Hello family!
I am back finally. Waiting for all your love and comments! Enjoy!

~Love is always at your door, you just need to put in the right key~

Manik Malhotra, in his twenty seven years of life, had never been more embarrassed, and Nandini Manik Malhotra had never been more amused, as they were now, driving back home, after the hearty dinner at her Appa's place. Neelesh Murthy had left no stone unturned to tease The couple, and while it had only made Nandini laugh crazily, Manik had felt utterly shy at his comments and winks. Her Appa was so proud of his decision to get them married, watching these happy content expressions on their faces, and he didn't even hold back taunting both of them, since both of them had denied the proposal at first. And now, Nandini was still laughing at Manik's expense, while he sat, rolling his lips in, trying his best to concentrate only on driving.

" I won't be able to keep her happy, blah blah blah", Neelesh Murthy had poked his tongue out at Manik, who had immediately lowered his head, biting his smile away. And the memory of his mentor, making faces like a little kid, teasing the hell out of him, made him smile all the way back, along with Nandini, who just somehow could not stop laughing.

Opening up the main lock, Nandini entered first, followed by Manik, and she immediately sprawled up on the couch, holding her stomach. It was paining her, the unnerving continuous laughter, and Manik's Expressions were not at all helping.

" I can't believe you felt so shy Manik!", Nandini chuckled, as Manik settled down beside her, sipping on some water.

" What was I supposed to do if your father, who is also my mentor, asks you how I have been in bed?", He puffed his cheeks, and didn't look at her as he snapped cutely, but it only made Nandini laugh more.

It was true, her Appa was not exactly like every other father, but she knew that he had been trying to fill her mother's role too, and also, she was habituated of his baseless tease and weird questions. With Manik, all these years he had been a professional teacher, and he was new to this comedy and humour side of her Appa.

" Stop laughing Nandini!", He pleaded, but Nandini didn't listen, and continued to giggle, while she made her way up the couch and towards the room, but a pull on her hand, abruptly made her turn and land directly on him.

Manik saw her eyes getting wide, and cheeks getting red, as she struggled to move up, but he caged her in his arms, as his right hand traversed through her left cheek bone, sensually tucking her loose strands beneath her ears.

" Let's do something so that to have an answer to your Appa the next time, no?", he rubbed his nose all over her cheeks, and could see her breathing getting heavier. Nandini had no control over her reaction. Having him that close, plus his scent, always drove her mad.

" Manik!", The voice almost sounded like a moan, and it only did break the control he was holding on to, as his lips started to worship the exposed area of her neck, and face. The sexual tension between both of them, was extremely palpable, as Nandini could find herself responding to every touch of his. His hands roaming on her bare waist, was giving her goosebumps.

Nandini, involuntarily, moved her hand to the nape of his neck, and slightly tugged his hairs, feeling his lips on her collarbone, and that, broke his trance. He came back to his senses, abruptly opening his eyes, and sighed, before leaning in to kiss her forehead, before dropping his forehead on hers.

" You should go change!", He bit his lip, when he saw a naughty smirk forming on her lips, but she refrained from speaking, lest it would embarrass him more and made her way to the room. She loved these small adventures of them, and didn't wanna loose this opportunity to be close to him. She still wasn't sure if all these that she felt for him, was love, but she knew she loved being around him, at the least.

Manik on the other hand, rested his head back on the headrest, and smiled to himself. Nandini Malhotra was capable of making him loose all his calm and composure and he didn't even mind that. Some people are capable of changing everything in your life, for good, and she was doing exactly that to her. He had earlier never understood the romanticizing of love, but today, he knew what all those poetries meant, when they said~ She came in like a breath of fresh air! Nandini was definitely not something he wanted, because even with all the love he had harboured for her, over the years, he had never wanted to have her. But then, she was also definitely what he needed in his life, she was the spice in his mundane life, the pinch of humour he lacked, the only one who could make him go bold!

He couldn't wait to confess it to her, to tell her out loud how much he loved her, and then, finally love her the  way he had always wanted to, but then again, he didn't want to bind her by his confession. What if she wasn't in love?

