[B]Part 19 I trust you with my life [B]
"What can you do to make up for this loss of mine, Nandini?"
"umm...I will clean it now, Manik. Just show me the way to the washroom and get me a cloth. I will clean it... or may be these tissues will do." Nandini stood up to get to work.
" No. sit down. I will ask Rahim chacha to arrange it to be cleaned. But it will never be the same again. You know these type of stains cannot be completely removed. " He continued after a pause "So, how can you repay me?"
" Tell me how much it cost. Or else I will have it replaced." Nandini asked in a dejected voice.
" Naah...Its not possible to replace it. Imported from Turkey, U know...Ab kya kare?" Manik asked tapping his chin.
Nandini, who was gradually getting to understand his game, decided to play along with him. She tapped her chin and mimicked him " Ab kya kare?"
Manik understood nandini's mood change and therefore decided to test the waters a bit by taking the teasing to the next level although a little vary of what her response would be.
" You can, umm...you know, try to make me feel better...My mom used to do that in childhood... whenever I got sad, she used to kiss me better.." saying Manik moved his face closer to hers and placed a noisy kiss in the air.
Nandini did not disappoint him. She was speechless for a second, staring at him and when the meaning of his implied words and action sank in, colored a bright red, averted her eyes and on impulse jumped out of her seating position to get away from him.
Nandini felt deeply humiliated .She knew that she was at fault here. No sanskaari girl would end up in such a mess. She hardly knew Manik and here she was, in a hot-blooded man's bedroom at this time of the evening. Well, it was another story that she trusted him, enough to, not think twice about her actions. She had felt deeply attracted to him and deep down her gut feeling was that he was worthy to be trusted. However, to hear such insinuations from Manik was unexpected and brought fresh tears to her.
" I should have known that all men , if given an opportunity would try to make use of it. I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have...lied to chachi ...I regret my hasty deed now. You know what, I trusted you. Otherwise, I would not have come here. Typical Indian men. If a girl is alone, they think they can misbehave with her. They feel that it is their right to misbehave with her. They think that she is easy and available. " Nandini was getting a bit hysterical by now.
Manik was taken aback by her sudden outburst. His intention was not to upset her. He had just aimed to tease her casually. Now, her words struck a chord somewhere deep within him and he lost his temper. He moved to her, caught both her arms in a tight grip and lashed out at her.
"Listen.. you...don't talk to me as if I am a rapist or a womanizer. I am neither. Do not forget that this is not the first time you have been alone with me. Or, did you forget last night, so fast...when you were alone with me. I could do anything to you...use that opportunity, as you mentioned earlier, but I played a perfect gentleman. If I had put my heart into it, I would have had you and you would be here, not innocent anymore, but -" and continued after looking her up and down "-already branded as my girl".
There was a sharp intake of Nandini's breath and then, complete silence. Both looked at each other intensely, both regretting their outbreaks. Manik's tight hold was hurting Nandini, but she stayed still for a minute and then looking at her arms, said " Manik, you are hurting me"
"I don't care...You hear me... I don't care..."
Manik shouted again. Soon, he calmed himself down, abruptly left her arms and moved back.
" Manik, I am sorry. I did not mean what I said" Nandini, now knew that she had crossed her limits and had blurted out some nonsense.
This appeased Manik and he took her hands and said, "If you trust me, come with me."
And, Nandini realized, at that moment that she would follow him to the ends of the earth.
Manik took her to his bedroom, opened his cupboard, took out towel and pushed it into her hands. "You are completely drenched and sticky. Go freshen up and I will bring you a change of clothes." He said pointing to another door. Nandini was relieved to have some time away from his dominating presence to think and clear her head. She was also dying to change out of her sticky clothes. Without further delay, she moved into the wash room.
Manik ransacked his wardrobe to find something suitable for Nandini to wear. At
last, he settled for a track pants and tee-shirt and knocked on the bathroom door.
"Nandini, open up. Here, is something for you to wear" Nandini opened the door and extended her hands outside, but at that time, both were startled to hear a voice calling out to Manik from outside.
It was Ankita Sharma, daughter of a business associate, who had been eyeing Manik the whole evening and whom Manik had been avoiding desperately at the party. Manik's only thought was to get away from her. Without thinking further, Manik pushed open the door to the bathroom and entered inside. Nandini had just opened her mouth to shout when he closed her mouth with his hands and whispered in her ear " Listen, Someone is outside and I want to avoid her. Don't make any noise. Just stay still and she might leave soon."
Nandini had just taken off her clothes and washed it when she heard Manik call out to her to open the bathroom door. Thankfully, Nandini had covered herself with the towel before opening the door. But, a towel alone was not an adequate covering and Nandini moved away from Manik shyly crossing her arms over her body.
This gesture of hers brought Manik's attention to her and he felt a little awkward to have witnessed her in this state. He understood her discomfort and turned around to avoid looking at her.
Moments passed by. Ankita had come into his bedroom and was calling out to him. They heard a door closing after a while and understood that she had left the rooms.
Manik took another look at Nandini, wordlessly handed her the clothes, opened the door and went out of the bathroom.
Once outside, Manik gave deep sigh of relief. Nandini's image in a towel, which was now etched in his brain, made a come back to his memory. She looked so vulnerable and cute, devoid of any make up or sophistication.
At that precise moment, Nyonika made an appearance in his room.
" Nyonika...What are you doing in my room? "
Manik called out a bit loud to her to warn Nandini of Nyonika's presence.
" Manik. I came to see what emergency you have had to miss such an important party. Everyone was asking for you, especially the delegates from Citicorp International."
" Nyonika... I attended your boring stupid party, made my presence felt and excused myself in a dignified manner. The foreign delegates were being entertained superbly by you and I am sure they never felt my absence."
" Yes, They didn't. I made sure of that. But what is this with that Sharma girl. Why are you avoiding her?"
" Nyonika, when did I give you any right to comment on my social life?...We have strict professional relationship between us. Or did you forget the policy...give and take?"
Not one sound could be heard from the wash room and Manik's eyes darted to that direction frequently.
" You seems disturbed Manik...I wonder what has happened to my over confident son . Is it your loosing the chance to compete for that useless reality show, I wonder... Anyways, you became a hero overnight. My son, who always wanted to be a villain, became a hero yesterday. How ironical." Nyonika was clearly in a mood to taunt Manik.
" Nyonika... Please spare me your sarcasm today. I am tired and I need to retire for the night. So, please leave. Yeah... I remembered just now, Dad might call to enquire about the party..."
Manik knew that the mention of his Dad would do the trick and as expected, Nyonika left Manik's room without further delay.
Manik rushed after her, to close and bolt the door before proceeding to the bathroom with anticipation and excitement.
He knocked on the door. Nandini opened the door and came out wearing Manik's track-pants and oversized tee shirt. She was holding the track-pants at the waist lest it came off. The tees reached to her thighs and covered her completely. She made an especially cute picture, but this time Manik was careful not to comment or laugh.
Manik's main concern was to somehow sneak her out of his house. He gave her a thorough look and said,
"Come lets go. I will drop you home. It's not safe here anymore.You might get caught..."
The drive home was in silence each lost in their own thoughts. Nandini guided Manik to her house, thanked him and got out of the car.
" Nandini"Manik called after her.
She stopped and turned back.
" you can trust me with your life, Nandini. Remember that always..."
Saying , he reversed the car and drove off leaving her standing mesmerized and still.
Both of them realized one thing immediately afterwards- that they had failed to discuss the real reason as to why Nandini landed in his home at the first place.
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