Manan SS - Silence Speaks updated End credits! - Page 6

Flashback continues...

"Manik chal" He felt Someone pulling him by his hand . The lights had dimmed and the entire auditorium had broken into a thunderous applause but his eyes were still fixed at her. Her gaze too hadn't moved an inch, even though she could hardly make out his silhouette in the darkness.

"Manik chal" Mukti was dragging him now.

"Aaj ho kya gaya ise?" Mukti was complaining to Dhruv, Alya and Cabir as they were packing up in the green room.

"Love, pyaar ho gaya hai Manik ko!!" Cabir placed an arm over Manik's shoulder and remarked looking at him, he who was lost in his own thoughts, trying to rewind and relive the past few magical minutes of his life.

He had never heard silence speak louder than it had today. May be if he could somehow meet her now, their conversation wouldn't be catty like always, maybe he would be able to express his feelings for her in deep beautiful words...words that she deserved to be told, words that he could never bring himself to utter.

"Manik, is that true, love and all, who's the lucky girl??" Alya asked blushing from ear to ear, expecting someone to drop her name. She had been waiting for the longest time for this day, just to hear him call her differently, just to look at her with a little yearning.

"Nandini se, kyun Manik?" Manik's heart skipped a beat, hearing Cabir taking her name.

"Shut up Cabir!" He said punching Cabir in his stomach. "Pagal hai kya"

Mukti choked on the coke she was sipping and spit it out "Exaaactly cabir, grow up dude. Aur koi nahi mila tujhe ship karne ke liye, Tapri??? With Manik?? Like seriously. This had to be the joke of the century."

"Yes man, how can you even mention her, She is no match for Manik. She has no style, no class, only marks...dollops and dollops of marks." Alya was really pissed with Cabir for taking Nandini's name instead of hers.

"You guys are talking as if she is an alien, why can't Manik fall for her?" Cabir was exasperated at their lame logic. Manik was silently listening them speak and he was trying to see himself through their eyes, trying to see the reality he had been denying.

"First of all, Manik is not made for love and all. Look at him, he can't even properly talk to a girl. He is always in the 'Angry-young-Man mode. Which girl in her sane mind would tolerate him and then that girl is a topper and our boy is a rockstar. Have you seen them talking, they bloody pull out each other's hair. By which angle do you see them becoming even friends, Love to bhul hi ja" Mukti walked upto Manik and nudged his arm. "Hai na Manik?"

"Mukti you are right. Manik is not the right type for Nandini. She is so quiet, studious and soft spoken. She should be with someone who is gentle and understands her, someone she could take home to her parents."Dhruv said dreamily.

Slightly irritated at Dhruv's words cabir mocked him "Seedhe seedhe bol na tu apna chance bana raha hai."

"Ab baat yaha tak aa hi gayi hai to yes, I have had a crush on her for the longest time but could never tell her. I mean she is the topper and I...but I could tell her today, I saw how she was looking at the stage mesmerized. /may be today is the right day. Watsay buddy?"

"Yes, yes buddy...absolutely" wiping the sweat off his face Manik replied. Only Cabir noticed that there was no sweat on his face in the first place. He felt like punching Dhruv, even though he was one of his bestest friend. Truth was Manik had always loved Dhruv like a little brother. He had infact been more than a brother to him. He had always watched over him, he had cradled him night after night whenever Dhruv had his chronic convulsions and no-one in his family could handle him. Anything Manik got for himself had to have another pair for Dhruv. If Manik had loved Cabir even half of how much he had loved Dhruv, Cabir would have readily given up his life for him and here this dumb head couldn't understand this simple thing that Manik loved Nandini. He had to claim that one girl in the entire universe.

But the damage had been done and knowing Manik as well as he did, he knew there would be no going back unless a miracle happened from somewhere.

One by one they got up to leave for home but Manik didn't budge. "Ghar nahi chalega?" Cabir asked him, knowing fully well what was stopping his friend.

"U guys go, I don't wanna go home yet, she is expecting someone. I don't want to walk into while the man is still there."

That's where they knew they had to stop, stop bothering him, stop pushing and cracking jokes. When it came to his wayward mother, no one had entry inside his dark world. They left, leaving him alone under the flickering light of the green room, to fight his demons alone.

Only that he had lied this time. His so called mother wasn't even home. She was on a trip with the man.

He had sent his friends off because he wanted time, to brood, to curse and to cry at the unfairness of life. Why were his stars so faulty.

He slapped on his cheek to shake him out of this day dream that had consumed him for God knows how long. What was he thinking, that like a normal guy, he would have a love life and that too with someone like Nandini.

Dhruv was so right, he was worst possible match for her. He couldn't even f**king speak normally, the only time he made any sense was when he penned his songs. That's where he expressed his deepest fears and his truest desires. That's why he had written that song for her.

But how could he have forgotten that people like him were not supposed to fall in love. What would he ever give her, except his anger and tears, glimpses of a dysfunctional family, entry to a depressing dark life, an aimless existence.. She deserved better, she deserved someone like Dhruv.

He was fighting with his tears when he saw her call. He rejected a couple of times but when she kept calling persistently, he switched away his cell phone. 'Go away Nandini, leave me alone' he spoke to the walls.

And then she barged in from nowhere, panting and without a word just wrapped his arms around him. "I salute you champ...what was that, huh? What was that...OMG...Firefly and I have become your life time fan" She mumbled gasping for air in between.

Realizing that she had been a little too impulsive, she quietly moved back. She looked away, blushing. But she couldn't keep quiet for long. She had to speak, she had to today "So that was your surprise, you wrote it for me right because you know how much I love fireflies."

He couldn't breathe, as if someone had dumped a heavy stone on his chest. He knew her eyes were twinkling just for him, that she was feeling the same butterflies which were teasing him half an hour ago, that she too had a lot to say and perhaps was running short of words.

"Surprise, yes, but not me, Dhruv..Dhruv wrote the song for you." He was absolutely composed as he spoke, a drool worthy smile plastered on his face. "He wanted to tell you but he has a bit of emergency at home, so he had to leave."

Her feet were glued, she couldn't move. He saw how that twinkle slowly faded in the dim night. Her childlike excitement, her unassuming smile had disappeared and she was staring at him as if he had just declared some sort of a life changing punishment for her.