Yaariaan of SPACE-part 34 updated 03 May - Page 7

Woah. Action time.

Part 17 The Storeroom SAGA

"You are safe with me, Nandini. Understand that."

It was not just the words, but his expression combined with his tone and the tenderness in his eyes that arrested Nandini. For a moment, she forgot that she was locked in a college storeroom with a stranger with very limited chance of being rescued anytime soon. At that very precise moment, Nandini understood what it means to loose one's heart to another. So strong was the feeling that she even forgot that, he was dating another woman. It was true that she had been attracted to him from the beginning. Even when they locked horns with each other, she knew he was different, someone special for her - as if she had been waiting her entire life for him.

Manik's hands were still cradling her face. Moreover, his eyes were saying their own story. He was hypnotized. He was lost. She was the possessor of the most innocent face he had ever seen. He felt painfully aware of how different she was to him. His tender nature, which was otherwise concealed, surfaced and he got this deep longing to hold her tight and guard her from the outside world.

Both of them were unaware of how long they stayed that way- lost in each other eyes and enjoying the intimacy of the others' personal space - breathing into each other and savoring each other's touch.

They were brought out of the trance by the noise of thunder followed by heavy rains outside. Manik moved away a little but remained sitting beside her. Both were a bit embarrassed to look at each other although Manik recovered faster.

"It seems like its raining heavily outside which means that the likelihood of anyone coming in today to find us is fewer. Nandini, let's face the situation maturely - like two mature adults" Manik's only intention was to stop Nandini from crying anymore. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized the inappropriateness of his words in their current situation. He gave a sideways look at Nandini. Thankfully, Nandini's naivety was evident and she had not understood the hidden meaning of his words. Nandini gave a slight nod to that statement. Manik gave out a long breath relieved that he had escaped yet another embarrassing situation. Had it been any other FAB 5 members, they would have caught up on his words but not Nandini. Manik gave a half-smile involuntarily thinking of FAB 5.

"You find this situation funny. You find my plight funny, laughable? Understand this Mr. Manik Malhotra, I don't find this funny at all...So, This is how you deal with this maturely? " asked a highly vexed Nandini. Nandini was clueless on why she was making an issue out of it. Probably, she was trying to cover her embarrassment. Manik raised his eyebrows again at the word "mature" and his naughty mind forced another laugh out of him, which irked Nandini even more.

"Of course, I should have known that you would enjoy seeing me suffer and all this is a ploy for more and more of your tortures." Said Nandu getting up from the chair and pacing back and forth.

"And... our Nandu is back" said Manik under his breath.

"What did you just say?"

"Ployyy...torturesss... u know what.. Yes, I planned all this... this election, the fight, u getting lost and this store room" said Manik spreading his hands indicating the store room." Not to forget, the goons.. I brought them in... to torture you...and yes, this rain and thunder, I planned them too...nice haina? So Nandu, Are you enjoying it? Or do you want more of my tortures? Tell me tell me... I still have fresh ideas ... of different ways to torture you. What do you say?" said Manik in his usual monstrous way.

Nandini chose not to answer and settled on another chair away from Manik. She knew she was not being reasonable. Her heart was beating fast due to their proximity. And her confused mind had forced her to lash out at him unnecessarily. She wanted space - to think and to deal with the new feelings that had developed in her.

Manik, now restless, got up and moved around the room. On one of the top shelves, he found a guitar, which he started playing. Soon, Nandini was lost in his music and almost immediately, they were humming a famous Bollywood number together. By the time Manik had kept the guitar back, they had sang together a no. of songs. This changed the rapport between the two and almost afterwards, they were sitting on the floor leaning on the wall, sharing their music experiences cozy under Manik's blazer, which they shared, that was the only protection for them against the cool night other than the warmth of each other.

