Part 28 Soha Strikes
A year later
The festival of lights, Diwali was round the corner. The Malhotra's, as usual, decided to host the SPACE Diwali party at their residence.
The previous year, the FAB 5 had not celebrated any festivals. Diwali, Holi, New years, Valentines were all boycotted by them as they were in mourning for Dhruv. So this Diwali was the first of the festivals they would be celebrating after the unfortunate incident.
Manik and Nandini had not gone official about their relationship. Only their very few close friends were aware of the growing bond between the two, mainly because Manik and Nandini never openly acknowledged it.
As instructed by Manik, Nandini arrived to Manik's house promptly at 6. She was surprised to find the venue almost empty. She was wearing a lehenga choli of deep pink and black combination. She had curled her hair into waves and left it dancing about her; a few strands caressing her face. Rahim chacha met her at the reception and escorted her to Manik's quarters. Nandini had brought a pack of sweets for Rahim chacha who was very happy to receive it. He blessed her tearfully when she touched his feet for blessings and wished aloud that she would, one day, become his mistress, the mistress of Malhotra mansion. Oh hearing this, Nandini blushed and averted her face, only to see Manik looking at her and smirking.
Manik was still in his black vest and shorts. He ushered her inside and closed the door.
"Manik. You are not ready yet? The party starts at 6 na?"
"No. The party starts only at 8."
"but I thought... You told 6. That's why I came so early...Ok. I will go and come back later,"
Manik stopped her by holding her hands and pulling her into his arms, as she turned to leave the room.
"I deliberately misguided you. I wanted some time alone with you. Its been a while now. Because of your not to go public and Touch-me-not policy" Manik started mimicking Nandini" somebody will come Manik, I am getting late Manik, Not now Manik..."
He stopped, looked at her deeply and continued in a subdued voice " I am starved of private moments with you. So, now we have an entire 2 hours in front of us..."
" Manik... You lied to me..How dare you.. What must have Rahim chacha thought? He must have thought I deliberately came early to spend time with you.."
"Rahim chacha is happy that you have come early...Didn't you hear what he said.. He must be already anticipating the no. of kids that we may have and the names for them too.."
"Manik!!!"
"What?? ...shh...just...quiet " Manik was no more in the mood to talk. He softly brushed his nose against her cheeks and inhaled deeply.
Nandini was lost.
"You look soo...sooo yummy...I want to eat you up..." Manik touched her other cheeks lightly with his lips, slightly parted so that his tongue trail a wet path down her cheeks unto her neck.
Nandini slowly pushed him, but he did not budge.
" Manik...no..."
Manik left her shortly, only to bend down and pick her up . He carried her to the inner room and put her down gently on the bed. Nandini was lost in his eyes, mesmerized by the love and passion that it displayed.
He was kneeling beside the bed on the floor and they remained that way, lost in each other's eyes for a few more minutes. He quickly pecked her on her nose, got up from his kneeling position and said to her while removing his vest "I will take a quick shower and be back. You wait for me. Ok?"
"for..for what? " Nandini could not help ask in all her innocence. Manik grabbed a towel from his cupboard and answered her "to complete what we just started" and added when he saw her eyes going wide.
" Relax Nandini. I will never do anything that you don't want me to do"
Manik took a quick shower. Nandini was sitting on the bed and watching some music channel on the LED when Manik came out wearing a towel. On seeing his undressed state, Nandini closed her eyes with her palms and shrieked " Manik.. what are you wearing?"
"Why? I will remove this also, if you did not like it."
Nandini left her eyes firmly closed while Manik looked at her with a slight smile. Nandini could hear the sound of a cupboard being opened and the rustling of clothes. After a while, she felt a warm touch on her shoulders and a voice near her ear which said" Nandini , you can now open your eyes. I am decent enough" She opened her eyes to see Manik dressed in shorts. He was rubbing his wet hair with a towel.
" You are not decent enough. Go wear a shirt"
" Why? Does this image of mine disturb you? Does it make you want to touch me? You can, you know...I have given you the right to touch me..."
" Manik...stop it. I think its getting late..The party must be starting soon...I will wait for you down in the lawn"
Nandini hastily got up from the bed, but tripped on her flowing skirt and fell straight into the arms of Manik.
They shared an eye-lock, a lip-lock and amidst the make out session that followed, neither of them were aware of a pair of eyes that watched them in the darkness, eyes spitting venom at the cuddling couple.
Soha was looking forward to the evening and the Diwali party at the mansion. She rarely got opportunities to spend time with Manik these days. Manik often visited badimaa. However, most of the time, the entire FAB 5 accompanied him. Therefore, she decided to reach early for the party and spent some time alone with Manik . Soha knew the way around Malhotra mansion and went directly to Manik's bedroom. She tried the door and it opened soundlessly. In order to surprise Manik, she tiptoed inside. She could hear sounds coming from his bedroom, of heavy breathing and muffled voices. She pushed open the door slightly to peek inside, fully expecting to see Alya, but got the shock of her life to find Manik and Nandini, kissing each other deeply, lost in throes of passion. Manik was only dressed in shorts, Nandini plastered on him like a second skin, his hands on her bare waist and hers tangled in his hair.
