Chapter 94
"Hello Nandini"
"Haan bolo Navya, Mukti kaisi hai abhi?"
"Wahi bolne ke liye phone kiye the, mukti thik hai abhi, halaki uske dilo dimag pe bohot gehra asar pada hai. Maine aur ranbir ne milkar filhal use samhal liya hai. Par tum to janti ho uski zindagi mein Alya ki kya ahmiyat hai. Aur jab Alya ne ye sab kaha to... ek pal ko to hame yakeen nahi hua. Pata nahi is Alya ko kya ho gaya hai. Jab dekho ulta seedha bolti rehti hai aur apne hi.."
Nandini cut her abruptly "Navya, I think hume is mamle mein kuch nahi bolna chahiye. Yeh FAB 5 ki aapas ki baat hai, unhe khud hi suljhane do."
"Shayad tum sahi keh rahi ho...waise Manik kaisa hai abhi?"
"He is ok. Main usi ke saath hun."
"Fir to wo thik hi hoga na. Tumse behter use kaun samhal sakta hai!"
His eyes were fixed on her. MANIK raised his eyebrows at her, wondering what it was they were discussing about him that had brought the faint smile on Nandini's chocolate stained lips.
"Ranbir tumhare saath hai abhi?" Leaning against his car,mobile in one hand, and a chocolate-fudge-brownie-ice cream in the other, she was licking from her cone while talking leisurely to Navya. Manik who was standing next to her, suddenly shifted closer and leaned over her, taking her completely by surprise.
Barely a couple of inches between them, he placed both his hands on the car, trapping her in the enclosure. His lips were almost brushing against her nose. His movements had been so sudden and unexpected hat she froze in her shoes, as her dilated pupils started scanning the surroundings in panic. What was Manik doing? Kissing her in public? In front of the 50 odd people, which by the way included a couple of families. Had he lost it?
"M...aaain baad mein... cccaaalll karti hun" Fumbling, she disconnected the call even before Navya could reply. She struggled to break free, but couldn't, as he literally sandwiched her between him and his car. Instead of scolding or screaming, which would have drawn more eyeballs towards them, she made a panic stricken face, pleading him to stop. But when he showed no signs of budging, she pressed her eyes shut in apprehension of the kiss and the inevitable embarrassment following it.
'What's wrong with you Manik? When I wanted to stay, to tumko mujhe ghar bhejna tha aur abhi street pe...Aiyappa' Nandini was silently cursing Manik, when she felt his thumb over her lips. She couldn't dare move, first in fear and then in ecstasy as his fingers rubbed seductively over her plump lips, and then trailed down to her chin, wiping the chocolate off them. 'How, just how' Nandini thought, 'could a guy mess up all her hormones with a mere touch on her lips.'
She opened her eyes slowly when she felt his fingers withdraw, and saw him sucking the chocolate off them. The expression on his face, especially that naughty smirk, as if they weren't his fingers but her lips, could arouse even a dead woman. She was glad for still being in one piece, though her knees felt like Mango jelly and her skin was flustered, as if she had just walked out of a sauna room.
"What?!!" He teased her, making noises as he suggestively sucked away the last bit of chocolate from his middle finger.
"What what?!?!" She counter questioned, looking everywhere except at him.
"Kya what what?? I have cravings too" He paused, waiting for her eyes to pop out before adding "for icecream, of course...Wait a second, tumhe kya laga.." She knew this was coming.
"Mujhe kya lagega...wahi icecream craving. " She replied sheepishly, still avoiding an eye contact.
"No no ... hold on, Nandini Murthy, tumhe kya laga ki I am going to...here.. Infront of...chiii Nandini kya kya sochti hum...waise , I must say your imagination is running rather wild haan" She wanted to stab him for teasing her like this.
"Waise if you really want, I have no problem obliging" he was grinning, swaying to her side.
"Manik!!!!" She stomped her feet in irritation.
"Kya Manik? waise zyada innocent banne ki zarurat nahi hai, Nandini Murthy, I know exactly how high your highest notes are." Aiyappa, this boy was crossing all limits & that too with a big smile on his face.
"Payback time" She smeared the ice cream on his face and ran away, giggling like an amused child.
He hadn't seen this coming. He hadn't expected her to avenge like this, but now that she had, he wasn't going to let her go before she paid up for her misconduct. "I am not going to drop you home like this, you have to clean it, right here."
Even before she could take the tissue out from her bag, she knew he would reject it straightaway.
"Lets go to Juhu beach." She suggested.
"No, first you clean this."
"What's wrong with you Manik, I can't do it here." She rolled her eyes at him, and he got her cue.
Driving through the not so crowded streets, when they reached the Juhu beach, Manik turned the ignition off & gave her one of his trademark mean looks. She inched closer to wipe his face clean with her lips, traversing across his cheeks and jaws and chin.
"Yummy!! " She exclaimed, rolling her tongue.
"Really?"
"Yeah, The ice cream was actually beyond yummy, you loss you didn't have it."
