Behind the Mask - ManVeer FF [Ch. 23, P. 36] - Page 21

After Jai had left, Uday had thought long and hard about what she had said. He realized it really was high time that he acknowledge Manyata was more than just a promise that needed to be fulfilled or a stepping stone to becoming a more powerful Yuvraj. Was he in love with her? He didn't know. But Uday knew that nothing felt complete without her, the possibility of her being with Akash or anyone else for that matter filled him with inexplicable rage, and the thought of her being harmed in any way made him sick to his stomach. If that is what love was then fine he was in love with the damn woman!

The only question now was how to diffuse the situation? Clearly Manyata too reciprocated these feelings at least to some extent, which is why she reacted so extremely every time they got close. But how was he going to get her to admit it? Besides, there was also the issue of Akash...what exactly was her relationship with him? Who was he? Uday quickly picked up his phone and placed a call he had been meaning to make for the past couple of days...

"Aman, mujhe Akash Verma ke naam ka aadmi ki puri life history chahiye, jald se jald. Voh kya karta hai, uska khandaan kaisa hai, kab sota hai, kab jagta hai, kab saans leta hai...sab kuch ki pal pal khabar chahiye."

"Well good afternoon to you too..." said an amused voice on the other end.

"Not now Aman," Uday practically barked, at his best friend and most trusted confidant.

"Accha teekh hai teekh hai. So who is this poor soul whose life you're planning on making hell?" Aman said with a smile as he leaned back in his leather chair. He and Uday were distant cousins on their mother's side but they were best friends and closer than brothers. Uday was a year older and had quite the temper while Aman had always been the laid back type. While Uday's charm was a way to mask his temper and his true emotions, Aman's charm came naturally...and together, they were quite a force to be reckoned with.

"Manyata's boyfriend," Uday replied curtly.

"KYA," Aman yelled as he sat upright. "But...but..."

"Don't worry. She doesn't love him. But of course I can't call her out on it because it will just make her dig her heels in more. What I need from you is all the information you can get on him. I need your best man on this Aman; not a word of this to the family or anyone else. I just need to know what this guy's deal is before I can figure out what to do."

"I'll take care of it bhai," Aman said relaxing as he realized his bhai had the situation under control. "Vaise, bhai...love? I didn't realize it mattered whether bhabhisa loved someone or not. Looks like a lot has gone down while I've been away," he teased.

"First of all, don't call her 'bhabhi'; she will kill you. Secondly, if you don't stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, I'll have to kill you myself," Uday said as he contained a smile. Hearing Aman call Manyata 'bhabhi' filled him with an inexplicable warmth.

"Oh please, like you could ever even get in a punch. Besides, you don't have to admit it but I can hear you smiling!"

"We'll see who punches whom when I see you in a few days. Just get me that info ASAP. I have a feeling I'll be seeing Akash real soon and I want to know everything about him, down to how long it takes him to take a shit," Uday said with some of his earlier distaste returning.

"I'll get Yusaf on it immediately bhai. See you in a few and good luck tomorrow!"

Before tomorrow could come, he needed to get through the rest of today, Uday thought as he hung up. He needed to take care of the situation immediately. Not only was he going to see her for dinner very soon but if things were left like this there was no telling how she would react during the news conference tomorrow. It would already be a high stress situation and he needed to make sure all external factors were reduced to a minimum. He briefly considered addressing the situation directly but immediately decided against it. Manyata was in no way ready to accept his feelings and certainly not admit her own. The better option would be to utilize their recent friendship and just behave as if nothing happened. He would just continue with his nonchalance and flirting; in this way he would be able to ignore the issue without ignoring her. This would also likely confuse her about what his feelings and intentions are which at this time would be highly beneficial. If she was unsure of his feelings then maybe she would stop being so guarded.

With a sigh, he made his way down to dinner...

