Chapter 24: Happy Birthday Manik
Nandhini was in her room sitting on the bed going over her school planner for her first day. She was focused on her work and was thinking of new ideas to introduce the students to the history of classical music for the first day. As nandhini was writing her points she all of a sudden felt someone tickle her. She jumped and turned around and found manik standing in front of her. She smiled and stood up from the bed and hugged him tight.
"You're back. I missed you! How was your day?" she said quickly and gave him a peck on the lips. Manik smiled and held her hand and sat down on the bed and made her sit down on his lap.
"Nandhu mein toh siraf 3-4 hours ka liya gaya usme itna miss kiya mujhe? Haha" manik says and nandhini rolls her eyes.
"Era baba I love you. Acha batao na how was your day?" she says and hugs him by the waist.
"Good..." he says and pauses and smiles mischievously and nandhini raises her eyebrows in confusion.
"...The music launch was a success" he whispers in her ear and she starts screaming loudly and hugs him even tighter. He then parts away from her and looks at all the books and notebooks scattered around the bed. He picks up her planner and reads it.
"Yeh? For your first day as a music teacher?" he asks and she nods her head with a smile.
"Mene tumhe disturb kiya na. Tum kero kaam mein ata..." he says but nandhini interrupts.
"Obviously but oho forget all this. Tum ae ho I wanna be with you. Kaam toh hota rahega" she says and takes the notebook from his hand and throws it on the bed and hugs him tight once again and just keeps her head rested on his chest and he smiles and ruffles her hair.
"I love you so much nandhu..." he says and she nuzzles her nose against his shirt. She then looks towards the wall clock and sits up straight.
"Manik chalo neeche pool ka pass chalte ha" she grabs his hand and pulls him but he wasn't willing to get up from the bed.
"Kya ha yehi rahete ha na. Younika ki shakal dekhne ko mil jae gi toh neend nahi ae gi." He says and nandhini hits his arm.
"Chup kero maa ha tumhari. Or chalo" she pulls him again.
Dekho its 11:45, is waqt hume upne room mein hi rehna Chaya if you know what I mean or vese bhi its very cold" he says and winks at her and she hits him again.
"Shut up and let's go. Let's sit under the stars the moon... please mere liya!" she begs and he grunts and agrees and stands up and gets dragged downstairs. When they reach the pool area nandhini sits down on the edge of the pool and gestures manik to sit as well. He rolls his eyes and nandhini sighs and pulls him down and makes him sit. They both dip their feet in the cold water and look at the black sky with a glowing full moon. Nandhini wraps her arm around his arm and gives him a side hug.
"Isn't this pretty... So romantic." Nandhini says and manik nods and grabs her chin and pulls her closer to himself, their lips about to meet but nandhni turns away her face and manik rasies his eyebrows.
"Koi dekh lega..." she whispers and shyly looks away and manik continued looking at her in confusion.
"Younika and dad won't come to the pool area at this time and even if they do I really don't care. Tum meri biwi ho and pda is not that bad jitna tum banati ho" manik says in anger and nandhini takes a deep breath.
"Calm down manik itni si baat pa itna gussa nahi ho please" she says and manik surrenders to her argument. Nandhini then looks towards the wall clock in the pool area. Manik notices her gaze wondering off. He gestures her asking what's going on. She gestures him nothing.
"Chalo manik lets walk around" she says and stands up and manik grunts.
"Kya ha nandhu? Kabhi bolte ho let's sit kabhi bolte ho lets walk. Problem kya ha? Have you lost it?" he asks and nandhini starts whining.
"Chalon a please" she begs again and manik stands up and starts walking with her. Nandhini tries to talk about random things as they walk around the pool. She keeps looking at the clock and as soon as it stuck 12 she looked at manik with a smile and pushed him into the pool.
He fell in the pool as he didn't expect to be pushed in at all. He looked at nandhini in confusion and she started laughing at him. Before he knew it fab 5 and aaryaman jumped into the pool too. He looked at everyone in surprise.
