The ubtan function was held in a traditional, gender segregated manner. The men gathered in the lounge downstairs, while the women gathered in the hall upstairs.
The women were clearly having more fun. The sounds of them dancing along to loud music, beating drums, banging tambourines and singing traditional Sindhi sehras echoed downstairs via the staircase.
Manik on the other hand, was stuck in a boring gathering of men. After he had oil dumped in his hair and a pile of ubtan slapped onto his face and arms. The rest of the men sat around having drinks and discussing politics. Dhruv and Kabir had ditched Manik and went to try out the food as they heard the caterer was too good.
Only Arjun uncle sat beside Manik and he was giving him unsolicited marriage advice. Manik sat disg
“We'll have to be quick…” She whispered.Not breaking eye contact with Manik, Nandini pulled him by his hand and leaned in to kiss him softly on his lips, while he slipped his hands under her top again and started caressing her waist.They were drowning into each other when someone knocked on her door and halted them in their tracks.“Damnit!” Manik cursed under his breath.“Nandini, are you done? Aunty is looking for you.” They heard Alya’s voice from the other side of the door."I'm coming, just give me a minute."
Manik strode casually into the lounge, arranging his white shawl around his shoulders as if it was a completely normal occurrence for him to walk into that function. He headed directly towards Nandini, didn't make eye contact with anyone else and came to a halt in front of her.The chatter suddenly died down. Maitree watched from her seat perplexed. Nandini looked at Manik with wide and unblinking eyes, unsure how to react."I just came to ask if you need any help with anything while your mehendi dries."The entire group of aunties broke out in a teasing chant of "Oooooohhhhhhh!""Huh?" Nandini spluttered out.Alya see
Synopsis Disclaimer: Mature Audience Only! This book is specifically designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 18. This book may contain one or more of the following: crude indecent language, explicit sexual activity. "Childhood enemies make the most passionate lovers." "The problem is we can't stand each other and can't live without each other at the same time." "His dark eyes adored her sparkling face as if she was the shining star in his dark life." "He is ready to set the entire world on fire but never let a flame touch her." Manik Malhotra: His aura has the power to burn the whole world. He is surely not the knight in shining amour or prince charming out of the fairytales though his look was indifferent from them. Fire is the correct word to describe him. He is rude, irresistible, obsessive, fearless, arrogant, fierce, possessive and follows the rules of his family. He can't stand people who don't follow the rules made by his family
Nandini's hand clenched tightly around the edge of the piece of papers that she was holding. She stared at it with complete rage. If looks could burn, then no one would have seen the papers again. She was working as an intern for experience before applying to her dream company. She just received her monthly feedback and it was exactly in contrast to what she was expecting.She closed her eyes, gulped and inhaled a deep breath, she looked at the piece of paper in her hand once more with hope it wouldn't be what it was. But it was not going to change. The report she submitted was covered with scribbling of red pen, indicating numerous mistakes and her feedback was horrible. Too personal to be honest.Nandini could feel an acidic taste build up in her mouth. Her eyes rapidly scanned the pages again and again as she re-read the awful remarks. It happened for the first time in her entire intern life."How are you exactly planning to monitor such a risky and sensitive project? How can you m
“Nandini…” Manik took her name calmly. It was too calm unlike other times. He leaned his back to rest on his comfortable leather chair and entangled his fingers together. “You seriously need to learn the basic etiquettes along with your work.” His remark worked as the last nail in the coffins. She bristled at his words.How dare he act so smug!“Manik, stop acting like a jealous teenager. You don’t have to drag our personal dislike for each other into work, do you? I tried my best to maintain professionalism, then why can’t you do the same?” Nandini spoke in a cold tone and threw the red ink covered paper on his face. Though the papers didn’t touch Manik, they fell just in front of him, scattered all over the marble table. It surely caused a big mess. But her words made no difference to Manik's expression. He remained the same. “Have you rechecked what bullshit you wrote? That’s… That’s clearly a personal attack. What the fuck is this?” This time she almost screamed. She was breat
“Shut the fuck up, Nandini!" Manik hissed, looking down at Nandini furiously. Their faces were hardly an inch apart. "Keep your stupid mouth shut." "No! I won't….." Nandini started, but in an unexpected move Manik closed the distance between them and slammed his lips down on hers, cutting off her angry raging. Her brain went blank. Every single thought left her mind except the feeling of how he was kissing her. A very rough and ardent kiss….. Manik pushed her hard into the wall as he continued kissing her. Her back was touching the wall with his stiff chest pressed against her soft front part. He let out a deep, low groan against her mouth. Though his lips were soft but his well trimmed beard, rubbing against her soft skin felt rough. The contrasting sensations caused a whirlwind of feelings to stir up inside Nandini. Nandini’s body seemed to be acting in its own way as it chose to betray her mind. Her hands raised up to grab his shirt’s collar only to eliminate the bare distance
Nandini had never been so terrified and bewildered in her entire life. After sharing an intense moment with Manik, to be more precise making out with him, she was unable to erase his thoughts out of her mind, nor could she wipe out the flashes of the scene from her mind. She was still having a hard time to believe that she actually did it. The thought of leaving the job had crossed her mind. She froze at the thought. “What the fuck are you thinking, Nandini? It was Manik who initiated the kiss. So, he has no right to judge my character when I should be the one to judge him for kissing me without my permission.” She whispered to herself. Nandini’s mind again went back to think whether Manik would be thinking anything about her or not, if he would even do anything. In fact, she doubted he would even react. He probably wouldn't even mention it ever. As far as she knew him, she was sure that he would pretend like the entire thing had never happened, only to drive her more crazy. That pa
"There are only two reasons why one would do anything ever intimate with someone who they hate." Alya said in a matter of fact tone, looking directly into Nandini’s eyes. Nandini looked at Alya in confusion while the latter one seemed to be confident about her thoughts. Alya royally ignored the look on Nandini’s face and started. "The first reason is that they're really good at codifying their passions. They can truthfully and objectively say if someone is attractive or not while keeping their opinions about the other person's personality separate. This compartmentalisation allows two people to come close and enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes from crossing the boundaries that they normally wouldn't. Your body basically craves the illicit. The forbidden."Nandini's eyes snapped open, she seemed to be terrified. "Is she fucking insane or what? Craving the illicit! I don't crave Manik secretly." She mumbled under her breath inaudible to Alya. "What's your other reason?"The second