Chapter 1:
Manik's POV:
Last week was the biggest week of my life, I did the unimaginable. The entire world is still shook from the shock of the Koh-I-Noor going missing. I stare at the precious diamond lying in my hand, how did this lifeless thing manage to cause a ruckus from state to state everywhere. Brushing all the thoughts, I fist the diamond in my hand and head towards my car. Our mission isn't going to be easy, neither is it safe, but it needs to be done. That being said, none of our missions are ever safe, every morning I wake up not knowing whether I'll survive that day or not. But what is life without a little danger, my life and death are both very unpredictable, I never know when I'll be killed, but that's what makes my life exciting and satisfies my
dangerous heart. I chuck the diamond the pocket of my jacket and start the engine, ready to start another life threatening journey.
Manik starts driving out of Mumbai to go to Pune, he is taking the diamond to his dad and 'partners in crime' Cabir and Dhruv so they can all execute yet another deadly mission. He reaches the highway where his phone loses all service, he notices his dad's missed calls and tries to call him back. He gets so engrossed with his phone, taking his eyes of the road, he doesn't notice a very tiny figure standing in the middle of the road asking for a lift as her car has broken down. The girl screams in horror when she realises the car she wanted a lift from, isn't stopping but is coming towards her in full speed, she screams in fear. Her screams grab Manik's attention, he finally looks at the road, his heart almost falls out of his chest as he realises he's about to run a petite girl over. He halts his car with a jerk, almost destroying the breaks, with his heart beating at an erratic speed.
Manik's POV:
I was so busy in my thoughts I didn't realise dad was trying to call me. Just as I glanced at my phone I saw a missed call from Cabir and dad, I take my phone in my hands to call them back only to realise I have no network service. DAMN! India seriously needs to work on its highway network issues, as it gets on my nerves now. I was busy on my phone trying to call dad back but suddenly I heard a loud yet faint scream. I immediately looked up to to the horrific image in front of me, a girl, probably half the size of me, standing in front of me screaming. I was driving at full speed to get to Pune faster and was almost about to run her over, and that stupid girl, instead of moving away from the car just stood there screaming at me. Is she trying to commit suicide? What the hell! Of all cars why mine? I halt my car with a jerk as quickly as possible, I don't kill people, well.. Erm.. I don't kill INNOCENT people. I stopped the car inches away from her, if I was a second late I would have run her over. My heart was still beating at a ridiculous speed. I don't know why I was so scared, for a second I almost thought I killed her. I take a second to calm myself down then storm out of the car to yell at that idiot for being so careless. I slam the door with all my power to warn her just how furious I am. I rush to her huffing and puffing in annoyance, and in no time I find myself standing inches away from her. She was covering her face with those tiny little palms, maybe in fear. She seems very afraid. 'ARE YOU CRAZY?! Marne ke liye meri hi gaari mili thi? Why were you standing here screaming? You could have moved you senseless girl. Agar time par breaks nahi lagta toh pata hai kya hota?' I yelled with frustration, she still wasn't moving her hands from her face. She seemed terrified and I immediately felt guilty for screaming at her. She started shaking and maybe crying.. I took a deep breathe to calm myself down before speaking to her. 'Look, you have to be careful. This stupidity could have costed you your life' I said very softly. She finally calmed down a little and moved her hands from her face. Man she's beautiful! Her pretty face was coated with fear, I felt even more guilty now for shouting at her. She looks innocent, too innocent. She finally looks me in eye, still terrified with what just happened. 'Woh... I'm sorry. Actually I was on my way to Pune to meet my friend and my car broke down.. ' she said very innocently pointing towards her car. 'It's very late already, and it's dark so I got scared and wanted a lift. I've been here by myself for so long, I got really scared and my phone isn't getting any network either so I wanted to ask you for a lift but...' she started tearing up. I didn't like those innocent eyes filling up with tears so I tried to calm her down. 'Oh, I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have yelled' I took a brief pause and held her shoulders to assure her she's safe 'hey! Calm down.. You're okay. Kuch nahi hua. And don't be scared, main hoon na. I'll drop you wherever you need to go' I said and smiled at her. My smile reflected on her face as she curled her lips to smile with me, 'really?' she asked and I nodded still smiling. I just couldn't stop smiling. STOP SMILING MANIK ITS WEIRD. 'Thank you so much.. You have no idea what you're doing for me' she said, 'no worries! Shall we?' I asked and directed her to my car and she followed. I had to show off my chivalry so I opened the door of the passenger seat for her and made her comfortable. Then I moved to my side of the car and started the journey once again, but this time with a stranger's company.