"What? Tum sub? Yahan? Kub? Kaise?" He asks and then he sees navya walk In the pool area with abeer in a stroller and a cake with candles in her hand.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANIK!" everyone yells together.
"Acha nandhini? Chalo manik lets go downstairs to look at the moon? BULLSHIT! Yeh sub plan tha? Or mujhe pool mein push kerne ki kya zerorat thi. It's so cold tonight! Bimar hojao ga mein!" manik complains and everyone splashes water on him and he tries to run away but cabir grabs him and pushes his face in the water and everyone laughs at him.
"Chalo guys come out of the pool. Cake kaat na ha na" nandhini says and laughs. Manik looks at her mischievously and jumps out of the pool and grabs her by the waist and ran back towards the pool with her in his arms. Nandini started screaming and jumping for release.
"No manik nooo" she yells and before she knew it she was thrown into the pool.
She jumps inside the water and Fab five.stares at her and laughs at her.
"I hate you manik!" She screams and he continues laughing at her.
Navya places the cake on the outdoor table and calls everyone to.finally get out. Manik.extends his hand and helps all the girls.get out except Nandini. She looks at him in shock when he refuses to help her. Aaryaman laughs at their childish behaviour and helps Nandini get out of the pool.
"Thank you Aaryaman you are such a gentleman. Or mera manik Kisi kaam ka nahi." She taunts manik
"Kamal ha Nandini. Upna bhi bolti hoon or burae bhi kerti hoon" manik says to her with puppy dog eyes. And Nandini smiles at his fake innocence. She holds his hand and pulls him towards the pool table where the cake was placed.
"Okay Chalo time to cut cake" Nandini says and hands him the knife and manik holds her hand and they both cut the cake together and everyone claps and sings happy birthday. Nandini smiles and looks manik in the eyes. She picks up some icing on her finger tip and smudges it in his left cheek and he tries to dodge her but he was too late. She giggles at her successful attempt and holds his chin and pulls his face close and kisses his right cheek and everyone starts hooting. Nandhini blushes and let's go of him and looks the other way.
Nandhini starts singing:
Yeh kaisa rishta hai
Yeh kaise sapne hain
Begaane hokar bhi
Kyun lagte apne hain
Main soch mein rehti hoon
Dar dar ke kehti hoon
Pal pal dil ke paas
Tum rehte ho
Tum Rehte ho
Everyone claps for nandhini and manik smiles and gives her a side hug. Just then everyone notices younika and Mr.malhotra by the entrance of the pool area. Nandhini smiles and rushes towards them and manik rolls his eyes and tries to stop her but he was too late.
"Mom Dad, ao come have cake" nandhini says with a jolly tone and Mr.Malhotra had no facial expressions.
"What's the occasion?" He asked and nandhini looked at him in disgust.
"Manik ki birthday ha AJ..." Nandhini says with disappointment and looks towards manik who was quietly standing with his Freinds.
"Hmm. Manik idhar aana" he says and manik looks at dhruv and he nods his head. Manik walks towards his parents.
"Yes..." He says.
"Happy birthday. Here is your gift" Mr.malhotra says and hands him a piece of paper that was folded up and manik confusingly takes it and opens it up and reads it with shock. Nandhini noticed his eyes go red and his body flinch. She wondered what the paper has written in it.
"Manik? Kya ha isme?" She asks him and he slowly gives it to her and she looks at him then reads the paper. It was a divorce certificate of younika and Mr.Malhotra. she looked at them in shock then looked at manik and he was holding in his tears. He ran out of there as fast as he could and nandhini ran after him but he was already upstairs.
"Nandhini ruko!" Multi screamed and nandhini stopped running and looked behind at everyone.
"What happened?" Kabir asked.
Nandhini didn't know what to say. Her heart felt heavy, she felt so broken. She started crying and sat down on the floor and Aliya held her and made her sit on the living room.couch.
"Nandhini relax and tell us what happened" Aaryaman asked. Nandhini wiped her tears and looked at him.
"Mom and dad got a divorce, officially...
