Chapter 4
Manik's POV:
Another day of the same old life. The best part about my job is every time I go to sleep I know never whether I will wake up the next day or not, I have more enemies than there are countries in this world. I yawn and get up to a different place than usual.. Erm where am I? I look around to familiarise myself with the place and my eyes halt at a sleeping Nandini. Everything that happened yesterday comes back to me, our meeting, our talks, our dance, our... kiss. How I wish I didn't have to end things here, I would have loved to get to know her, spend time with her, but my profession doesn't allow me to do so. There's no room for feelings in my life. I get up to call dad and update him about everything, than I call Cabir to tell him everything that happened, including how I met Nandini, the only thing I didn't tell him was the part where I very conveniently kissed her, if I told him about that he wouldn't spare me a chance to breathe and tease the life out of me. After talking to dad and Cabir I walked back to the room to see Nandini awake, oh God this is going to be awkward.
Nandini was just sitting at the edge of the bed, caressing her, or rather Manik's jacket that he gave her, she didn't know what to do or where to go from here. Manik walked up to her and cleared his throat to grab her attention, Nandini instantly looked up at him and then back down, to avoid his gaze. 'Go.. good mor.. morning' Manik managed to say to initiate a conversation. 'What's the time?' Nandini asked. 'It's 10:30.. We should probably leave now.. I'll drop you to your friends house' Manik said. Nandini just hmmed and got up to freshen up. Everything was awkward between them and Manik didn't like that, he wanted to leave her on a good note. Nandini came out after freshening up 'I'm ready, lets go' she said and tried to walk away only to be stopped by Manik. Manik held her wrist, 'wait.. Before we go I just wanna say I'm sorry.. For everything. You had to go through a lot yesterday because of me and meri wajah se tum problem mein a gayi..' 'It's okay Manik, problem mein a gayi but uss problem se nikala bhi to tum hi ne, right? so don't worry. It's okay' Nandini said smilingly. 'Sooo friends?' Nandini asked sweetly. 'Sure' Manik said. 'Ab yahi rehna hai kya? Let's gooo!' Manik said and dragged Nandini out with him. They waited outside the hotel for a cab and both got settled inside. The journey was friendly, Manik and Nandini just talked random things, and before they knew it Nandini's friend's house was already here. Manik was disappointed as he wanted to spend more time with her, but he also knew Nandini will be safer away from him. 'So as promised I have safely brought you here, does this make up for you almost getting shot?' Manik asked to which Nandini chuckled. 'Yeah it sure does Malhotra' Nandini said as she got out of the car. Manik also stepped out to see her off. 'So?' Manik said 'sooo..' Nandini also said unable to think of anything else. 'Will we meet again?' Nandini asked curiously. 'That depends, do you wanna see me again?' Manik asked mischievously leaning closer to her whilst smirking, to which Nandini just shook her head in disbelief. 'Manik seriously stop flirting.. Bolo na, I'll see you again right?' Nandini asked. This time Manik didn't say anything as he himself didn't know whether he will or not so avoiding her question he said 'Nandini I'm getting late.. You take care'. Nandini looked at him sadly, and Manik unable to fight his urges pulled her in for a tight hug to which Nandini responded. He tightened the hug seeing her responding and whispered in her ear 'thank you... I'm glad we met', he broke the hug looking deeply in her eyes and kissed her forehead. Nandini closed her eyes to feel his lips lingering on her forehead. Manik pulled back and got back in the taxi and drove away whilst Nandini just stood there staring at the taxi whilst smiling. She just sighed and moved inside the house.
***
Manik asked the taxi driver to drop him at his dad's house. He sat there thinking about the few hours he got to spend with Nandini, and his lips immediately curled up in a smile. His thoughts were broken by his ringing cell phone, he saw the caller ID to see Cabir calling him. 'Haan Cabir, I'm almost there.. I'll be home in about 15 minutes' Manik said. 'Manik there's a change of plan. Me Dhruv and uncle have to go to Delhi for an emergency so uncle has asked you to go to the Lonavala farmhouse first, as its not safe for you to roam around with the diamond.. So at this point the farmhouse is your safest option, we'll be back in a few days and then we'll take it from there' Cabir said. 'Yeah okay I'll le...' Manik suddenly stopped as he realised something. 'SHIT SHIT SHIT OH F*** NO NO NO' Manik screamed almost breaking Cabir's ears off. 'WHAT?!' Cabir asked as even he got scared by Manik's sudden outburst. 'Nothing I'll call you back' Manik said as he cut the call. 'I left the bloody diamond in my jacket, NANDINI HAS MY JACKET NOW.. SHIT MANIK!!' Manik mentally yelled at himself for being so careless.
