Chapter 18 - Turning Time
A moment frozen in time..
Awaiting it's chance to unlock what's inside..
And Here we go again..
As the past unfolds page by page..
"Are you okay.."- rumbled a deep voice more sloppier than usual as the lady beside started shaking like a leaf..her pale face contorted with multitude of grim expressions ..her legs almost lost their balance though before they could succumb any further ..her hands acting on her own held onto the nearest support..
"Mrs Malhotra..amm..Nandini.."- the man whispered..
"Why don't you .."- before the man could complete Nandini flailed her hand in between to stop him ..galloping a few ounces of air she breathed out..-" What do you mean by..by...manik's dad..he is alive..and how do you know.."
" I know a lot of things that you can't even think of child.."- the man replied..
" Could you please stop talking in riddles for once..this is important.."- Nandini almost pleaded..
Alright child..why don't you first take a seat.."- the man pointed to a dingy corner..
"Mr Sharma..I am fine.."- Nandini replied..
"I insist.."- With that the man paddled his way to one of those fuzzy archaic swinging chair..dragging by it's arm the chair steered it's way in between trashed cans knocking them in extreme corners in process ..screeching the surface underneath..while the whole room reeked of alcohol ..smell so pungent that it could almost burn the nostrils seizing any minuscule amount of miserable air..
As her senses became more obvious to the suspicious surroundings she was in..Nandini's panic state rose to alarmingly high until she saw a suspended picture frame in the middle of the room staring right at her face even in the hazy dim lights..as she glossed over the details..she realised it was a picture of an almost seven year old boy with an an uncle perhaps who was pointing at something distant while the child piqued in with curiosity ..that was perhaps a reverie of happy old times...Nandini thought..till she noticed the marking on the edge .. " With Love - From Manik "
"How.."- Nandini mouthed as she felt intrigued wanting to know about the man...there was something more about him that she hasn't observed before..
The man followed her flicking finger in the direction it seemed to be pointing in and there he saw the source of her astonishment..walking in a snail pace the man reached to the utmost end of the wall where the picture was hanging..in a swift he brought it under his gaze..scrutinising in great detail as if remembering the hazy moments..his eyebrows scrunched for one moment and then in the other he smiled big..
"Ahh..Manik..still remember the day when this picture was clicked..he was so happy..his father..my best friend returned after a long trip and we - me , him and Nupur (Manik's mom ) decided to take Manik to the nearby lake he was so fond of..as a child he could go and spend countless of hours there even after his mother's death.."- the man sighs and continued - " Manik was so happy that day..the most cheerful I have ever seen him..though everything changed abruptly .."
"Boy ...he would be so grown up now.."-the man gently wiped the traitor tear trailing his rough and patched cheeks..it appeared the ageing haven't been kind to him.. despite the odds he was fighting as if there was a greater purpose that needed to be survived for..
"You sure miss him..Why don't you visit him then..I am sure Manik would be happy to see you.."- Nandini chimed..
"I can't.."-the man wobbled..
"Why..Why are you doing this..I don't understand.."- Nandini argued..
"Because ..she..she won't let me to be anywhere near Manik.."- the man swallowed a big lump..
"She..Who's she.."- before Nandini could go further the man completed- " Nyonika..the witch..everything's been happening due to her..our lives would have been much better if she wouldn't have meddled in..me and Mayank met her on auction which incidentally happened to be the one where Nyonika purposely faked her identity and pretended to be from Sweden ..huh ..Sweden ..wretch didn't even know how to spell it..everything was working fine and Mayank and Nupur along with Manik were going to settle abroad to look after their newly launched branch..and on the fateful day..the hell broke loose when Nupur died.. it wasn't raining..though her car slipped straight into the ditch colliding heads on with tree...you know what the strange thing is the ditch wasn't even there a day before..nope..not even a single scratch.."
"You mean..Nyonika was behind manik's mom death.."-Nandini asked aghast ..
"What do you think..of course it was her..that clever manipulative bitch..I don't know how she did but she managed to marry Mayank..I couldn't believe when I heard it..Mayank was so in love with manik's mother..I asked Mayank why he married that sucker..he told me that he is doing this for Nupur..I couldn't understand at that time ..what he meant but now I think I do..he knew..Mayank..manik's dad knew about Nyonika being involved in Nupur's death..I think he was looking for proofs .."
"Did..he..I mean did Mr Malhotra found any proof against Nyonika .."- Nandini couldn't stop herself asking..
The man stopped ..fixated on something he appeared to be thinking deeply and suddenly as everything made much more sense he snapped his head back to Nandini and said -" I think he did..that's why Nyonika tried to get him out of her way..but I still feel that Mayank..my friend is still alive...and that's why I requested Dhruv to pay a visit to Manik..I wanted to make sure if he ..if Manik was doing well in spite of .."-the man muttered incoherently unable to finish..
"You know Dhruv.."- Nandini asked befuddled..
"Oh yes..why won't I ..he is my son.."- the man replied calmly..
"What but how.."- Nandini reprised..
"Why ..because he is much more good looking ..while I am ..well ..embezzled in rags...believe me I was quite a charmer..ahh..good old days.."-the man chuckled humourlessly..
"No..I mean...why are you living like this..I mean..all alone.." - Nandini worded carefully not to hurt his feelings..
"Oh..don't bother..you are too sweet for your own good and trust me I have seen much worse ..well before I decided to go into hide from Nyonika..and besides it was the only way..I had to send Dhruv away "- the man shivered with distaste..
"You are hiding..why.."- Nandini wondered..
"What do you think..of course I have to hide or Nyonika would hunt me down and would try her old torture tricks like she did with many..including Nupur and Mayank..Nupur died but I hope Mayank survived because if he wouldn't have then no way I would have gotten that estrange Mail.."-the man jumbled trying to make some sense..
"What estrange Mail.."- Nandini started but stopped when she saw the man holding his palm in front of her face..his ears pointed as if he was trying to hear something..panic started flashing on his face as he next mumbled..-" They are coming..come on ..we have to hide.."
Before nandini could ask anything the man latched her arm ..swooshed her inside a cranky looking wardrobe and locked her and himself in as they waited for the lousy clipping tick tock to end..
" The past is like an anchor holding us back ..you have to let go of who you are to become who you will be.."
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Hey Guys , just a little heads on..in the previous chapter there were mentioned two different men..one in captive by nyonika and other one nandini meets - Mr Janardan Sharma aka Dhruv's dad so don't confuse them two..đł
(Sorry couldn't write more navratri fasts..amm..happy navratri đ )
You guys are awesome ..đ
Love Love â¤ď¸
Edited by -TheQueen- - 9 years ago
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