On manik's birthday!" She said with tears in her eyes and Fab five felt hurt as well. They felt bad for their Best Freind.
"Shit... Manik..." Mukti says and looks upstairs towards manik's room.
"I should go check on him..." Nandhini says and stands up.
"If it's okay with you. Can we meet him after you" dhruv asks and nandhini smiles.
"You don't need to ask me for permission. He's more yours than he is mine dhruv. Let's all meet him together" nandhini says and giggles.
"No you go first. Tum uski biwi ho. Sambhalo usko. And we are sitting here. Let us know when we can come meet him" Kabir says and nandhini nods her head and walks upstairs.
She opened their bedroom door, the room was pitch dark. She turned on the light switch and her eyes wondered to find him.
"Manik?" She asked and looked around the room. She found him behind the bed, curled up on the floor. His face hidden in his own embrace. Nandhini sat down on the floor beside him and tapped his shoulder. Manik looked up at her and his face was full of tears.
"Manik..." She says with tears flowing down her eyes as well. Manik hugs her suddenly. He holds her tight against himself.
"I'm tired nandhini...
Thak gaya hoon mein nandhu..
Upne hi zindagi sa bhagte bhagte thak gaya hoon" he cries and nandhini holds him tighter. She kisses his forehead.
"Shh manik. Shh...
It's okay... Everything will be alright. Mein hoon na tumhare sath. Tumhe bhaag me ki zerorat nahi ha na khud sa na upne Zindagi sa." She says and wipes his tears.
"Nandhini mujhe samjh nahi ataa. What I did to deserve this. My parents have given me nothing but pain all these years. I thought it was only younika and Dad was still better but slowly I am realizing even Dad doesn't care about me. Mera hi birthday ke din itni beh-rehmi sa mujhe divorce certificate dena. They confuse me nandhini. Two days ago they were sharing a bed and today...
What kind of crazy family do I come from? All this money? This house? What's the use of all this when everything is so messed up in our lives." Manik says and holds his head and continues crying like a baby.
"I'm sorry I always supported your parents and I am sorry for thinking that there is an ounce of goodness in younika. I was wrong. Manik we don't need them. Enough is enough. We can't damage our own mental health in hope of changing someone else. AJ se Sirf tum or mein or yehi ha upni choti si duniya. You don't need anyone babe. Mein hoon na tumhare Saath." Nandhini says with a smile.
"Promise?" He asks and nandhini nods her head.
"Promise. Chalo now mood theek Kero upna. Everyone is downstairs waiting to meet you. I'll call them all upstairs." Nandhini says and picks up her phone and manik stops her and she looks at him.confusingly.
"I don't want to.meet anyone. Just want to be with you" he says and nandhini smiles.
"Manik Fab 5 is your family. They worry about you. Don't push away the good people because of the Bad people. Meet them for 5 minutes and say bye okay?" She asks and he agrees and nods his head.
Nandhini texts navya that everyone can come upstairs now.
After a while they hear a knock on the door and nandhini opens it and everyone comes inside with the cake and bowls and spoons.
"Cake timeee" Kabir yells and jumps on manik who was sitting on the bed.
Manik pretends to laugh.
"Abha ******* haslo tax nahi lagega" Kabir yells and navya who had abeer in her arms hits Kabir.
"Kabir language! Abeer ka samne toh at least don't say such vulgar words!" She yells at him.
"He is not even a month old!" Kabir yells in his defense and manik laughs and gestures navya to give him abeer. He takes Abeer in his arms and starts playing with him. Nandhini smiles seeing him.all cute with the baby.
"Life is so simple when you are young. Everything makes you laugh and you don't sense any negativity" manik says looking at Abeer's beautiful laugh.
"Abeer ko BHI ek din bera hona ha. Is duniya ko face Kerna ha. So nobody gets a happy forever after, manik" Aliya says and takes Abeer from manik. Manik nods his head and sighs.
"It'll be okay buddy. Hum sub Hain na tumhare sath" dhruv says and sits next to manik on the bed and gives him a pat on the bat. Manik mumbles a "thank you".
