They were still sitting by the ocean, huddled together, when Manik dropped the bomb. "You know what Nandini? I should call dad... "
The moment she heard his dad's name, her fuse went off. Gathering herself, she tried to subtly persuade Manik against the idea "Dad ko achanak kyu? I mean suddenly?"
"I have not spoken to him properly in two whole weeks, unhe to abhi tak yeh bhi nahi pata ki I had that accident and meri yaddash wapas aa gayi hai. Bas ek dad hi hain jinko meri fikar hai, cz jise actually hona chahiye tha, wo to.." His voice trailed off.
How would she tell him, that he was doubly misfortunate, that his father too was a player and had played with them all. Despite knowing Manik's whereabouts, when they had asked, or rather begged, he had mercilessly shrugged them off. Even when Manik was struggling to find his identity, he had kept him away from his past, from music and his friends. Unable to think straight, she blurted out, in a panicky shrill tone "Abhiii...abhiii to 12 baj chuke hain Manik, itni raat ko dad ko kaun phone karta hai. Wooo to so rahe honge."
"Chill Nandini, why are you getting so hyper, 12 to India mein baj rahe hain. London mein to its just about 7.30 pm. Yaad hai us din jab tum talli hoke chipmunks ki tarah 'mummy daddy' kar rahi thi, tabhi dad had called. Par tumhe samhalne ke chakkar mein, I couldn't talk to him. And after that life got so action packed, phone karne ka time hi nahi mila."
"How mean Manik!! How can you even blame me for that night. You know maine jan buj ke tamasha nahi kiya tha, the drinks were exchanged" She got up in anger, pulling herself away from him.
Manik stood up after her, brushing the sand off his jeans "Are...I was not blaming you, I know you didn't do it, I didn't mean that, I was just kidding yaar."
"Yeah, I understand very well what you mean. Sab larke ek jaise hote hain..." She was walking fast, pretending to be super pissed off. Her mind was in knots. With all the mess they were already in, she didn't want this one to add up. Heck, if Mr. Raj Malhotra got to know that Manik was back with her and Fab 5, he would not just ADD up to their miseries but EXPONENTIALLY INCREASE them. She couldn't push Manik down that road, at this point of time, when he didn't even have the safety net of his friends to fall back on.
"Why are you over reacting yaar, I really didn't mean it that way?" He almost had to sprint to catch up with her.
"Over reacting!!!! Seriously Manik?? I am over reacting or you are being typically mean."
Poor Manik, who wasn't aware of the mini tornado inside Nandini's head, was wondering what had suddenly triggered the 'moody woman' syndrome in her. Was she PMSing again? Merely moments ago she was talking all sweet and wise , she had even sung him such a beautiful song and now she was walking away in disgust, as if she had caught him cheating with another girl. 'Itni jaldi to weather bhi nahi badalta jitni jaldi inka mood badalta hai' he thought, not daring to utter it though.
"Nandini, why are you running, wait!!" she knew this fake argument had no substance in it, and would soon frizzle out. She had to think faster for a more substantial distraction.
Just as Manik reached out for her hand, she turned around and ran in the opposite direction, shouting at the top of her voice."Aiyapppaaa...Help!!!! Mouse!!!!
Manik stood there, hapless, hands pressed on his hips, watching her jump up and down. Nandini's paranoia of mice was well known to him, he himself had used it a couple of times to his advantage. This is exactly how melodramatically she reacted on sighting one and hence it didn't strike him as odd that she found a mouse on the beach and that too under darkness until much later. For a while he honestly tried to locate the rat, but as was bound to happen, he found none. That's when he turned to Nandini demanding an explanation. "Nandini ruko. He ran after her and pulled her in his arms after over taking her.
"Whats wrong with you, don't you think you are acting a little wierd? Wahan koi mouse nahi tha. Baat kya hai tell me."
*Baat yeh hai ki if you call your dad, we are all f**ked up bigtime. Main tumhare hath, bolo to pair parti hun, please Manik, dad ko mat call karo abhi* She muttered inaudibly. "What, I am not lying, there was, trust me." she said as calmly as she could manage.
"Ok, but mujhe nahi mila. Chalo lets go home, its anyways late." He dragged her along while dialing his dad's number.
"hello... hi dad..wassup?" Nandini was desperately praying for a miracle and cursing Manik for this sudden burst of love for his father. While she couldn't exactly blame him, she could neither imagine what was going to happen next.
