03• Kiddo

Ella and Diana reached the pub, and they found Nandini drinking, standing at the bar counter.

"Don't tell me you've been hurt again because of him." Ella tried to stop her from drinking by holding her hand, but she ignored her and continued to drink.

"Stop drinking and answer us," Diana yelled at her.

"Yes! It's him. Why do I get hurt every fucking time to see him with another woman?" She asked them, bristling.

"You have to get over him, Barbie," Ella said, placing her hand on her face.

Diana said, "yes, Nandini, you have to move on because we can't see you like this."

"You both know that I'm trying, and you both also know that I fucking fail every time I try to move on from him." She screamed at them, completely wasted.

"Then you can confess to him that you've been in love with him since the first time you saw him," Diana suggested.

"You know that I can't tell him about my feelings. He is my brother's best friend, and I'm scared of what he'll think about me." She made a sad pout.

"You have to take a risk in life, Barbie, what if he has feelings for you as well? Anything can happen, but first, you have to take a step, Darling. You can't ruin your life in this way." Ella explained to her, holding her shoulders.

"You're telling me that I should go and tell him what I feel for him. You know that I'm not his type. He doesn't make girlfriends."

"Yes!" Diana squealed all of sudden, making their eyes widen in shock.

"Now suddenly what happened to you, Diana," Ella asked her.

"I got an idea to find out if he has feelings for Nandini or not." Nandini's eyes twinkled with delight as she told them.

"So tell us, what are you waiting for," Ella asked her.

"But I don't think, he has feelings for me. I'm not his type. This plan won't work." Nandini uttered dejectedly.

"You never know, babes, and why can't he have feelings for you? I mean just look at yourself, Barbie, you're so fucking hot." Ella tried to encourage her.

"But in front of him, my hotness is Zero. He is breathtakingly tempting. His body, his personality, his handsome face, his deep brown eyes, his luscious lips, every single tattoo on his body and piercing on his right eyebrow, I just fucking love everything about him. I'm nothing in front of him." She spoke admiringly, but as she finished, she became emotional.

Ella uttered, "then you don't know your worth, Barbie," giving a pat on her shoulder.

"Now first listen to my plan, then decide." As Diana said, they both nodded.

Then she told them her mischief plan, and Nandini and Ella's eyes widened.

"No, No, I'm not going to do this. I can't lie to my brother." Nandini immediately denied it when Diana told her the plan.

"Even I can't lie to Ethan. I'm already hiding such a big truth from him that Nandini likes his friend." Ella denied it as well because she was Ethan's girlfriend and did not want to lie to him.

Ella and Ethan had gradually fallen in love when Ella used to come to his place with Nandini.

"Ella, Nandini has to do this. Believe me, I have a strong feeling that you both have some connection. If he has no feelings for you, then you can move on. All I'm asking you is to try so that you won't look back and wonder why you didn't. Just give it a shot, Nandini." Diana tried to persuade them.

"Okay as I have no choice. Finally, I have to take the initiative." Nandini finally agreed, making Diana smile.

Then they both looked at Ella for approval.

"Okay, for Barbie, I can do anything." Ella took her in a side hug.

"Thanks a lot, guys." She thanked them merrily. "I'm so blessed to have you both in my life." She tightly hugged them together.

"So cheers to our mission to know Manik's feelings." They clinked their glass of wine.

"Guys, drop me home before Manik comes here as I'm drunk, and I don't want to spit anything in front of him in this state." As she told them, their brows narrowed in confusion.

"Why would he come here?" Diana asked her.

"He came here with me as my bodyguard." As she told them, their eyes widened a bit in surprise.

"What, why?" Ella asked her curiously, and then Nandini told them why he came here with her.

"Wow! This is a positive point. Now even I have a strong feeling that he has feelings for you as well." Ella squealed, making her smile.

"Now, let's go guys before he comes," Diana shouted, and they both nodded before leaving.

