2. Attraction

Nandini heaved a sigh of relief as she walked out of the office building. She had been running around the whole day from one department to another. She was sure if not for her perks as a vampire, she would have fainted. More than that she had a hard time controlling herself from pouncing onto him. The thought of wanting to suck his blood had passed through her mind countless of times and controlling her inner instincts made her more tired.

"Miss Taylor get me this. Miss Taylor get me that." She mimicked his lines and sighed irritatedly, "For god sake I have a name. He can just call me Nandini and I would be fine with it."

Right then the scent of fresh blood hit her nostrils and she could feel herself longing to taste it. "Not-" she breathed in the enthralling scent. "not again."

She failed to control herself. Her feet took her nearer to the scent. Blood. Fresh blood. Her subconscious mind chanted.

"Miss Taylor what are you doing here?" Manik asked as he saw her nearing towards him. "Miss Taylor what-" he gasped in surprise when all of a sudden he was pulled into her embrace.

"Wh-What are you d-doing?" he barely managed to say. Her scent enthralled him and he felt his whole existence melting in her embrace. This feeling was something strange, something he had never experienced.

She could feel heat radiating inside her body, threatening to melt her bones. As she clinged to him and buried her face in the crook of his neck, the scent of his blood became unbearable. Her fangs sharpened and she was just about to dig those fangs inside his skin when a loud honk of car brought her back to her senses.

What the hell was she doing? She pulled away from him, simultaneously covering her mouth. Both of them instantly felt cold.He missed her warmth and may be she missed his too.

What is this feeling? This question crossed their minds and it only confused them even more.

Awkwardness surrounded the atmosphere. He couldn't comprehend her action and she couldn't comprehend why his blood had this kind of effect on her.

The scent of his blood was still so strong that she feared she would lose her control. Without even saying a word to explain her actions, she left the place as fast as she could.

Taking out a tablet from her bag, she stuffed it into her mouth. As soon as the tablet came in contact with her tongue, she could feel her nerves calm down a bit.

She sighed, failing to understand as to why his blood was arousing foreign desires within her. Moreover the scent of his fresh blood had still been lingering around her nose. She stomped her foot in irritation before increasing her pace of walking.

Soon enough, she reached her apartment but her mind wasn't at ease. Many things crossed her mind, confusing her even more.

"Nanz you aren't sick right?" Aisha, her roommate asked and Nandini just sighed.

Aisha was just a normal human being and although they were very close, she didn't even have the slightest idea about Nandini being a vampire.

Nandini was a chirpy talkative girl but today she had been unusually quiet and it wasn't a great deal for Aisha to find out something was amiss.

"You know right you can share anything with me?"

"I know." she paused, looking at Aisha for a brief second, before voicing out her thoughts. "Aisha, I feel like quitting this job."

"You want to quit? But why? I thought you really wanted to work for this company."

"I did and I still want to. But-" she sighed and rolled to the other side of her bed. "urghhh I just don't know anymore."

"Is your boss a grouch?"

"No, he isn't. He is kind of okay."

"Then is it because of your colleagues? Are they hard to get along with?"

"No, they are okay too."

"Then what's the reason?"

Nandini sighed and rolled on the bed. "Actually there's a boy that-" She started, only to get interrupted by Aisha.

"that you rejected."

"No, it's nothing like that." Nandini contradicted. "Actually there's a boy and something about him attracts me and I am just not able to avoid it."

"Getting attracted it's- Wait! What?!" Aisha couldn't believe what she heard. In the five years of sharing an apartment with her, there had never been a case where Nandini had been attracted to a boy. There were cases where she had punched the guys for stalking her but never for once had she shown any interest in boys.

"Wow! so finally a boy managed to attract Miss I am not interested." she said, perplexed with the new found information.

Nandini threw a pillow towards her."I am still not interested."

She caught it with one hand. "If you aren't interested then why is he bothering you?" Aisha smirked on finding Nandini speechless which was very rare.

"By the way who's that boy?" She pried.

"That's not so important. In fact I want to avoid this." saying this, Nandini sat upright on the bed."Just tell me how can I avoid this attraction?"

"It's simple. Just stay close to him and try to know him better." Aisha gave the exact opposite advice and Nandini looked at her in disbelief.

"And how would that even help?"

"If you stay close to him you will get used to him and that way you won't find him attractive." She shrugged. "Moreover even if you want to you can't quit, at least not for a year. You already signed a one year employment contract."

"I know that and that's exactly what's stopping me from quitting. But staying close to the person. Seriously you think that will work?"

"I know it will work." she said with a sly smile which obviously didn't go unnoticed by Nandini.

Nandini leaped on her, smacking her with the pillow. "Giving a wrong advice in such a serious matter isn't a good idea." Nandini said as she shoved the pillow into Aisha's mouth and Aisha struggled to get Nandini off her.

The room filled with their laughter and bickers followed by their pillow fight.

-

The next morning

Nandini jumped out of bed after checking the wall clock. It was almost 8:45 and she had to report to the office at 9:00. Holy crap! She would be late again. She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face before changing into anything she got in the closet.

Combing through her messy hair, she mumbled few curses to herself, looking at the passing time.

After she was done she hurriedly put on her shoes and left the apartment but she again had to return to her room to take her bag. She shouted in frustration before slumping to the ground. Sigh! she wasn't punctual at all.

"Enough is enough. I can't run all the way to office in just one minute." Nandini said in frustration but the very next moment her eyes sparkled with a glint of excitement. "It wouldn't be a problem if I just use my power once."

"Yeah just this once." Nandini instantly got up and took her bag. She made sure that she wasn't being watched. She closed her eyes and chanted something under her breath. The very next moment she landed on her butt with a thud inside the office storeroom.

"I need more practise." Nandini thought to herself as she got up from the floor, dusting her clothes. She checked her watch and sighed in relief. She wasn't late anymore.

She made her way outside and rushed to the reception.

"Good morning Tiara."

"Good morning Nandini." She wished back, adjusting her glasses.

"Has sir arrived?"

"He arrived just a few minutes ago." She informed.

"Ah okay. See you later." Nandini said, before rushing to the cabin. Right when she was about to open the cabin door, yesterday's event played in front of her eyes.

She frowned. Even just the thought of her boss interrogating her about yesterday's incident made her anxious.

"Not the time. Not the time. It's going to be okay." She took a deep breath before knocking on the cabin door.

"Come in." On hearing his voice, she opened the door of the cabin.

And as soon as she entered the cabin, the scent of his addictive blood hit her nostrils, making her inner self go insane. She tightly held on to her bag, trying hard not to give in to her desire.

"You are one minute late Miss Taylor." Manik said as he lifted his head from his laptop.

Though he was curious about her yesterday's action, he decided not to mention it and instead put up a strong front. Partially because he didn't want any awkwardness and partially because he himself wasn't ready to come face to face with what he was feeling.

"It won't happen again sir." Nandini said in a polite tone. However, she was having a hard time controlling herself. She could feel her self control giving in to her desire of sucking his blood. This isn't good.