Soha was surprised, would be an understatement. She was flabbergasted. She knew that Manik and Alya were never really in love. And that knowledge had kept her going all this while. Although, she had suspected something amiss when Nandini had come to visit their house, she was comforted that her bhai would never go after a girl whom Manik was interested in. She had grown up imagining Manik as her Prince. She had woven all her dreams and future around Manik. She knew that Manik had never reciprocated her feelings, but it was only a matter of time and Soha was ready to wait. She had also been keeping a close watch on Manik-Alya relationship and had been relieved to find the graph going down. However, Nandini! she never thought Manik would fall for Nandini's charms. For one, Nandini was not Manik's type. She was too plain and middle class. As usual Soha had failed to see what men saw in Nandini, her spirited demeanor coupled with her innocence that attracted them to her like moth to a flame.
Soha's first urge was to interrupt the couple , but on second thoughts another plan started taking shape in her mind and forgetting the party, she rushed out of the Malhotra mansion to her own house in search of that one thing that could help her to break Manik-Nandini relationship- forever.
Nandini left Manik's room soon afterwards and joined Navya who had arrived by then. She had convinced Manik to leave her with great difficulty. He had lost his cool self around her and had she not put her feet down and extricated herself from him forcefully, he would not have left her. Both of them were that affected by the intimacy they shared in the confines of his room.
The party was being held in the lawn adjoining the Mansion's swimming pool. The house and the pool area was decorated with fairy lights and diyas. The water of the pool shone with the reflection of the lights. Drinks and various delicacies were being served and music was being played in the background.
Manik had joined the FAB 5 soon afterwards. He had been throwing numerous glances at Nandini communicating through his eyes for her to join him, which she had disregarded almost continuously. Later when various couples entered the dance floor, Manik had approached Nandini for her hand and pulled her to the dance floor ignoring her protest.
They had swayed to the rhythm of the slow music, Manik's hands playing havoc to her senses. By the time the music had ended, Nandini had been a huge mess, the tension had been so palpable between them that Manik was tempted to take her up to his room again to bring what they started earlier to its natural conclusion.
After the dance and the elaborate dinner that Nandini took with Navya and Aryaman, She looked around for Manik who seemed to have disappeared. The rest of the FAB 5 were now sitting around the bar area that had been functioning simultaneously. Manik was nowhere to be seen. Nandini thought to herself that he being the host must have had gone out to take leave of the guests who had started to disperse. Nevertheless, even past another half an hour when there was no sign of Manik, she approached Mukti and Alya to enquire about him. Both of them were a bit drunk and was not making any sense. Navya was insisting that they too leave as it had become late. Nandini dialed Manik's number, but got no response. She excused herself from Navya, telling that she would be back soon, when she caught a glimpse of Rahim chacha and rushed to him to check about Manik. She just could not leave the party without informing Manik first.
Even though the music had ended and Nandini had moved out of his arms, Manik could still feel her soft body against his. He quickly walked to the bar area to help himself to a drink when he received a call on his phone. It was Soha. It was then that Manik realized that she had not attended the party. Thinking that something must have happened, he immediately attended the call.
"Manik... I need to talk to you. Its urgent."
" Soha.. What is it? Are you ok? Badimaa...Is she fine? Where are you?"
" Manik, I am in your room.."
" My room? What are you doing there?"
" Please come up and I will tell you. In fact. Its very urgent and...private." The last thing she wanted was any of the other FAB 5 members or worse Nandini to tag along with him.
Manik was already moving in the direction of his room " Ok. I am coming up,"
Soha was waiting for him in his sitting room with an anxious expression. Manik rushed to her side and almost immediately, Soha launched herself on him. Manik disentangled himself from her and put her back, firmly holding her at arms length. He was actually in no mood for melodrama, which was always the case with Soha. Soha might have argued with badimaa over something and rushed to him. Before, she had Dhruv to turn to after her frequent fights with her mother. Thinking of Dhruv, made Manik realize how much he missed Dhruv that day. His calm and assuring presence had always been a balm to all his troubles.
"Manik, Did you know that bhai died of heart break? He was in love with that Nandini and she rejected him, which in turn triggered his epilepsy. You know Doctors had almost cured him. He had stopped getting epileptic altogether until he proposed to her on Valentines Day and she said no. He was really upset that day. He could not take that rejection. If only she had not been so cruel to him and rejected him out rightly, he would still have been with us today. She had been playing with his feelings all along. Encouraging him, befriending him and then finally rejecting him so callously. " Soha watched as initially disbelief and then rage dawned on Manik's face taking out all the color from his face.
" SOHA. STOP right there. Don't utter another word about..." Manik roared at her like an angry animal.
"You don't believe me. Fine, this is bhai's diary, which he has written with his own hand. Probably, after reading this, you will realize the truth." Soha placed a diary on the low teepoy and turned to leave.
Manik stared at the dairy for a long time, after Soha had left him, his emotions haywire and dreading to read its contents.
Manik leaned forward with tears in his eyes and slowly lifted his best buddy's diary and started reading it feverishly.
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