'Not bad Nandini Murthy' Manik thought 'Meri billi, mujhi se meow'
"Then let me taste it a bit" Without giving her the time to react, he pulled her to him, causing her lips to land straight on his warm moist ones and when they did, it threw her into a tizzy. He had unleashed a bunch of electric pulses in her, running up & down her spine at lighting speed. His hands were pressed firmly a little above her waist and had it not been for his car or this place, things could have taken a deliciously dangerous turn.
Nandini broke the kiss and dashed out of the car. The air was still warm outside, thought it was close to midnight. Nandini took her shoes off and started walking on the warm sand, still reeling under the euphoria. How did he always do that, intoxicate her with his closeness.
"Hey Nandini, wait!" Manik came running behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. His heart still thudding against his chest.
"You like beaches?" She asked as they continued walking on the sand under the starry night. The waves kept crashing on the shore, breaking the silence of the night.
"I like mountains more.. I don't know why the ocean makes me sad. It feels like an end. Abrupt, incomplete."
What we speak is more often than not a reflection of our thoughts. He had been acting normal, joking a and teasing her, but she knew a part of him was still hurting.
"Missing FAB 5?" She threw her arm around his waist.
For a while he stayed quiet, absorbing the quietness of the surroundings. Then taking a deep breath, he confessed, "I feel hollow Nandini."
She looked into his eyes as they stopped walking and stood there. "I know what you will say Nandini, that people change with time, you can't expect things to be the same as they were in childhood. I know...I know that we are no more dealing with exams and marks and crushes. We are dealing with existence now, with real life & real issues. I know that as people grow, they diverge, our tastes, our likings & dislikings, our habits, everything changes. But you know what, a part of me refuses to understand anything, that part of me which is stubborn like a child. This is what I understand of a family, this has been my family for the longest time and I can't simply wake up one day and behave as if none of it, none of them matter to me. It bloody hurts."
"Things will be ok Manik, you have to give them time."
"You don't understand Nandini, I am not blaming them for falling apart. In fact it is your words, whatever you said at home, that has made me think. Where did I go wrong, and I must have because something so beautiful can't be ruined just like that. I ought to have played a role too. Whatever you said about Alya, its true, I didn't give her a closure. I didn't shed a single tear when we broke up & that must have been unfair on her. I didn't check on her as a friend, I didn't ask her if she was doing fine.. With Dhruv, I have always been very protective of him. You know why, because he risked his life to save mine and then since that day he started having those seizures, just like Rishab. I never considered him a friend, always a younger brother. But may be in my over protection, I did indeed overshadow him, I didn't let him go out and experience life on his own. But I always meant well.."
She pulled him down as they sat leaning on each other on the dirty sand. "You can't control everything Manik, you are not God. You can't be perfect. And don't give less credit to yourself than what you deserve. You didn't come from a happy place either, but you fought your devils and yet never gave up on them. I am not saying they are wrong either. But stop blaming yourself for everything."
"If we all are right in our respective point of views, then who is wrong Nandini?"
"Circumstances.."
"What the hell Nandini.. I don't buy that logic."
"But you have to, you can love, you can wish the best for someone, you can refuse to let go but you can't change destiny, you can't mess with time, what has to happen will happen. I know you love your friends. They are dearer to you than your life. All you can do is fight your share of fate and keep hoping that they do the same. You can't fight on their behalf. You tried once, you tried to get Dhruv love by killing your own feelings and it took none of us anywhere. Don't try that again. Let them deal with their life, let them be strong enough to stand up for themselves and I am sure they will come around."
"Where do you get so much wisdom from?"
"I wasn't born extra wise or something... Its just that when you are in the middle of a problem, things look blurred. But when you are looking at it from outside, you see the bigger picture."
They both sat in silence for a long time, till Manik finally spoke up. "You like the sea, don't you?"
"Yes I do, and ask me why.."
"Why?"
"You see those things, washed ashore by the waves... you see those coconut trees, the ocean has carried them from far away and finally placed them here. It's not like the mountains where you drop something and you lose it forever, the ocean is like life, it eventually returns what was meant to be returned, I guess it gives me hope, not an end but a beginning." her words held deeper meaning for him than she had intended to express. It had the cryptic answers to his questions, that he would get back, whatever was meant to be his.
"Nandini!!"
"Hmm"
"Haven't heard you sing in a long while...will you sing a song for me?"
"But what do I sing?" she asked nervously..
"Anything you feel like..."
She thought for a while and said "Purana hoga to chalega...?"
He smiled "Anything love, I would love just about anything you sing... your voice feels like rain."
She sang... one of her mom's favourite songs...that she grew up hearing. For some reason, it felt like the perfect song to sing today.
Song link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCzVezvlzN0
"What do you think about us Manik?" she asked finding him silent long after she had finished singing.
"About us??"
"Hmm"
"I am not wise like you, nor am i philosophical, but i feel some relationships are beyond time and circumstances, and they are meant to be like that, always, forever. And even if it were to mess up, I would snatch you away from the hands of destiny.
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A/N: Sorry for the long delay :(
CID
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