---

Manyata woke up the next day completely irritated and sleep deprived. Talking to Akash yesterday had calmed her down but after the phone call had ended, she had been filled with a new sense of unease. Usko khe toh diya yahan aane ke liye, magar phir kya? That had been the concern that filled Manyata's heart for the remainder of the afternoon. She wasn't even sure what she felt for Akash; really, they had only been dating for 3 months. And yet for the last few weeks she had been telling everyone she loved him when in reality she hadn't even said it to Akash yet. Had it not been for the unexpected entry of her long lost family into her life, would she have even uttered those words, she wondered.

With heavy feet, she had finally walked into the palace for dinner, dreading seeing Uday again. But she soon realized her worries were ill-placed. He had acted as if nothing had happened! There he sat, looking like he had not a care in the world as he joked and flirted with her. Kya inhe kuch farak nahin padta...aaj subhe...Manyata thought with a sudden twinge in her heart. Aaj subhe kya Manyata? You're the one overreacting. Unhone sirf yehi toh kaha ke hum phirse kahin na jaye. Issme tum koi aur matlab nikaal rahi ho toh inka kya kasoor, a little voice in her mind retorted. Ugh! Main hi bewakoof ho. Itna bhi koi overreact karte hai? Ab voh kya soch rahehonge mere baare mein. Pagal! Gaddhi!

As Manyata continued berating herself, Uday had been filled with a new longing as he read the emotions flash across her face. Now that he had finally admitted Manyata meant something more to him, all he had wanted to do was take her in his arms. But unfortunately all he could do is sit and watch his plan succeed; Manyata was clearly confused by his casual behavior after the morning's events. Hopefully her confusion would give her reason enough to stop pulling away from him.

The next morning was filled with stress. The day had finally arrived for the press conference and although Uday was fully confident in Manyata's ability to deal with them, he knew that this would be a completely new experience for her. Knowing full well how the vultures could be, he couldn't help but feel the stress not for himself but for his princess. He now wished they had decided against Manyata delivering a statement and instead had handled it himself; Uday was going to have to try really hard not to kill any obnoxious reporter. He took a deep breath stepping into the car with Manyata as they and the rest of the family headed to the conference.

Uday could immediately sense Manyata's unease as they got out of the car. Cameras immediately began flashing, practically blinding them. Although he was accustomed to this, he had to admit, the sheer volume of reporters momentarily overwhelmed even him. Without a moment's pause, he immediately linked Manyata's hand through his arm. He saw the surprise in her eyes as she stared up at him. Though he had startled her, he could clearly see the relief in them as he ensured her with a slight nod and began walking her towards the stage. Despite the anxiety he was sure she was feeling, Manyata walked with such poise and composure. He just hoped the rest of the conference would go as smoothly as the walk from their car to the stage had been...

---

Uday violently slammed the car door and sped away with a visibly shaking Manyata next to him. He was so furious his knuckles were turning white from gripping the steering wheel too hard. Without even having to look he knew the silent tears had begun to freely flow down Manyata's cheeks but right then he heard a muffled sob escape her lips and completely lost it. Uday swerved the car into the nearest alley and brought the car to a screeching halt.

Watching her silently shaking form, Uday's rage temporarily subsided as the urge to comfort her took over. Not knowing what to say, he simply stared at her wishing he could wipe her tears. After what seemed like several minutes, Manyata finally spoke...

"Hume...maaf kardo. Hume bohot koshish ki...humaara aapa na khone ki...par..." Manyata said through sniffles. Uday felt like a knife was cutting through him as he heard her apologizing; her tears had always been his weakness but today they pierced him like never before.

"Look at me princess. You have nothing to apologize for, do you hear me? How could you even think this is your fault? In fact, it's far from it. You did everything right, you held yourself together...You made your family proud...you made me proud," he gently added. His hands continued to remain on the steering wheel thus far out of fear that if he took them off he would immediately reach for Manyata. And right now in this state, making her uncomfortable was the last thing he wanted to do. So naturally, he was startled - to say the least, when in the next instant Manyata climbed onto his lap and buried her face into his chest as she cried her eyes out. Hearing Uday's reassuring words had caused a dam to break and now she couldn't help from feeling the embarrassment and anger from the reporter's accusations.

