PART 3
Summary:
Feelings when suppressed for too long can be dangerous, as in the case of Manik and Nandini. Their argument balloons out of proportion and reaches a whole new irreparable level.
WHAM!
Manik BREAKS down the door with just one POWERFUL kick.
He rushes in followed by Nyonika and finds Nandini wake up with a start from a very deep sleep.
She sits up and gapes at them, confused. The music still plays LOUDLY in her ears.
Manik's eyes are wild. His nostrils flare madly. His face is twisted in rage. And his chest heaves furiously.
Nyonika is equally dumbfounded. She stares at Nandini with questions plastered all over her face.
NANDINI: (to Manik) How did you get in here? I thought that I had locked --- (the words fade away to a stop when she realizes what must have happened) --- the door.
With one swift and dangerous move, Manik raises his hand at Nandini to strike her down ---
Nandini screws her eyes shut and cowers.
NYONIKA: (jumps forward to stop him from hitting her) Manik!!!!
--- But instead he RIPS the earphones off her and FLINGS it aside!
Nandini opens her eyes and finds Manik standing before her with his hands curled up into a tight red fist. He is still breathless and trembles all over.
By now, Mr. Malhotra arrives at the scene in a night gown. His eyes are all crinkled and sleepy.
MR. MALHOTRA: What was that noise?
He brakes abruptly at Manik's angry outburst.
MANIK: (To Nandini) I'll slap the shit out of you!
He hangs around briefly to take in Nandini's response. All what she can manage is a few seconds of his deadly glare before she quickly looks away.
Manik swerves around, blindly shoulders past his parents and storms out of the room.
MR. MALHOTRA: (quietly, to Nyonika) What happened?
Nyonika doesn't answer him.
Nandini is red in the cheeks. Her ears are a bright shade of pink and her big glassy eyes are glued far-far away from his parents. With the desire to disappear from their sight, her toes and fingers curl up, gathering a little bit of the flowery bedsheet in the process.
DOWNSTAIRS
Manik thunders into the kitchen. His lips ramble on, muttering curses.
MANIK: Goddammit. I slog through the day and come home to get this! Great! Just great!
The poor fridge bears the brunt of his fury. He almost rips off its door from the hinges, savagely grabs a bottle of water from its racks and SLAMS it shut with enough force to send tremors through its entire body.
When Nyonika comes in, she finds Manik chugging the water down his throat.
NYONIKA: Manik.
He pretends that she didn't even exist.
NYONIKA: Manik. Son. Just relax.
He continues to ignore her and rams the bottle back into the fridge.
NYONIKA: See. The poor thing isn't well already. She looked so terrible this evening. And now, after seeing you in this state, she's much more worried. So just be calm. Please don't get mad at her.
He shoulders past her without a glance.
NYONIKA: Manik! Did you hear anything what I said?
Nyonika stops in her tracks and sighs, nodding her head with defeat. She doesn't want to make any further attempts to pacify him because she knows her son too well. Once he loses it, then there's no calming him down.
She watches him storm up the stairs and proceed to their bedroom.
MANAN'S BEDROOM
Manik stomps in and SLAMS the door shut.
Nandini is still up and awake in her usual pose - arms wrapped around her knees that were drawn up to her chest. Without a single glance at her, he marches past and yanks open the wardrobe door with brute force. He carelessly rummages through the neatly folded clothes for a fresh pair.
MANIK: (angrily, doesn't look at her) Where are my blue track pants?
Nandini watches him but doesn't respond.
MANIK: (still doesn't look at her) Nandini!
NANDINI: (quietly) It's in there.
MANIK: In where!!?
Without a word, Nandini gets up, walks to him and quietly searches through the clothes. As she does, she observes him out of the corner of her eyes. Her lips shrivel in sadness as she spots his face contorted with rage. His jaw throbs madly as he clenches his teeth and his angry glare is fixed on the clothes instead of her. She picks up a rich blue pair of tracks and hands it over to him.
MANIK: No. Not this one. (shoves it back at her) Where's the navy blue?
NANDINI: That's put in for washing.
His eyes finally meet hers.
MANIK: That was two days ago. What is it still doing in there?
NANDINI: I didn't get a chance to deal with it.
