MaNan FF: The Forbidden Fruit (Chapter 26 on Page 82) (25/05/16) - Page 3

"What do you mean by that?" Nandini asked him while he paid no heed to her.

"Your name is Nandini, right?" the boy asked, stepping forward to come and sit on her bed.

"What did you mean by that?" She asked yet again, her tone now solid and firm.

"I'm Cabir, by the way," he introduced himself. "I'm your brother."

"I asked you something," Nandini narrowed her eyes, somewhat annoyed at this behavior. She repeated her question, this time even more loudly and clearly, "What did you mean by that?"

"Do you like the room? It used to be mine, you know," he started narrating, completely ignoring her questions. "I had this room till I turned five, but then I told mom that I-"

"What did you mean by that?" Nandini almost shouted at him as she cut him off, causing him to pause for a while and just take a good look at her. He didn't say anything for a while, but then just sighed and afterwards let out a chuckle.

"You're very persistent, you know? Persistence isn't always good," Cabir told her, but she ignored it as she knew he was going to elaborate now. "Do you like your parents, Nandini?"

"Of course I do," she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well then, you're going to hate it here," he simply stated.

"Why would I do that?" she softly asked, slightly starting to regret her decision now.

"Maybe because our parents are nothing like the ones who raised you all your life? They barely care about my life, so don't even expect them to care about you at all."

"That can't be right," Nandini argued.

"Trust me, it is. Just ask them anything about my life and just see how they have absolutely no clue about it. I mean, we have dinner together and they take me to their social events, but that's practically it. We have little to no communication and they're probably not even interested in my life!"

After finishing his mini-rant, Cabir started panting and closed his eyes. Nandini didn't say anything, she simply observed him. It was quite obvious that he was really stressed.

"You have it rough, don't you?" Nandini asked him after some time, to which he just let out a bitter laugh.

"You bet, but it's nothing compared to my friend's," he remarked. "I guess I should be somewhat happy that we talk because I have this friend, Manik, whose parents practically ignore him all the time. Like they really don't care about a single thing he does and it sucks because he wants their attention so bad."

"Do all rich kids have messed up lives, then?" Nandini simply asked him.

"Well, certainly not all, but most have it bad. You're very lucky, Nandini, to have had parents whom you liked, and who liked you," Cabir told her, and that was exactly when his phone rang. He picked it up but didn't say anything. Instead, he just frowned after listening to the other person speak, and then hung up, getting up to leave.

"Who was that?" she asked, a little worried. "Is everything alright?"

"Um, yes," he answered as he was leaving, "it's just that... my girlfriend's coming over."

"Oh, well, you don't... you don't like her, then?"

"That's not really something you ask people," he chuckled and she immediately felt bad.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"But you're right," he cut her off. "She's annoying and I don't like her."

"They why are yo-"

"It's a long story," he cut her off yet again. "Maybe I'll tell you someday. Oh, and," he paused once he was at the door, "how about you call me 'bhaiya' from now on?"

"Why do you want me to do that?" Nandini asked, narrowing her eyes.

"To impress me, because you'll need my help if you're to stick in this house. See you later, sis," he said with a wink before fleeing.

Nandini frowned. It kind of seemed like he was trying to scare her so that he could control her, but she wouldn't let that happen. I don't know who you think you are, Cabir, she thought to herself, but I am Nandini Murthy and I won't fall into your trap.

Manik sped up, wanting to get to Cabir's house as soon as possible. In his completely messed up life, Cabir was the only one who always understood him and gave him support. He knew that whenever he had to vent or just share anything, Cabir would listen. He would joke around and taunt him at times, but he would still listen and even give advice.

Manik smiled to himself just thinking about it. He was glad he at least had someone, or he was sure he would have strayed away. Cabir was the only one who ever showed any kind of care for Manik. If he wasn't in Manik's life, God knows what he would be like.

I would probably be dead, Manik thought to himself, and my parents wouldn't even care.

