MaNan FF - Heaven DISCONTINUED ON IF - Page 19

Originally posted by: sharon.babu

awesome update...

loved it so much...

loved the care that manik had for nandu...

hope nandu doesn't fall for aryaman...

i think manik is starting to feel jealous of aryaman...

can't wait to see what happens next...

keep up the good work and continue soon...

Originally posted by: sri_valli

very aggressive update. u pennes manik's reaction very well...i just wanted aeyaman to witness manan bond...and thats what happened...plz dont make nandini to fall for aryaman...

Whew! That was pretty long! I know it's a bit slow paced but things are going to get intense as we proceed. Hope you guys will bear with me ;) For now, enjoy part 9 :) And remember, your likes and comments are so valuable to me and drives me to put in more, so please do continue to support and participate. Love you all <3

~ 9 ~

Mr. Murthy always gave Manik the creeps. Those sharp, piercing eyes, the white fluffy mop of hair and moustache, the golden rimmed blazing spectacles... Ever since Manik was kicked out of Nandini's life, he had made extra sure to never cross paths with this man. But let's face the truth. The more you run away from something, the more it's going to hunt you down.

Nandini's eyes darted from Manik's red and sweaty face to her father's pale and cold one. She wasn't liking this cold war at all. Her injuries didn't hurt anymore. Was it because of the shot that Manik gave her or was it because of the nerve gripping scene before her?

"H-hi uncle," he cleared his throat and managed to bring up a nervous smile. But Mr. Murthy never replied. Instead, he glowered viciously at Manik from head to toe as if he had returned from the stores with a condom. Manik felt conscious as he realized that Murthy was checking out his attire.

He got the message. His presence wasn't welcome there. Without another word, he quickly lowered his head, wrung his face and bustled to the door when all of a sudden, Murthy spoke up. "Are you a doctor?"

Manik stopped in his tracks and turned to face Murthy. But the man wasn't looking at him. His eyes were on the floor, as if looking at Manik was unbearable. "Umm... No... I'm a nurse..." he replied.

Murthy looked up at Manik. At last. "Nurse?" He chuckled in disbelief and raised a questioning brow. Manik gulped down the "apple" which was lodged in his throat.

"Why? Didn't you get any other job?" he asked to which Nandini's wide-eyed gaze shot back at her father. Her heart began to pound painfully. She knew her father too well and could sense that he intended to hurt her friend with his rude and outspoken comment. She looked back at Manik and could see the pain on his face and the ache in his chest.

Manik didn't know what to say. The words just rolled in his mouth. He wanted to protest. Tell him that he was forced into it. But he just shifted uncomfortably.

"There are so many honourable professions to choose from," smirked Murthy. "Doctor. Engineer. Executive. And you chose to be... a nurse?" He said the words in contempt. As if it was a disgrace.

Nandini wouldn't take it anymore. She couldn't just sit back and let her father steamroll over her friend. "So what's wrong with being a nurse?" she spat angrily. "Is he getting himself banged like a prostitute? It is very much an honourable profession and is as good as being a doctor. Do you even know the extensive kind of training these guys have to go through? The only difference between a nurse and a doctor is their degree."

Murthy ignored her and questioned him again. "Are you married?"

"No," he replied quietly.

"So what are you waiting for?" he shot back. "To get old enough to lose a couple of teeth?"

"I will... when the time is right..." In spite of Murthy's rude demeanour, Manik was extra careful not to step out of line. Whether it was a change in tone or expression, he kept it under control.

"When the time is right? And when's that? When you're sitting with your legs dangling over your grave?"

"What the f**k Appa! Do you even realize what you're saying!!?" Nandini raised her voice to which Murthy gestured to shut up.

"Shh! Mind your language," he said. "Or else I'll slap you senseless."

"Hah!" Nandini laughed sarcastically. "I don't think that would be necessary. I've just been through that now. Thanks to your brilliant perception of an honourable profession!"

"Nandini!" he warned aggressively but she was not the kind to back down if challenged.

"Oh Appa just shut up!" she snapped. "Do you even remember what you said after my 12^th grade? Oh! Filmmaking? That's a job with no scope! You won't be able to survive. You can leave no mark! So what about you Appa? When you opted for your so called honourable executive profession and slogged your ass off for someone else... twelve hours a day, with an aching back... did you like it? When your juniors got promoted over you, did you realize the so called scope of your job?"

