MaNan FF: The Forbidden Fruit (Chapter 26 on Page 82) (25/05/16) - Page 59

c h a p t e r t w e n t y s i x

Nyonika stared at the young girl in front of her. She didn't exactly look tough. She was dolled up like a Barbie, and at first sight Nyonika assumed she was like the usual, boring, spineless little bimbos'. She had labelled the girl, but now she realized she shouldn't have. She was more than that. It was amusing, but also turning out to be a problem.

"I'm not sure what you're asking for," she said at last, sipping her tea and crossing her legs just for the effect.

"I want Manik to have his freedom," Alya spoke in a confident tone. Clearly, she knew where she stood. "Take off the case and let him off the hook. He doesn't need your riches; he can work and fend for himself. Just stop troubling him already."

Nyonika smirked, amused at her words. "He hasn't even finished college yet, and you think someone like Manik can be... independent? Fend for himself, right?"

"You don't need to worry about him; his friends will support him and he needs nothing else," Alya announced. "Just stop creating obstacles for him."

"Sweetheart, I didn't file this case; my husband did."

"I don't exactly care. Find a way or else I will-"

"Tell my husband about my affair with your brother?" Nyonika finished for her. "Yes, I've heard that one before and no matter what you'd like to believe, it isn't that big of a deal. He has affairs of his own which I'm aware about."

"Then why is it a secret?" Alya argued.

"Perhaps because I like to believe I have morals?" Nyonika said as she put down the tea cup. "Either way, it really isn't enough for me to do what you're asking, so unless you have something else..."

Alya grew silent for a while. She assumed that dealing with this woman would be hard, but she didn't know to what extent. It still astonished her to how much a mother could hate her own child. How was that even possible?

"I'm guessing you only had that one threat," Nyonika spoke after a while, her lips curving into a smile while Alya said nothing. "That's alright, I can still do what you've asked as I believe my husband is taking things a bit too far this time."

Alya looked up, taken aback by the change of heart. "That cannot possibly be it. Surely there's a price?"

"There is, actually," Nyonika smirked, now getting up and stepping forward to face her opponent dead in the eye. "All you have to do is make sure that he stays away from this wife of his."

Alya took a step back, unsure. She knew that this was going too far. She could help Manik get rid of his parents' schemes, and she could support him as he stood up for himself, but she couldn't possibly dictate his life. Whether or not he wanted to be with Nandini was completely his decision and she couldn't control his choices and decisions. That was just going too far.

However, she remembered him saying that it was over between them, and she wondered whether or not that was true. If they really weren't getting back together, then it shouldn't be such a harm, right? She wasn't exactly controlling his decisions in that case; she was respecting them. In the end, he got his freedom, so it was a win-win situation. The only thing she was worried about was him changing his mind, but that didn't seem so likely at his point.

"So what's it going to be?" Nyonika asked. "Do you want your friend's freedom or not?"

She knew she did. It was going to be the best for him, and that was what she wanted. She knew that it wasn't right of her to make such a promise, but right now it looked like she could keep it without trying to control Manik's life. She just hoped it stayed like that.

"Alright then; I'll keep him away from her," she said at last.

He's wrong, Nandini mentally decided as she paced around in her room. He's wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. She kept chanting the same thing in her mind, over and over again. She knew that she was right; she just had to be.

"It's just physical attraction," she confessed out loud. "Yes, that's it. What love? He barely knows me."

Nandini kept on pacing around the room, convincing herself of the fact. What right did he have to be angry at her, anyway? It wasn't like they knew each other for years. It wasn't like he loved her for a very long time and she rejected him in a cruel manner. No, it was none of that. He kidnapped her, and married her against her will. He wronged her, and now he went on going around as if he was some wounded soul. He didn't even know her well enough to be in love with her. He was simply infatuated with her, and he thought that infatuation to be love. It was a misconception, and she was sure of it.

Nandini knew where she stood. She admitted to herself that it really was physical attraction. They spent some good times together and that resulted in her being attracted to him, but that was all. She didn't love him, and he only thought that he loved her. She had to let him know.

