Chapter 19: Can't be strong anymoreIt was the middle of the night and the silence in the room was making the sound of the clock ticking more audible for Nandhini. She put her fingers in her ears for peace and silence but was still restless; she just could not sleep. She turned to change sides and got a view of Manik sleeping peacefully. He was at so much ease, as if he was in his happy place. Nandhini just gazed at him and then took a deep breath.
"Tum toh ghore bech ka soraha ho but mujhe neend kyew nahi arahi" she whispers. She then sits up and grabs her phone from the side table.
'Anyone awake? I can't sleep' nandhini texts the freinds WhatsApp group. She instantly sensed manik's phone vibrate since he was in the group too.
'Me! Abeer decided to cry all night' Navya texted back.
'Me too. Working on a business plan đ ' Aaryaman texted back.
"Me three! Coma mein itna so liya ka ub zindagi bher neend nahi ae gi' mukti replies as well. Nandhini giggled.
'Navya, Addat daal lo. Yeh toh shuruwat ha. Aaryaman kyew itna workaholic ha? You need sleep! And mukti lol so glad you are with us again â¤ď¸' nandhini texted back.
'Oh God' navya texts back in the group.
'Kya yaar. Kaam ha toh kaam Kerna parega' Aaryaman replies back.
'And this is why no girl wants to be with you Aaryaman! And thank you nandhini' mukti texts back.
'you want to be with me đ ' Aryaman texts back and nandhini opens her mouth wide And starts typing again.
'okay okay cut it. Aaryaman akele mein flirting kerlena group chat mein toh insaan bano' nandhini texts back.
'haha mein insaan hi hoon tubhi toh jazbaat ha' he texts back instantly.
'zyada maska nahi maaro Aaryaman' Mukti replies.
'acha nandhu. Why are you awake?' navya asks.
'i don't know. Manik toh ghore bech ka soraha ha and I am like so restless. Can't sleep' nandhini texts back then realizes what she did and face palms her self.
"What?' navya texts.
'you and manik together?' Aaryaman texts.
'Aren't you mad at him? Or tum upne chacha chachi ka yahan ho Na?' mukti asks.
Nandhini explains everything about the deal younika made and manik living in the murti's house for a few days.
'Nice. For once younika did something good' mukti texts.
'Dekh lena in these three days you guys will you know đ ' Aaryaman texts and nandhini rolls her eyes.
'As if' (means not going to happen) nandhini texts back.
'I agree with Aaryaman. I think that was younika's main thought. It's simple psychology. When two people have attraction for each other and are angry with one another. Attraction takes over their anger.' mukti texts back and nandhini face palmed herself.
Manik and nandhini's phones were continuously vibrating and nandhini's phone screen light was bright. This made manik wake up and he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"What's going on?" He asked and checked the time on his phone then noticed like 80 messages in the group. He then looked over at nandhini and noticed her phone in her hand and took a deep breath.
"Nandhini? Seriously? Why are you texting in the WhatsApp group at 3am?" He asks and she shrugged her shoulders.
"I can't sleep" she says innocently and manik finally checks his messages from the group and smiles.
'yo manik is online!" Mukti texts in the group and nandhini reads and giggles.
'Mukti navya Aaryaman and nandhini. Get a life guys. So or Sone do' manik texts in the group and nandhini giggles and manik looks at her and then back at his phone.
'okay that sounded very inappropriate! But I like that phrase! Haha đ' Aaryaman texts back.
'Anyways mukti. I like your simple psychology. And yes for the first time yonika did something right' manik texts back.
'shukriya' she texts back.
'oh shut up you two' nandhini texts.
'acha guys. Gtg(got to go) Abeer needs attention. Gnite (goodnight)' navya types.
'i should finish my work and get sleep too bye!' Aaryaman texts.
'i guess I'll watch TV and eat yucky food đ¤˘. Hate this stupid hospital. Can't wait to be released tomorrow! Bye" Mukti texts.
'Bye mukti. I'll come pick you up tomorrow when you get released from the hospital' manik texts and nandhini looks at him in anger and manik notices.
"Kya?" He asks and shrugs his shoulders.
"Nothing just go to sleep!" She yells and lies down, turns off the table lamp and closes her eyes immediately.
