MaNan FF- Nandini's lifeline( ch17- pg61) - Page 24

"Nandini." He said in a stone cold voice, "I will not apologise for being the way I am because it would make no difference. That was me in the past when I thought you didn't feel anything for me and thought of me only as a teddy bear for snuggling to. All that, was in search for someone for myself, you know to fall in love or at least like her maybe. But nobody was even close to you, you've been the only one on my mind and my heart since I knew what all this feeling was."
She was about to talk when he interrupted her, "I know it will not be enough, sure I've formed a very unreliable impression on your mind, but give me a chance and I'll prove it to you that I'm worth it."
"Okay. Let's give this a try then." She said smiling at him.
"You won't regret any of it." He said overjoyed.
He turned the ignition on and drove in to the traffic.
"Where are we going?" Nandini asked now curious, they were on the highway speeding at 100kms/hr.
"If I wanted you to know, wouldn't I have already mentioned it?"
"Whatever."
"We're here."
"You mean the middle of nowhere."
"Yes, I'm going to leave you here. Now get out."
He pulled out a bag from the back seat and gestured her to come behind him.
"What is that?"
"Survival kit for you."
"Just ditch the act and tell me Manik!"
"Sit down" he said spreading a bedsheet on the ground. She did as he told.
"Now lay back and look up."
She didn't say a word and did as she was told.
Nandini's breath caught as she looked at probably what was the most amazing view she had seen in her entire life. The tiny shining stars against the dark sky. They looked like thousands of twinkling lights against a dark curtain. It was mesmerising. She felt Manik lay down beside her, they were silent for a while, soaking in the beauty.
"This is so serene." She whispered not taking her eyes off the stars.
"I know, I have been waiting to get you here." He whispered back.
"You know I've always thought of the stars as my saviour. I mean, even when the entire world or technically half of it is sleeping and it's all dark around you, those tiny little things up there in a way give you hope. You know, light in the darkness and all that." Manik said in a dazed voice. "Also considering that there are millions and millions of stars up there, it wasn't easy for me to choose my favourite one. But I had to and it had to be the one that shone the brightest." He was now looking at her and smiling.
"What do you mean?" She asked genuinely not understanding.
He reached over to the bag pack and took out what looked like a piece of paper and handed it to her wordlessly.
"What's this?" She asked eyes widening.
"I'm sure you learned to read in school." He said in a bored voice.
"Manik." She said in a threatening tone.
"It's a certificate. I named a star after you, this certificate is the proof of it. It also states the position of the star and few other properties which I'm sure you must be knowing."
Nandini's jaw was wide open.
He closed it with the tips of his fingers and said, "as tempting as it is to kiss you, I first want words then lips."
"You-you named a-a star-r after me." She fumbled and asked clutching the certificate as she tried to read it in the dark.
"It felt weird to search for a constellation and that would have taken time also." He said ruffling his hair nervously.
"Oh my god Manik! This is so sweet! I am so overwhelmed! When did you do this? And how?" She was brimming with happiness.
Before he could answer she pounced on him hugging him tightly. They were lying on the blanket laughing in each other's arms. Nandini's doubts about Manik were starting to clear but that didn't mean she was ready to wear her heart on her sleeve around him. Even if he claimed to be a different person, an addict would always take time to recover.
Nandini's thoughts were clouding her happiness so she pushed them back and spent the next hour telling Manik about various constellations and pointing it out to them occasionally poking him because of his cheekiness.
"Dear it's 11:38, we should get going." Manik said getting up and offering her his hand.
"Already?" She asked yawning.
"No no, I meant we should spend four five hours more here and probably end up in the hospital with dengue." He said looking at her disapprovingly.
"Fine let's go. But promise to bring me here as often as you can."
"Your wish is my command." He said packing up the sheets along with the bag in the car.
It was almost midnight when they reached outside Nandini's house's driveway.
"Well Cinderella, its 11:59 and I have you outside your door a minute early. I deserve a reward." He said twining their fingers.
"Reward is a dish best served hot." She said before jumping off the car and going in without saying goodbye. What was the point in saying goodbye if she was going to see him again in half an hour!
She took a quick shower, changed and was in bed reading one of Paulo Coelho's books when her window slid open and Manik entered in his track pants and a grey fit t-shirt.
Until the moment he actually closed the window Nandini didn't realize that this wasn't her brother's best friend any more but her boyfriend in the middle of the night standing in her room waiting for her to make space for him. Sleeping with your boyfriend in your own room? The tag that now came along didn't feel very right. Having any boy in bed was wrong but even this felt wrong. As if sensing her hesitation, Manik asked her what was wrong. She shrugged it off saying nothing but he didn't seem to believe her.
Might as well tell him, she thought.
"Manik, we can't do this anymore." She said in a low voice but he heard her right because more than seeing she felt him freeze where he was.

Nandini's head was buzzing with all that was happening, in three hours time so much had changed she needed some space to hear her own thoughts and having Manik around was for sure not going to help her in that.

"Can't do anymore? What?" he asked genuinely dazed.

"This. You and I in bed." She said not looking him in the eye.

"Why? We've been doing this for years." He said sitting on the window sill.

"But we were not even good friends, we are used to it but now things have changed. You're not Cabir's best friend, I mean you still are but we have a different sort of relationship now and I need some time, to process things. Please." She said slowly so he would hopefully understand.

After a long pause, Nandini was starting to get worried that maybe she had been to rude but Manik just said okay and left without even looking back at her.

She plopped down on her bed, face covered by her hands groaning. She was so used to Manik's warmth that any night's sleep would be sleepless without him there. So she read a book until she finally fell asleep in a sitting position.