We reached my house from college and he parked
in his drive.
"Hey, want to come in? We can
tell my parents we're together. I told them I
have a girlfriend and my mom almost died, I
swear,"
he said, chuckling and nodding towards his house with a hopeful expression.
"Wow, the whole meet the parents
thing already?"
I joked, pretending to be
scared.
"I mean, what if they don't like me?"
I
asked, wrapping my arms around his waist
and putting my face in his chest, faking horror. He laughed and so did I.
The idea of Manik's parents not liking me was seriously
funny. They already thought of me as a
daughter.
Manik was an only child because
his mom had some problems when she gave
birth to him, which left her unable to have more kids, so she loved me and always said
that Cabir and I were part of the family.
I
loved them too; they were great people,
kind, funny and thoughtful. Actually, just like
Manik, though it just took me a long time to
see past all of his bravado.
He pulled me into his house, holding
my hand, smiling excitedly.
"Mom?
Dad? You home?" Mankk shouted, looking into the empty lounge.
I could hear voices in the kitchen.
"Yeah, honey. We're in here," Niyonika called.
Manik smiled happily and dragged me
to the kitchen. Niyo was baking cookies and
Raj was busy trying to eat the cookie mix
straight from the bowl, making her laugh and
hit his hand with the wooden spoon.
I
chuckled at the scene. They were always
like this, she was the perfect housewife and
mother, and he adored her and Manik, which
was really sweet.
"Hey, Nandini. Long time no see,"
Raj said, grabbing me into a hug, which made
my heart race
"Hey, Raj. Hi, Niyo. How are you?" I
asked cheerfully.
"We're great! Nandini, I would hug you
but I'm covered in cookies, honey." Niyo
frowned, holding up her hands in evidence.
"Yeah, I can see that! They smell so
good,"
I said, eyeing the already baked ones
on the plate on the counter. She passed the
plate to me and I happily took one, smiling.
"Thanks."
"Hey! You said I couldn't have one because they were cooling," Raj whined,
pouting, making me laugh; she picked up a
cookie and tossed it at him with a wink.
"Um guys, I was wondering if you
wanted to meet my girlfriend. Maybe she
could have dinner with us tonight?"
Manik suggested, putting his hand on the small of
my back.
A grin spread across Niyo's face. She
looked so happy that I actually thought she
was actually holding back tears.
"Oh, Manik!
I'd love to meet her! I still can't believe you
have a girlfriend. You spent all this time saying that there was only one girl for you and
now you're finally able to move on and actually date someone!" she cooed, practically
bursting with excitement and pride.
"Yeah OK, Mom, tone it down a bit,
huh?" Manik mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"So, what time is she coming? Have
you met her, Nandini? Is she nice?"
Niyo asked, beaming at me.
I looked at Manik, unsure what to say.
This whole situation was
laughable. And did she say that Manik had always said there was only one girl for him?
"Actually, Mom, she's here right now,"
Manik said proudly, rubbing my back gently
and smiling at me. His eyes bore into mine,
making my whole body feel a little hotter.
Niyo jumped and wiped her hands on a cloth,
quickly fixing her hair frantically, before she
practically ran to the hallway.
OK, weird!
"Mom, what are you doing?" Manik asked,
laughing;
I noticed that Raj was staring at
Manik's hand on my back, a wide grin on his
face.
"Well, is she parking the car or something?" Niyo asked, looking back at Manik before glancing at the front door again.
He
laughed harder and Raj and I chuckled too.
"Mom, this is my girlfriend. Her name
is Nandini Murthy" Manik beamed proudly at
me as I pressed myself closer to him.
Niyo's face snapped to look at me, shocked. Slowly, her face turned to happiness, then complete bliss, as she laughed
and ran to me, grabbing both me and Manik into a big hug.
"Oh my gosh! Finally, you two
got together? Finally!" she almost screamed,
jumping up and down on the spot.
Manik wrapped his arm round my waist
and pulled me impossibly closer to him.
"Yeah, finally," he confirmed, rolling his eyes,
but looking amused at the same time.
Raj put his hand out to Liam. They shook hands
in a very grown up gesture, before he pulled
him into a bear hug.
After all of the excitement had died
down, we had dinner. It was really nice to be
sat with Manik's parents like this, they honestly didn't stop smiling.
Every time Manik and
I touched each other, Niyo would sigh happily,
beaming at us.