In a sense, he was right. Well, partially right. Cabir was Manik's classmate when they studied in the same school, but they never spoke except for the occasional small talk. During those days, young Manik would always excel at all the subjects just to get his parents' attention. When he was twelve, he just got tired of their negligence. He got so incredibly tired that he made the attempt to kill himself. It was after school let out, once all club activities ended, that Manik was sitting alone in a classroom making that decision. He had thought of it earlier in the morning which was why he brought some of his dad's pills to school. He didn't know what they did, but he wanted to gulp down the whole bottle. It was right at that moment, just as he was about to try to commit suicide through drug overdose, when Cabir walked in and stopped him. That was the first time Manik Malhotra ever saw care in his life, and he never let it go.

I know I say it all the time, but I really do mean it, he thought, hoping the message would somehow reach his friend, thank you so much, Cabir, for coming into my life.

"Cabir!" the loud shriek of a male came from downstairs. The place was huge, but his scream still reached Nandini's ears just when she was in the middle of reading a book. She shook her head slightly, and then decided to just ignore it. He, however, was not making it any easier for her.

"Cabir!" he shouted yet again, and Nandini could feel her anger rising. She wasn't usually this impatient. "Bro, where the hell are you?"

After some time, she thought he stopped but just then, the voice rang again, louder and seemingly closer this time, "CABIR!"

"Oh my God," she muttered under her breath as she put away the book, rising to her feet in order to either search for Cabir or tell the person to keep it down. She got out of her room just in time to see him come up the stairs, while he paused as their eyes locked.

She studied his features; big, dark brown eyes, ruffled black hair, a chiseled jaw line and high cheekbones. He was tall, really tall. She took in the account of his attire and it was quite obvious that they were all branded items. However, looking at his crinkled shirt, unpolished shoes, and loose jeans she could make out that he probably didn't really care about making an impression.

All this while he said nothing, just stared at her. Was he studying her as well? She didn't know as she couldn't make out his expression. He had no expression; his face was just... blank.

After some more time, he finally spoke in a deep voice, "You're not Cabir."

No shit, Sherlock, she thought to herself sarcastically. "I'm his sister," she chose to say instead, "Nandini."

"Right," he simply said, still staring at her intensely. She didn't like to admit it but his gaze was making her nervous.

"Where's Cabir?" he asked her just before she was about to speak.

"He's probably... around here somewhere. I think I saw him running off... upstairs... wherever those stairs lead to," Nandini answered, pointing at a couple of stairs timidly, while he just gave her a slight nod. She hated being so scared and vulnerable but for some reason she was intimidated by his presence. He just had that sort of an aura, she guessed.

"Are you Manik?" she asked him as he was approaching the stairs, causing his to quickly turn and give her a sharp look.

"How do you know that?" he asked, his voice rough.

"Uh... well, um... Cabir kind of told me... about you," she stammered. Nandini mentally cursed herself, she hated stammering as it made her seem weak.

"What did he say?"

Nandini guessed that she probably shouldn't tell the truth. This Manik guy came off as really short-tempered and the last thing she wanted right now was to have a stranger blast at her. She had had enough of that in the past. Instead, she chose to lie and say, "Just that... you were his friend."

He seemed satisfied with his answer because he turned back around and advanced up the stairs, leaving her alone. He didn't even bid her goodbye or anything. Clearly, he didn't have manners was what Nandini was thinking, but then recalled Cabir telling her the sob story about Manik's family and kind of felt a little pity for him.

However, from this brief meeting she could make out exactly the kind of person Manik was. He came off as those usual arrogant rich guys. Reckless, arrogant, short-tempered, not much of a talker, probably has issues with his parents like Cabir said, rich, obviously, and very rude, she mentally noted. Exactly the kind of person I need to avoid in 'my new life'.

Little did she know her fate which screamed that Manik Malhotra certainly wasn't going to be avoided.