When they became "Manik" and "Nandini" and has stopped seeing each other as "Evil monster" and "Spot"...
One of the best thing ever happened to them, was getting locked in the storeroom, together. Before that they both were in a terrible place. Nandini thought that Manik has crossed the limit when the "raging" becomes "crime"...Before that she saw him as the leader of Feb 5, the clan of stupid brats who lived on the fears of others. The master & monster mind behind every terrible act that they have committed...
Manik saw her as the only thing that could take Dhruv away from him. He sense it from the start. That girl is a trouble. A bad news for him and Feb 5. She is the one who's entry has disturbed their peaceful armoury, disturbed whatever peace they have found for themselves.
She has spiced up his life. Yes. While he was more than okay with it, they people he loved the most were not. Dhruv and Alya. He's super cool and hot girlfriend and best friend...
Dhruv, the guy who he cares and protects in the same way he would have cared and protected for his own child. The same Dhruv who has always understood him, thought of him as someone who will stoop so low, that he will send "Ghundys" for Nandini.
Remember Manik face after the first punch of Dhruv. That was the definition and combination of shock and heartbroken.
"Dhruv..."
The way Manik said his name. His voice shook from shock and disbelief. Anyone could hear the question in that one word, one name. Standing in front of him was Dhruv, his own Dhruv. Not anyone else, but Dhruv.
If it would have been anyone else, he would have been killed, paid the price, but he wasn't anyone else, the guy standing in front of him was Dhruv...
But more than that punches that Dhruv throw at him, the fact Dhruv didn't understand Manik hurt him more. The anger and the hatred he saw in Dhruv's eyes for him broke his heart. Hurt him beyond anything else...
Dhruv was the only person who he thought would always understand him. But just one girl, Nandini changed all that.
Since the start, Nandini has made him realize so much, fear so much that he will lose Dhruv. And finally it did happen. He, at that moment, loss Dhruv. Yes, he came back, yes they became Buddiess again. But Manik stopped thinking of Dhruv as someone he can always talk to, the one who will understand him, the one who will always side him. He lost Dhruv in so many ways.
Manik realized that Dhruv wasn't what he has always thought of him as. Dhruv was capable of hurting him, lying to him, of misunderstanding him. Dhruv was someone who could leave him if he did a mistake. Day by day, Dhruv was going far away from him. And the only one responsible for that was Nandini. That is why he snapped. Agreed to whatever Nyonika wanted in exchange of getting her away from him, them.
And Alya, ever since Nandini came, Manik saw a side of Alya that he never thought was there. Jealous, over possessive, asking questions like any normal common girlfriend. Between them there was no trust, he got to know. Between them there was no fire, no passion, no trust...He thought their relationship had a solid foundation. That they were something more, something better than any other ordinary girlfriend-boyfriend. But even since Nandini came, Alya became so ordinary for him. Acting like any other Jealous, over possessive girlfriend.
Both Dhruv and Alya were acting so strange with him, and all that because of that Nandini...
So getting locked in the storeroom together was the only thing that made them see each other as "Manik" and "Nandini" and stop seeing each other as "Evil monster" and "Spot"...
And at the sametime it made him realize the gravity of the attraction he feels for her. The attraction they feel for each other. Being locked together for eight hours with each other cleared all the misunderstandings. I made Nandini see that Manik wasn't that bad as she thought of him...And it made Manik see Nandini as someone who could understand him, with whom he can be with hours without getting bored.
All that made them open up and know about each other's weakness. They took care of each other. They did what they had to survive that "bloody" eight hours. Worked as a team. They got to know that they can depend on each other. Nandini got to know the truth. She got to know that Manik was something more than a "Monster". When she got to know his fear of darkness, she started to see him as someone who could be a human being. She got to know that Manik, The Manik Malhotra, was actually capable of feeling fear and like any guy, deny it too.
The fear she had when she first realized she got locked with Manik wasn't there after some hours. Before those "bloody" eight hours, she used to flick and jerk everytime he used to touch her or was anywhere near her. But after that, not any more...
Manik already knew that Nandini was capable of selfless acts, but that he also could be the person for whom she will do something selflessly for, was something he thought as impossible...
She brought light in the darkness. For him. It may not have been a big deal for her, but for him, it was. For the first time someone has done something that thoughtful for him, without asking for anything in exchange...
No give and take. He didn't even ask her, she just gave him...And that too something that for him, is priceless. Light in the darkness...
To Nandini, Manik has acted like a true gentleman, Nandini never thought he could...He didn't look at her in the wrong way, instantly removed his hand when it touched her bare skin by mistake, gave her his coat when she felt uncomfortable, didn't take advantage of the fact that they were locked, alone...
He was a human being. Not that far from humanity as she thought he was...
Yes, he made fun of her, and probably will never stop, but that wasn't so bad...They even have fun while making fun of each other...
"Shyaad main thora thora usse samajhne lagi hoon..."
So when they came out of that storeroom, Nandini wasn't the Nandini who entered in, and Manik wasn't the same Manik...
When they came out of that room, Manik knew and realized the magnitude of attraction he felt for her. He somehow even accepted it. He couldn't and did not act on it. But he realized and accepted it.
After they came out of that room, Nandini wasn't afraid of him and his touch as she was before. He was a human being after all. She knew if he didn't do anything to her when there was no one to stop him, that means he won't do anything she doesn't want him to.
Something has changed. And no one else, but they know it, saw it, understood it...
The last glance that they gave each other said it all, proved it even...
Something has definitely changed...
Edited by A.Hajnal - 10 years ago
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