"Right, you boys can clear the table!"
Niyo ordered, grabbing my arm and pulling
me to the lounge.
"I am so happy for you
two. Manik's told you he's been in love with
you for years, right?" she beamed.
My breath
caught in my throat at her choice of words.
She thought that Manjk was in love with me?
He wasn't in love with me, was he?
Did he
really whisper that he loved me last night before I fell asleep?
"Er, he told me he's liked me for a
long time, yeah," I mumbled, a little uncomfortably.
She rolled her eyes.
"Liked, jeez that
boy has been smitten with you from the get
go.
I mean, he still calls you Angel for goodness sake!" she laughed.
I looked at her, confused. "What does
that have to do with anything?" I asked,
frowning.
I really loved Niyo, but sometimes
she can be a little crazy.
"He's never told you why he calls you that?" she asked, smirking at me.
I shook my
head, and she chuckled darkly.
"The first
time we met you was at Manik's eighth birthday
party. You'd not long moved in and we
thought it would be nice, you know, to invite
the neighbours to the party," she started,
nodding enthusiastically.
"Yeah, I remember. You had balloons
everywhere, and a clown that did magic
tricks." I smiled; the Malhotras' always did throw
the best parties, even kids parties.
"That's right. So anyway, you and
your brother came to the party and as soon
as you walked through the door, Manjk just
stared at you. He literally couldn't take his
eyes off of you.
You smiled and said happy
birthday to him, but he couldn't even speak
to you, so you walked off to go dance.
He
turned to me, and do you know what he said
to me?" she asked, her eyes tearing up. I
shook my head.
What the heck is she going
to say? This is freaking me out a little!
"He
said in a deadly serious tone,
Momma, am I
dead?'
And I said no honey, you're not
dead',
and he shook his head, looking all
confused about something. Then he pointed
to you dancing and said,
if I'm not dead,
then why is there an Angel in our house?'"
she stated, clasping her hands together and
beaming.
I gasped. Holy crap! That's why he
calls me Angel?
My heart was racing and my
palms were sweaty. I think Manik really is in
love with me, but am I in love with him?
I
don't think so, at least, not yet. But I could
easily see myself falling in love with him.
"That's why he calls me that? Are you
serious?" I asked, unsure if she was joking
or not.
"Totally. Ask him if you don't believe
me, bt from the moment he saw you he was
in love with you, it's plain on the look on his
face. I'm surprised you never noticed."
She
shook her head, chuckling.
"I never noticed because he was always so mean to me. He was always pushing me over, or pulling my hair, calling me
names."
I frowned. Why did he do all of that
if he
was in love with me?
"Your brother made him stay away.
He beat Mankk up after his birthday party that
same year and told him to stay away from
you," she said, laughing and shaking her
head.
"That brother of yours sure is protective, bless him," she said, smiling fondly.
"Yeah, I know. Manik and I talked
about it and we decided to keep it from Cabir for a couple of weeks, just until things settle
down. I'd really appreciate it if you'd not say
anything to him if you see him."
I winced at
the thought of Manik and Cabir fighting. I definitely wanted to put that off as long as
possible.
"I won't say anything, but I don't think
you should leave it too long, otherwise it'll
only get harder."
I smiled gratefully.
"Yeah, just a
couple of weeks."
Suddenly, Manjk jumped over the back
of the couch and landed next to me, wraping his arm around my shoulder and pulling
me to him.
When I turned to smile at him, he
kissed me, nibbling my lip, asking for entrance.
Jeez, did he forget his mom was sitting there watching us?
I pulled away quickly, making him
groan.
"Angel, I haven't seen you all day," he
whined, pouting like a little kid. I laughed at
the word Angel; did he really call me that because he thought I was an Angel when he
was 8 years old?
"What are you laughing
at, beautiful?" he asked, stroking the side of
my face with the back of one finger.
I bit my lip to make me stop and
shook my head.
"Nothing," I lied, smiling at
him.
He bent his head forward and kissed
me again, asking for entrance and I pulled
away again.
"Manik, seriously, your mom is watching us," I whispered to his puppy dog
face.
We both looked over at Niyo who was
staring with a huge grin on her face, like she
was watching the cutest thing in the world.
Manik stood up and held out his hand
to me.
"Let's go listen to some music in my room." He frowned a little at his mom who
was still watching us like some kind of crazy
happy woman.
