Manan FF: The Sketch Artist

Twenty First

Nandini

(The day she met Manik)

There was no good sitting in front of Manik when he had accepted that he is going to die. I stepped out of his cell and went home after informing Siddharth. I called Navya after reaching home and told her everything from the beginning. Currently, she is sitting in front of me expressionless. I know, perhaps I broke Manik's trust by telling her but I know for sure that if I need to do something about this situation, then Navya tops the list of people who could help me here.

And, if she considers my thought process baseless, then no one is understanding me. She sighed after a few minutes and asked,

"Did I rub off you or something?"

I raised my brows in a way indicating, we don't have time for her drama right now.

"When did you get this filmy Nandini. A prisoner tells you he is innocent and you believe him." 

"Cabir also indicated the same in a way." I said reminding her that Cabir himself told her Manik is not ready for a lawyer. 

"So what Nandini? You think I'll trust Cabir. Next he'll tell you all the prisoners are innocent and you'll set the entire jail on fire." She said while relaxing herself on the beanbag.

"You forgave her Navya and for god's sake stop behaving this relaxed. We have an almost emergency situation at hand." I yelled at her.

"Nandini I forgave Cabir. That doesn't mean I'll forget why he started talking to me in the first place and looks like in the process to influence me, he has influenced you a lot." She told me.

"No one can influence me but I've seen Manik. And you have to help me in this Navya."

"Help you in what." she asked. 

I released a breath and whispered closing my eyes.

"Making him escape the jail."

"What?" She screamed jumping up from the beanbag.

"We can do this Navya, your father is not even in the town. You already know, I went to jail today. If that can stay hidden, then it would be pretty much easy to tamper CCTVs." I said the plan I formed on the way to home today.

"Nandini, it's not a movie. What after he has escaped? Don't you think police will start finding him as soon as it's known? And you are in the suspicions. They don't know you visited him today but they know you are one among the few people who visited him during his stay in jail." She said trying to knock some sense in him.

"We can hide him Navya. Remember when you were hiding at my home when you failed in math in sixth grade." I said in a desperate attempt, though it didn't make sense.

"Yes, and police is stupid, you'll tell them Manik is not here and they'll believe." she commented mocking me while moving her hands in a way to make me understand.

"What should I do then Navya? I can't live in this guilt that he died being innocent." I voiced with unshed tears.

She sighed while looking at me. I just gave her a look which said I'm not backing out from this. A tear left my eye and I wiped it away harshly.

"Relax Nandini, let me think." She said while pacing to the length of the room.

"We need help Nandini and we need the right person." She breathed sitting across me on the bed after while.

She is right. If we are making Manik run away, that too in such a short period of time, we need more minds working with us. Someone who knows the ins and outs well.

After contemplating for a minute, I said,

"Siddharth might help I guess"

"No Nandini you can't guess in such things. If he denies, you're still giving him an idea about this plan of yours. Moreover he looks up to Dad. Getting you inside a cell and getting some criminal out of the same cell are two very different things." She explained.

"How about Cabir, he is Manik's brother and this is what he wanted in the first place, him out of jail." she said.

"but how can we trust Cabir, you yourself said that you don't believe him." I asked.

"For  a lawyer, you can be very dense sometimes." She mocked glaring at me.

"I don't know Navya, my mind is a mess right now and I feel so scared." I mumbled having second thoughts about breaking the law.

"Nandini you are going to be a lawyer, you're bound to be unsure about such matters when you've been studying to be just and to abide by the law since past few years, but tell me what's your gut feeling saying. Don't forget about how you convinced me about this minutes before" She said while trying to make me understand. I gave her a light nod smiling bit knowing she is convinced.

I wish I could have some more time on my side here. 

"About Cabir, It's about matters Nandini and in the matter concerning his own brother, we can surely trust him." She elucidated further.

"You're right Navya, Call cabir here" I said.

"Or maybe not, it's a little after midnight. Mom is also home." I further added.

"But we can't leave this to tomorrow morning, considering we just have tomorrow in hand." she said perplexed.

"Can we trust Cabir this much that we can go to his home to discuss this." she asked.

"I don't know" I said unsure when this came to my mind.

"Maddy, I can trust Maddy." I voiced it out while my eyes surely shined.

"Are you insane Nandini, he might help us but will surely get insecure after knowing about Manik. He'll think that you've a soft corner for Manik." She explained.

Do I have a soft corner for Manik? I thought about it and Manik's face appeared in my mind. The way he tries to keep his eyes blank all the time, but his eyes spoke volumes when he told about his situation. 

This is surely not the time to think about this.

"How about Arya then? I'm sure he thinks of me as a friend." I said while she gave me a thoughtful look.

In the next hour we were sitting in Arya's home, with him pacing to the length of this weird room which has books on one side and a flat screen with recliners on the other. Can I call this a study room? Or home theatre?

He has already thrown a fit about this twice. First, mentioning his brother is a part of the department to which Navya told him that we should use that as a boon, since he will know about the department more this way. 

Second time, he just went bonkers saying we are all mad. He got silent on his own the next minute and has been since past five minutes. Dramatic much.

About Cabir, he is leisurely laying on the couch, already in approval of the plan. Being the brother of the center of attention here, he surely is a lot relaxed.

"Nandini we are talking about a very serious crime here, running away from jail is no cakewalk." Arya said the same sentence again. This one should be his fifty first time saying this.

"What did you just say?" A new voice boomed entering inside the room leaving us all on our edges.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the two chapters in a row. 

Do you think it will be Nandini's plan that will save Manik at the end or is there something else going on?

Please vote, comment and share.

Lots of love