"Nandini!!!" Murthy was louder this time and his face was plastered with rage. He couldn't deny it. His daughter's words were true. And it pricked him painfully. For more than thirty years of his adult life, he had toiled like an ox for the same person. Day and night. Relentlessly. With a battered body and an aching heart. It wasn't easy to convince himself with a "just for one more day" and pull himself out of bed every day to rush to work. It wasn't easy to sit through the gruelling hours of day with the tremendous pain in his joints. But he did it. For his family. He hated his job and his life, but he did it... for his children.

By now, the commotion had brought Rose to step out of the store. She stood and watched the scene with an open mouth.

"And what about the mark that you wanted to leave? Did you leave your so called mark? The only mark that you left is on yourself!" That's the way Nandini was. Easy to detonate. And once she exploded, she just wouldn't stop until the raging fire in her heart died down.

Murthy was trembling with rage and breathing heavily now.

"Just stop it yaar, please!" Manik intervened. "Uncle please... please guys. Don't fight. Just... just relax."

"No Manik!" she shot back. "Enough is enough! He started it! Everything! And he has to realize..."

Manik cut her off loudly. "Nandini enough! Just shut up." There was something firm in his voice that told her to draw the line. She crossed her arms and looked away whilst Murthy stood rooted to the spot and glowered at her. Without another word, he stomped out of the room.

Though Nandini never turned to look at him, she knew that he had walked out. And she also knew that she had hurt him badly though she never meant to. There were tears stinging in her eyes now and she bit her lip.

Manik sighed and lowered his head before looking up at her. "Buddy... what is wrong with you? Just keep a check on yourself. Why do you have to lose it so much?"

"Didn't you hear the shit that he was saying?" she spat in a wobbly voice.

"Let him say whatever he wants," he replied softly. "Just don't break your head on that. I've told you so many times. Don't react to what they tell you. You need to just ignore it. And you need to get a grip on yourself."

"Are you telling me to just shut up and listen to any bullshit?" she said angrily. By now, tears had started to spill over. "No ways! What he said was wrong and I knew you felt bad. And don't bloody deny it! Do you understand? And get this thing straight... I won't let anyone dump their garbage onto you. Get it? Anyone! Even if it's my own father!"

Manik smiled. "Nandini... you na seriously..." he patted her on the shoulders. "Babes he's your dad. You can't just lash out at him like that. There are other ways to get your point across."

"What about you?" she snapped. "Are you so damn patient to get your point across to your parents?"

"Oof you na..." He sighed in exasperation. "You were just waiting to get back at me, right?"

"You have to follow what you preach!" she retorted.

"Nandini... you know that I've given up long back on trying to convince them. Which is why I have all these secret classes."

"Is everything okay guys?" Rose finally spoke up.

"Yeah Rose," Manik replied.

Just then, a woman darted into the room with panic plastered on her face. "Someone please help that man! I think he's getting a heart attack or something!"

Nandini exchanged a blank stare with Manik. He hastily bustled out and paused outside the door. "Shhhiiit..." He hissed and shot a quick look at Nandini before taking to his heels.

Curiosity and worry forced Nandini to step out of the dispensary. To her horror, she realized that the man was none other than her father. She felt the breath get punched out of her lungs as she darted towards him. He was sprawled across the floor with a hand clutching his chest and he seemed to be struggling for air. Manik was on his knees now and so was Nandini. "Appa..." she whimpered fearfully.

"Just relax," Manik assured her quickly whilst monitoring her father. By now, help had arrived and Murthy was quickly shifted to the emergency room for assessment.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After what seemed like an eternity, Nandini, who had been pacing up and down the corridor spotted the doctor pop out of the room with Manik on his tail.

"Nothing to worry at the moment," said the doctor. "It's a severe case of hypertension. He's going to be alright. But just pay attention that he gets lots of rest, healthy food and plenty of water. And definitely, no stress or anything that worries him."

Nandini thanked the doctor and watched him leave until she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. It was Manik. "You okay?" he asked quietly to which she remained silent. "See... you guys can go home in a while. But promise me that you're not going to lose it again. No matter what happens."