"Nandhini are you seriously bothered by me and mukti. We have been best freinds since we were 5 years old and not once have either of us had any kind of attraction towards one another. And you never had a problem with us before. Why are you doing this?" Manik asks and nandhini sits up and turns on the table lamp.
"Didn't you have a problem with me and Aaryaman?" She asks and manik was speechless.
"But that's different. He liked you and you and Aaryaman didn't grow up together like we did. We're practically siblings" manik explains and nandhini rolls her eyes.
"Acha ek baat batao. Aliya grew up with your guys too but she wasn't a sibling. She was your girl friend! And did I ever like Aaryaman that way ever? No! So you should have trusted me but no you got all angry remember?" Nandhini snarks back and manik took a deep breath.
" I dated her before you came into my life and then we broke up since then she and mukti are the same for me" manik says. Nandhini just ignores him and lays back down again.
"Nandhini I don't get why you think mukti is a threat to our relationship. Why do other people matter? Why are you bringing other people in-between us?" Manik says and nandhini jumps back up.
"I'm bringing other people in between us? Who was the one who said fab five comes before anyone, even before me?" Nandhini asks and manik sighs.
"I was stressed and freaked out. I didn't mean that. I'm sorry" he says and nandhini just nods her head in disappointment.
" There is always some truth behind I didn't mean it. And it wasn't just words out of your mouth, your actions matched your words" nandhini says and finally closes her eyes this time and switches off the side table lamp. Manik takes a deep breath and just stares at her from his side of the bed. How did we end up here? Why did I make so many mistakes? Why can't she forgive me? These questions lingerie through his thoughts. He finally lays down and sleeps as well.
Next morning:
There was a ray of sunlight coming through the curtains. Nandhini moved her face a little as the sunlight was directly hitting her face. She shifted herself a little so she could dodge the light. She immediately felt manik's hand next to her. She opened her eyes slowly and just gazed at him sleeping . She then picked up his hand and spread it out and then rested her head on his hand. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her and smiled. He then wraps his other arm around her as well and pulls her closer. Both of them look at each other for a while then smile. Manik slowly kisses her forehead and then puts his free arm on nandhini's upper thigh as she was laying sideways. Nandhini smiles and strokes her finger across his face and brings her face closer. Manik then immediately removes his hand that was resting on her leg and puts it on her mouth and she confusingly looks at him.
"Nandhini yeh theek nahi ha" he says and she was still confused.
"Tum na mujhe Abhi tak maaf nahi Kiya. I think you forgot everything in the moment but jub tak you don't forgive me I won't try to..." He says and nandhini opens her eyes wide. And immediately sits up and removes herself from his embrace.
"Woh...
Woh...
Sorry" she says and runs into the bathroom and manik laughs and face palms himself.
"Nahi rokta toh Kya hota?" He thinks and regrets what he did.
After a while nandhini comes out and manik fell asleep again on the bed. Nandhini rolled her eyes and picked up a pillow and hit him in the face. Manik stood up in shock.
"Who died?" He yelled.
"You if you don't wake up! You promised that you would be at the hospital to help kabir and release mukti" nandhini says and manik yawns.
"But I'm sleepy. You and your texting woke me up." He says drowsily.
"3 din baad koi nahi neend kharab kerega so just be patient" nandhini says and manik finally opens his eyes and jumps off the bed and grabs nandhini's shoulders.
"Tere Liya lakho, cororo raatein kurbaan meri jaan" he says with smirk and nandhini makes a disgusting face and pushes him and he falls on the bed.
"Zyada star plus ka hero na bano and go get ready. I'm leaving in a while as well" she says and walks towards her suitcase as she still didn't unpack her clothes that she brought back from the Malhotra mansion.
"Where?" He asks and nandhini turns around and looks at him.
"Going to accept that music teacher job. Don't want to be a burden on chacha chachi" and manik immediately face palms himself.
"Nandhini, Malhotra industries and all of my properties are under your name! You are a billionaire and you are worrying about money? I don't want you to ever have to worry about something as stupid as money! If you want to work work for experience and to make a change but I will not let you struggle like this" he says and nandhini
Just takes a deep breath.
