Sorry. Took longer than promised. Next update scheduled for evening ;)
~ CHAPTER FORTY ~
Nandini felt absolutely powerless when her assailant lifted her off the ground like a feather and slammed her hard against the wall. The impact knocked the wind out of her and her vision instantly blurred. It took a little while to come into focus, but when it did, she found a pair of red, angry eyes glowering at her. It was Manik Malhotra.
Adrenaline pumped through her veins and she had only one thing on mind. To run. Considering Manik's impulsive behaviour plus the recent events, anything was possible in this setting. With all the strength she could muster, she slapped his hand off her face and backed into a corner. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you crazy!!?"
But he pinned her to the wall again. And this time, she was trapped in between his arms. "Shhh!" Manik pressed his forefinger onto her lips. The warmth of his rough calloused finger felt like an acupressure pad against her lips. "Not a word. Do you hear me? Not a single word. Or I'll..."
BLAM!
Nandini shuddered in shock as he angrily pounded his fist into the wall, missing her head by a few inches. "...f*****g kill you..."
His face was distorted into a dangerous scowl as he grabbed her arms and shook her hard. "I've been working for five years," he raged on in a hoarse whisper, "Do you hear me? Five f*****g years. And no one. No one has ever dared to talk against me. But you did. You!!! And do you know what it costed me? My reputation. My career!"
"I didn't..." Nandini managed to mumble feebly.
"You made me look like a loser in front of my seniors!" he whispered through clenched teeth.
"It wasn't me... Just listen to what I have to say..." The octopus grip he had on her hands was doing a good job of hurting her, not to mention cutting off her blood supply.
But Manik was senseless with rage. As usual, a voice in his head kept telling him to stop. That he was crossing the line. But the monster was in charge. And there was no stopping it, especially since it was restrained before.
"I could have been fired! Humiliated for life!" he spat at her through flared nostrils. "But you know what? Somehow I don't care anymore. You've ripped me apart anyways. In sometime, that mail will be out. And everyone will know. So what difference does it make?"
He had a terrifying gleam in his eyes that told her he was up to no good. She tried to pull herself free in vain as she whimpered, "Manik, let go. It hurts..."
"Wherever I go, people will point their fingers at me. Laugh at me. He's the one. The guy who got suspended. The pathetic loser. So what difference does it make anyways?"
"I never wanted for any of this to happen," she sniffled.
"Really?" he questioned sarcastically.
"Manik! Let go off me!" Nandini snapped firmly.
"Or else what?" he sneered and grappled her in such a way that would put an octopus to shame. "You'll complain? Well in that case, let me help you. Because when you do, you'd better have something good to say."
What he did next left her shocked to the bone. He let go off her hands, grabbed her face and planted a deep, aggressive French kiss. A kiss that had the potential to stay locked forever. The feeling of his warm, penetrating lips made her tingle all over but the emotions attached to it... anger, hatred and the need for power. "There you are," he growled as he finally withdrew, "go and complain. Tell them that I gave you a big sloppy kiss and blew your brains out. What's the max that could happen? A termination? So be it. Go! Go and complain."
Tears of extreme humiliation coupled with the helpless feeling of being dominated over began to build up in her eyes. The feeling wasn't good. It almost felt like a sexual assault. She heaved deeply as she struggled to contain herself. "You... I'll... I'll kill you!!!"
Burning with hatred, she swung her hand at his face to knock his jaw out of joint but he blocked her blow and twisted her arm painfully. The shriek of intense pain that escaped her lips temporarily soothed Manik's writhing insides. "Seriously Nandini," he smirked at her, "were you really trying to hit me? Come on."
With this, she brought down her free arm to slap him but he blocked that too and twisted both her hands behind her. "Leave me!" she screeched through clenched teeth.
"What? You want to complain again? Go and do it!" He got really close to her now. "But when you do, tell them that I...also did this..."
Nandini screwed her eyes shut and looked away as the prickly feeling of his two day old stubbles brushed against her bare neck and shoulders. She could feel his warm breath tingling over her skin as he nuzzled into her. "Now how are you going to describe this to them?" he asked quietly. "Hmm?"
Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she continued to take short, shallow breaths. As if by magic, her rigid body began to relax at his touch. It wasn't something she asked for but she was surprised at what was happening.
"I'll tell you how..." he said quietly into her ear as he continued to nuzzle into her shoulder. "Tell them... that Manik... came like this... from here..." his face glided from her ear lobe all the way down to her neck. "To there... And rested here... before..." He had now moved really close to her full, luscious red lips. So close that he was barely millimetres away from her. That he could see every ridge and groove on her quivering lips.
Manik's features softened up as the close proximity of her face dug up memories of the Chinese lantern dream. Did it just come true now? He was so close to her just like in the dream. The yellow lights from the stairwell fell onto her face in a beautiful yellow hue. And the one thing that he had probably missed out in the dream hit him hard. The sweet fragrance which emanated from her. She smelt like the fresh morning dew on rich green blades of grass.
"Please..." Nandini sounded like she had just had a glass of spiked drink.
"Please what?" he asked grimly after a brief moment of silence.
But she never replied to his question. Her nostrils flared and her lips clenched in response as she visibly struggled to bite back the fear, humiliation and anger which was threatening to explode out of her.
Manik felt like a suicider. The act of trying to kill oneself is perfectly fine until the soul actually begins to leave the body. That's what was happening here. Manik allowed his impulse to get the better out of him. When he allowed the monster to be in charge, "kidnap" and force himself onto her, kiss her... it was all perfectly fine. Even getting fired for life. Perfectly fine until the actual problem starts.
Manik lowered his flickering eyes and finally loosened his grip on Nandini as her shoulders began to heave with quiet but unmistakable sobs. He was now yielding the fruits of his actions. Fruits which he didn't really like! Manik squinted at her as he noticed something odd about the way she looked and felt against his hands. One word. Rigid. Is she really crying or...? It seemed that she was sagging away onto the floor, coming out layer after layer.
His train of thoughts were chopped off in the middle when all of a sudden Nandini completely collapsed into his strong hold and dissolved into violent convulsions. Her face seemed to distort beyond recognition as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and colourless drool with a hint of red began to foam out from the corner of her mouth.
"Hey... what?" Manik was clueless. What was going on?
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