Mananff - Iss Mohobbat Mein

chapter 46

"You have a lighter?" 

"Why are you asking me? Do I look like I smoke?"

"Oh shut it, you bloody saint, and pass me the damn lighter."

Rolling his eyes, Dhruv brought out a Lighter from his pocket and threw it at me.

"I knew you smoke." I smirked chastely.

It has been a whole day since Manik has left. There are not many changes that I have witnessed in his absence, just a little in my heart which keeps beating slower and slower with the passage of time. I wonders if my organ would cease to beat after a certain period when all of the hopes of seeing that stupid smile on his childish face will die.

We are on the Terrace and the view is beautiful. Mumbai is a twinkling galaxy if it is to be seen from a distance. Who knows what kind of sins are being caused behind it's light. Who knows where he is in the wideness of the darkness.

"Hey, pass it to me as well."

Puffing out a cloud of smoke, I passed him the half burnt Cigarette as he smoked the rest.

"I thought you quit smoking." Dhruv coughs a little before he adjusts to the smoke. I see, it's his first cigarette.

"I did. But the dog's tail never turns straight." 

"In that case, I am the dog. Because I'll never turn straight."

It took a whole moment for me to comprehend his words. And out of a sudden, I burst out into a choking giggle.

"What the fuck, Dhruv. What happened to your humor?"

"It is as good as it was. Your senses suck." He hit my elbow carrying that soft playful smirk.

"Yeah, sure. Look at me, smiling in this situation. I must be such a Bitch." My arms spread wide in front of the city. For a moment, my heart was sent into jitters as the wild thought of wanting to peep downer at the lane occurred. "What the fuck are we doing?"

"We're just there, Nandini. It's about time. Abhimanyu is the best guide we have, he'll track the location soon. Just some more time."

I nodded on his consolation. 

"Where is he close to?" My mind hovered. Mumbai isn't a paradise, and there is no scarcity of dungeons in it.

"In the slums. Somewhat abandoned ones. I'm not sure but its close to someplace poor."

Be someplace poor he means the two-third of the city. Sigh, I can't feel him, as if he's slipping like sand through the time. Did he eat? Did he get food? Water? What if--

"I wonder if he'll be the same once we get him back." Dhruv mutters. His eyes were stone cold and there was a penetrating reality in it, the reality I longed to avoid.

What if she did something? Anything? Ofcourse, she did! That's exactly why she wanted him.

"What if we're late?" I asked, my own tone answering me with dread, blood curdling into my veins.

"I don't know.." His voice faded into oblivion. "I don't know, Nandini."

Dhruv stared deeper into a part of the view, deeper into the slums of the city, it was a bigger part of the whole, the big hole of darkness. Manik lies there. He turned to me, and his seriousness was covered by a pretense of upliftment.

"It's okay, you know. We need some smiles between tough times. It's been rough." Tossing the used cigarette away, he brought out another one from the pack that he bought before, lightening it. "Also, at least you haven't been through bullying and shit for the entire school. So you need to act stronger than me."