MY MYSTERIOUS MAN

Chapter 13

I Slowly got habituated that I order my food by myself as days passed, Manik is actually making me habituated. It's been a week since we had dinner together that night.

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(That night)

I took a spoon full of favorable curry rice in my mouth and I melted as it touched my glands. It was THAT tasty. Manik is silently eating in front of me with a small smile on his face.

I don't know why, but his smile feels like a mask. Like he actually is not smiling, but just a mask to cheat. But I don't know much about him, so I can't say exactly.

"I didn't know Adil have a brother"

"We are ...um...not exactly on good terms and that must be the reason why he never told you about me or even me about his girlfriend," He said with a chuckle.

"Girlfriend?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, you"

"I am just his friend"
"Hm... I see he replied and ate silently. What does that mean?

I know I feel attracted to Adil, but I can't spill that I want to be his girlfriend. But also, how can someone like me be the girlfriend of someone like him?

"What about you, Manik, DO you have a girlfriend?"

"No" that was awfully blunt.

"Why?"

He remained silent for a moment and then continued without giving me an answer. I guess there must be an unspoken past love.

We had a perfectly normal conversation where only my dumb ass is spilling every detail of mine excluding my father and my past, but he in comparison didn't share a thing, and it didn't feel like I need to ask.

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(Present)

Manik and my daily conversations became normal. I wait to eat dinner together with him as it is the most common thing in my life. While I don't know a thing about him. Whose smiles for every question feel mysterious?

But the weirdest thing is, even though the week passed. I still haven't been able to ask about what happened to Adil.

We know I speak about a lot of things when we ate together, but when coming to Adil. I couldn't ask a question, even though it was in my mind all the time. It's like I forget everything when I am with him, or it's like I shouldn't ask or know what happened to Adil.

I hope he is just fine, while my nightmares continued every single day. I am forgetting it the moment Manik and I have dinner together. The murder's in the area slowly disappeared in this past week. It is too silent at night. A bone-chilling silence.

Tomorrow, I have a date with Manik. I can't exactly call it a date, but...

"I will take you somewhere tomorrow, and it's a surprise" he left this evening after saying that. I am not the type to anticipate things, and it is too weird how I forgot about Adil in a week.

I won't say I like Manik, but I can't say I hate him either. It's a thin line between them, and I am walking on it...

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(The next day)

I took a leave, especially for today. Looks like I am actually looking forward to this date. Whenever I stay with Manik he teaches me the happiness of doing and selecting things by myself and I like it and that's the only reason why I meet up with him every single day.

I am waiting at my house for 30 minutes, and he is late!

After like about an hour, someone knocked on my door. I opened it and Manik was standing at the front panting.

"Sorry, I am late," He said with a small smile.

What is he smiling for now?

"It's alright"

"Come let's go"

He said, pulling me by my hand.

There was a car parked downstairs on this small street.

"Hop on"

"Oh"

So he has a car. Of course, he is earning a little too much.

"So, where are we going?"

"Surprise"

"I don't like surprises"

"But you will definitely like this" He spoke as he started the car.

"Is this car yours?"

"Yes, I brought it after I got my first income"

"I see"

It was quiet for some time. It's been days since I properly slept, so the journey and the cool air are making me drowsy.

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I woke up to the sound of birds squeaking. I got surprised to see the view in front of me.

It's the BEACH!!!

This is the first time I am looking at the sea. It is breathtaking. I got down the car immediately and ran into the water. The cold water touching my feet felt so relaxing.

The water is shining with the sunlight falling over it. The sea breeze feels different. The water is salty.

"How is the surprise?"

I turned around and there is Manik standing behind me with a small smile. More like a proud smile.

"It's refreshing"

"Why haven't you visited the beach before?"

" My mother promised to take me to the beach on my 12th birthday, but she died before that, so..."

Without a care in the world, not caring about any person or people around me, I played in the water like a small kid. Manik sat at the shore quietly observing me. It was awkward, but I didn't care much.

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I lay down on the shore, painting. My dress is completely filled with sand and wets with seawater. It feels heavy.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked

"yes"

"I was worried you wouldn't like it, he said after a relaxed exhalation.

"Why the beach suddenly?"

"You told me that you haven't been to it at least once, and the beach is something like a place to calm your soul. The water helps. It whispers, And I thought that you needed it"
He thought a lot about it and that made me happy.

He booked a room in the nearby hotel for cleaning me up. Furthermore, he took me out for lunch later. It was very tasty. All the remaining day we checked all the things that are near the shore.

Everything is going very well and that made me a little anxious. Being happy doesn't suit me, so I am sure that something bad will happen. Life doesn't like me being happy.

And just like I had imagined, I saw something I shouldn't have seen.