you're quite naive."
"Fucker," Manik grumbles. My eyes land on an aged tree, causing my feet to quicken pace and carry me towards it. Hurriedly, I pull out my phone and crouch onto the ground, trying to get a good angle.
"What're you doing?" Manik asks, towering over me.
"Oi, you're blocking the sunlight. Shoo," I say, waving him away. He steps towards my left, allowing me to focus on capturing this tree once more. As I look up towards the crown of it, sunlight directly attacks my eyes, making me look away at once. Frowning, I squint my eyes and try once more. How am I expected to get a good picture if I can't even see what's showing up on the screen?
"Here," Manik says, holding out his shades.
"I'm fine," I say, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.
"No you're not." Manik steps into place behind me, his arms entrapping my head from either side. "Angel, you're just stubborn, that's all." He slips the glasses onto my face. I look up to see a satisfied smile playing on my husband's lips. "What?" He cocks an eyebrow at me. "Go ahead, do your thing." Manik steps to my left once more.
"Wait a minute!" He exclaims, as I stand up and move to the other side of the tree. "How'd you charge your phone? I know it couldn't possibly have retained its battery for all these days."
"I have a power bank," I reply absentmindedly.
"And you didn't share when I was going around the entire village looking for a goddamn charger." I shrug my shoulders, biting down on my lower lip as I zoom into a gnarled knot of roots.
"It's not like you can make any calls, or send messages. Even a charged phone is as useless to you here as a drained out one." I sneak a peek towards Manik from behind the bark to find him heading back the way we came. "Where are you going?" I ask, puzzled.
"Home! What's the point of being with a deceiving witch like you?" Manik calls out over his shoulder. "I rather dine with the mountain lions."
"Well, I guess you're going to get your wish then. I mean, you're going the wrong way, Manik," I lie, smiling. "Right towards their den." My husband applies the brakes of his feet at once.
"We came from this way." Although Manik tries to say it with confidence, I can hear the doubt in his tone. Big mistake on his part.
"Maybe...maybe not," I say, shrugging. "I guess you'll find out when you hear their roars." Smiling knowingly, I turn around and continue to head further into the forest.
"But you just said there are none." Manik's voice comes from right behind me. Ah, so someone's following me now?
"Yeah, well, I didn't want you to ditch me. Truth be told, though, only Aiyappa knows what - and who's - out here in this dense colony of trees. I mean, lions are the least of your concerns. You should worry more about the ghosts and zombies that run around here."
I sneak a look at Manik over my shoulder, hoping to gauge his reaction. His eyes are flitting all across us, worry lines creasing his forehead. Oh come on, even a six year old would laugh in my face, and then there's my overly believing husband. What in the world am I to do with this man?
"Angel, come on." Manik lets out a nervous bark of laughter. "Zombies don't exist."
"Oh really?" I look at him questioningly. "And how exactly would you know this, Manik? I mean, there's so much left unknown in this world. Maybe zombies are just another such species." My gaze travels downwards to find Manik's thumb and index finger pinching the hem of my shirt, as he follows close behind my heels.
"Why aren't we turning around then? Because I sure as hell don't have any intention of discovering someone unknown to mankind today." I turn to the left, avoiding a broken tree. Manik obediently trails behind me, his footsteps shadowing mine.
"Don't worry, I'm here to protect you. Once the lions, the zombies, the ghosts, and whoever else is out here sees me, they'll go running in the opposite direction while soiling their pants." I stop and since Manik's attention is on all the unknowns his front hits my back. I look up to find him staring down at me, his lips just mere inches from my forehead. The urge to kiss him once more is stronger than any emotion I've ever felt. Aiyappa, this man has messed me up beyond belief.
"You're beautiful." Manik whispers, his fingers trailing down the side of my face. His skin leaves a burning sensation on mine, the task of breathing suddenly becoming quite tough. Clearing his throat, Manik takes a step back, his eyes landing on everything except my eyes.
"Why'd we stop?" He asks, still not meeting my gaze.
"Picture time." I say, passing my fingers over the parts of my face that he touched.
"I never knew you were so interested in photography." Manik comments, as I lower myself to capture a photograph with good lighting.
"I actually wanted to be a photographer once upon a time." I smile at the thought of this childish dream. "Then when I spoke to Chachi about this she made me realize I'll be on the streets if I pursue this career, and that's how this dream ended."
"But there are so many well paid, famous photographers out there. This line of work is a proper profession, you know?" I shrug.
"Those people are just lucky. I mean, there must be a thousand out there who wish to do acting, or photography, but only a few are fortunate enough to actually live a life in which their passion is their career." After a few seconds of getting no response from Manik, I glance over my shoulder to find him deep in thought, as he stares at the ground.
"Angel, why don't you use a professional camera instead? I'm sure the resolution and photographs would come out ten times better, and you could even develop them." I stand up and gesture for Manik to follow.
"I thought of buying one a couple of years back, but then I saw the price tags and chucked the idea altogether." I wave my phone proudly. "Ever since then this good old friend has been my constant companion."
"Money shouldn't shackle you," Manik says.
"Easy for you to say," I murmur. "You've got it all, Manik, but not everyone has a filthy rich mother, like Nyonika."
"I had to pay a price for all this luxury, you know?" Manik's tone is accusatory, making me stop and turn around to face him. He's staring at me with anger. No...there's disappointment and hurt in his orbs, not anger. "Nothing's free in this world and neither is my lifestyle." He marches past me and down the path. I squeeze my eyes shut, mentally banging my head against a wall. I'm such an idiot. Everything was going so well, but then I just had to let my uncontrollable tongue run wild.