MaNan FF - Heaven DISCONTINUED ON IF - Page 6

Wow!
That was so effing cute!
I can't wait to read more!
Nandu is surely Heaven!

~ 2 ~

A TREE CALLED FRIENDSHIP

One evening, Nandini took a new route to return home. She cycled along the pleasant stretch of concrete road whilst taking a deep whiff of the fresh air that lingered in the community. This place was a lot cleaner than the usual route she took. I should take this route more often, she thought to herself as she enjoyed the scenes around her.

From the look and feel of the community, it seemed to be occupied by middle class folks. Simple yet elegant single or double storeyed villas lined both sides of the street. Just then, she spotted a familiar someone leaning onto the gate of his house. It was Manik. The moment he spotted her, he flashed a huge braced smile and waved his hand brightly. "Hiii!!!!!!" he shouted and bounced on his toes.

Nandini hit the brakes and smiled cheerfully. "Hey! Manik!!? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Me? I live here of course!" replied Manik and pointed at his house.

"Oh wow," she said, hoping that she sound excited enough. "What a surprise!"

"Yeah! What a surprise!" Manik was peppier than she was. "Where on earth are you coming from anyways? And that too on a bicycle?"

"Well, I had tuition classes," she replied. "So thought of taking a new route this evening."

"I'm glad that you did!" said Manik and opened up the gate. "Pop in for a moment. I want you to meet my parents!"

"Umm... we-ell..." Nandini began to get a bit nervous. Manik could make out that this girl was definitely very shy and reserved. She spoke to people just once in a blue moon. Some people took her as arrogant whereas some thought that she was weird. As for him, he thought that she was sweet and rather cute. He knew that she wanted to open up and mingle freely but something was holding her back. And he was determined to break that ice that was barricading her up.

"Come na!" he urged, grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her in.

"Wait! Manik! Listen to me!" she pleaded. But he had shut himself up to her.

"Mom! Papa! Look who's here!" shouted Manik as he walked through the door with Nandini right behind him. Manik's house was rather small as compared to the others. Furniture was simple and scanty. But nevertheless, it was beautiful and inviting.

"Manik..." Nandini said in a hushed voice and tried to free her hand. She felt damn uncomfortable in a strange environment and so badly wanted to run away to safe haven. "See listen... I need to get home. My parents will be worried."

"I'll drop you back," he said nonchalantly, "don't worry about that."

Just then, a tall woman with a very grim expression walked into the living room. She had her dark, silky hair tied up in a bun. Nandini couldn't make out whether she was smiling or smirking.

"Mom," he said excitedly, "this is Nandini! The guitarist! Told you the other day, right?"

"Nandini!" smiled the woman. She was Nyonika Malhotra. "Come on dear," she said kindly, "come sit. Manik tells me a lot about you."

"Really?" she asked quietly as she cautiously settled down on the couch with Manik. She was so nervous right now that her puffy cheeks were burning red.

Just then, a giant of a man walked in through the front door. He had a tight jaw and a very handsome face.

"Meet my father," Manik introduced.

"H-hello uncle," she said sheepishly.

Mr. Malhotra acknowledged her greetings with a simple nod of his head before proceeding towards his bedroom. He was literally expressionless.

"Sit here darling," said Nyonika, "I'll be back in a minute." Saying this, she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Don't worry," said Manik as he noticed the gloom on her face. "Dad's kind of like that. Most of the time."

That was probably the first time that Manik had actually managed to break through the ice and put Nandini at ease. He could see her warm up to them as Nyonika pampered her with some snacks from their kitchen. He was also happy about the fact that his bluffs about Nandini hanging around with him would finally have some truth to it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Times had started to change. Nandini Murthy, the plump and shy girl who hardly spoke to anyone began to open up to her new friend - Manik Malhotra. He discovered her residence for a change and started to hang out at her place more often. He was welcomed with a warm and open heart by her Appa, Amma and kid brother Rishabh.

Manik and Nandini would have fun the whole day, talking, laughing, doing epic shit... things which made no sense at all. But at the end of it, what mattered was that they enjoyed every moment of it and they did, not to mention looking forward to their next meet up eagerly.

Nandini's classmates and neighbours Mukti and Navya took the liberty of joining their hangout sessions as well. Being the tease that he was, Manik would pull the girls' legs till they stomped out of the house in burning anger.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manik and Nandini were high schoolers now. And nothing had changed except for their growing friendship. There wasn't a day that the two wouldn't meet up. They had to get together and do something, laugh their hearts out... or their day was incomplete.

One such evening, the both of them were on their way back home from school on their bicycles. Nandini was plumper than before and Manik had grown taller. As for his pimples, they just made his life harder and more painful.