An air of silence prevailed in the car, Nandini was silently looking outside the car admiring the beauty of nature that surrounds the highway whilst Manik was admiring the beauty sitting next to him in his car. He wanted to talk to her but didn't know what to say, 'music?' he asked politely to which she just nodded. Manik played his collection of rap songs, from Kanye to Tyga. Nandini gave him a unpleased look to which he asked 'what?' whilst singing along to Kanye's greatest hits. Nandini turned the volume down and looked at him, 'isse music nahi, shor kehte hain. Waise tumhari shakal se lagta nahi hai ke tumhara sense of music itna rubbish hoga' she said smirking at him. Manik smirked back at her and said 'waise tumhari shakal se bhi nahi lagta ki tum itni stupid ho sakti ho' he said smiling cheekily. 'Matlab?' Nandini asked cringing her brows, she didn't approve of Manik calling her stupid. 'I mean, taking a lift from a stranger.. A very HOT stranger. In the middle of the night, on a highway.. ALONEEE' Manik said huskily. Nandini just rolled his eyes at him, Manik continued 'mein serial killer nikla to?', he said to which she replied 'Meri pocket mein knife hai or bag mein pepper spray. Try me' Nandini said in a challenging tone still keeping the smirk on her face. Her tone impressed Manik, he liked confident girls. Manik continued his driving whilst smiling when something stuck him, they still didn't know each other's names. 'By the way, I'm Manik, Manik Malhotra' he said genuinely smiling at her, Nandini smiled back very cutely 'Nandini Murthy'. 'What a beautiful name, for a beautiful lady' Manik said winking at her, 'don't flirt with me Malhotra, I have a knife and I am not afraid to use it' she said winking back at him. Their journey continued with light talks, and they finally entered Pune. Manik didn't want to let go of her so early so he started ransacking his brain for ideas to keep her with him for some more time. 'Erm.. Are you hungry?' he finally picked the lamest excuse he could find. 'A little yeah.. Why?' Nandini asked. 'There's this really cool restaurant with a karaoke bar that I know off. Wanna go for dinner?' Manik asked nervously. 'Are you asking me out, on our first meeting?' Nandini asked raising her brow at him. 'Well technically you're already out, with me. So I don't need to ask. Besides it'll just be a friendly dinner, as a sorry for yelling at you. So please?' he asked hopefully, to which Nandini finally gave in and nodded smilingly. 'Fine but my treat! For you helping me and giving me a lift' 'hell no! Manik Malhotra never lets the lady pay' Manik said arrogantly. 'He does now! Nandini Murthy ne ek bari bol diya so bol diya' she said proudly and Manik just shook his head in disbelief.
They reached the restaurant in no time and headed in together. They sat on a table and placed their orders, Nandini being the adamant person she is, payed the waiter in advance just so Manik couldn't object. They sat there waiting for the food whilst admiring the people singing and dancing at the karaoke bar. 'So Nandini, tell me about yourself.. Kya karti ho?' Manik asked. 'I'm a doctor, I'm currently doing an internship in Xavier Hospital, I had a few days off from work so thought of coming out to see a friend in Pune but then, you know what happened' she said in a friendly manner. 'Oh, intelligent and all ey, I mean doctor.. Not bad' Manik said in an impressed manner. 'Sooo..' Manik said awkwardly, he cleared his throat and continued 'do you have a boyfriend?' he asked trying not to sound to weird. Nandini smiled at him and replied 'yeah I do' much to Manik's disappointment. Manik's face fell and he mummered a 'damn it' scrunching his lips. Nandini laughed at his actions and said, 'itna disappoint mat ho, I was kidding I don't have a boyfriend.. I'm too focused in life to waste time on relationships' she said. Manik smirked at her and said 'even if you did have a boyfriend I wouldn't be disappointed, I mean break ups karwana mujhe ache se ata hai' he said winking at her again to which Nandini's mouth opened wide. Manik chuckled at her reaction, 'waise tum kya karte ho?' Nandini asked and Manik's expressions changed completely. Reality hit him, how could he tell Nandini what he does. Nandini noticed the changes in him but decided not to ask him about it, as they had just met and she didn't want to invade his privacy. Manik closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, 'I have a family business, Malhotra group of companies ke bare mein toh suna hi hoga?' Manik said casually, to which Nandini almost chocked on her water, she could tell he's rich seeing his car and his clothes but she never thought he'd be that rich, Malhotra group of industries was a multinational company with the market value of over 5000 million dollars. 'Tum... Raj Malhotra ke bete...?' she could hardly finish her sentence, Manik laughed and just said a yes. They continued talking for a while, talking about their past, their present, and their plans for the future. Manik told her a lot about himself, minus his secret and the part where he very conveniently stole the Koh-I-Noor from the Tower of London.