It was this sight that was witnessed by the peon, sometime after midnight, when he opened the college storeroom. Manik left the storeroom after warning an astounded peon not to utter a word of what he witnessed to anyone. The Nandini who moved out of the storeroom carried a deep knowledge within her, which she decided to keep to herself, and that is that she had fallen in love with Monster Manik.
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It was very difficult to make Chacha-chachi & the police understand the exact events of the previous day. Chachi-Chachi had approached the police and filed a missing case. The police contacted Nyonika and together they had come to search the college campus and while the police were searching outdoors, the peon was instructed to search the classrooms.

After another hour in Nyonika's office and validating all the points shared by Manik and Nandini, the police allowed the duo to leave. Nyonika influenced the police not to leak the news to the press, as it would affect SPACE adversely. Chacha-chachi agreed whole-heartedly to that decision. With this incident, Manik being the hero who had saved Nandini, managed to get into Chachi's good books and after this Chachi always referred him as sona munda or Nandu's shahrukh.

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It was towards the end of next day that Nandu overheard a group of girls talking about the reality show for the best music band in the country. Nandu deduced from their conversation that the audition had taken place in Mangalore the previous month and the second level audition was supposed to be on the previous day. The FAB 5 had qualified for the first round but could not attend the second round audition as Manik failed to reach the airport on time. The FAB 5 had to cancel their trip, as they could not locate Manik. It was huge loss for SPACE and FAB 5. The girls were clearly disappointed. After another few minutes of listening to them speculating on what would have happened for Manik to disregard such a great opportunity, Nandini was so overcome with grief and regret that she left from there. Nandini badly wanted to meet Manik. She had not seen him the entire day. She did not know what she wanted to say to him; either to apologize, as she was indirectly responsible or to express her regret on his loss. Either way, she wanted to meet him. She searched the entire college and finally met Dhruv in the canteen. She had not directly talked to him before although he was always present with FAB 5. Nandini decided to take a chance with him and approached Dhruv.

" Hi Dhruv" He appeared pleased to see her.

" Hi Nandini"

" Did you see Manik?"

It was evident from Dhruv's expression that he was surprised of her enquiry, but hid it successfully and said, "He has left for home." and on seeing her disappointed face, continued "What is it Nandini? "He asked very tenderly, "If it is something I can help you with..."

" No. actually...woh..." Now Nandini was in a dilemma as to what excuse she would give to cover her stupidity.

Dhruv was looking at her expectantly. She had to say something to cover for her impulsive action. Thankfully, the bell rang indicating the end of classes for that day and she excused herself and rushed out from there.

Nandini reached home and tried to relax. However, the words of the girls rang in her ears. Manik lost a great opportunity because of her foolishness. He had warned her to move out of the college, but she had not listened to him. He had come to save her from the goons and as a result, he had lost a great chance to display his talent. This thought coupled with the newfound love for him, fueled her desire to see him so badly that Nandini did something that she never thought she would do.

She considered going to Manik's house to see him.

She had seen the Malhotra mansion a few times on her way to college. She lied to Chachi that she was going to see Navya as she had not yet recovered from her fever.

Without second thoughts, Nandini Murthy set off for Malhotra Mansion - for her second adventure in 24 hours with Manik Malhotra.

Wow.. its interesting. ..

just awesum

Awesome update
Manan eye look
They were together locked
Up in the store room
Nandu will go 2 maniks house
Update soon

Thanks for the pm

Awesome girl.

Part 18 Trouble at the mansion

Manik had a hard time convincing the FAB 5 about his failure to reach the airport on time.
The audition was to be conducted during evening hours of the same day as the election. As it was necessary to attend the election, the FAB 5 had decided to catch the flight immediately after the election to go to Mangalore for the second round of the audition. Due to the unexpected events following the election, they were late to leave for airport but still would have managed to catch the flight if Manik had not failed to arrive at the airport.

FAB 5 were clearly disappointed at loosing this opportunity but when they heard that Manik had been locked in the store room, they soon recovered and had a good laugh at Manik's plight. No mention of Nandini being involved was made to them.

"But Manik, What on earth were you doing in the store room at that time? " Cabir still had his doubts.