She knows that she shouldn't have said those words. Because the minute she does, Manik's eyes almost pop out of its sockets in explosive rage.
MANIK: (through clenched teeth) You didn't get a chance to DEAL with it!!? (Even more furious) So how many days do you need to get your so called chance to deal with it? Ten? Twenty? Thirty!!?
Nandini grows defensive.
NANDINI: But what's wrong with this?
Both of their voices continue to increase in volume.
MANIK: Everything! Navy blue is my lucky colour! You know that! And I've told you endless times before that at any point of time, I need this in my wardrobe, come what may! Then why isn't it there?
NANDINI: Manik. If you didn't like the other tracks, then why did you even buy them? You should have just stacked it up with a single colour! Would have saved me a lot of trouble.
MANIK: Trouble. Asking you to do some work is always trouble, right? You've got all the time in the world to deal with other unnecessary things.
NANDINI: That wasn't unnecessary Manik! That was necessary! Very much! It's about our future! Our happiness!
MANIK: YOUR happiness Nandini! Yours alone! I f**king slog here day and night. Like an ass! Even on holidays! I struggle to make ends meet. To make our life work. And you? All what tops YOUR priority list is GOING OUT. Freaking out! Having fun! Where does our future lie in that? Where's our happiness? That's not happiness! That's selfishness!
Nandini couldn't believe the train of thoughts that were spilling out from Manik's mouth. She is shocked for a moment, but quickly recovers and fights back.
NANDINI: Selfishness? Manik! You're the one who's being selfish! We've been married for two years. And have you ever thought about ME for a second? Do you even know what I'm going through? Do you even care about how I feel? All what you're concerned about are your gadgets and friends!
MANIK: Then what do you want me to do? If in two years of marriage, NOTHING happens, then WHAT do you expect ME to do other than stick to my friends and gadgets?
His words slash through her anger like a sharp sword. Though she always feared that their poor sex life would affect their marriage, she prayed that it wouldn't. But his angry outburst confirms her deep seated fears. It answers all her questions to why Manik keeps distancing himself.
MANIK: I have nothing to look forward to in life. Do you know that? NOTHING! Nothing worthwhile! In two years of marriage, my friends made kids. They're living their lives the way they had dreamt about it. And me? I don't even have sex! (chuckles sarcastically) Hah! I have nothing! My life is so screwed up! So bloody screwed up! Lucky me!!!
Nandini is frozen to the bone. She is in deep shock and cannot retaliate any longer. She doesn't even breathe. Her lips part ways. Her eyes space out and flutter as the painful truth cuts through. The blow is so hard that she feels like she could collapse but recovers with a baby step or two back.
Manik's suppressed feelings come cascading out uncontrollably. He tries to stop himself, but can't. For long, he has kept it buried within himself.
MANIK: (much quieter than before, breathless) Do you remember what you told me back in the evening? That I didn't even try? But you know what? I did try. Nandini. I did try. I did try to fix up our wasted lives. But you didn't let me. You. And what was that? I made you feel lonely? Like a rag doll? You made me feel like a dog Nandini. Like a worthless stray dog. Do you know that?
Nandini isn't looking at him any longer. Her eyes can no longer meet his. She doesn't realize when the pair of rich blue tracks slither off her hands and plops to the ground.
MANIK: Any other guy in my place would have just walked out and found what he wanted. But I didn't do that. Do you know why? Because that's not how I was brought up.
Manik bends over, picks up the track and storms out of the room.
Nandini takes a deep breath, stumbles back and collapses onto the bed as the door SLAMS behind her. Her chest feels hollow. As if her heart never existed. She wants to cry out the pain. Let the shock flow out so that she could feel normal again.
Today, her birthday, presented her with the worst memory she can ever cherish. This day, marks the end of their relationship. It was all over.
The agony which she feels finally comes exploding through her in the form of deep, heaving and inconsolable sobs.
Deep in her heart, she wishes that she never spoke out her mind. She wishes that she kept her patience, that she held on a little longer. Then probably, she could have saved her marriage. But it was too late. All too late.
... TO BE CONTINUED
PART 4
Edited by Archana_Vinod - 9 years ago
Love Friendship Dating and Relationships
Bindi
