Chapter 16

A couple of other students had glanced in their directions. In her peripheral vision, Nandani could see Daniel watching them as if they were a real-life soap opera. If her face showed any of the frustration she was feeling, he would not have been disappointed.

She gave in to the childish desire of kicking the doorframe in frustration on the way out. It was partly for Daniel, and mostly for her.

Nandani then dropped the notebook off to a sweating Mukti. "Oh, thank God. You are the best."

"It was all Manik," Nandani replied. She did not bother conveying his comment not to break the computer but did share about timing.

"He is going to Mexico for the weekend? Mukti rolled her eyes. "Typical. I keep waiting for this good-guy thing to crack. I love my brother, Nandani, but last year was a fluke. He will be back into old habits in no time."

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The weekend was busy with schoolwork and working for the 'Dream Girl,' stuff with Mukti, while her computer was found under a pile of clothes and other accessories in her room. She had the decency to look remorseful when she found it.

Nandani didn't think much about Manik's weekend in Mexico-Tijuana. She left the house before he came to drive Mukti to school on Monday because she was not ready to be regaled with his stories of partying. Or to have him avoid the subject and leave her guessing what he had been doing for the last seventy-two hours.

Manik's text came in the middle of law class.

Need your help... It is an emergency, Nandani.

Have you got busted at the border, Manik?

Very funny...can you just come over?

I am still in class. What's wrong Manik?

Well, It can wait until tonight, Nandani.

Okay, I will come by later.

He had increased her curiosity. Despite the harsh words they had exchanged the other day, Nandani still wanted to see him.

Classes ended at five that day, which gave Nandani time for a quick treadmill run. It did feel good to move her butts after the long hours in class. At home, she went for a shower and wore jeans and a black T-shirt. As an added concession, she blow-dried her hair and put on some lip gloss.

She then drove to Manik's place and pulled up at the curb. The big house had a double-wide driveway in which Manik's, as well as another car, were parked.

"Hey, Nandani." Neil and another guy she didn't know, introduced as Bill, were seated at the table when she came in, and they spoke for a few minutes. By Neil's interest in her, Nandani assumed nothing was going to happen with Neil and Mukti. Too bad, it was, as Mukti had spent the whole night after dinner talking about how she had always wanted to hook up with a surfer. Nandani though had not reminded her that she had quit swimming lessons in third grade because she didn't like how the salt dried out her skin.

Well, for the present, she heard Manik coming down the stairs, and he appeared in the kitchen doorway a few moments later.

"What is the emergency?" Nandani asked, pushing off the counter. He grabbed her hand and proceeded to pull her upstairs without a word of explanation.

"See you, Nandani!" Neil called after her. She waved him back over her shoulder.

Manik dragged her into his room and closed the door. He stood there watching her as if he was unsure of where to start.

Nandani broke the ice. "How was TJ? Brought back anything for me?"

"It was good. And no. I didn't think you were a sombrero kind of girl." (A sombrero is a hat with a very wide brim which is worn especially in Mexico)

Nandani did not laugh.

"Listen, I know you don't like it. But I did want to say thank you. For...I don't know. Caring enough that it bothered you," Manik said.

And despite her intentions, the irritation seemed to melt away. "You are welcome," she replied.

She had not heard from him for the last four days, which would not have mattered a few weeks ago, but it did matter now. But she was worried about what would happen if she heard something she didn't like.

"So what is the big emergency?" Nandani found a seat for herself on the corner of his bed, sat down, and crossed her leg.

He followed her lead, sitting opposite her. "I need to ask you something."

"Shoot," she replied.

"It is a bit outside the scope of our friendship. But I would not ask if it was not important," he said.

"Manik, there is nothing you can ask me that would be weird."

"Okay good." His eyes relaxed but she could still see a muscle working in his jaw. "In that case, do you remember the conversation we had at your party?"

Nandani's heart started beating a little faster. "Vaguely. What part of the conversation?"

"Not the kiss," he said as if to reassure her that he had forgotten about it. "The sex part." He looked at her as if waiting for a response.

She arched an eyebrow. "I guess?"

His face seemed to be serious, and he looked older than usual. "So I went out with this girl last week. And we were...kissing." His voice dropped on the last word.

Nandani ignored the little pang of something inside her.

"I am pretty sure she was into it," he went on. "And then when things started to ...go further, I stopped it."

An image of him with some girl appeared in her brain, though unwanted. Nandani tried to focus on the humor of the situation instead of the visual of the girl's tongue down his throat. It bothered her that she needed to and that she couldn't.

"So let me get this straight. You went out with this girl. You like her. She likes you. Now you are worried about sex?" Nandani asked him.

"Not worried. I just... want it to be good, you know?" Manik said.

Nandani was already regretting her earlier comment about being willing to talk about anything. Still, wasn't this what she wanted? For him to be so unaffected by her?

Manik seemed to sense her hesitation. She hoped he was ignorant of the war taking place in her brain, and he was the reason for it.

He leaned on his arms, eyes on hers. Despite the casual posture, undercurrents of something that she could not decipher ran through his gaze. An intensity that felt out of place given their conversation about him and an unknown girl.

Nandani was having trouble keeping her eyes on his face.

"Just tell me what I should do?" Manik's words hauled her back to reality.