Chapter 24

Nandani spent the weekend working on Mukti and her pet project; the 'Dream Girl' Label. One of the big things hanging over their heads was a website. She was not the least bit tech-savvy but threw herself into it, researching until she had a to-do list, a domain name, and some local developers who could send them quotes. The new information pouring into her half-willing brain helped delay the inevitable until the following week.

Of course, she had to go and have the best sex of her life with Mukti's brother. And this was less than two months into the "No Boys" year that they had decided. She could not imagine the look on Mukti's face if she found out.

She had almost fully rationalized that it was only a one-night stand, to blow off the steam. But she had no idea she could have chemistry that intense with someone. Now that she did, it was like she had unleashed something that was wreaking havoc within her.

Monday morning Nandani slept through her alarm because she could not sleep Sunday night. When Mukti came to get her she told her she was sick and to go ahead without her. Mukti looked suspiciously at her from the doorway. The problem with best friends was it was nearly impossible to lie to them, and even trying felt like soul-crushing.

When she finally made it to her business law lecture, the professor asked her a question in the middle of the class. She had not been paying attention, and completely missed what he had asked. She was gazing off into the distance and imagining her sex with Manik.

"Um... Sheer negligence?" the teacher said.

"I am sorry, Miss Turner. Ahhh...could you repeat the question?"

Her partner slid a sheet of paper across to her desk and she glanced at it. "I mean if the business has no substantial assets, they should consider filing for bankruptcy," Nandani answered. Which was quite possibly in her future if she did not get her shit together, she thought.

"That is correct, Ms. Nandani. Now unless you are planning to marry Mr. Liam here so you can always be joined at the hip" saying that Miss Turner gestured to the boy next to her whose name was Liam, who had passed her the note, who flushed at her comment "...perhaps a little less daydreaming and a little more studying in your future?"Miss Turner said.

Asshole. Even if she was totally right, Nandani thought.

That night Mukti ensnared her to come and help her with some of her designs. "If you are feeling better, of course." Nandani guiltily agreed.

Mukti was finalizing the pieces she would send for the fall fashion show and wanted to see how they would look on a runway. Nandani had brought Alya, with her which would no doubt endear her to Mukti for the foreseeable future. Her roommate Emma was the third enlisted. Alya was more into sports than fashion and needed no begging to come over.

Mukti might not have been a bookworm but she was a perfectionist when it came to clothes. She insisted on seeing how they hung, how they moved, and how they looked one after another. No detail escaped her eyes.

Emma was resting on Mukti's bed, waiting for her turn to get suited up, regaling us with hilarious stories about the guy she had been dating until recently. "I am not even joking. He tried to get me to take off my stilettos because he was worried they would scratch the interior of his car. But when we went back to his place, which we did only once. He wanted me to leave them on." She ended with a laugh.

Nearby Mukti was pinning the red fabric of a dress so it hung just right while Nandani stood on a stool. "What about you? You have been looking awfully dazed the last few days." Mukti narrowed her eyes up at Nandani. "This playing sick thing?" Her gaze then turned serious. "Don't tell me Nandani that you and Aryaman had a little for-old-time's-sake action? Hope you remember what we had agreed, Nandani! It is fine if you want to blow off some steam, but exes are off-limits. Ex-boyfriend's come with feelings, and feelings mess with heads, and messed heads mess with business. You had convinced me of that."

"Yeah, I know," Nandani mumbled.

Emma looked over with interest and Alya pulled her face out of the magazine she was reading while sitting on the floor next to the bed. "Come on, Nandani, let us hear it," Emma implored. Her eyes were sparkling, probably because she was at least in part Team Aryaman. "I have not got my share of gossip this year. Own up," she insisted.

"There is nothing to tell." And there wasn't; at least about Aryaman.

"What about Neil?" Alya asked, pulling Nandani's thoughts back to the present. "He was cute and seemed to be infatuated by you." Nandani gave a hard look out of the corner of her eyes at Mukti, worried she might get stabbed with a pin before she even answered. She anticipated that psychic best friend way. "Not to worry, I am so over that," Mukti responded breezily, about Neil. "And he does seem like a good recreational prospect."

There had to be a way to get out of this unharmed. "He is cute. But no, I have not. and I have not seen Aryaman in a while," Nandani replied.

"Alright, but we are onto you!" Emma chimed back in. "We are your roommates. You cannot keep secrets for long. Between Alya and us, we see you 24/7. If there is some hottie you are secretly banging, we will know about it." Emma then winked at her.

As long as Nandani could keep anyone from finding out what had happened between her and Manik that night, and keep it from happening again, she was in the clear.

By Wednesday Nandani was starting to wonder if Manik had fallen off the face of the earth. She had not heard from him. Maybe he had been completely unaffected and had her out of his system. Maybe their marathon sex had killed him.

She should have gone easier on the guy. He was practically a virgin. Her first time was with Aryaman. But the whole experience with him was average, compared to her experience with Manik. She had never understood the kind of passion that drove people out of their minds. The kind they wrote poems on and made movies about. The kind that made your blood run hot. Not until now. Not until she spent her night with Manik.