"I think Cabir... Manik and Alya had planned to spent some cozy secret time in the store room , just like how they show in movies and all, you know steal some momentsss..."Mukti gave Alya a wink before continuing.." And somehow Alya failed to reach the store room on time..."

"Come on Mukti.. How cheesy!! On a serious note, Manik, How did you end up in the store room?" Alya turned to Manik.

" I ...umm...I heard a noise and went to investigate..."

" Choddo guys.. We just have to try the next season. That's all. This is not the end of the world." Said Dhruv.

" Yeah. Right. And we will party tonight to celebrate the loss. What say guys? My place" Alya was already making plans for a party.

" Sounds good." Cabir seconded.

" No...yaar..Not today. Nyonika has arranged a stupid party tonight at my place and I can't bunk it. I had a deal with her. "

"Don't worry buddy. You attend Nyonika's party and then join us later..." Dhruv suggested.

" So then, I am heading home. Need to sleep for a while. Did not rest properly yesterday..See you guys. Tonight"

Thus decided, Manik left college earlier than usual for home. Arrangements were in full swing at Malhotra mansions for the party in the evening. Manik went off to sleep immediately on reaching home. He always hated such parties organized by Nyonika. However, that day some of their most important clients were arriving and Manik's presence was mandatory.
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Manik looked around the grand hall. Men and women dressed expensively belonging to the elite community of Mumbai were present. Nyonika was busy entertaining some of the foreign clients. Manik thought that this was one of the things Nyonika enjoyed doing and she had a fake smile plastered on her face all evening.

Manik's thoughts went to Nandini. How different she was to the ladies present there. She, not tainted by the hypocrisy of that society, would never be able to fit into the fakeness of the people who surrounded Manik. Her smile, genuine and warm was rare to find among these ladies who smiled only through their lips.

His thoughts were interrupted by his butler, who handed him a house phone. The call was from his security guard's office to inform him that a girl named Nandini was waiting to see him at the reception area. Although surprised and a bit concerned about the unforeseen information, Manik quickly passed on some orders to the guard and disconnected the call when he saw Nyonika approaching him with some of her guests. He did not want Nandini exposed in any way to Nyonika. So, he dismissed the butler after asking him to send Rahim chacha, his housekeeper to him asap.

Nyonika wanted him to meet some of her guests. While the introductions were going on, Manik's mind was elsewhere. He excused himself when he saw Rahim chacha at one of side doors and moved to his side.

" Chacha, Nandini, my friend from college is outside at the reception.. waiting for me. Please guide her to my quarters and ask her to wait there until I can be free from here. Please chacha, make sure no one sees her. I am stuck here for some more time..."

" ok Manik baba. I will see to that"

Soon worry and curiosity started clawing at Manik. He knew that Nandini would not come to meet him at his house if it was not for something urgent. He soon excused himself from the party and proceeded to his rooms.
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Nandini was awestruck to see the Malhotra Mansion all lighted up. Many opulent cars were moving in through the gates. Nandini hesitated at the gates not able to decide on the next course of action. She had been a bit hasty in her decision to come to meet Manik. She was not even sure how Manik would react on seeing her unannounced at his door.

As she was turning away from the gates, the watchman came out of his office and asked her to show her invitation card.

"Umm... Actually I am not here on invitation. I want to see Manik. He is my friend..."

The watchman looked at her suspiciously. Nandini turned red out of embarrassment.

" Its ok. I will see him in college tomorrow."

Nandini turned to leave. But the watchman stopped her muttering under his breath "If she is someone important, then I don't want to face baba's wrath"

" What's your name? I will contact baba and check. "

" Nandini. Nandini Murthy. " said Nandini hesitantly.

" Ok. Wait here."

The watchman went inside and came back after a while asking her to wait in the reception area.
The watchman might have checked with Manik and he might have asked her to wait. At least he didn't out rightly refuse to meet her. Nandini felt relieved. The reception area was decorated with fresh flowers. Everything looked very fresh and beautiful. Nandini was checking out the flower arrangements when an old man approached her and introduced himself as Rahim chacha, Manik's housekeeper.