Determined, and with that thought in her mind, she quickly grabbed her handbag and stormed off. She had to let him know.

Cabir put the cigarette away as he let out the smoke slowly, staring into oblivion. He tried to keep himself calm, but that was proving to be exceptionally difficult. He was angry with the conversation he had with his parents. Although he knew he was at fault, they didn't have to take such extreme measures. They put him on their own version of a house arrest' and when he asked them for how long, they said it was up to Nandini to decide.

Nandini, the name flashed in his mind and immediately, the anger rose. She just had to go and blurt everything out to their parents, didn't she? He agreed that he didn't do right by her, but it wasn't like she was tortured, was it? She wasn't held hostage and treated terribly. He trusted Manik enough to know that he would never do that. It's just marriage, he thought to himself.

However, deep in his heart Cabir knew that it was, indeed, a big deal for her. He knew he had crossed the line this time, but he believed it was a line he simply had to cross. He treasured his secret and he would always treasure it above all. He couldn't risk his whole life just for her. Yes, they shared the same blood, but he barely even knew her. How could he trust her so easily?

He couldn't trust her. He was certain he would never trust her. Not with this.

When Manik came out of his college campus after a hectic yet refreshing day, he was surprised to find Nandini waiting outside. That surprise soon turned into anger and annoyance. He didn't know what was wrong with her, why couldn't she just make up her mind on whether or not to leave him? He stormed over to her angrily to confront her, but she spoke before he could. "You don't love me," she simply told him, and he was taken aback.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just infatuation," she explained further. "You're mistaking it for love, I'm sure of it. We don't know each other well enough for you to be in love with me."

"That's what you came here to say?"

"It's the truth and I felt like you had to know it before acting all bitter and wounded."

Manik scoffed, "And how on earth do you even know how I feel?"

"As I said, we don't know each other well enough to-"

"It's not about for how long you've known a person," he cut her off. "That's not what love is."

"Really? Well then, since you're the expert, why don't you tell me what love really is?"

Manik stared at her for a while, and he wasn't sure what he felt, but it most likely annoyance. "I don't have the time to deal with this," he said as he started to walk away.

"So you accept that I'm right?" she called out, and almost immediately he felt the annoyance increase to another level. He turned back and took quick strides, towering over her as she took a step back.

"I don't really understand your problem," he slowly yet firmly spoke, trying to intimidate her. "What is that you want?"

Nandini, however, stood on her place. "I want you to accept that I'm right."

"So that you don't feel guilty?" he smirked. "I'm not going to do that, because you're wrong and we both know it."

It was exactly at that point that Nandini had enough, and she stopped thinking about consequences. "Fine, then prove it!" Manik slightly squinted his eyes in confusion, and she explained further, "If this really is love and not just attraction, then you have to prove that. Let's go back to living together, for a month this time, and if you can stay away from me then I'll believe you."

"What?" Manik grew bewildered. She was probably out of her mind.

Nandini knew what she was saying was stupid but she went on anyway, "If you kiss me, I win. If you don't, you win."

"Why would I even do this?" he slowly asked, still trying to process it. "What do I even get out of it?"

"An apology," she promised, "and I'll stop bothering you."

"That's..."

"Alright, anything else that you want," she quickly said and, at that point, she had no idea why she was doing all of this. She tried to convince herself that it was all for her own peace of mind and so that she didn't have to feel guilty anymore, but it was probably a lot more than that. She didn't want to know what it was.

"No," Manik decided, "no, I'm not doing this."

"So you accept that I'm right?"

"I never said that."

"But it's what I'll assume," she told him. "I'll keep bugging you to accept it because it is the truth. You should try to understand it too and it will make much more sense. You can't be in love with me, it's just ridiculo-"

At that exact moment, as the anger flooded over him, Manik lost control and said, "Alright! Let's do this stupid thing. You'll regret it later when you find out I was right all along."