I grabbed his hand and let him pull
me up and into his room. I hadn't been in his
bedroom for years. I think the last time I was
in here was probably about two years ago
when I came in to change my clothes after
we had a huge water fight and Cabir and I
had gotten locked out.
His room was much
the same as it was then, but it now had more
stuff on the walls. Like his signed hockey
shirt that he had gotten for his birthday from
his parents this year, and his trophies that
were all lined up on some shelves.
He put on some music quietly and I
walked over to the bookcase to see two
framed photos. One was of Cabir, Manik and I
at the park where we had gone for a picnic
when we were kids, I was probably 13 or
14.
The other photo was of me and my
dance crew, taken at one of the competitions
that we had entered. I picked it up and
looked at it curiously.
"I love that photo," Manik said, smiling
at it as he stood next to me.
I held it out to him.
"When did you
take this?"
"About two months ago at the club on
Richmond. You won first prize and you were
jumping all over the place, excited."
He
smiled and rubbed his thumb over the picture, before putting it back down.
I walked over to his bed and sat
down.
"Wow, your bed is uncomfortable! No
wonder you like sleeping at mine," I joked,
running my hand over his duvet.
He laughed
and came and sat next to me. I couldn't help
but notice that he looked so handsome when
he laughs.
I pushed him down on the bed
and moved so I was straddling him, I put my
forearms near his head and bent down so
that our faces were almost touching.
"So,
Manik, I want you to tell me something," I
breathed, running my hands through his hair.
"Can I kiss you first? Then I'll answer
anything you want." His gaze flicked down to
my lips for a split second, before returning to
my eyes.
I crashed my lips to his. His arms immediately went around my waist, pulling me
closer to him, one of his hands tangling in
my hair. He traced his tongue along my bottom lip slowly and I didn't refuse him this
time, I opened my mouth, eagerly.
His taste
exploded into my mouth as he slipped his
tongue in, massaging mine passionately,
making me moan.
Kissing Manik seemed to
get better and better each time. I was burning with the need for him to touch me, but I
was also conscious that his parents were
just down the hall and knew that we were in
here together.
I pulled back after a few
minutes, we were both breathing hard. He
was running his hands slowly down my body
from the top of my head down to my waist
and back up again, looking at me lovingly.
I was a little startled by the look on his
face. What his mom said was true. He really
was in love with me; I could see it in his
eyes.
"So, what is it you want to know, Angel?" he asked, gripping both of his hands
on my ass and squeezing gently.
I was almost distracted by his hands; I mean, if he
just moved them a bit further down and towards the centre more, they would be exactly where my body was screaming for him
to be.
I shook my head to clear away the
lustful thoughts, and smiled at his handsome
face.
"I want to know why you call me
Angel."
He gasped and blushed slightly. I
smiled reassuringly at him. He groaned and
shook his head quickly.
"No way. I'm not answering that," he whined, giving me the
puppy dog face that I couldn't resist.
"Come on, you said you'd answer
anything I wanted," I encouraged. He
frowned and shook his head.
OK, I'll try
another tactic.
"Please?" I begged, pecking
his lips. "Please?" I whispered, kissing him
again. "Please?"
He moaned and took a deep breath
as I kissed down his neck.
"I call you Angel
because, I honestly believe that God put an
Angel on this earth just for me," he admitted, cupping my face in his hands making me
look at him.
I took in a shaky breath. So it
was true what Niyo said. My heart was racing
in my chest as he continued to speak.
"The
first time I saw you I thought you were an
Angel straight from heaven. You were so
beautiful that you took my breath away. You
still do, every day."
"That has to be the sweetest thing I
have ever heard, Manik,"
I murmured, kissing
him tenderly. He kissed me back and rolled
so I was underneath him.
"I could kiss you all
day," I whispered, as he kissed down my
neck, nibbling gently on the skin and making
me moan breathlessly.
"Mmm, that sounds like a good plan,"
he mumbled against my skin. I wrapped my
legs around his waist and pulled him closer
to me, kissing him with everything I had.
He
pinned my arms above my head and kissed
me again before trailing kisses across my
cheek to my ear.
"I LOVE YOU, NANDINI," he
whispered.
My heart stopped and my body began
to tingle but I didn't know what to say.
"I...
I... Manik... I..."
