For the one who asked me to write about how Manik fell in love with Nandini <3
Santa comes bearing gifts! HOHOHO!
The Party actually ended with that update as I didn't want to stretch that part much, but if you guys want I will continue it.
This is a total flashback update, please tell me if you like it.
Chapter-9
Love is such a strange thing, it happens so soon, but in a very sneaky manner and before you realise you are in love, it's like you had known all along!
Manik had never realised that he had loved Nandini until the day he had to leave the orphanage and his mother as it was the end of his last summer holidays in school.
It was the perfect summer, he had been there so many times before and promised he would be back again as he couldn't miss the golden opportunity of playing with the other kids of his age. He had started visiting the orphanage since he was 11 years old as he had missed his mother so much who was always stuck in taking care of it.
His first visit was also the day when he first met Nandini or as he called her 'His Momma's Princess'. He hadn't called and had asked everyone in his house to not tell his mother about his surprise and all had complied with him, knowing the love he had for Nyonika. His entry wasn't normal and neither was it good. Newcomers in the orphanage were welcomed with a bucket of cold water being splashed upon them as the inhabitants believed that it would clean them and make them free of all the bad memories that their mind had held from their life outside the orphanage, it was also how they told the newcomers that they had accepted him/her.
And so, as the kids spotted a new kid coming their way, they made the bucket ready to roll. Manik entered, totally unaware of the things awaiting him and was welcomed with a sudden splash of water which almost made him tumble down and left him dazed for a good couple of moments after which he got pissed, pretty pissed as his new shirt and pant got spoiled, the ones which Nyonika had gifted him on his birthday. And so he roared with his eyes throwing daggers on anything it could spot, "Who had the audacity to do this? I repeat bring yourself forward before I come and find you because after that, it won't be pretty for any of you." This shout of his did make the hiding children whisper among themselves and they ran away, leaving behind a small 6 year old girl with bubbly cheeks alone and well, terrified.
As the kids fled from the scene, Rohit mistakingly pushed her and she fell forward which caught the eyesight of the ablaze Manik, making him look towards the cute little thing sniffling with her face hidden underneath the huge cover of her black and beautiful hair. He was going to shout again and his wrath was going to be faced by the small kid infront of him but he stopped himself as he noticed her pushing her hair behind her ear, revealing her face, her young and beautiful face. She had the most chubbiest of cheeks which were now tear stained, the most expressive set of eyes which showed how scared she was and also the most pouty lips which she seemed to be biting on the anticipation of a huge shout from him.
Manik looked at that innocent and beautiful face which seemed to have no idea as to who he was as she knew that the children who came to live there didn't come in such expensive looking clothes. She was going to stand up when she heard a polite and mature voice calling out to her which was full of love, "Nanduuu... oh god, what happened? Don't tell me they did the bucket trick again? I am seriously telling you tell your bhaiyas to stop it or even I will do the same with them." And with that Nyonika without noticing the boy who was standing there totally drenched and also high on happiness, picked up the small girl in her arms and then she noticed the tears on her face which suddenly made her angry and so she turned to see who did that to her dear Nandini to only find the apple of her eye, her boy, Manik standing there totally drenched and also reciprocating the feelings that his mother was emoting through her wet eyes.
And so, in happiness, Manik ran to his mother but was unsuccessful in his attempt as he fell down with a THUMP! and with this both the mother-daughter duo started to laugh hysterically making a hurt Manik who was currently rubbing his bums sigh in annoyance. As the session of laughter ended with Manik's glaring eyes, Nandini got scared again and ran away leaving Nyonika amused and Manik stood up to hug his mother and feel her warmth.
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After Manik was done cleaning up, he met his mother who was waiting for him in the mess, with all of the kids of the orphanage with Nandini missing.
"So kids, let me introduce you all to my kid, Manik. He is now going to come here every year during the summers and play with you all. And yes, all of you apologise to him for what you did in the morning today. You have to stop all this or..." and before Nyoniak could go on to threaten them and stop this tradition of theirs, Manik looking at their faces said, "Maa.. Stop! They were just welcoming me! And because of that I feel a part of them already, I'm totally fine."
Him saying this definitely made the kids like him and so they decided that they would love to have this addition to their group. With this, all of them dispersed and Manik went to his mother's cabin to talk to her and tell her about the many things happening in his life.
"Mom, who was that girl in the morning who you were holding in your arms?" Asked a curious Manik who still clearly remembered the beautiful face of that girl and the way both of them had hugged each other and found peace. "Oh, Manik that girl was Nandini. She is the most beautiful and innocent girl that I have ever come across. I feel for her as though I'm her mother just like I feel for you and maybe that's the reason I haven't been able to send her away with the many couples that had come for her. None of them seemed to be able to give her the love that she required, all were so wrong for her and I want her to have everything. I love that child and maybe someday when the time is right, I would adopt her and she would be your sister just like our small Alu."
Manik felt happy to see how his mother's eyes sparked when she talked about Nandini, but the words, "She will be your sister just like our Alu", were haunting him for some reasons unknown.
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Years passed, and summer holidays came along with Manik looking forward to his trip to the orphanage each year. He had made great friends in the orphanage which made him restless to go there as he also missed his mother so much. In these years, Nandini and Manik never played together and neither did they talk but they knew each other and were comfortable with their presence around them. He used to notice every single thing that she did, watched her every move around him, but could never talk to her as it made him nervous; one thing which only Nandini could do. Every year, a new kid entered with the departure of many old ones with a farewell party held for each of them and the promises of meeting one another again, when they grow older.
Manik grew up to be a very handsome and well-mannered kid. He was popular in his school and had the power to make girls fight over him but he never ever felt that any girl from his school was right for him. His friends used to pressurize him to make a girlfriend as it would make him even more popular but Manik couldn't do that, he couldn't play with a girl's emotions only for his own selfish reasons, knowing well the fact that he could never like anyone of them.
He used to enter the orphanage with the most jolliest face ever but return back home with the dull expressions set over it. He felt incomplete and alone among the many friends he had in school, all of them busy in showing off or talking about very 'sophisticated' things which didn't interest Manik in the least. He wanted to go back and play with the other kids in the orphanage, talk to them about anything and everything and crack the most inappropriate jokes he could. He felt that he belonged to the orphanage. Only one of his friends had ever understood his sentiments, while the others had waved it off with a shrug as he used to tell them about his feelings, Cabir.
He was sixteen when his father had told him that he could no longer visit the orphanage anymore as he would be sent to a boarding school to complete his schooling and then, directly sent to a university. It came to him as a shock he was not prepared for. He couldn't leave the orphanage and go, he couldn't leave Nandini and go. Nandini's face was the first thing he remembered when he thought about the orphanage, he never thought it was weird or even if he knew it was, he didn't try to understand his feelings, he thought it only happened as he loved to watch her as she was so pretty. If only someone could make him realise why he liked to see her so much.
And so, he set on his final trip to the orphanage with an excited Cabir too, to say his goodbyes.
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Smriti :D
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