Nandini closed the door shut as she collapsed into the cold floor. The tears streamed down her cheeks nonstop. A blank expression captivated her face as the flashbacks of Manik's words echoed in her ears.
"Mission Nandini Murthy accomplished."
"Mission Nandini Murthy accomplished."
"Mission Nandini Murthy accomplished."
She lifted her hands to her ears not wanting to hear his voice or remember his disgusting words. Why was he still haunting her why!? An anguished cry escaped her throat as she clutched on to the tip of her dress. She continued to cry uncontrollably when the door to her bedroom flung open. There stood Chachi, the color draining from her face as she stared wide-eyed at the sight in front of her. Nandini's withered body was glued to the floor as her puffy eyes stared ahead; the eyeliner smeared across her face.
"Nandu. Kya hua!"
Nandini wrapped her arms tightly around her and continued to sob. "Ch..Ch.. Chachi it...it hurts," she croaked in her heart wrenched tone.
"Nandu sweetie, what hurts? mujhe batao."
Nandini slowly lifted her hand and placed it on the left side of her chest pointing to her heart. "It..It hurts right here."
The pain in her voice caused her chachi to sob along with her as she hugged her tighter and patted her hair. "Who dares to hurt my Nandu like this?!" The anger took over her as she thought to herself. She lifted her hands and wiped the tears that covered Nandu's cheeks.
Rishab's footsteps climbing the stairs caused Nandini to pull herself in surprise.
"Arre but I can't leave you like this."
" Chachi I...I will be fine don't worry about me. Please"
Chachi quietly made her way towards the door and stopped.
"You will have to tell me who is that kameena."
Nandini stared at her and gave a small nod. She heard her chachi's footsteps vanishing down the stairs as she mumbled to herself. "I won't spare that bas***d."
She gathered the little strength she still had and moved towards the mirror unable to recognize her own self. She lifted her hand and wiped a tear hanging in the corner of her eye and continued to stare at herself.
"This is the Nandu you want to see Mr. Manik? I won't let you see this Nandu.I won't break down because of you no matter what. You broke my heart yes but you can never break me."
She shifted her eyes to her closet and decided that if she wanted to sleep today, she needed to face him right now. She needed say this in his face.
******************************************************************
Manik stood under the dark sky gazing at the stars. Why didn't they look like they were shining anymore? Maybe there were also angry at him for sacrificing his shining star. He wasn't going to blame them. Taking a deep breath, he turned around placing his hands into his pockets and stopped when he noticed Dhruv standing in front of him.
"Dhruv?" When did you come?"
"Just a minute ago." He replied with his usual quite tone.
Manik walked towards him and both pulled a chair and sat down.
In a couple of minutes, Nandini reached the Malhotra mansion and her eyes spotted Manik sitting outside, his back facing her. She moved her little feet towards his direction and stopped when she noticed him talking with someone. She tilted her head and identified him as Dhruv as she glimpsed his black cap.
"I...I don't know how to confess to Nandini that I love her." He blurted out stabbing Manik's heart once again and shocking Nandini who overheard his words as she stood hiding in the corner.
Dhruv loves me?? How did this happen? Suddenly it struck her. Is this the reason behind Manik's changed behavior? A flashback of last night flashed through her mind when Manik arrived to her house. The way he ran into her arms hugging her like he was never going to hug her again. How did she not notice something was wrong with him?? She shifted her concentration back to Manik and Dhruv's conversation.
Manik took a deep breath and managed to keep the piled pain in his heart from reaching to his face.
"Dhruv. I think you should wait a little bit."
"Wait? But why?" Dhruv's face shot a confused look.
"She...she's probably still sad over her Musicana performance. Give her some time." He dug his nails into his hand trying to stop himself from blurting out the truth.
"I think you're right."
"Ok I will wait for some time before telling her."
He grabbed his guitar and pushed his chair to get up.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yeah I have to go. I will see you tomorrow."
They gave each other a hug and Manik watched as Dhruv made his way out the door.
He paced back and forth trying to stop the battle of pain and anger that was going inside of him. He grabbed the chair in front of him and threw it angrily across the ground causing one of its legs to break. Just as he turned around he noticed Nandini standing there staring at him. Was it really her? He couldn't believe his eyes. A half a smile formed on his lips and just as he was about to walk towards her, he noticed what he was doing and quickly placed his mask again.
"Look who's here. Nandu." He moved his feet towards her direction as she stood there eyeing him with anger filling her eyes. How does he manage to hide himself behind this mask? She thought to herself.
"So Nandu, what brings you here?"
"Manik Malhotra how dare you!" She screamed into his face as her hands clutched on to his collar.
"You did this for Dhruv na? You put up this nasty act to distance yourself away from me because Dhruv loves me. How can you do this! How can you forget your promise to me! How can you sacrifice everything we felt for each other! How did you manage to tell me those cruel words! How can you be this selfish in deciding on my behalf! How!!!"
She hit his chest with her little arms as the tears streamed down her cheeks. Manik held on to her arms as he pulled her into a hug while she tried to push him away but failed miserably. They stayed crying in each other's arms when Manik slowly dropped himself to his knees as the tears ran from his eyes and dripped on to his shirt.
"I... I'm sorry Nandu. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was actually dying every single second as I mocked our love like that. I..."
"Shhh." Nandini kneeled down beside him settling her finger onto his lips.
CID