He kissed me again, stopping me
from speaking. I felt his grip loosen on my
wrists, so I wrapped my arms around his
neck, pulling him closer to me.
"You don't
have to say anything. I've felt like this about
you for years, but you've only just stopped
looking at me like your brothers asshole best
friend.
I just wanted to say the words to you, that's all. I've been waiting to say them for a
long time," he said, smoothing my hair away
from my face.
I wrapped my arms around his
neck tightly and kissed all over his face, before finally kissing him long and hard on his
perfect mouth.
We must have fallen asleep because I woke up with Manik wrapped all over
me. I looked at his clock. Holy crap, it
was past nine! Cabir would be home
already.
I nudged him awake.
"Hey, I
gotta go, it's after nine," I stated, urgently trying to unwrap him from me.
He groaned. "Ten more minutes, Angel," he muttered sleepily.
I laughed; he looked so cute when he
was sleepy. I giggled as I tickled him.
"Manik,
it's not morning, it's still nightime, but I've
got to go. Cabir will be wondering where I
am!" I explained, finally prying him off me
and jumping up.
He groaned and pulled me
back down to him, holding me tight against
his body, smiling sleepily. I giggled.
"Will you stop! I need to go," I said, laughing as he
nibbled my earlobe.
He shook his head. "No, I don't want
you to go," he muttered, as he kissed my
neck. I pushed him up and he groaned.
"But
I'm going to miss you," he whined, making
me laugh even harder.
"I'll see you in an hour. Anyway, I
have homework to do," I said, with a shrug.
He sighed in defeat. "Yeah, me too,"
he admitted, pouting slightly. I climbed out of
his bed and went to the door.
"Hey wait. I'll
walk you out." He grabbed my hand as we
walked down the hallway.
I stuck my head into the living room.
"Bye, Niyo. Bye, Raj," I called.
"Goodbye, honey," Raj replied, not
taking his eyes off the TV.
Niyo smirked at me. "Bye, Nandini. Did
you guys have fun?" she asked, giving me a
wink.
I blushed like crazy and nodded not
sure that my voice would come out if I tried
to speak.
Manik rolled his eyes and pulled me
to the front door, where he pushed me
against it lightly and kissed me until I was
dizzy.
"I'll see you at half past ten, OK?" he
whispered, caressing my cheek.
I walked quickly to my house, turning
back to smile at Manik as I walked in the front
door.
Bless him, he was standing on his
porch checking to make sure I got home
safe and I live like thirty feet from him.
Cabir was sitting on the sofa, waiting
for me. As I walked in the door he looked at
me, his eyes tight with anger.
"Where have
you been? I've been worried! You could
have left a note or something," he said,
shaking his head disapprovingly.
"Sorry, I was over at Manik's. Niyo asked me to stay for dinner, and I thought,
seeing as you weren't here, that I'd go so I
wouldn't be here on my own," I said with a
shrug.
"I love Niyo's dinners!" he moaned, his
angry expression leaving his face, to be replaced by a jealous one.
"Well you missed a good one too, she
made a homemade pie and everything," I
teased, smiling wickedly as he groaned.
"Well, I enjoyed my grilled cheese," he
joked, making me laugh.
"I'm going to go do my homework." I
turned and started towards the hallway so I
could go to my room.
"Nandu, wait a minute. I need to talk to
you about something," he said, patting the
couch next to him, looking sad.
I plopped down next to him. "What's
up, Cabiraaa?" I asked, concerned, he looked
really upset about something.
He took a deep breath. "I spoke to
Mom tonight."
I smiled. "Yeah? Is she OK? Is she
coming home?" I asked, getting excited,
thinking about seeing my mom sooner than
a couple of weeks.
I'd missed her like crazy
and the time that she was here always
seemed to go too fast.
He shook his head. "She told me
something, but I don't want you to freak out
about it. There's nothing to worry about, I
promise." He took my hand and looked at
me, smiling sadly.
Oh crap, this is going to be bad!
"What is it?" I asked, already imagining the
worst.
We were going to have to move to
china. She'd lost her job. She was getting remarried - but I suppose that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, unless he was a jerk.
Hundreds of things were running through my
mind, but the last thing I expected was what
Cabir said.
"Our father has been in contact with
her. He wants to see us, apparently, make
amends for what he did," he spat through his
teeth, his sadness turning to blind rage.
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