1 week later.....

Nandini pov

Manik took me to his car , being very careful of the wipes of silk and chiffon , the flowers he'd just pinned into my elaborately styled curls . He ignored the angry set of my mouth.

When he had settled me settled , he got in driver's seat and headed back out the long , narrow drive.

" at what point exactly are you going to tell me what's going on ? " I asked grumpily . I really hated surprises . And he knew that.

" I am shocked that you haven't figured it out yet. " he threw a mocking smile in my direction, and my breathe caught in my throat . Would I ever get used to his perfection?

" I did mention that you looked very nice, didn't I ? " I verified.

"Yes." He grinned again. I'd never seen him dress in black before, and,with the contrast against his skin, his beauty was absolutely surreal. That much I couldn't deny, even if the fact he was wearing a tuxedo made me very nervous .

Not quite as nervous as the dress and stiletto heels, held on only by satin ribbons , certainly wasn't going to help me as I tried to hobble around .

" I am not coming over anymore if Alya is going to treat me like guinea pig Barbie when I do" , I gripped. I 'd spent the better part of the day in Alya's staggeringly vast bathroom , a helpless victim as she played hairdresser and cosmetician . Whenever I complained, she said that she never had a sister to do these things and to not to ruin her vicarious fun . Then she 'd dressed me in the most ridiculous dress- deep blue , frilly and off the shoulders , with French tags I couldn't read - a dress suitable for a runway . The most ridiculous thing about it was that it was knee length , for the first time I was wearing it .Nothing good could come of our formal attire , of that I was sure.

I was distracted by the sound of a phone ringing . Manik pulled his phone from a pocket inside his jacket .

" hello Dhuruv ...... Ya ya ...... We r on our way.......alya will be there soon ........ Don't worry buddy she will reach .......ok .......haan.......chal rakh bhi de ab phone ! Ok bye" and hung up.

" so, Dhuruv and Alya are also going to be there. " I asked sad and sure that I am not gonna get any privacy and obviously nervous too cause I am wearing this knee length dress . He chuckled.

" everyone is going to be there . Kyun? U wanted privacy to do something? " he asked mockingly .

" mr. Manik Malhotra don't think so much . I....I am just nervous. " I honestly answered.

" Nervous ? Why so? " Manik asked stressed .

" arre! Don't get stressed . It is just this dress . Too short . I always have to pull it down . U don't know how much labour Alya had done to make me wear this."

" hey ! Don't get nervous . It's fine , it's normal . Ok? By the way I am curious to know that how Alya got you wear this . " he said interested to know all the suffering I had gone through in that large bathroom.

" ummm... Well , it is nothing interesting. Leave it . 😤" I replied trying best to shut the topic here because I knew if Manik gets to know then Manik is gonna laugh out loud .

" I guess I have to ask Alya then. " he asked still interested . Uff!

" no , you won't " I ordered him .

" then why don't u do the honors ? " he asked .

Fine now I am trapped , he will get to know either from me or from Alya , so why don't I take the lead . So here I go .....

" fine ! After she was done with my make up , she went to bring the dress . She took a long time and till she came I was dancing in the bathroom like a freak making my own funny steps , I danced like I just won a 5 million lottery , expecting that alya would take more time, but no she came and I didn't notice her . She made a video of me doing the stupid , cranky dance and till the time I noticed her she was done . She then knocked on the door , she asked me that shall she continue if my dance practice is done? I hesitated but agree . After that she showed me the dress obviously the one I am wearing right now and the next moment I was running in the washroom rejecting not to wear it and Alya was running behind me , I bet we were better than Tom and jerry and also I should get Bhaag milkha Bhaag award for that , anyways , then she caught me and showed me the video and blackmailed me that she would show that video to everyone including you and finally she won . So this is how I wore it . Such a tragic incident . " I explained .

And after having a 10 seconds eye lock with serious look he stopped the car , looked at me again and laughed out loud .

Yeah yeah! Expected reaction . I let him laugh . But after long 1 minute he was still laughing , this was getting high now .

" hey! It isn't that funny ! " I said irritated and ashamed .

" Bhaag milkha award! Like seriously ? " he exclaimed out of joy and again his chain of laughs continued and this time even I laughed along with him . Everything seems to be beautiful when I am around him . We laughed so much that tears were coming out of our eyes .

" you are too funny, I wanna meet Alya and give her the Bharat Ratana award , after all what she did is worth praising and it is not less than fighting a war . " he said and I frowned .

" huh! Fine and I will be the photographer . Ok? " I asked sarcastically .

" why not ? " he said and I frowned again.

" ok fine ! Chalo wanna we will get late na . " I said

" oh yeah " he answered . He drove for 10 minutes and the car stopped . I looked outside the window and was shocked to see the place .

To be continued ..........

Hey hi! I hope you liked it . I got time so wrote this . Guess where Manik would be taking Nandini with others also? Did you like Alya and Nandini's scene ? I wanted to show a bond between both of them too . Plz give ur feed back . Happy Halloween!