On the way back home, Nandini messaged Manik.

Nandini: I'm going back home with Ella and Diana.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Next morning

Nandini came to the kitchen to drink water. She was pouring the water from the bottle to glass, and suddenly someone turned her around in a swift motion by grasping her arm. She froze, seeing him because it was Manik Malhotra, and accidentally the water spilt over him from the bottle.

"Fuck!" She cursed, closing her eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry." She apologised, stammering for making him wet. It was getting so difficult for her to stand steady because their proximity was driving her insane and twirling her mind. Moreover, his searingly intense gaze was making everything more difficult for her.

"Why the fuck did you leave alone from the club last night?" He asked her in an angry tone, completely ignoring her apology.

'Seriously? He turned me around like this towards himself just to scold me. I'm not a kid.' She thought, looking at him.

"Answer me." He said in a stern tone.

"Why did you bring a woman to fuck at my place?" As she questioned him back, he rolled his eyes, irked.

But she found him even more tempting in his anger as she was completely crazy for him.

"Just tell me what I'm asking you." He said after leaving her arms.

"I didn't come home alone. Diana and Ella dropped me off. And I'm not a kid, I can travel alone." She finally answered him sassily.

"Next time, if you're my responsibility, you have to listen to me." He stated curtly, waggling his finger at her.

She was captivated by his charming face and the bird tattoo on his neck as she lost herself in them, and she felt a sudden urge to trace her finger over it.

"Kiddo." He murmured and shook his head before walking from there.

"You're crazy, Nandini. He was scolding you, and you got busy gawping at him." She chided herself.

"I don't know what magic he does on me." She murmured to herself, clueless.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Ethan came back in the evening, and he freaked out when Manik told him that Nandini saw him fucking a woman in his room last night.

"What the fuck? Why were you fucking a woman in my room? Why did you even bring her to my house? You didn't get any other place in this whole fucking world." Ethan scowled at him.

"Let me remind you, Ethan, you asked me to look after your sister last night, and I didn't have any other option." He said it casually.

"Is it so important for you to fuck a woman every night?" Ethan asked him in a grim tone.

"Relax, dude. You're overrating." Manik said, shrugging his shoulders.

Although he was expecting this reaction from him!

"Shut up, Manik. My sister saw you with a woman and this isn't a small thing." He rebuked him.

"You're talking like she is a small kid. Just chill, Dude." Manik said, looking around because he knew he was at fault, and then he murmured under his breath, "kiddo!".

Ethan took a deep breath to calm down himself and sat on the edges of the bed, holding his head.

"Have some beer, it will help you." Manik extended the can of beer to him.

After glaring at him, he snatched it from his grasp and took a sip after opening it. Manik retrieved another can from his room's small refrigerator.

"Dude, you have to promise me that from now you will never bring any girl to my place." He suddenly asked Manik to promise him.

"If you say, I won't even bring any girl to my house even." Manik laughed after saying this.

"Manik, I'm serious. I seriously don't want my sister to catch you again like this. I know she's not a kid but for me, she will always remain my baby sister. You know she means the world to me." Now he explained to him calmly.

Manik nodded, "I know. I promise from now I won't bring any girl to your house. Now happy?" He reassured him.

"I hope you find a girl for you soon and over this madness. I'm fed up seeing a new girl every day in your bed." He huffed.

Manik chuckled. "This is never going to happen. Manik Malhotra can never spend his whole life with one girl. It's so boring to see one face every day. Oh God, I can't even imagine this." He spoke the last line, shaking his head.

"When you fall in love, then I'll ask you, how boring it is."

"Love?" He burst out laughing. "Manik Malhotra will never fall in love." He uttered with full confidence, and Nandini's heart broke down after listening to his words as she was standing outside of Ethan's room. Her beautiful dark brown eyes brimmed with tears.

"Why does he despise the feeling of love so much?" She murmured, and a few tears trickled down her cheeks mechanically.