CHAPTER 7

Manik looked pretty great. He had shaven which added to the clean-cut look, and he had tucked his Ray-Bans into the collar of his green polo. It made her think about the feel of his chest under her hands, his jaw under her mouth. She then forced the thought away.

He shrugged and went back to his snack. Which, Nandani inferred, had never actually been destined for her. She suddenly wondered why Manik was here. He had books with him but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to use them.

The air between them felt heavy, though she wondered if she was the only one feeling it. "Manik, about the other night. ...In my room."

He looked directly at her. His dark lashes softened the intensity of his probing gaze. "What about it?"

"Can we just forget it?" She asked him.

Manik paused, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He took his time answering, even finished off the garlic bread, and slid the plate to the end of the table.

"Forget what?" He asked Nandani. His face was unreadable.

Nandani wondered whether he was going to make her spell it out? "Forget..." she said, and then caught on. "Oh. Well, thanks." She paused. "Because I was upset and things were just weird and I feel like Mukti doesn't need to know about me groping her brother. Though in fairness you were also pretty actively involved in the whole thing."

"What part of us you are asking me to forget about?" Manik frowned.

Nandani then understood that he was not here to talk about the other night. That moment was also now over, and some of the awkwardness also had been dispelled, maybe she should also just forget. She then popped open the lid of her Macbook computer, remembering that she had promised Mukti, that she would search out some web agencies to design them a site for their clothesline to be launched next year.

"So...how is the exciting world of undergraduate engineering?" she asked him, glancing up at him as her computer booted.

Manik leaned forward and shrugged. He did not seem to share her penchant for multitasking. The books that he had carelessly deposited between them remained untouched. "It is pretty interesting, Maths, Science, repeat."

Nandani's eyes narrowed as she studied his expression. Though he looked normal, there was a glint in his eyes, that did not match with his bored tone. Something clicked in her mind, and the corner of her mouth twitched in response. "You love it, don't you?" she asked him. "You just fake that you are not interested in Engineering when it is the opposite. Right?"

Nandani knew some people just oozed out they were brainy from their appearance. But Manik was not like that. In fact, his looks and behavior were so striking that his intelligence could easily go unnoticed unless someone knew him really well.

Manik narrowed his eyes. "What if I do love?"

"You are a nerd Manik!" She could not resist teasing him.

"I confess to nothing of the sort. Besides, you already know enough of my secrets." His eyes warmed and his careless words made her think of their conversation and other things. She then quickly steered their conversation in another direction. Especially since she had declared the episode of their kiss to not be discussed by them.

"How is your living situation?" Mukti had told her that Manik was sharing his apartment with five more students, just off the campus. His roommates were both senior University as well as high school students, most of whom played varsity sports. One of the guys, Neil knew Manik from the rugby camp days in the years past.

Manik rolled easily with the change of topic. "Is that asshole guy, giving you any more grief?"

Nandani wished he had not brought up Aryaman Khurana. The last couple of days she had enjoyed diversifying her list of problems, dwelling on new concerns like the possibility of failing this semester.

"A couple of text messages, but nothing that I cannot handle." Aryaman had written to say he was glad to see her at the party, and that if she would ever want to meet him up she should let him know. Nandani had no idea whether he wanted to get back together with her, or just relieve his personal guilt by hearing her say that she was okay. In any case, she realized that she was starting to move on. For the first time, she truly didn't give a crap what he was doing and it was truly liberating for her.

Manik's face was distorted with anger. "If he does, will you let me know?" He then grabbed her phone that lay on top of her book bag. He punched his number in it before Nandani could even protest. He then texted himself from her phone, so he could get her number too.

"You look like you have done that before," Nandani said to him.

"What, saved a damsel in distress or given a girl my number?" he asked.

"The latter, Manik."

"Yeah, I think we have established I am a big-time player," Manik replied.

She could not help laughing at his tone.

"But seriously, I know people. This guy's account can be hacked and his popularity can be halved in no time." She raised an eyebrow. "Or, you know, I could just rearrange his face," he said.

The words were meant as a joke, but they drew her eyes to his hands, clasped loosely on the table. Nandani had already figured out that thinking about Manik Malhotra's body, for more than a couple of minutes would lead her down a very distracting path. She stood up and eased out of the glass cabin.

"What, you don't think I can fight with him?" Manik misinterpreted the reason for her departure. He slid his sunglasses on his face and adopted a steely posture. I know kung fu."

His impression was passable, but what killed her was that he had tried it. "Whatever you say, boss." His nerdiness secretly delighted her, but he need not know that. In fact, she needed to get out of there. "All this talk of fighting and hacking is raising my blood pressure." She swung her bag over her back. "If you want to keep your scholarship, you better give up all those ideas." She started towards the door but turned to call over her shoulder. "Oh, and don't blow all your money on carbs. At least not before the midterms, Manik."