Let's walk! - NOTE!! (Manan FF); pg 40 - Page 18

Originally posted by: kristii

i think their past is very bitter..plz reveal soon

plz cont soon

Originally posted by: maankigeet4ever

Nandini's patience with her Manik is legit applaud worthy. seriously.

And my poor baby. Manik's guilt is so vast one could drown in it and he is drowning in it. Sighs.

It's gonna be a awesome chapter..better post it on the weekend so i can actually read it and not have to wait the entire exams week. Pretty please

Love love,

- reya aka your sunny <3

Originally posted by: Mawara_Ejaz

Yupieee at last I am successful in finding a story full of our Manan..
You are an expert dude..
Superb FF...
I read all four chapters in one go..and the teaser too...
And seriously I didn't get bored at all...All the time I was wishing that the chapters never end..but to my fortune it happened..well I have sent you a buddy request plzz accept it and pm me for chapter 5 I'll be waiting for your pm

Originally posted by: filter.coffee

oh i can't wait for it now!

please give me the full update!asap

CHAPTER 5! - The talk!

"Manik, she's absolutely fine, it's just the flu, there's nothing to worry about. Just make sure she rests as much as possible because that will help her recover the soonest", the doctor comforted Manik whilst packing away his medical kit.

"Thank god!", Manik whispered as he threw his back a little with his eyes closed.

Nandini's eyes started to water. Her vision blurring faintly as she stared at him. How? Just how did he manage to love her so much?

"Thank you so much doctor! I assure you, I will take proper care of her. And please I'd like if you could visit again tomorrow morning, just to check her again. Just for my piece of mind you know.", Manik plead as he shook his hand with the doctor before heading with him downstairs to drop him off to his car.

Silence filled Nandini's cozy room. It felt abnormally lonely not having his tall figure floating around her open space. She beamed a little smile as she realised how he'd grown onto her in such a short span of time. He had spoilt her unconditionally over the last few years. She hardly expressed her guilt to him but the truth was she was responsible for his present state. His heartache, his tears, his needless frustration with himself; all her fault.

"Manik...just until tonight. Please." she had begged him with her puppy eyes.

"I promise; it will be our night.", she continued.

She even remembered blushing a little as she had spoken those last words. And he had so quietly and smilingly brought his fingers up to her warm cheeks to caress her shyness. He had cupped her face so gently and brought her forehead close to his impatient lips, kissing her as if to reply that he will be waiting for her.

The day had managed to slither away with much ease and no obstacles. Nandini had been overjoyed that she had managed to sing with her Manik for the very first time. An official performance. She hadn't even been this excited when they had signed the two-year contract together. And he. He had just been staring at her smiling, laughing, giggling uncontrollably after the completion of their live-stage performance. Her smile triggering the formation of his own smile. He could do anything for that smile. He would do anything to hear that squeal of her laughter.

"I'll be waiting for you in the far garden. Ten minutes. Don't be late!", Manik had whispered as he held her tightly around her waist, preventing her from heading into the change room to change into a more comfortable outfit.

"Manik...if you're not going to let me go, how will I manage to make it their in 10 minutes.", she had questioned him whilst weakly fighting his grip.

"I don't know. You're the smart one, you should figure it out.", he had continued teasing her whilst running his left hand up and down the lengths of her right arm.

She had shivered a little and shied away. And after many struggles he had let her go, repeating once again that he will be waiting for her under the natural light of the moon and the stars for his own shining star to arrive. It had probably been the fastest she had ever changed. He was beyond eager to hear the magical words flow from her soft, nourished lips but she hadn't told him that she was just as impatient to confess those words that would express her life's biggest truth to him.

She had virtually flown out of the dressing room after changing into a pair of white skinny jeans and a red, full-sleeved, lace kurti. She was elatedly half-running towards the back garden when the lights of the corridor flashed unpredictably and blew out. A roar of thunder echoed through the empty college the next second and Nandini's tiny feel halted to a stop. Her ability to see ahead diminished as the moon's radiance darkened by the overlapping of the grey, angry clouds. Nandini jumped on the spot as a flash of lightening sparked across the sky, lighting up the pitch-black hallway for as little as two seconds. She had never been so afraid of the dark but there was a strange eeriness belonging to the night. She could feel her hands starting to sweat involuntarily due to fear and as every growl of thunder loudened. Her feet automatically started treading backwards, hoping to return to the change room a few meters away. As another flicker of lightening beamed through the dark sky, Nandini saw a tall, dark figure standing at the end of the hallway.