" Baba is held up with some guest. But, he has asked me to guide you to his quarters. You can wait for him there and he will join you shortly."

Nandini felt comforted on seeing the friendly face of the housekeeper and followed him to a door on the first floor of the grand house. She could hear music and voices from some other part of the house. All this looked very bizarre and new to Nandini who was not accustomed to such a lifestyle.

Nandini entered a small sitting area furnished in black and white. Everything, from the wall paintings to the curios looked very classy and decked fashionably. Rahim chacha offered her fresh orange juice and some samosas and left her after assuring her that he would only be a door away if she needed something and Manik would join her soon.

Nandini saw another door leading to a bedroom, which was only visible partially. The sight of a huge king sized bed brought her fears back. Amms would have something to say to her if she ever came to know about this reckless behavior of hers. Now it was too late to back out.

The room was air-conditioned and Nandini started shivering out of cold. As the minutes ticked by Nandini's uneasiness increased and her throat turned dry. She took a sip of the orange juice. She looked about for a regulator to control the temperature. She saw a remote controller and assuming to be for the air conditioner, pressed on the button, which read as 'off'. The room became pitch dark. She tried to press the button again but in vain. In her nervousness, she pressed on few more buttons, but lights did not turn on. Nandini had the glass of orange juice in her hands. As she was trying to keep it on the low teapoy, she bumped on something and while trying to balance herself, the glass of orange juice fell on her lap drenching her completely.

Here she was, sitting in an unfamiliar room, that too of a boy's, who is not even her friend, in dark and completely soaked in orange juice. Nandini shivered again. She longed for a long warm bath and bed in the comforts of her own home.

Manik was surprised to find his sitting room in complete darkness when he entered his rooms a few minutes later. He pressed the switch, which lit up the room. He saw Nandini sitting on the sofa shivering and clearly troubled.

" Nandini, What a surprise. I am sorry, I got held up. But, what are you doing here? Is there anything you wanted?" Manik was anxious to know the reason behind the visit.

The look on Nandini's face drew him closer to her and kneeling down beside her, he asked again soothingly.

" Nandini...tell me... what happened to you? Did someone say something? Why are you upset?"

It is human nature that if someone say something to sympathize with you, you develop self-pity complex that will weaken you more in front of that person. This happened in case of Nandini as well and the tensions and discomfort of the last few minutes, finally, brought tears to her eyes.

Now Manik was convinced that something dreadful had happened to her and he could not control his curiosity.

" Nandini, for heaven's sake, tell me what's wrong?"

" Woh Manik.." Nandini said amidst her sobs " I am feeling so cold"

" Whattt???" Manik was flabbergasted." You are feeling cold. That's it? So why didn't you switch off the AC?"

" I tried but the lights went out instead."

Manik quickly moved to one of the side tables, picked up a regulator, and switched off the AC.

" Is it fine now? And, here I thought, you did not like the dcor of my room and therefore switched off the lights to avoid looking at it"

Manik tried to joke to ease the atmosphere.

An unnamed contentment on seeing Nandini at his house improved Manik's mood greatly and he looked at her in amusement.

Nandini was still feeling uneasy. Her clothes were sticking to her. She looked at her lap and Manik's eyes followed the movement of
her eyes and noticed her stained dress.

" Did you not like Rahim Chacha's orange juice that you threw that away too?" said Manik raising one of his eyebrows.

" Manik, the orange juice fell from my hands. I think some have fallen on your carpet as well. I am sorry. I am really sorry"

Manik hid his smile at Nandini's apologetic expression and said in a sad voice" Nandini, this carpet is very expensive. I don't know how I can get it cleaned. My mom would be mad at me for this. What will I do?"

Now Nandini was really worried. " What to do now, manik?"

" Exactly Nandini, what can you do to make up for this?" Manik's naughty side was unmistakable and he looked at her expectantly.

Wow. Awesome update. .