"yep, sorry wo I got a little busy...no not in Panchgani, I am in Mum..." They say a prayer from an honest heart never goes unanswered and just as Manik was about to reveal further, Nandini's phone started ringing and neel's name popped up. Never in her life had she thought, Neel could be a saviour, but well, never say never. She stopped and so did Manik , the moment he saw Nee l'sname on her screen. He immediately disconnected his call to his dad and snatched the phone from her hand.
He received the call, but without speaking a word, as Nandini kept on staring at him, swallowing the ball that had formed in her throat.
Hugely relieved with the nerve wracking narrow escape, all she could now imagine were massive *Fire crackers* .
"Hello Nandini darling...how are you doing?" There surfaced his slimy voice. Darling? What the f**k...if only the shithead wasn't on the phone but in person. Manik would have shown him an altogether different meaning of the word. But he kept mum.
Getting no response from the other end he continued "oh ho silence wilence haan? Koi nai, let me guess, tossing alone in bed sweetheart?"
Still not hearing her voice, Neel tried to instigate her further. "Ahaaa, I must say, I like this obedient Nandini. I mean I love your cattiness too, it is such a big turn on...but for a change I like it when you listen without barging in the middle. Waise I wanted to share an amazing piece of news with you.I am sure it will brighten your day. You won't have to spent too many lonely sleepless nights anymore as I would soon come to give you some waaarm company. Tumhari wo worthless chachi bohot oversmart ban rahi thi na, use bol dena, next week Amms is coming to Mumbai for our wedding. Aur haan chahe to apne ex ko bhi bula lena...chahe nahi, actually use meri taraf se special invitation bhejna, it would be my pleasure to have him on our wedding. I just don't want to miss the expression on his face, especially after our..U know what.." Manik's hand was snowballed into a fist. His face was a sight of horror. Clenched teeth, a dark frown on his brows and his angry brooding eyes eyes could literally cut through any damn thing. Nandini, standing opposite to Manik was completely oblivious to the conversation. Yet the expression on Manik's face and his demeanor frightened the daylights out of her.
"Invite to main kar raha hun tujhe teri khud ki funeral pe" Finally Manik spoke up.
Neel wasn't expecting a male voicee to pop up from Nandini's end at this hour of the night. Baffled and pissed off, he asked "Tu kaun hai be? "
"Mera introduction to tujhe eventually mil hi jayega, but for now, tu apni shakal ache se dekhle, infact memorize karle kyun ki uski geography bohot jaldi badalne wali hai. Aur haan ek free friendly advise hai, stay away from Nandini Murthy and her family... For your own safety because i swear agar maine tujhe uske aas paas bhi dekhliya na to tujhe apna countdown complete karne ka bhi time nahi milega u bloody swine." and he disconnected the call even as Neel kept barking at the other end.
Manik was never the same after the call. He didn't tell her anything about the call, despite her asking him several times. Infact he was quiet all the way till he dropped her home and then left without even saying a proper bye.
Walking back towards her doorstep, she felt heavy. Thanks to the bas***d, their entire evening had been ruined. Nandini hated Neel with a fierceness that she didn't know she was capable of. She hated him for the uncountable reasons he himself had created...for messing up her uncle's life, for blackmailing her, for stalking her, for ruining her peace, but she hated him the most for what he did to Manik. How dare he try to murder him, and what if he had been successful in his scheme? Nandini shuddered at the mere thought. Why are some people so toxic that their mere presence can screw up your entire day.
Despite being one forgiving soul, when it came to Neel, all she could fathom was hatred and more hatred. People like Neel don't deserve mercy or understanding or for that matter any kind of kindness, they are like pus filled infectious limbs, which if not severed can poison the whole body to death.
The moment Manik returned home, which he did pretty fast because he drove like a madman, venting out his rage on the steering wheel, he messaged Neel's details to Ranbir. As much as he detested that piece of crap, he was rather thankful that he had called. Because, one way or other, Manik's focus was swaying between his love and his friends. He had forgotten that at this point his sole motive should be Neel Dixit.
Manik in his house and Ranbir at Mukti's, they both stayed up all night digging out as much information as they could, calling out probable connections, coaxing mutual friends, scanning through company websites and by morning they had a list of people and places who could help them build the foundation of mission Kill Neel.
CID
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