She continued to remain silent as she looked away into the distance. Her temples and jaw throbbed visibly as she clenched her teeth to bottle herself up. "Nandini..." he was firmer now. "Come on. Promise me. No matter what happens, you're going to keep quiet. You're not going to fight back. I know it's going to hurt. But trust me, it won't last as long as this. Can you do that for me?"

Nandini took a deep breath and felt much relieved. She nodded a yes, to which Manik smirked and gave her a playful punch on the good side of her face. "Aww-right," he said more energetically. "You want to see your dad? Go on."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nandini found her dad stretched flat on the bed. It first seemed like he was asleep, but he opened up his eyes and shot a careless glance at his daughter before looking away grumpily. Her lips quivered slightly. The world had said that though she was a carbon copy of her mother, she got all of her attributes from her father. The anger, the spirit to fight back and never to give in and a high level of intolerance towards bullshit. But unlike Nandini the wild mare, life had broken her father, an old stallion, long back.

She sat beside him and watched his old and grey features. After her mother's death, he had grown older and greyer until the new woman came and lifted his spirits up. That was the only feature she liked of her stepmom. At least, she loved the man and cared for him. And Nandini was always grateful for that.

Nandini had harboured a strong resentment against her father for so long. He had broken their hearts and married again. She had never seen him be a good husband to their mother and so... to see him give all the tender love and care in the world to the new woman pricked her. Yet, from the deep layers of her memory, she remembered how he had loved them and cared for their needs. How he had tried to be strong for them even when he was breaking inside.

Nandini felt her heart splinter with guilt as she quietly laid her head on her father's chest in silent apology. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying. She loved him deeply and he too understood every bit of the silence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By late evening, Nandini was huddled up in bed with her eyes out of the window. She wasn't alone. She had Vijay for company like always, a twelve year old chocolate brown Labrador Retriever with a white muzzle and thick grey eyebrows. He was a senior in the canine world and had been with Nandini since his puppyhood.

He came up to her and nudged gently. Nandini smiled. "It's okay Vijay," she said quietly and tickled his thick neck. "I'm not mad at you. It's not your fault. You're old. And even if you aren't... accidents do happen. You're still my boy and I love you."

The dog sat with its head on her lap. He had done so for all his life and she loved when it happened. She stroked his head and looked out into the dark star studded sky once again. When she had arrived home earlier, another taunting session was waiting for her. Vijay, her old dog had waited for her to return for so long and had had an accident in the house. Not to mention... her stepmom was disgusted. She hated dogs and the way they smelt. The way they drooled and shed its fur all around the house. And now it was the height of it all when Vijay took a dump. But Nandini had promised to hold her tongue and so she did. She said nothing in spite of all the rubbish that her step had thrown up. She quietly cleaned up the mess for which a guilty Vijay apologized immediately with a loving lick.

The vibrating phone brought her out of her thoughts. It was a skype call from Manik. "Hi..." she answered in a low voice and lo... Manik's grinning face popped up on the screen.

"Hiyah! What's up?" he enquired cheerfully.

"The roof?" she sighed whilst she continued to stroke Vijay.

"Ho-ho. Very funny. So tell me... how're you feeling?"

"Yeah... okay," she replied in a depressed tone.

"Umm... you don't look so okay," he probed. "What happened?"

"Nothing..." she lied.

"Come on, aren't you going to tell me?"

"Actually..." she sighed and continued wearily. "The thing is that I feel like killing someone."

"Oh-kay? Who?"

"You," she replied. "Who else?"

"Me!!? What did I do?" Manik gaped innocently.

"Everything. You're an ass," she replied drearily.

"Wha"okay. You're mad about the lectures I gave you this evening?"

"No. For the promise you got me to do," she replied.

Manik was quiet for a moment. "She said something?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Nothing new right?"

"What's it now?" he asked. "Is it about me?"

"No, not really," she answered. "It's Vijay. I was unusually late today and Rishabh was yet to return from tuition. So the poor guy had an accident."

"Aw damn," he hissed.

"And trust me... if you didn't get me to make that promise I would have literally f**ked her in the ass."

"Ewww... Now when did you grow a... um..."

