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c h a p t e r n i n e t e e n
"At what time should I pick you up?" He questioned as the car came to a halt in front of her college.
"Around three," she casually said as she opened the door next to the passenger seat, "maybe a little early."
"Will two-thirty be fine?"
"That's about right," she said before stepping out. She paused for a little while, and turned back to look at him. The door was open but he started the car anyway. She bent down a little, looked at him, and softly said, "Um, goodbye."
He looked at her completely casually and with a slight smile on his face, he bid her goodbye as well. When she closed the door, he immediately put the car into ignition and drove away. Nandini, however, kept on staring as the vehicle disappeared into the road. She bit her lip a little, completely confused at why she was acting so weird.
She wasn't as angry at him anymore and that frightened her. She knew she should be angry, then why couldn't she? She felt herself forgiving him for all he did, bit by bit, and she wanted to stop that. She was sure that he didn't deserve her forgiveness. It didn't matter how he treated her because what he did was wrong on so many levels, but she couldn't believe in that so much anymore.
As Manik opened the door to enter into the old, abandoned beach house, he found yet another surprise awaiting him. As Alya turned the moment she heard the door creak open, her face broke out into a huge smile to see her friend, safe and sound.
"Alya?" he questioned, cringing his eyebrows, not believing his own eyes.
"Hi, Manik," she softly greeted him as she took a step forward. "How are you?"
"What are you doing here?" he asked her instead of giving her an answer.
"You won't believe how worried I was for you," she started to explain. "I thought something terrible happened to you. Seriously, I was having sleepless nights, I swear."
"Funny, because I really can't believe that," he told her instead, his tone filled with bitterness and Alya let out a regretful sigh.
"I know you can't because you're so stuck up over the past," she told him and he knew it was the truth. "Why must we go there again? What's done is done, and there's no way to erase that."
"But we can learn from it, can't we? I've learned not to trust you anymore, you see," Manik angrily spoke and she knew she deserved it.
"I don't get why you must act like such a child," Alya spoke with a tinge of annoyance. "Really, Manik, that was years ago. Can't we just let it go? If you fail to remember, then let me tell you that we were friends first. I want that friendship back, Manik."
"I don't," he informed her, his face devoid of any emotion as he walked over and held the door open, "you may leave now."
"Mani-"
"I said leave, didn't I?" he told her again, and she knew just what to say then to get his attention.
"How's Nandini?"
Manik narrowed his eyes then, shocked at how she knew about Nandini. This girl was clearly giving a lot of surprises today. "Who told you about Nandini?"
"Doesn't matter," she said with a slight smile, knowing she'd gotten his attention now. "I just want to tell you that you can trust me, really. If you guys need any help, I'm there for you. Just give me a call whenever you require my services, okay?"
"See, you tell me to trust you, but you don't really let me," he informed her. "How do I even believe your words when you refuse to tell me how you got this information?"
"Not now, Manik; I'll tell you when the time is right. You're not ready yet," she simply told him before walking past him and outside the house.
Manik couldn't express his annoyance at those words, but then he paused for a while as the parallels came to mind.
I'll tell you when the time is right, she'd said to him.
You have to wait for the right time, he'd been continuously telling Nandni.
At that moment, Manik knew that he felt what she felt. If the right time annoyed him so much, then why couldn't it annoy Nandini? He knew that he wouldn't be able to trust Alya before she told him the entire truth. If Nandini was to trust him, then it had to be the same.
Alright then, he thought to himself, I'll tell you everything today, Nandini.
"Navya?" Nandini called out for her friend, who simply hummed in response. "Do we really have to do this?"
"The principal personally asked us, Nandini," her friend said as she set up the camera. "Testimonials for the trustees are a great idea."
"Yeah, I know that," she muttered as she bit her lip, "but it'll take some time, won't it?"
"Just an hour or so," Navya told her and she immediately looked at the clock. It was almost two-thirty and she knew that Manik would be here soon. She let the sympathy take over as she thought about him outside the gates, waiting continuously for her arrival, and being utterly disappointed. She didn't know why it bothered her so much.
"I'll get the students," she offered, and then quickly said, "If you're done with that then... erm, Manik is coming to pick me up in, like, five more minutes. Do you mind informing him that I'll be late?"
Navya looked at her friend and with utter annoyance, she groaned, "Oh come on Nandu, really?"
"I feel bad, okay?" Nandini tried to justify herself.
"You feel bad for the guy who kidnapped you and married you against your will?" Navya questioned, crossing her arms over her chest and Nandini slapped her forehead.
"I don't know, Navya. You're right; what he did is unforgivable but he's been acting so nice and patient and caring with me since the first day that I... I really don't want to treat him with such hatred anymore," Nandini confessed and her friend rolled her eyes.
"Seriously, Nandu?"
"Can you please just do it?" she pleaded again. "I'm sorry, okay? He's got a black BMW and he... erm... he looks like... well, really tall like about six feet, dark hair, sharp jawline, erm..."
"That's very brief, thanks," Navya scoffed.
"I suck at this, sorry! Just go and ask him if he's Manik Malhotra," she suggested as she grabbed her bag and rushed off, not giving Navya any more chances to complain.
Navya simply sighed once more before leaving.
Manik had been waiting for fifteen minutes now and he was just so eager to meet Nandini and tell her the truth. It shocked him that he was actually waiting for this for this as he didn't know what her reaction would be. He was expecting anger from her, but he just felt like it would be short-lived. He could tell that she was starting to enjoy his company, and in his heart, he felt like this would make it easier for her to forgive him for all that he'd done.
After some more minutes of waiting, he saw a short, braided girl approach him and ask, "Are you Manik Malhotra?"
"Yeah," he quietly answered, a little confused, and Navya tried very hard to control all her anger and act civil with him.
"Nandini has some work so she'll be an hour late. She told me to inform you," Navya said and his face fell almost immediately. It angered her to see his disappointment because she was convinced that it was all an act. Why would he be disappointed if he didn't even care about her?
"I wish you'd stop acting for once," she bitterly told him before he could say another word. "We all know this is a farce then why do you even bother? You don't care about her, and she doesn't care either."
"Hey, look, look," he tried to stop her but she wouldn't hear another word.
"You know what? She's going to leave you," she spat and he immediately felt his heart stop. What? "The moment you tell her why you married her in the first place, she'll leave you. So why don't you just do all of us a favor and tell her the truth? You don't want her and she doesn't want to so just tell her, Mister Malhotra, and let her go free."
After saying that, she simply huffed and turned away, leaving without bearing him a second glance. Manik stay frozen over there, his eyes slowly widening as he took in her words. He felt so empty inside that he just could explain. He knew why he was feeling the disappointment and the loneliness.
She'll leave, he thought to himself, like everyone else.
She stood there, drowning in the sadness for some more time, but then he tried to gather himself. He'd grown so attached to Nandini that he wasn't ready to let her go as of yet. Frankly, he didn't know if he would ever be able to let her go.
He knew she wouldn't trust him completely if he didn't tell her the truth himself, but he didn't want her to leave either. He knew, at that moment, that keeping her was more important than her trust. If that made him selfish, then so be it, but he couldn't let his wife leave him too. It was just too risky.
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