"I'm fed up yaar," hissed Nandini as she rolled her bicycle and walked beside it, "this is probably the third time this week that the tires are getting punctured."

"There's a limit to everything baba, I don't blame the cycle," teased Manik.

"What do you mean?" she spat angrily.

"If you keep overloading it on a daily basis... I mean... there's only so much that the poor thing can take," he replied.

"Oh! So you think that I'm fat!" she raged and hurried off without him.

"I was talking about your books!" he shouted after her and made her stop in her tracks. "Like... what do these guys think? This subject! That subject! And look at the size of those text books!"

Nandini pouted. "How come your tires don't get punctured then?"

"Well, you don't find me in the staffroom for nothing," he informed with a smirk.

Nandini couldn't help but smile. Manik never bothered to take all of his books and that landed him up in constant trouble. Nandini was very studious though. She hated to be get caught by a teacher for not doing what was supposed to be done.

"To be honest, I don't like to learn all these subjects," she said as they continued on their path. "It's boring."

"Tell me about it," he agreed. "My parents never had to use x or y in their office. Not even once. So I just don't get it. Why do we have to learn all this nonsense?"

"True," she snorted.

"I want to be an actor when I grow up," said Manik dreamily. "That's my dream. To make everyone laugh, cry, sing, dance..."

"And I want to be a filmmaker," she quipped excitedly. "Say what? One day I'll make a movie and you'll play the lead!"

"We both will!" he laughed happily.

"Nah! I'm not lead material!" she pouted.

"Says who?" he argued.

"Come on yaar," she sulked. "Look at me! I'm no Katrina Kaif or Deepika Padukone!"

"So what about me?" he showed off his fiery red pimples. "I'm no Ranbir Kapoor either! But you know what? We're going to be sexy when we grow up!"

Nandini laughed. Sexy? The idea of being sexy and attractive sounded rather hilarious to her but she had to agree... it did make her feel really good. I wonder how we'll look when we grow up?

"Look at Hrithik Roshan," he pointed out. "He had a back problem to battle with and a horrible stammer. And how about now?"

"Hmm," she mumbled dreamily. Hrithik was always on top of her list and she couldn't help but swoon at the very thought of him. He was drop dead gorgeous. His speech flowed like water and his body moved as effortlessly as a stream that one would never guess he had a problem with his back or his words!

Like every kid, Manik and Nandini just couldn't wait to grow up so that they could go out into the world and live their dreams. But will they?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Next: Chapter 3

This was very cute.

Nice update.

That was so freaking good!!!! I must say they both seems nurturing each other so much!! At this age!!

~ 3 ~

MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES

Yes, that's exactly it. Just like little Manik and Nandini, all of us believed in the magic of dreams once upon a time. We believed that dreams and aspirations were meant to come true. But this isn't the case as we can see right here.

Several years later, the plump, shy and reserved Nandini had entered into her adolescence as a much confident and outspoken person. And she wasn't plump anymore. She had undergone a complete makeover and was barely recognizable. No more of that double chin or sagging waist. Her hair which was once fashioned into a mushroom was now flowing like elegant threads of silk down her shoulders. Her curls and curves had a more solid definition of the word "feminine". The only thing that remained was her trademark potato cheeks, beautiful pouty lips and raging temper.

Nandini, early twenties, impatiently glanced at her watch for the hundredth time. She had been waiting outside Manik's gate on her scooty for the past 1 hours! "What the hell is this guy doing?" she muttered angrily and stormed into his house.

"Aunty," she paused and straightened out her hardened expression as she noticed Nyonika sipping on her morning cuppa at the dining table. "Is Manik ready yet? Any idea?"

"If that happens then the sun will rise in the west tomorrow," she chuckled sarcastically.

Nandini was gnashing her teeth as she entered Manik's bedroom. The walls were painted in a baby pink shade and there was an acoustic steel stringed guitar hanging on the wall. The bed was rather small for his size and he was nowhere to be seen!

"Manik?" she called but heard the open shower in response. She stomped to the bathroom door and rapped furiously. "Manik?"

"Mmm!" he mumbled in reply.

"What the hell are you doing in there!!!?" she hissed through gritted teeth. She could hear him spit out a huge blob of lather from his mouth.

"Bathing!" he blurted.

"Bathing?" She couldn't believe her ears. He had been in the bathroom for quite a long time now. "For two hours!!? What are you doing? Bathing an elephant!!?"

"Woohoo!" he hooted.

"Just cut the crap," she snapped, her temper flaring by the second. "And come out this instant!"

"Arre coming yaar!" he said impatiently. "Just five minutes!"

"Do you even know what five minutes feels like?" she spat. "Your five minutes is like two hours for God's sake!"

