MaNan ~Inevitably Together~

34• |Monopolising affairs|

Even after taking it, Manik couldn't bring himself to open the file and like a reflex he looked up towards Nandini who for some reason wasn't looking at him. Nandini seemed lost. When he came back from the balcony, he found her in a weird posture and now she did not pay attention to him. Something was definitely wrong but he couldn't care less. Right now, re-existence of his dead sister seemed more intriguing than why was Nandini lost so he decided to pull up and have a look at the file.

Cabir turned to see what was Nandini doing and when he found her lost somewhere, he shook her to bring her back. It worked and she moved to sit beside Manik on the couch not before gesturing Cabir to sit as well.

“This is a copy of the legal adoption papers of Meira. She isn't your uncle's actual daughter but he adopted her exactly six months after that accident...... Which is why the name, Meira Shivraj Agarwal! Also, she has a medical history of a terrible accident she was in and it took her 2 months to recover from that. Apparently she was in a coma for five weeks or something........ I think you might remember this picture. It's Meira when she was 6. Our friend ran it through a couple of softwares to see how she might look now and it's quite similar to how she actually looks today.” as Nandini narrated things to Manik while he flipped through the pages, she could feel his racing heartbeats. With every next page and Nandini's every next word, a hope inside Manik kept growing that he didn't know even existed. That picture was of his sister. How could he not remember that face? Every minute detail was imprinted on his mind because that's how he remembers her.

“And finally, this is a copy of her birth certificate and the parents' name are Shrikant Agarwal and Nyonica Agarwal.” that final page blew Manik's mind because that was the most solid evidence of his sister being alive. Why didn't he know that? Why was he thrown out and his sister was kept? Why didn't they let him take his sister with him? So many questions and no answers to them.

Manik shut the file with a force to which Nandini and Cabir flinched. Manik took deep breathes to calm himself but nothing worked until Nandini slid closer to him and held his hand that was on his thigh. Manik looked up at her with all those questions in eyes. It broke Nandini's heart to know that Manik was so terribly played by destiny and she could do absolutely nothing to change it whatsoever.

Cabir was a mute spectator but he knew how Manik might be feeling. He was an orphan too and he was with Manik since childhood. He had seen his pain and he understood how sickening all this must feel.

“What am I supposed to say or... Or do? This feels like a nightmare. I.....  I don't want to know this, Nandini. It's twisting me!” Manik said fumbling for words and tightened his grip on Nandini's hand.

Nandini couldn't say anything. She didn't know how to comfort him. This was way beyond limits and the pain Manik was feeling seemed unbearable to her too.

Cabir noticed her and understood that she cannot say anything to Manik so he decided to step up. He got up from the seat and moved to sit beside Manik on the other side to notice how Nandini was shedding tears instead of Manik who sat there blank not knowing what to feel.

“You need answers and only meeting Meira would give you that. You just have to pull yourself up to go down there and get to know everything that you deserve to know.” Cabir said placing a hand on his shoulder. Manik looked at him helplessly. He didn't know if he could do what Cabir was asking him to. He wasn't sure if he was that strong enough.

And, as if Nandini could read his mind she said “Manik, you're the strongest person, I know. You can do this! And if at all you fall weak, we are here for you!” Nandini wiped her tears away.

“Yes! We have tracked down, where she lives. Meira lives with Shivraj and his wife in Pune. They used to live in Delhi like the rest of your family but they shifted to Pune two years ago. All you need to do is say yes and I'll arrange everything for us to go down there tomorrow.” Cabir said and Nandini passed him a grateful smile. There was no way in hell he was leaving his best friend alone in this time when he's been with Manik through everything life threw at him.

Manik looked at both of them and felt his confidence rising up. He had everything, in the form of a wife and a best friend, he needed to face anything whatsoever. Besides, life was giving him a second chance which people get rarely so he definitely wasn't going to waste it.

“Yes! Let's go down there and get answers for everything!” Manik's determined words etched appreciative smiles on both Cabir and Nandini's faces.

“Great! I'll go now and arrange for everything we need for tomorrow. We'll leave in the morning around 9. Is that okay?” Cabir asked Nandini in the end.

“That's cool! I think we'll reach there by noon and since it's a weekend, I'm hoping they'll be at home. For a safer side I'll get Sanjana to see if we can get an appointment in their office for tomorrow. That way we'll get to know if they're at home or not!” Nandini said to which Cabir nodded in agreement.

The next twenty minutes between Cabir leaving for his home and right now went with Nandini and him planning for whatever is to be done for the next day.

Manik sat there looking at them, and realised how wrongly he was thinking about this earlier. He understood that he needed to trust his people beyond what he could see or hear because if the matter hadn't been so grave for him, the way he reacted today could have costed a huge rift between him and Nandini. He wasn't sure if she had let it slide even now but he did know what she would not leave him in this alone.

Manik did fail to recollect how much Nandini seemed disturbed a few moments ago because of this whole thing in front of him. He couldn't see that something was wrong with her and it could not be about their little tiff. He did hear her talking to someone on the phone but couldn't decipher what she was speaking considering the walls in between them but in spite of that he couldn't put two and two together that the call could have been the reason she looked upset.

His nature of not paying attention to much details had its own pros and cons. Only time would tell how much it will cost him.

As of now, Meira was the centre of all their attention and they were doing that exactly. Even Nandini for that matter of fact despite of the guilt of hanging up on her father without even listening to him.

Things that she did for love.....

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How do you think this trip to Pune would go for Manik?

Anybody upset with Nandini for how she set Viren off without even hearing him out?

Few words for Manik's immunity to awareness regarding Nandini?