After the initial shock of finding Manyata literally in his lap, Uday protectively caged her into his arms as he brought her closer. Neither needed words to express what they were feeling or to understand what the other was trying to say. The safer she felt in Uday's arm, the more she let her walls crumble and let out her pain. The more she let Uday comfort her, the less anxious he became. They continued to sit in silence, each holding on to the other, no longer clear who was comforting whom.

When the sobs finally subsided into periodic sniffles, Uday gently pulled Manyata away. "Bas princess, ab aur nahin," he said as he wiped her tear and kohl smudged cheeks. "Humaara bharosa keejiye. I will make sure that reporter never works again let alone takes an interview even if it's the last thing I do," Uday vowed linking his fingers into her hair.

"Par unhe Akash ke baare mein patta hi kaise challa?"

"It was probably someone from the staff who leaked the information, you haven't exactly been very secretive about him princess. I'm surprised the elders didn't know before this," he said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

It didn't work. "Unhe Akash ke baare me paata challa, theek hai. Unhe humaare rishte ke baare mein savaal poochna tha, theek hai. Par aise gandi baate kyun ki? Hume, hume, soch kar bhi ghin aa rahi hai. Koi aisa ilzaam kaise laga sakhta hai," Manyata said as embarrassment and grief gave way to fury.

Uday briefly closed his eyes as the reporters words replayed in his mind...

Coming back to the present, Uday continued staring at Manyata trying to figure out a way to make it better. He had thought she had finally stopped crying when she had gotten angry just moments ago, but the tears were once again welling in her eyes, ready to fall at a moment's notice. And fall they did as she hesitantly spoke again...

"Kya aap ko bhi lagta hai...ki main aisa...aapke aur Akash dono ke saath..."

"No! God no. Aap aisa kabhi nahin karengi. Aap ne soch bhi kaise liya ke hum aapke baare mein aisi ghattiya soch rakhte hai," Uday harshly whispered as he continued weaving his fingers in her hair. The uncertainty and need for trust in her eyes broke something in Uday's heart. How did he let this happen to his princess? He should have scanned the reporters' backgrounds more thoroughly, allowed only known reporters to come, something, anything...he should have done something! But before he could continue being upset with himself, he felt something cold on his hands and looked up to see tears once again freely flowing down Manyata's cheeks.

Uday looked at the streaming tears despite Manyata's eyes being closed. As Uday continued to helplessly watch her cry, he realized she kept her eyes closed...as if she didn't want the world to see her, as if she didn't want him to see her. The reporter's words had sent him into a rage but they had done more than that to Manyata; they had hurt her so deeply, shamed her so extremely that his maasoom jungle billi wanted to hide.

Slowly, Uday brought his face to hers, catching the newest of her salty tears with his lips. The contact caused Manyata to finally open her eyes yet she remained unmoving. Tear after tear, Uday continued to kiss them away while Manyata simply reveled in the sudden calm she felt.

"Apne aap ko humse kabhi mat chupaana princess," Uday said when the last of her precious tears was finally kissed away. "Aapke baare mein aisi koi cheez...koi baat nahin jisse aap ko chupaani padde. Aur jiss insaan ne aapko aisa mehsoos karne ko majboor kiya, uski zindagi hum nark banadengi," he said as his eyes pierced into her soul.

Manyata didn't know what it was...the events from earlier, her whirlwind emotions, or Uday's unwavering belief in her intentions but in that moment, all she could do was reply to his undying support by simply cocooning herself in his arms once again. She had never felt so safe and protected before and this time, she didn't allow any other thoughts of what she was doing or why she was doing it to sully the moment. She just felt...the warmth of his body, the comfort of his heartbeat, the safety of his arms, and most importantly that tingle in her entire body that she felt just by being close to him...

luv it...

beautifully written...

wondering who is the person behind the reports...

thx fr the pm n please continue soon n eagerly waiting for the next part...

it's awesome

superb

nd i hope manveer together soon

i hate akash:@