***
On the other hand Nandini got to her friends house, freshened up and spent the day chilling, but mostly thinking about Manik. At night she went to the guest room to get some rest, but that's when her eyes fell on the jacket Manik gave her. She smiled thinking about him, and walked over to pick the jacket up. She was walking when she saw a shadow behind the curtains. She thought it was her imagination so she ignored it, but then the vase behind her dropped and broke into pieces. That's when she freaked out, she looked back to see the shadow again, but before she could scream her mouth was covered by someone's huge palms, she tried to protest and retaliate. But before she could do anything she felt dizzy, everything around her started getting blurry, she smelt chloroform and figured out she was getting drugged. She tried to fight back but soon her senses gave up and she fell back on someone.
***
Hours later, Nandini opens her eyes and found herself in a unfamiliar place. She was in the backseat of someone's car. 'Kya yaar Manik, mere he haathon meri bhabhi ka kidnap kara raha hai, kitna bura first impression pare ga' she heard the voice of a man. Her senses became alert hearing Manik's name. 'Shut up yaar Cabir.. Yahaan meri jaan nikal gayi thi aur tujhe yeh bakwaas jokes sooj rahe hain'. Nandini was still in the effect of the drug so she couldn't understand what was going on. Before she knew it she dozed off again.
The second time she woke up, she saw the car had stopped, it wasn't moving and there was silence around. She got up with a heavy head and blinked a few times to get her vision clear 'good morning' she heard the same voice again which startled her. She started screaming, confused and scared by the situation, her screams made the man jump and he rushed to the back seat and covered her mouth with his palms. 'Why are you shouting?!' he asked her, 'seriously you're asking me his??! You kidnapped me!!! Who are you?! Mein police mein complain karoon gi' Nandini screamed in his face. 'Arey! I didn't kidnap you, I'm just taking you on a road trip. By the way hi, I'm Cabir.. Apka hone wala devar' Cabir said the last line very silently. 'I DONT CARE WHAT YOUR NAME IS.. Tumne mujhe kidnap kiya' Nandini continued screaming. Just then Manik rushed to the car, seeing Manik Nandini relaxed a bit, 'Manik! Thank god tum a gaye.. Pata hai is ne mujhe kidnap kiya.. Tum isse na chor na mat' she then turned to Cabir 'yeh Manik hai.. He's my friend, he even has a gun.. Tumhe chore ga nahi' she shouted at Cabir. 'Cabir when did she wake up? Tune to kaha tha chloroform dene ke baad yeh ghantoon tak nahi uthe gi.. How did she wake up already?' Manik asked Cabir, Nandini looked at Manik in shock. 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!' she shouted at Manik. 'Nandini will you stop screaming. Ass pass log kya soche ge, unhe lage ga hum kuch galat kar rahe hain tumhare saath so stop shouting' Manik said whisper shouting at Nandini. 'KYA SOCHE GE?! SERIOUSLY! TUM NE MERA KIDNAP KIYA HAI!' Nandini screamed. 'Usne akele kidnap nahi kiya.. Even I helped' Cabir spoke. 'SHUT UP' Manik and Nandini said in unison. 'Nandini look calm down' Manik tried to speak, 'CALM DOWN? MY FOOT! MEIN NE TUMHE DOST MANA AND YOU KIDNAPPED ME?! MUJHE GHAR JANA HAI ABHI TUM..' her sentence was left incomplete as Cabir put a napkin dipped in chloroform on her mouth again, in no time Nandini fainted. 'Sahi choice hai teri' Cabir said teasingly to Manik, to which Manik just rolled his eyes. Cabir got out of the back seat and Manik made her lie down comfortably. 'I'm sorry' he whispered to her as he looked at her innocent face. Manik moved back to the front seat and Cabir started driving again towards Manik's Lonavala farmhouse.
They soon reached the farmhouse, Manik picked up an unconscious Nandini in his arms and took her inside the farmhouse. He took her to one of the guest rooms and made her comfortable on the bed. He then walked out and picked up his jacket from the car. He finally got his breathe back when he took the kohinoor out of the pocket. He sighed in relief, and clutched the lifeless diamond in his hand. He felt guilty for putting Nandini through this but he had no other choice. Just then Cabir came, snapping him out of his thoughts. 'Manik.. I have to leave for Delhi now, I'll keep you updated and we'll be back with uncle and Dhruv in a few days. You take care till then, aur haan bhabhi ji ka khayal rakhna' Cabir said to which Manik just rolled his eyes. Cabir left after talking to Manik leaving Nandini and Manik alone in the farmhouse. Manik chose to sleep on the couch of the guest room as he didn't want to leave Nandini alone in case she got scared.
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