Nandhini gestures manik to come towards her and he nods his head and gets up from the bed and talks to her in the corner of the room.
"Umm manik If it's okay with you maybe we can have one of our big sleep overs tonight and everyone could stay. It is Saturday and your birthday. Maybe you'll feel better? But no pressure if you're not in the mood we don't have to ask everyone to stay. We could just go to bed and take it easy for tonight" nandhini says in one breath trying to sound sensible and manik just giggles.
"I'm fine now nandhu. And I don't mind everyone staying lekin it's my Birthday I want to spend time with you... Alone. Just you and me" he says with a wink and walks back towards everyone else and nandhini smiles and joins in with everyone else as well.
"The cakes good nandhu where did you get it from" navya asks and nandhini shrugs.
"I don't even know. Told the driver to go get Red velvet cake." She says with a laugh.
"You worked so hard" Aaryaman says sarcastically.
"Chal we should get going. Goodnight you two and happy birthday again maanik" Kabir says and everyone agrees and greet manik and nandhini and leave. Manik closes their room door and locks it and immediately grabs nandhini and pulls her closer to himself. Nandhini screams because of the sudden pull.
"Thanks for everything and even though I got really sad you still managed to make me smile tonight" he says and comes in closer for a kiss but nandhini backs away and releases herself from his grip.
He raises his eyebrows in confusion.
"Manik I can't anymore... Our relationship... I mean you went through so much tonight and even then all you care about is being physical? Am I only here to... You know. Mera comfort or companionship ki koi value nahi?" Nandhini says in anger and runs towards the bathroom but manik holds her hand.
"Nandhini Tum baat ko Kahan SA Kahan le ja rahi ho? I do need your companionship and comfort? How could you assume that I don't? And ho Kya gaya ha tumhe? Kissing your lips means that all I care about is physical? Your my wife for God's sake!" He yells and her and she rolls her eyes and pulls back her hand and goes into the bathroom. Manik picks up the lap in anger and throws it on the floor. The peices smashed all over the floor yet nandhini still didn't come out.
Manik pulled out a few files from the cupboard and started working on his future album project.
"Stupidest birthday ever. Might as well get some work done. Maa baap toh vesa hi bekaar ha or biwi pagal" he says in annoyance.
After a while the bathroom door opened and nandhini walked out. Manik looked at her and was shocked. She was wearing a sexy and revealing saari. She walks towards manik who was on the bed and pushes him so he is laying down. She sits on top of him on his lap and starts opening the buttons of his shirt.
"What were you saying Mr. Malhotra? Happy Birthday and sorry for the fake fight" she says with a wink and immediately kisses him and he was surprised. After a while he starts kissing back too and then takes a break.
"So wait? All that was a joke?" He asks in confusion.
"Yes. Birthday surprise number 2!" She says in a husky voice.
"What's number 3 then?" He asks and nandhini laughs and starts whispering in his ear.
"Omg" he yells in excitement and immediately starts kissing her again.
...
...
...
...
..
...
Few hours later:
Manik and nandhini were laying on the bed all cuddled up. Their clothes scattered on the floor and the room in complete darkness except a for few scented candles that were burning and shining their glowy light.
"Manik? You still awake" nandhini asks as she couldn't see his face while spooning.
"Yes princess?" He asks and she pulls him closer to herself.
"I know it's your birthday but can I ask you for something?" She says hesitantly.
"After surprise number 3...
You can ask for anything" he says in his deep sleepy voice.
"Era I'm serious" she says.
"So am I" he replies.
"Okay so...
Umm..
Woh...
Mein..." She mumbles.
"Meinnn? What? Bakri ho Kya" he chuckles and she hits his arm.
"I want a baby manik! I want a baby now!" Nandhini blurts to it and manik immediately sits up from.the bed and looks her in the eye and she sits up as well.
"Kuch galat Kahan mene?" She asks nervously.
"No...
Woh...
Well...