"Shut up! None of that is mine! I want to earn my success not just get all of my husband's heritage! Or vese bhi 3 dib baad yeh shaddi toh rahegi nahi toh legally you can't keep anything in my name unless I accept it which I won't!" she says with a grin on her face and manik rolls his eyes.
"Nandhini ..." Manik says in a low tone and she just ignores him and rushes into the bathroom.
After a while she comes out wearing a pretty sea green top and basic black tights. she ruffles her long wet hair with the towel as she walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. She found manik Infront of the mirror and he was only wearing a towel. Water was dripping from his body and onto the wooden floor.
"Manik you're all wet! My floor! How did you even?" Nandhini asks as she points to the bathroom.
"Rishab ka bathroom mein nahya. Tumhara wait kerta toh Shaam hojati!" He says and continues combing his hair.
"Bache ho Kya? Khud ko dry Kerna nahi ataa? Clean up my floor and put on some clothes cheapster!" She yells and sits on the bed and starts brushing her hair.
"Beta tum lucky ho ka towel bhi pehna ha...
Werna..." He says and grabs the towel and nandhini immediately closes her eyes.
"Manik do you have any decency? Weirdo" she screams with her eyes still closed. After a few seconds she felt manik's presence really close to her. She could smell the intense aroma of his Cologne. His Cologne always distracted her from everything else. She could hear his breathing right next to her and slowly his touch on her cheek.
"Ager upni hi biwi ka sath decent honge toh biwi ka Kya faida" he whispers in her ear and she moves her face further, her eyes still closed. Nandhini giggles a little And manik raises his eyebrows.
"Biwi? Kiski biwi? Konsi biwi?" Nandhini says with a cute smile, her eyes still closed.
"Very funny nandhu. Ager himmat ha toh ankhein kholo" he says in his deep husky voice. Nandhini twitches her eyes for a bit then opens them and sees manik's face an inch away from herself. She looks down and notices that he was still wearing the towel. She then looked backed up into his eyes moved her head to indicate that he was the one who didn't have the himmat.
"Tch tch tch mujh sa himmat ki baatein kerte ho. Or khud himmat nahi ha?" She says and manik let's out a low laugh.
"Himmat toh bahot ha. Bus tum challenge kerlo" he says with a mischievous smile and leans closer to her.
"Chalo nand...oh sorry" they hear a soft womanly voice and manik immediately turns around and nandhini gets a veiw after he moves as well.
Aliya was awkwardly standing by the room door and manik and nandhini looked at each other then at her again.
"Sorry mujhe pata nahi tha ka manik yahan ha. I'll wait downstairs" she mumbles and was about to leave.
"No wait Aliya" nandhini says and lightly pushes manik away from herself and jumps off the bed. She runs to Aliya and greets her.
"Woh younika ka kehne ki waja sa he is going to live here for 3 days. Stupid plan, won't even work. Anyways lets go" nandhini says and grabs her purse.
"Tum dono Kahan jaraha ho?" Manik asks.
"Bataya toh sahi. Music teacher job accept kerne. Aliya is my ride" nandhini says.
"And phir hum tumse hospital mein milenge. Aj navya or mukti dono release hongi na" Aliya says and manik nods his head.
"Okay theek ha. Mein bhi pehle ghar jaonga upna saman Lene phir hospital aonga" manik says and nandhini didn't care and walked out the room and Aliya surprisingly watched her leave.
"Bye manik. See you at the hospital" Aliya says and waves a bye and manik waves back.
"Wait..." He suddenly says and Aliya stops at the door and shrugs.
"Woh can you kind of tease nandhini about what just happened..." Manik says and Aliya giggles.
"Haha woh toh mein vesa bhi kerne wali thi. Don't worry I got your back" she says with a smile and manik smiles back.
"Thanks Aleey. Love ya!" Manik says and Aliya walks inside the room again.
"Manik tumhara mera beech thanks Kahan sa agaya? Bachpan sa we are best freinds itne formal hone ki zerorat nahi ha." She says.
"Ya ya whatever. Ub Jao bhi" manik says and she gives him an annoyed look and then walks towards the door again.
"Wait..." He screams again and she turns around annoyingly.