His smile died down as the thought crossed his mind, his heart beating rapidly inside its cage. Troubled, he walked towards his bedroom, to have a glance of her, only to find her asleep already with a dreamy smile on her face.

Manik chuckled watching her, before shaking his head, and then neared her to remove the jewellery she had wore, the pins from her hair and her sandals. Adjusting her pillow and the duvet, he made her comfortable before dashing into the washroom himself.

He still had a pending case to review before he could sleep!

The morning was lazy for Nandini, as she struggled to open her eyes when the warmth of the day began seeping in, because the comfort of the duvet in winters was more appealing to her. Somehow, she yawned before sitting up, extending her arms up in air, when her eyes fell on the painting in front of her, dangling on the wall. She smiled, as she got off the bed, and traced it with her palm.

The painting depicted a human figure, the one could not be differentiated if it was male of female, rising from a heap of ashes into the sky, and at the height of the sky, wings came flying down to it. The colours were pastel, and light, mostly white and blue shades, but it was so soothing and peaceful, full of optimism, that Nandini loved it the most out of all hanging in various walls of her home. Kissing the frame, she made her way to freshen up, and then came out sometime later to realize it was past ten.

She quickly moved to the drawing room, only to be welcomed by silence, followed by a sticky note at the fridge door, saying 'Off to Court'. She pulled out the note, sighing and kissing it, as for the first time, she accepted what she felt in that one moment.

"I miss you", she whispered, with the wind, to the note, and kissed it, before munching on the breakfast her dear hubby had prepared for her.

Suddenly it struck her. Why only let the note know she missed him? Why not him? She immediately grabbed her phone, and texted him.

" Wifey misses her hubby!"

A shy smile broke out on her lips, as she saw blue ticks on the message, almost within a few seconds! She was getting anxious, waiting for a reply. She could not even try and guess what it will be. She knew her husband was a little slow with PDA, even if it was an encrypted text between both of them.

"I miss you more:-)".

She could not believe her eyes for a few seconds, and dialled his number in the next moment.

" Tell me someone else messaged me from your phone!", She spoke as soon as he received, earning heartfelt chuckles from him.

" Hello to you too", he teased her, barely able to control his laughter!

" Manik!", She was still serious about her question, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest.

" Nandini!", He called her name in an almost whisper, hoping and praying the whisper to convey all his unsaid feelings too.

She held the phone closer, her eyes shut as if she heard much more than what he said. Her breaths got slower and calm, and Manik could hear it on the other side.

A few minutes later, both started laughing out loud, at their own respective behaviour.

" Come home soon?", she asked softly as he smiled in peace at her demand.

" I will", she could imagine him smiling, before they finally disconnected, content!

Since it was an off in her college that day, she decided to do some household cleaning, and made her way to Manik's study. Piling up all the files together, she kept the papers together, and dusted off the racks properly. Moving forward, she ran the mope over the other paintings hanging all over the study, and she could not help but appreciate Manik's choice of art. All of them were so soothing to her eyes, bright colours blended with dark ones with so much perfection. He had eyes for art, it seemed. She roamed around, the mope now forgotten. Opposite side of his huge rack of books, he had a few other portraits.

What made her frown about these set were, they were not lively at all. They were much more darker, modern art mixed, and they radiated melancholy more than anything else. It is so astonishing, how humans can use inanimate things to express themselves so better. She could immediately connect to even this particular set, she could see why he had felt inclined to them. There is always a phase in everyone's life that is dark, and you tend to fall towards darker, sadder things in that time zone.

Continuing to frown, she walked ahead, her eyes still on the wall, when she crashed into something.

And never ever had she expected it to be a Canvas, covered with a half made painting.

Holy shit! Her husband painted!

And all these paintings she was gushing upon, were his own creations, raw and uncanny, not his taste of art.

Nandini squealed in amazement as she danced all over the room, running from painting to painting, analyzing them more, trying to read him through them. Some she was successful with, some took more of her empathy and patience. But by the end of it, she was ready with her special analysis.

Manik husband Malhotra was up for a viva now, it seemed!