It's not possible now now like even if we wanted it would take 9 months!" He jokes and laughs and nandhini.rolls her eyes.
"I mean in 9 months by now idiot!" She screams at him and he laughs.
"Did you stop taking the pill again?" He asks her.
"No. I would never go behind your back. And last time i forgot. It wasn't intentional. I would never intentionally family plan without your consent" she says and manik smiles and holds her hand.
"Okay then. You can stop taking the pills from tomorrow. Guess we're having a baby" he says and nandhini jumps in excitement and hugs him tight.
"Nandhu we aren't dressed right now. Don't hug me so tight Kuch Kuch Hota ha" he jokes and nandhini parts away from him and hits his arm.
"Shut up and sojao" she says and closes her eyes.
"Goodnight" he says.
"Love you" she says and cuddles with him and falls asleep in his arms with a big smile.
Next morning :
"Nandhini! Manik! Wake up!" Nandhini hears and opens her eyes slowly and jumps in shock. Mukti was standing Infront of her waving her hand. Nandhini looks at herself and pulls the blanket higher as she wasn't wearing anything. Nandhini looks on her side and sees manik sleeping peacefully. She smacks his bare chest and he sits up in shock.
"Ouch what the hell?" He screams and opens his eyes and sees mukti Infront of him.
"Oh hi mukti" manik says casually and was about to get up but nandhini pulls him back and looks him in the eyes and gestures him to look under the blanket and manik realizes he wasn't dressed.
"Oh shit! Mukti what the hell? What are you doing in here? How did you even get in?" Manik yells at her.
"I have your room keys since we were like 5. Tum dono ghore bech ka so raha the so I just came in" she says casually with a smile.
"Mukti! We're a married couple and after seeing us like this you're still standing here?" Nandhini says surprisingly.
"Oh please. Nandhini I have already seen you completely naked and I have seen manik in his underwear. So big deal?" Mukti says and rolls her eyes.
"What the hell? We and why did she see you naked?" Manik asks nandhini in anger and nandhini is offended.
"Hello calm down! I'm straight! Mukti is straight! When we were at the water park last year. There was only one working shower and they were closing soon so we all just used one. Big deal" nandhini says in her defense.
"You did look sexy under that shower" mukti says and winks and manik opens his eyes wide.
"Mukti! Biwi ha woh Meri!" Manik yells and mutki laughs.
"Kidding kidding!" She says and nandhini giggles with her.
"And wait a minute. When and why did she see you in your underwear?" Nandhini asks.
"Oh all of us have seen him like that. Iske room mein kabhi bhi aajate ha without knocking and most of the time he is sitting in his underwear and reading romeo and Juliet" mukti says and manik opens his eyes wide and nandhini seemed confused.
"Romeo and Juliet? But why? Huh?" She asks and mukti giggles.
"Samjh Jao nandhu. Wohi Romeo Juliet on the internet. Which leads him.to deleting his browsing history" mukti jokes and manik grabs the alarm clock and throws it at him.
Nandhini finally understood and opens her mouth wide.
"That's just disgusting manik!" Nandhini says in anger.
"She is lying! And she wouldn't know about that anyways. Only Kabir or dhruv would have known!" He yells then mukti opens her eyes wide.
"So.it is true hahaha" mukti laughs and manik rolls his eyes.
"Why are you here?" He asks. Mukti grabs nandhini's clothes and throws it at her and then throws manik's clothes at him.
"Get dressed. We going.to Goa!" She yells.
"Goa?" Manan yell together.
" Haan for your birthday manik! Plan dhruv ka Tha. He was going to come get you guys but mene kaha ke manik ki izzat toh ha nahi nandhini ka hi soch leti hoon. Toh I came" She jokes.
" Obviously! None of the guys can see nandhi like this!" Manik says in anger. Nandhini was a little annoyed but didn't say anything.
"We'll meet you downstairs mukti" nandhini says suddenly and mukti left the room.
"Okay that was rude..." Manik says to nandhini in disgust.
"You don't want the guys to see me like this? Do you think I want mukti to see you like this?" Nandhini says in annoyance.