"Ooof! Coming baba! Just wait there!" he barked.

"Are you dumb? I'm getting late for work!" she snarled furiously. "You'd better come out right now or I'll break down this f*****g door!"

"Do it!" he sneered. "I dare you."

"Manik stop this nonsense!" she was close to tears now. "I swear, if I get late today because of you I'm just going to kill you."

"Ho-ho!" he teased.

"You know what!!!?" Nandini stomped on the ground in anger. "You can just stay in there. I'm going!!!"

"Wait! I'm done!" he called out.

"I don't care!!!" came her reply.

"Nandini!!!" he called out again. But there was no response. "Shit... I think she's gone..." he could be heard muttering in the bathroom. After what seemed like an eternity, Manik stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts and a round necked T-shirt. His jet black hair was dripping wet and like Nandini, he too had grown from a colt to a stallion. He had almost tripled in height and his broad well developed torso was packed with lean, mean muscles. His childhood braces had managed to tame his crooked teeth and hence he no longer needed them. To add to it all, his facial texture had almost cleared up to a smooth shine.

He flashed a sheepish grin as he noticed that Nandini was still in his bedroom, slouching over a chair. "Hi," he smirked.

"Wow!" she snapped sarcastically. "Can't believe that you came out so fast. That must have been so hard for you, right? Shedding your rhino skin!"

"Ho-ho!" he chuckled and began to smear a generous dollop of moisturising cream all over his hands.

"Manik..." she growled in a threatening tone through pursed lips. "I'm late..."

"Just five minutes..." he pleaded.

"Five minutes got over two years back," she snarled. "I'm so old that my babies are going to have babies!"

"I'm done!" he said in a hurry as he blasted a jet of deodorant all over himself and hurried across to the other room.

She glanced at her watch and almost cried. "I'm late..." she whined. "Tomorrow onwards you better go on your own! No more picking you up!"

"Arre I'm done yaar!" he snapped and came running back in a pair of pale blue scrubs. "Let's go!" he announced and made it halfway to the exit only to go running back in again.

"Now what!!!?" she screamed.

"My lips..." he said anxiously. "Forgot to get some balm on. They're so dry and cracked."

"Ahoooww Gawwwd!!" she was ready to pull her hair out.

"Done! Done!" he raced out to her scooty whilst Nyonika sat and laughed at the scene.

Nandini was irritated to high heaven as she shoved in the keys, got onto her scooty and put on her helmet whilst Manik got behind her gingerly and shifted into a more comfortable position. "Ready?" she checked.

"Yup," he nodded.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Moments later, they were half way through their journey when Nandini finally spoke up. "We're performing at the club tonight," she reminded, "don't forget. And don't be late."

"I won't," he said loudly as the blowing wind cut out his voice. "The director has plans to shift me into the maternity ward. Probably this weekend. So I'd be delivering a lot of babies going forward."

Manik was a male nurse at a five star hospital in the city. Yup. That's where he ended up. Being a nurse. No, not a doctor... but a nurse... Forget about the whole "actor" thing.

Nandini laughed. "Well, it's better than the geriatric ward," she commented.

"Tell me about it," he replied looking a bit dishevelled.

"Is Grandpa James still after you?" she probed.

"Ooff!" he hissed. "Don't even remind me!" Grandpa James was a creepy old senior patient who seemingly had the hots for Manik. At least that's what he concluded from the old man's weird behaviour.

By now, they had pulled up outside the hospital gates. "I'll see you in the evening," she said.

"Adios!" he waved. "Talk at lunch... if that exists." True, he did have a hectic schedule considering his profession. Sometimes, lunch and breaks were just a luxury.

Nandini hit the streets at full throttle now. She was damn late. And she was going to have a tough time explaining herself to the Chief Editor Mr. Raghav Mehta. If he says anything stupid, I swear that I'm going to screw this Manik Malhotra. After all, he's the one who made me late!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Next: Chapter 4

WOW!!! Totally different concept i c!! Hmmm...quite interesting n intriguing. Am luving dis as much as I luv ur odr ff (tho am waiting eagerly for d nxt update over der!) So plz up wid d nxt update soon?

Amazin'
superb
mindblowin'
awesome updates
this story is so different
loving it a lot

chapter 2 n chapter 3...seriously maniks character..i cant beliv..usually in every stories he is arrogant angry monster types or rich nice cute sa...this is somethng totaly new for me.. manik male nurse...hehe...uses lip balm n cream...takes ride frm nandini... very intrestng thanks for the pm cont soon..

Sorry..just saw your pm. Read all the updates at once. Very different concept and really like it. Waiting to see how it unfolds. I love this friendship between Manik and Nandini, and amazing characterization. Keep it up. 😉