Besabriyaan

Chapter 17

The night was going fine excepting some lecherous stares of Manik Malhotra. After having a mini decent conversation with Randhir, I realised though he had a sharp perception of Manik in his heart, yet he's not a bad company. He was fun to be with and a little protective as well. I felt safe for the way he kept me busy with his talks when I really was growing discomfort because of the growing ogling of men from every corner.

It was time for everyone to catch up at the large dinner table exhibiting finger licking dishes. Randhir took a seat next to me while Manik was on our opposite dealing with Saxena's daughter who couldn't wait to throw herself at him.

The conversation started mostly regarding the showbiz, who grabbed which project, which outdoor location was profitable, the recent hoaxes played in media and blah blah. Randhir caught me fidgeting the fork on my plate out of absolute boredom and nudged me with his elbow.

"Bored much?" He twitched his lips.

"No.. not really." But he being a lawyer was smart enough to study me.

"Don't worry, you're not the loner here in this humdrum." And I giggled.

Manik was wholly participating into those discussions while in the meantime Randhir and I exchanged some merriment.

"So beautiful, where do you stay?" Randhir asked and sipped on the wine.

"Out of reach."

My eyes sailed to Manik who uttered the words while knifing the baked chicken on his dish. I didn't expect him to have such big ears.

Randhir seemed quite disturbed because of Manik's uncalled interference. Manik looked up to me dashing the sliced piece of chicken in his mouth while I couldn't help plastering a phoney smile. And his eyes smiled too.

As the other gentlemen sat muddled there, he sighed.

"Out of reach. Erm, I was calling you Mr. Saxena since evening, must've been some network issue." Manik rectified.

✾

My eyes almost popped out of my sockets seeing the time. It's 2am. Freak. As I saw Manik walking near his car checking something on his phone, I hastened after him.

"Sir sir sir sir sir!" I hurtled after him calling loudly.

Manik who reached his car suddenly turned back hearing such chaos. He looked surprised seeing me scurrying at that speed as if terrorists were after me.

"Sir sir....sir..." I started panting whilst he checked my rear to see if someone was chasing me. He stood bemused.

"What?" He asked slipping the phone inside his trouser's pocket.

"Sir..." I breathed "I've asked the office car to go and... I won't be getting any automobile at this odd hour, could you.." I batted my eyes sweetly "Could you pleaseee drop me, siiirrr?" I tried making the 'sir' sound very cheesy holding my hands.

"Do I come across as some Uber driver to you? Get lost." Saying this he opened the door of his car.

Huh?