"I'm still under the blanket she can't really see anything. And mukti is like my sister I grew up with her she has always just barged into my room and seen me in my underwear. It's no big deal" manik says and nandhini gets up from the bed in anger and starts looking through the cupboard.
"Nandhini? Why are we fighting like this? I didn't invite mukti to come in like this? She just came in." Manik says in his defense.
"Why does she have a key? And why does she think it's okay to just walk in. Firstly she's not actually your sister and even sisters don't do that. Secondly now you're married things are different nobody guy or girl should just walk in here like that and you were getting mad over the guys doing that but it's okay if a girl comes in. You're allowed to get jelous and protective but I'm not?" Nandhini says in anger and walks into the bathroom and manik holds his forehead in tension.
"Can we atleast shower together to save time?" Manik asks with a mischievous smile.
"STFU" she yells from the bathroom.
"Oh come on it's my birthday and fine I'll take the keys from mukti and I'll tell her to stop okay?" He says but gets no response.
After a while:
Manik and nandhini come downstairs all ready for Goa but nandhini avoided even looking at him.
"Finally we have been waiting for you guys since forever" Aliya says and grabs nandhini's suitcase.
"Ruko Aliya" she says and pulls back the suitcase and Aliya looks at her in confusion.
"You guys go. Mein nahi Arahi" she says and manik rolls his eyes.
"Nandhini... Yeh Kya bachpana ha?" He asks and she gives him a grumpy look.
He takes a deep breath and pulls her to the side.
"What's the problem nandhini? Why are you making my life miserable on my birthday? Especially after what happened last night? Nandhini I am hurting enough on top you are giving me a hard time" manik yells at her and nandhini doesn't even listen to him.
"Manik I am sick and tired of you and your attitude! You never understand my point of view!" Nandhini screams and Fab 5 and everyone else heard her yelling.
They all came closer and tried hearing what they were saying. They heard manik and nandhini bicker back and fourth with each other.
"Yaar I think we should postpone the plan. These two are fighting like cats and dogs" Kabir says and everyone agrees. They all walk towards manan while they were still fighting.
"Excuse me..." Aaryaman says.
"WHAT?" manan scream together.
"Umm why don't we go to Goa another time. Right now isn't the right time" dhruv.
"FINE WITH ME" manan scream together again.
Everyone agrees to leave manan alone today for them to sort out their differences. As soon as they leave manik and nandhini start laughing and hug each other.
"Kya acting ki ha Mrs. Malhotra" manik says and hugs nandhini tight.
"You weren't bad yourself" she says with a smile.
Flashback to 10 minutes ago:
Nandhini came out of the bathroom after her shower.
"Jao go get ready" nandhini says in annoyance. Manik jumps up from the bed and grabs her in a hug immediately.
"Forgive me babu. I'll get the keys from mukti I promise. And you were right. You can be jelous and protective too" he says and tries to kiss the back of her neck and she pushes him away and he shows her his cute puppy dog eyes.
"Maaf bhi kerdo na" he begs her and she finally smiles and he pulls her in a hug.
"Chalo get ready, I'm so excited to go to Goa but..." Nandhini says and manik his eyebrows.
"Kya huwa?" He asks.
"Umm I planned last night so you could party with your friends then today I planned for it to be just me and you... But whatever it's okay" she says and manik thinks for a while.
"We don't have to go to Goa" he says.
"Nahi but they already planned everything and they are waiting downstairs. We can't be selfish and say we want to be alone go away." Nandhini says.
"But I have an idea ka woh khud hi mana kerdenge... And then we can do whatever we want without them" manik says and nandhini asks what.
Manik yells her the plan of how to get rid of everyone.
Back to recent times:
"Hahahaha Chalo toh what do you want to do?" Manik asks nandhini
"I already have it planned janeman. Just follow my lead" she says.
Precap:
Everyone finds out about manan's little acting performance
Edited by mebigirl - 8 years ago
Arjun
Sensational South
Current Affairs
