5. The man

Nandini jumped out of bed after checking the wall clock. It was 8:40 am and she had to report in the office by 9:00 am. She quickly freshened up before changing into anything she got in her closet.

She couldn't take the risk of skipping her breakfast as it would only contribute in triggering her desire for blood, specifically his blood. So she hurriedly heated the leftovers from last night.

After she was done eating, she placed the dishes on the sink and hastily tossed a tablet into her mouth. Sighing, she glanced at the clock only to slump on the ground. She was already five minutes late.

"Using my powers just one more time wouldn't hurt. Right?" She mumbled to herself before standing upright. She made sure no one was around before closing her eyes and chanting a spell under her breath.

The next moment she was inside Manik cabin's attached restroom with her feet dipped in the water filled bucket. Her shoes and her stockings were completely wet. "What a great start to my day!" she let out an exasperated sigh.

She took off her shoes and then her stockings before peeking out of the restroom door. Luckily his cabin was empty. She hurriedly got out of the restroom and just when she was about to get out of his cabin, the strong scent of his blood trickled her nostrils. Ignoring the scent, she opened the door, only for her head to bang on a hard frame.

A pair of arms held either side of her elbows and her wet stocking and shoes dropped. She raised her gaze only for her gaze to lock with Manik's chocolate brown orbs. 'Too close.' her mind registered but she didn't budge, at least not until the scent of his blood became unbearable and her sane mind started wavering.

Tearing her gaze away from him, she stepped a step back as she covered her mouth and nose with her right hand. "I am sorry sir." she apologized before picking up her stocking and shoes with her other free hand.

"Why are you-" he couldn't even complete his words as she ran out of the cabin. "She really doesn't know how to acknowledge her boss, does she?" he looked at her running figure. "What's with her anyway? She's weird but-" a small smile formed on his lips. "cute."

He walked inside his cabin, looking around, smiling to himself. The rest few hours passed by in a blur with him testing the new updates of the game and Nandini working on compiling the files of the previous updates.

"Manik it's time for lunch." Sia peeked her head in through the door as she said that. He raised his head from the laptop screen to the door. "Is it time already?" he checked the time on his wrist watch. "Oh, it's 1:00 pm already! Wait for me downstairs, this will take a few more minutes."

"I can wait here."

"No it's okay. Just wait downstairs."

"Hmm okay." she said before closing the door and leaving. A few minutes after she left, Manik heard a faint knock on the door. He mumbled a hasty 'come in' as his hands worked on the keyboard. "Sir the files you asked for." Nandini entered with a file in her hand.

"Keep them here." he said as he saved the draft. She turned to leave but he stopped her.

"Aren't you joining me for lunch?" he closed the laptop screen and looked at her. Confused, she turned to face him. "Today you have lunch plans with Mr. Reyes sir." she reminded just in in case if he had forgotten.

"I know. You are my secretary. So you should be accompanying me, shouldn't you?"

"But Sia told me she will be accompanying you today." she informed.

"So what?! She's just going because it's her dad. I still would need you there Miss Taylor." he got up from his seat and reached her. She let out an exasperated sigh on being called 'Miss Sharma', something that she would probably never like being called. Forcing a smile, she stepped aside. "Let's go sir."

-

"It's been a while since I last saw you." Mr. Reyes shook hands with Manik as he said that. Manik smiled. "It's really been a while uncle."

"Dad." Sia hugged him right after Manik left his hand and Nandini just greeted him with a simple ' Good afternoon Mr. Reyes. '

"Your new secretary?" Mr. Reyes looked at Manik and he nodded.

"Nandini. Nandini Taylor." Nandini introduced herself with a polite smile.

They settled in one of the tables and after placing their orders, they directly dived into their business talks. Manik proposed a draft of the upcoming company's event and successfully managed to convince Mr. Reyes into sponsoring the next event. The lunch's purpose was fulfilled and Manik was quite in a good mood when he left the restaurant.

"Miss Taylor you've emailed the drafts right?" he asked.

"Yes sir and sir-" she paused, getting on the passenger's seat of his car. "could you please not call me Miss Taylor?" she requested like any other day. She looked ahead, suddenly sensing a presence. Other than the scent of his blood, she could smell a different yet familiar kind of scent.

"Why? Miss Taylor sounds good to me." he said as he hit the gas but the very next moment he abruptly hit the brake as someone out of the blue came in front of his car.

"What the- Hey do you want to die or what?" he shouted as he looked at the man standing in front of his car. The man's eyes were stuck on him. ' A vampire. ' her mind registered.

Manik unlocked his car door. He was just about to step out when Nandini held his elbow and stopped him. "Don't step out." she panicked with her eyes fixed to the man. She could see his nails becoming sharper and his eyes color changing. She could sense that the man was just in the verge of losing his control.

"Huh? What do you-" Manik's word died in his throat when he was suddenly pulled out of the car by the man. The man pinned him to the back door of his car. He tried getting the man off him but his hold on him was so strong that he could barely even wriggle.

A shiver ran down Manik's spine when he saw the man's eyes suddenly turning completely red. The man moved closer towards his neck but right then Nandini held the man from behind and threw the man away from him.

The man leaped at Nandini but she moved away and he fell on the ground. She immediately took out a tablet from her pocket and reached the man. She then forcefully stuffed the tablet in his mouth and minutes later he was back to his senses.

The man breathed in, trying to calm himself down. "What the hell just happened? How did I lose my control over myself?" he looked at his sharpened nails and then at Nandini, clearly asking for an explanation.

"His blood is just irresistible." she looked at Manik who had passed out, probably from the shock of getting attacked. 'Weak humans.' she thought to herself.

"You mean sweet blood?" he asked.

"I am not completely sure but I think that's the case." she got up from the ground, dusting her clothes.

"I thought it was just a made up theory. So there are humans with sweet irresistible blood." The man too got up from the ground. The first thing that caught her attention was his unusually tall height. He was in fact taller than Manik, may be by an inch more.

"Probably." she said, looking into his slightly red orbs which had slowly been regaining back it's black color. He nodded, running a hand through his black hair. "Thank you for earlier."

"It's fine."

"So why are you here in the human world?" he pried.

"Uhh umm I have my reasons." she shrugged. She didn't really want to give away her identity as an envoy to someone she didn't even know. "What about you?"

"I have my own reasons too."

"Hmm. Okay then I will take care of him." she paused. "But we also need to take care of the security cameras." she said as she looked at the cameras in the corners, sighing.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of the cameras." he paused and a few seconds of awkward silence followed. "Okay then I'll go and erase the footage." he turned to leave but again turn to look at her.

"By the way I am Arya. What's your name?" he asked.

"Nandini."

"Nandini." his lips curved into a knowing smile on hearing her name. "Okay then. See you soon." he said before vanishing into thin air and that just confused her. What did he even mean by 'see you soon'?

"Ah whatever." she looked around and sighed in relief on seeing no one around. She then reached Manik. "Such a weak heart."

In a swift move, she carried him in her arms and settled him on the passenger's seat. 

"I just hope you don't remember anything but that's the least possible thing to expect." she gently caressed his hair and sighed.

"Shall I just hypnotize him?" she withdrew her hand from his hair. "Nah it's not mentally good for him. Let me just see how he reacts first." she shook her head a bit as she made her way to the driver's seat.

Meanwhile Sia who had been a witness to all the things that had happened from inside her father's car had been shivering in fear. "Who was he? Wh-What is she?"