When talking about their biggest dreams, Nandini said 'for once I don't want to be the serious doctor everyone expects me to be.. I want to live, live life to the fullest, live being completely carefree.. I want to see the world, I want excitement and.. and...' she couldn't complete her sentence as she couldn't find the right words to say what she wanted. So Manik, reading her mind, finished the sentence for her 'you want passion, and adventure, and even a little danger' (yes I used the vampire diaries reference because I LOVE IT) he said very huskily looking deep in her eyes. His voice captivated her, 'yeah, that's what I want' she said looking back in his eyes. They had an intense eye lock, Nandini smiled and blushed at their passionate eye lock 'one day, when it's the right time.. I'll get these things that I want' she said and looked down smilingly. Manik knew she was just saying that for the sake of it, and she wouldn't get to live life the way she wants to because of her hectic schedule as a doctor. 'You know what I believe Nandini.. No time is the right time, in fact every time is the right time. The right time will never come if you keep looking for it, step back from your busy life and go find the right time for yourself. Once you do that I promise you, the right time will be right now' he said still looking in her eyes. Nandini didn't understood a word he said but the huskiness in his voice hypnotised her to lose herself in him. 'Close your eyes' he said, to which Nandini looked at him questioningly, he just blinked his eyes in assurance and put his palm on her eyes to close them. After making her close her eyes, Manik got up and went towards the karaoke bar and spoke in the mic, 'this one is for you Nandini'. Nandini opened her eyes completely surprised by seeing Manik on the karaoke bar stage in front of the microphone ready to dazzle her with his performance and charm.
(This scene is completely inspired by Bang Bang, one of my favourite movies, watch the YouTube video and listen to the song and imagine MaNan dance instead of Hritikh and Katrina to get better feel of the scene :) I'll leave a link to the song)
http://youtu.be/YAOIbHBEvi0Aisi kya, chali hawa, ki le gayi
Meri saanson ko mujhse door
Tere paas.Aur mujhe huaa ehsaas
Tu Tu Tu, Tu Meri ri ri
Main tera ra, hone laga
Main main main, main tera ra ra
Tu Meri ri, hone lagi..
Kaise yeh huaa magar
Na hai mujhe, na tujhko koi khabar
Par ye dil ab se hai kehne laga
Tu Tu Tu, Tu Meri ri ri
Main tera ra, hone laga
Main main main, main tera ra ra
Tu Meri ri, hone lagi..
Na jaanu main, na jaane tu
Huaa ye jaadu kaise
Jo mera tha woh kho gaya
Jo tera mill gaya ho jaise
Iss dil ne, jab jaana ki bas tu..
Tu Tu Tu, Tu Meri ri ri
Main tera ra, hone laga
Main main main, main tera ra ra
Tu Meri ri, hone lagi..
Yun kabhi, yun kabhi
Dil kahe jaise haan yehi bas yehi
Samaa hai jisme zindagi zindagi
Hai jeeni aise ek pal, ek pal ho baaqi
Jaise ajnabi jahaan aake lag jaaye gale
Jaise tu chale aur duniya tere sang chale
Jaise raat chupke se tere kaanon mein kahe
Ki ab toh jaane kyun, jaane kyun, jaane kyun..
Tu Tu Tu, Tu Meri ri ri
Main tera ra, hone laga
Main main main, main tera ra ra
Tu Meri ri, hone lagi.. (x2)
Aisi kya, chali hawa, ki le gayi
Meri saanson ko mujhse door,
Tere paas.
Aur mujhe huaa ehsaas
Tu Tu Tu Tu Tu Tu ...
Tu Tu Tu, Tu Meri ri ri
Main tera ra, hone laga
Main main main, main tera ra ra
Tu Meri ri, hone lagi.. (x2)
MaNan finished the dance panting heavily and smiling contently at each other. Their eyes reflected their joy and satisfaction of being with each other. Nandini was over the moon, these are the little things that she wanted to do but never got to because of the way her life was, but she was grateful she met Manik and he made her realise how fun life can be.
***
One of the biggest updates I've ever written, sooo liked it? Leave feedback, tell me what you think and let me know if you want me to continue with this story or Love Story.. Love story isn't permanently discontinued, I'll get back to it but later on.. Not anytime soon :) Falling for my soulmate update tomorrow! Have a good day and let me know what you think <3
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