manan.... a new beginning

part 19....

It was manik.

M: kaha jah rahi ho? Kiska call hai...

N: woh ... main.. (stammering ) woh koi important call nahi hai. Bas mere ek friend ka...

Siyali eyes nandini from the corner of her eye and nods her head as if assuring her of something. Nandini smiles . This all is noticed by manik but before he can say anything the phone starts to ring again. And this time the ring sends a message of fear to nandini mind.

N: I really need to pick this call, please. .

Manik nods and smiles. He is though tensed and unaware of the situation.

He asks her to comeback in the same place after the call. She nods and leaves..

C: nandini ko isliye bhej diya na taki woh tujhe harte hue na dekhe .

M: (manik snaps his finger in front of cabir's face ) manik malhotra kabhi nahi harta.

C: yah par ab sab purane baat hai.... sid tu aise hi manik ko tang kar raha hai. Iss uncle ko race track dekhe hue saal ho gaye.....

M: par ab bhi main cheetah ke tarah daurta hun.... wanna try?

C: woh toh hoga hi apne pyaar ke piche din bhar duarne ka anjaam hai...

S: cabir bhai aap bahut time waste karte hain.... pehle yeh race start toh hone dijiye.. phir result bhi aa jayega..

M: aacha itna overconfident. ..hamesha mujhse haarta aaya hai iss game mein, iss bar bhi harega..

S: bhai let's see. Time sabka badalta hain....

C: you know every dog has its day. ..

Sid and manik give him a death glare. All the girls together exclaim: "cabir ". Dhruv smiles. C: ok I know that was a bad joke. ..

M: so shall we start (fold the sleeve of his shirt )

Both of them sit in the starting position.

C: ready...( manik looks at the way). steady.( on drop of sweat falks from sid face)....go...(manik and sid look at each other and run. .. )

Both start running in full speed. They cross the corridor and hurry up the stairs. They reach another set of corridors. Both run together but suddenly manik gets missing from the track. Sid stops for a while to look for him but suddenly remember something and says: "oh shit! How can I forget. . ". He resumes running again. He comes across a running corridor of rooms from were he can see manik running through the other side already half his way to their destination. He also eyes the signboard written " PRINCIPLE" in bold and italics. He speeds up. The others including navya and siyali follow the fab 4 to witness the epic moment of both the dude's of the school having a race.

But nandini is missing. Manik reaches the destination first and starts panting. Sid already half way halts after seeing manik won the race. He also starts panting and smiles looking at manik who smiles back in return. Inside the room we can see a old woman standing with her face turned the other way. She is looking at the trophies kept in a shelf. There is a table with lot of files , papers, a photo frame which contains a picture of manik , sid and another boy named varun. Varun is another brother of manik and sid. It has a name plate with the name - Anwesha Rajput.

( sid is from manik's maternal side. Anwesha is neyonika's mother. )

Manik all panting calls out:

Hey! Girlfriend. ..

Anwesha looks around to find manik at the door . She smiles and spread her hand to take manik into a hug . Manik runs in and hugs her. He picks her up and goes round.

An: manik put me down....

Manik puts her down and again hugs her.

An: I missed you boyfriend. ..

M: (manik gives a flirty smile ) missed you too, girlfriend. .

All of them come and touch her feet and hug her. She bless them all and they talk their hearts out and talk about their school days. They enjoy when manik realizes nandini is missing. He excuses himself to look for her.

They are all happy for the reunion. They are also happy the news of their stay for four days in warrior high. anwesha gives all information regarding the stay.....