"Ub Kya ha manik?" She asks
"Congratulations Aliya bua. Yesterday I left the hospital and didn't get a chance to congratulate you properly" manik says and Aliya smiles.
"Thanks. Lekin I want to become a bua again. Abeer ko company dene ka Liya bhi koi hona Chaya na" Aliya jokes and manik just raises his eyebrows.
"Harshad ko toh Abeer mein bhi interest nahi ha toh dosra bacha?" Manik says and Aliya grunts in anger.
"Not bhai! I'm talking about you and nandhini. Patch up hoga tabhi toh Abeer ko upna best freind milega" Aliya says with a smile and manik just starts laughing.
" Hahaha even if we patch up that is not going to happen, atleast not soon" manik says and continues laughing.
"Bhai didn't want a baby but it happened. Honi ko Kon rok sakta ha" Aliya says seriously and manik stops laughing and seriously looks at her. Before he could reply they heard nandhini yelling from downstairs.
"Aliya ki bachi! Jaldi ao!" Nandhini yells from downstairs and Aliya waves a bye and finally leaves, leaving manik lost in his thoughts.
In the car:
Aliya was driving and nandhini was busy on her phone trying to find a song to play on the car speakers. Aliya looked at her and smirked and nandhini noticed.
"What?" Nandhini asks.
"Mera aane sa pehle Kya horaha tha?" She asks with a giggle and nandhini face palms herself.
"Kuch nahi horaha tha meri maa" she says and continues looking at her phone.
"It was definitely something" Aliya says and nandhini looks at her with anger.
"Aliya! Just drive! Mein tumhe kuwari nahi maarna chati so don't say anything and just drive!" Nandhini says with a stern voice and Aliya holds back her anger.
"How does it matter? Kuwari mero ya shaddi shudda? According to you marriage is stupid right?" She asks. Nandhini thinks for a while.
"Aliya, dhruv or manik mein bahot farak ha. Trust me you will be the happiest girl ever shaddi ka baad. Meri terha you won't be in tears" nandhini says emotionality and Aliya continues to hold in her laughter.
"So you regret rejecting dhruv?" Aliya asks calmly and nandhini looks at her surprisingly.
"NO! Not at all. Look dhruv is an amazing guy. He is a very good freind of mine and I do love him but I never FELL IN love with him. I FELL IN love with manik and I do not regret that for even a second. Mera or manik ka sath Jo huwa usko buri kismat kaho ya bura waqt. Do you think it's easy for me to end everything like this? But what he did is just so unforgivable." Nandhini says and starts crying and Aliya felt bad for purposely bringing all this up. She pats her shoulder with one hand and the other hand on the steering wheel.
"I'm sorry" Aliya says and nandhini wipes her tears.
"Don't be. This is what was meant to be" nandhini says with a forced smile.
At the hospital:
Aliya and nandhini finally get their after finishing off everything at the school. They enter Mukti's hospital room and find Aaryaman packing her things and she was guiding him from the bed.
"Don't forget to pack my medicines, they are in that drawer" mukti says as she points to the medicine cabinet.
"Hey ready to leave?" Aliya asks as she runs in and hugs mukti.
"Bus packing hojae" mukti says and hugs Aliya back.
"I'm so glad you are back to normal. Jaan nikal gae thi sub ki" Aliya says and starts crying and mukti wipes her tears.
"Kya yaar relax" mukti says and Aaryaman throws a peice of crumbled paper at mukti.
"Relax ki bachi. Aliya is right! Tumhe andaaza bhi nahi ha hum sub pa Kya guzaar Rahi thi" Aaryaman says.
"Sorry?" Mukti says as she didn't know what else to say.
"Haha. Forget it guys, atleast everything is fine now. Umm mukti, manik nahi poncha Abhi tak?" Nandhini asks.
"Ya woh Aya toh tha lekin chup chup sa tha and then he said he is going to navya's room" mukti said and nandhini nodded.
"Acha" she says.
"Kyew tumhe manik sa Kya kaam?" Aaryaman asks as he tries to hold in his laughter.
"Aary just because we aren't a couple anymore doesn't mean we aren't freinds. Or vese bhi 3 din ka Liya we are roommates" nandhini says in annoyance and folds her arms.