"Grow what?" she knew what he was talking about.

"Nah... I was just... you know... picturing that in my mind. You... effing her in the..."

"Shaddup," she smiled for the first time in hours. Manik laughed. He was glad that he got to push her out of that miserable zone of depression.

"So how's your daddy dearest?" He asked with a pout.

"Ah. He's sleeping..." she replied.

"You guys spoke anything after that?" he asked quietly, the discomfort on his face and voice evident.

"No... not really," she sighed. "He's... been so quiet since. He didn't even look at me." There was pain in her voice as she said that. The cold demeanour of her father was killing her. Hurting her inside.

Manik just looked at her for a moment as he wondered how to snap her out of her depression zone.

"I'm... sorry... Manik," she said in a low voice and shifted uncomfortably.

"Sorry? For what?" he asked in surprise.

"For all the shit that Appa said..." she replied.

"Naaahh... Just leave it yaar," he said with a nonchalant smile. "Why do you even keep thinking about it? It's over. Forget it."

"I know that you were very hurt," she argued quietly. "I saw the look on your face. What he said was so wrong and he shouldn't have said all those things."

"Listen," he gestured her to stop. "I've chucked it out of my mind. You should too. Okay? Now let's just concentrate on the fun stuff. Let's start with Vijay. I haven't seen him like in a million years."

"Ah! There he is..." she pointed the camera towards Vijay. It was complete bliss when it came to his discussion. "Saw him?"

"Whoa! Is that... Wait a minute! Has he gone grey? I mean like... humans?" Manik was absolutely stunned to see the canine's old and haggard face on his phone's screen.

"Yeah he has..." Nandini chuckled. "Funny right? Even dogs go grey like us. Poor guy is arthritic now. He's also half blind."

"Dammit..." Manik hissed and wrung his stubbles. "Gawd. That's just... He looks so... aww. Remember how he used to push me down and lick me all over?" he laughed.

"Yeah..." Nandini chuckled. "You scaled the post once, remember? Just to get away from him? I've still got that video."

"Like really!" Manik laughed happily. "Send it to me. Whatsapp!"

"Sure," she replied. "Remember we used to shoot lots of crazy videos?"

"How can I forget?" Manik laughed. "We were so damn crazy! I miss doing that!"

"Let's do that again!" she shot excitedly. "Tomorrow morning!"

"What!!?" Manik was stunned. "Are you nuts! First thing is that you're not in the condition to be roaming around. Second thing is that your dad's going to kill you if he comes to know about this."

"He won't," she whispered. "And even if he does I don't care anymore."

"Nandini don't be dumb," he warned. "He was just so close to getting a heart attack and you want to do something stupid again?"

"Yaar, why will he get a heart attack? Because I went out to take some videos!!?"

"No! Because you came to see me!"

"So what's wrong with that?"

"Nandini... are you asking me this question?! You saw how he behaved today! He'll go over the edge."

After a brief moment of silence Nandini spoke again quietly. "All what I wanted was to just laugh like those old days. But it's okay. I've got this far. I'll make it. Going to hit the sack."

The sadness was clear in her voice. "O-ho!" Manik hissed in exasperation. "Fine... we'll do it. Happy?"

"No, it's okay. Bye."

"Arre yaar, we'll do it na? But not tomorrow. When are you returning to work?"

"Day after tomorrow," she replied in the same low spirits.

"Fine..." he answered. "That's the day my night shift starts. So I'll be awake for a while in the day. Set out early and we'll catch up and do it. What say?"

"Hmm..." she mumbled.

"What hmm? Give me a bold yes!" he said with a puffed up chest.

"Alright!" she smiled at last.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So far its good lets see whts store for us nxt cont soon

Wow.. I love it yar..

Wow...such a long update... Loved it to the core...just loved the bonding between manan...liked each and every word of this update...their Skype convo was too funny...waiting for their early morning fun and. Video shooting...

awesome update...

loved it so much...

manan are just too adorable...they are the definition of BFFs...

loved the way they stood up for each other...

i just hope that her dad stands up for her in front of his wife...

manan had the best time of their lives during their childhood...

can't wait to see what happens next...

keep up the good work and continue soon...

Awesome update.

Good updt

Loved it.