Broken But Beautiful

35. Her Reality Reloading

Manik

"So we're going to Nandini's parents' house-"

"And we have no idea why," Cabir finished for me, "Take a left from here,"

I wheeled the steering, frowning. This wasn't making any sense.

Nothing was making any sense from last night.

"Cabir," I said, "Something's been up from yesterday night, you know,"

"What- you know something?"

"No," I shook my head, "I don't know why you're going to Nandini's parents' house suddenly but something's not feeling right since last night. About Nandini," I added, glancing at the confusion in his face.

"What-"

"Okay, so Nandini was supposed to meet me in my apartment yesterday night," I exclaimed, "But she didn't come. I went to check up on her some hours later- found her sleeping like dead on the sofa with the same lehenga and smudged makeup. I carried her to the bed- you know, her face didn't look right to me. Even her sleeping- anyways. When I woke up next morning- she wasn't there. No note, no message, completely nothing. Then I found glass pieces of champagne bottle gathered in a corner-"

"Wait a minute," Cabir frowned, "You- stayed the night with her?"

"Don't start on that," I murmured, suddenly regretting speaking up, "The point is- something's definitely not right,"

My encounter with Madhav was almost at the tip of my tongue- but I held it back.

Maybe because however impractical it might sound- saying it out loud would make my suspicion more solid.

And right now my mind couldn't afford that.

"Yeah, something's definitely fishy," he replied after a moment of silence, sighing, "I just hope it's got nothing to do with that bastard,"

"Hello Cabir," an elderly lady greeted us with a practiced tone of enthusiasm and a smile quite robotic, "And ah- this is Mr. Malhotra, I suppose?"

She eyed me with a glint of bemusement that I sometimes see in Nandini's eyes- they had the same big doe pairs. But unlike Nandini, there was nothing pleasant about it. It was cold and mocking, demand of superiority blazing in them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Malhotra," she extended her hand. I took it and replied, "I'll decide that at the end of our meeting, Mrs. Murthy," Till now what I've heard about Mr. and Mrs. Murthy, I had no wish to be polite and civil with them.

Her lips widened, "I'll wait for your decision. Please come in,"

We stepped inside the massive hall room. It was massive- modern interior blinking in every corner and shining. But there was a stiffness that held the house- which made it look more like a five star hotel than a house. Shweta Murthy took the stairs on the left and climbed up.

The living area was at the center of the room. There, in a circular sofa Alya and Dhruv were deep in conversation with Abhimanyu.

"Where's Mukti?" Cabir asked as we went forward to sit with them, "And most importantly, where's Nandini?"

There was no hint of Madhav, either. I was too relieved to ask about him.

"Mukti's on the way, but about my best friend- we have no idea," Alya said in exasperation, "Cabir, do you have any idea what's happening here?"

"This is just too strange," Dhruv said, a frown apparent in his forehead long since, "We have called Nandini about 100 times now. She's not picking up. Alya already checked on the hospital. She's not there either,"