Entangled

Part 30

Thank you all for your votes and comments! It always motivates me to continue writing. Hope you continue to enjoy the story!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Manik was present with his friends physically, but he was in deep thoughts. Cabir had to tap Manik to get his attention.

        Cabir : "What are you thinking so deeply that you didn't respond?"

        Manik : "I tried all I could think of to find where Nandini is, but to no avail. I am not able to figure out how to proceed further."

        Alya : "She came and left according to her will. Now, you don't have to apologize to her too. Then why are you looking for her?"

       Manik : "She came looking for you two and she left because you both accused her of snatching Harshad from you. She is alone somewhere, and isn't keeping good health too. What if something happens to her? .."

        Alya : "She did a big drama and made everyone feel guilty for no reason. My brother isn't ready to forgive Mukti and me because of her. Still you are giving importance to her instead of helping us?"

        Manik : "Even after knowing everything, you are still trying to find fault in her, though we were all at fault. We made a revenge plan based on assumptions, I pretended to make her fall for me, and you kept the fact that Mukti's boyfriend is your brother hidden, so how does her telling one lie become a big issue."

        Manik : "Nandini lied to find why Mukti hated her, and that lie cleared all the misunderstandings and also brought all the other truths to the forefront. It saved us from harming her further and feeling guilty forever. It showed everyone's true colors, including yours. The plan you came up with was not just for Mukti's well-being. You had your own hidden motive."

        Manik : "What does she have to do with your brother not forgiving you? You both didn't trust him, and she left without trace because of your accusations. So you both have to figure out how to gain forgiveness, I can't help you with it."

        Alya had tried to hit two birds at once. She wanted to get her revenge on Nandini as well as get into Manik's good books by showing her concern for Mukti. Her plan had backfired. Alya didn't succeed in her revenge plan and she fell in Manik's eyes too. Instead, Manik's concern for Nandini was growing and he supported Nandini's actions even if they didn't seem right to her.

        Alya's thoughts : "There Bhai (brother) and here Manik, both are giving too much importance to her. She left from here, but she is still on their minds. They aren't ready to listen to anything against her. How do I get her out of our lives completely?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Sunaina took Nandini to a function at her work place. When Nandini saw the decorative banners, she remembered one of the days at the orphanage, when they were putting up the decorations for the charity event.

Flashback

        Two volunteers were putting up decorative banners. One of the banners wasn't fastened properly and it fell on Nandini. Since it fell suddenly on her, she tried to yank it away from her without realizing what it is. That force was sufficient to pull a few more banners which were attached to it, and they fell on Nandini. Nandini was trying to take it off, but it got more tangled, and Manik chuckled seeing it.

        Nandini : "Am I looking like a clown to you?"

        Manik nodded his head indicating a no.

        Nandini : "Then why are you chuckling?"

        Manik : "Seeing you like this, something came to my mind."