"M-m-manik? Is that you?", her feet started crawling towards the standing shadow, hoping that the brightness from the next lightning strike would fall on the face of the unknown figure, confirming that he was actually Manik.

"M-manik...", Nandini managed to whisper in a trembling voice.

"Oh thank god!", Manik enveloped her shuddering body in his strong arms and just held her there, hoping to fill her body with his strength. She still had a fever, but her feet were ice cold from the unforgettable past she had just re-visited a few minutes ago.

"Are you okay?", he asked in a quiet tone.

She just silently nodded in response and leaned her head into the warm softness of his palm that was cupping her left cheek.

"I'm sorry I woke you up. But I was just so...*sigh*." He didn't know how to finish off the sentence. He didn't even have words to describe what he was feeling at that moment.

"Worried?", she completed his sentence.

"More than that! You can't imagine how scared I was when I found you sobbing whilst asleep and shaking hysterically. I thought it was because of the fever at one point but when I heard you saying No. Please Stop'; recurrently I understood you were dreaming a bad dream.", Manik replied in a pained voice.

"Really? I was saying that?", Nandini questioned blankly.

"Manik? Manik who are you calling?"

Still no reply. She knew how to be stubborn too. And so she snatched his phone without any warning.

"Nandini. Just please...just give me back my phone, I have an important phone call to make."

"I'm sure the phone call can wait. After all you always say I'm your priority. So answer me first. Who were you calling?", Nandini asked again adamantly.

"Shhh...stop.", Nandini placed a finger on Manik's frowning lips.

She returned his phone to him and removed her finger. "It's my turn to talk and you're going to listen. Okay?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No, not really.", she laughed a little.

"Manik. You have to let this go. Let go of this pain, this worry, this guilt and start thinking about yourself. About your future. About your music. About your career."

"Remember, I'm talking. Your turn will come too."

She continued talking.

"Nan...", Manik tried to interrupt.

But she once again placed her fingers on his lips. "I haven't finished."

"We promised that we'll always sing together. And we did try it, but it didn't work out the way we had hoped.", sadness crept into Nandini's eyes as her mind filled with another set of memories separate to that dark, holocaustic night. These memories were of a day. The day Manik abandoned his passion, his first friend, his first love; Music. The day he turned a deaf ear towards the strumming of his guitar. The day he sacrificed his future for her future. Since then Nandini had been living with a burdening guilt of Manik's music-less life.

She forced a smile onto her lips and continued. "You always say I'm the music of your life, I'm the meaning to your life. So why can't I become the words to your songs? I'll write and you will sing. You will perform. You will fulfill our promise.", she enthusiastically stated, hoping she had convinced him.

"Manik Manik Manik...", Nandini grabbed his hand and insisted him to sit down again.

She tried to stare deep down into his eyes but he simply diverted his eyes to look in the other direction.

His eyes scanning the corners of the room restlessly, avoiding her gaze. He knew the minute his eyes would meet her, he would be locked and she would win this round of convincing. Why was she being so stubborn? Why couldn't she just avoid this topic for a few more months?

"Look Nandini...I'm not in the mood to talk okay? And especially not about my music and my singing."

Nandini continued to stare at his fuming face wordlessly. She knew it would be of no use trying to argue with his adamant mind. So she waited. Waited until his eyes finally fell upon her calm and composed face.

"I can't believe you have nothing to say to me!", he remarked,

"What? You were the one who just said a minute ago that you're not in the mood to talk and you always say how you wish if I can just listen to you for once and that's exactly what I'm doing."

"Right", Manik scoffed.

"Fine if you want me to say something then I have a question for you?"

Manik stared at Nandini uninterestedly.

"If you had been in my place, would you have let me abandon my music?"

"I wish... I wish Nandini that I had been in your place..."

She had been wrong. This wasn't going to be so easy. Maybe Manik was right. Maybe they needed to escape the city of their past for a few days. They needed this vacation in order to start their journey again. She needed this holiday for him. She needed him to welcome music in his life again. And maybe, just maybe she would be able to convince him to agree for a wish if she agreesto his wish to escape Mumbai for a few days.

"Hmmm?"

"Where should we go for our holiday?"

So here is Chapter 5! Sorry for the delay...was a little busy with coomitments. But hope you all like it <3