"Acha?" Mukti, Aliya and Aaryaman say together in sarcasm.
"Umm... I'm...
gonna... umm
go... go...
find...
him.." nandhini stammers and everyone sarcastically nod their heads.
Nandhini leaves the room and walks towards the maternity ward and knocks on navya's door then opens the door slowly. She sees navya nursing abeer on the bed and cabir was packing diapers in a baby bag.
"Oh hey nandhini" navya says in excitement.
"Sorry. Woh manik yahan Aya?" She asks nervously.
"Nahi toh. I have been here all morning, I haven't seen him" cabir says and nandhini thinks.
"But mukti said woh thori der pehle hi us sa mil ka yahan Aya" nandhini says.
"Nahi Abhi tak toh nahi Aya" navya says and nandhini nods her head.
"I'll be back..." She says and closes the door and walks into the hallway. She thinks for a while. Where could he be? Just then she saw navya's nurse walk by and nandhini grabbed her.
"Sister, app ko yaad ha navya dhawan ka delivery ka waqt ek lerka tha uske sath. Aap na usko kahi dekha ha hospital mein?" Nandhini asks and the nurse thinks for a while.
"Woh unke husband na? Woh subah sa navya ka sath hi ha" she says and nandhini gestures a no.
"Nahi dosra lerka, tall dark and handsome..." She says and realizes how stupid that must have sounded.
"Oh Haan, I think mena unko stairs ka pass jaate dekha" the nurse says and nandhini nods her head.
"Okay okay thank you" she says and runs towards the staircase which nobody ever used since there was a perfectly operating elevator.
She entered the stairway and started going upstairs.
Why would manik even go upstairs, she thought but continues going up till she heard weird noises and then she saw him. He was all curled up towards the corner of the staircase and was crying like a little baby. Nandhini freaked out and ran to him.
"Manik manik!" She yelled and grabbed his arm and turned him around and looked into his eyes which were red with tears. She opened her eyes wide, she had never seen him this upset. She held his chin and made him look into her eyes.
"Manik Kya huwa? Batao mujhe!" She asks in worry and he takes a deep breath and grabs her waist and hugs her tight, his head against her belly. He continued crying like a little kid. Nandhini didn't know what was going on. She ruffles his hair and pats his back.
"Shh, calm down baby...Relax...Please batao Kya huwa! YOU ARE SCARRING ME! Tell me!" She yells but manik just wasn't saying anything. Nandhini could feel his tears seep through her pants as his head rested on her lap. She held his shoulders and made him sit back up. She cupped his face with both her hands and wiped his tears.
"Shh Kya huwa? Is dhruv okay?" She asks in worry as he was the only one she didn't see since morning. Manik nods and nandhini was relieved.
"Phir? Is it about our fight?" Nandhini asks and manik gestures a no but continues crying. Nandhini takes a deep breath and holds manik's hand.
"Listen, tumhe yaad ha us din mena Kya kaha tha? I'm your soulmate manik, you need to let me be able to connect to your soul. You can trust me with your life. Nothing matters more to me in this world than you, tum ho toh mein hoon manik. Ub batao Kya huwa?" She asks and manik finally wipes his tears and tries to hold himself together.
"Nandhini..." He says then takes a long pause and nandhini raises her eyebrows.
"Younika and dad..." He says and pauses again and nandhini freaked out for a second.
"Are they okay?" She asked and manik nodded and nandhini was relieved again.
"It's about... My past" he says and wipes his tears again as they were flowing non stop like a river. Nandhini silently looks at him and holds his hand.
"You said you never want to talk about this, even if it's with me. You said you are never going to be ready to tell anyone" she asks and he wipes his flowing nose.
"I can't hold it in anymore nandhu. I can't be strong anymore...
I feel helpless now" he says and bursts out crying again and nandhini immediately hugs him and calms him down.
"Shh bus, mein hoon na. You can tell me anything. I'm all ears." She says
OKAY guys that was it. Please please like and comment! Buddy me for updates. Ignore my mistakes! and THANK YOU FOR READING â¤ď¸
Edited by mebigirl - 8 years ago
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