MaNan!
♡
3'o clock in the night.
I opened my eyes with some noise. Well,I could barely open my eyes. I was tired as hell. From what I could make out,it was the voice of rain.
Iss samay baarish. Mumbai weather,uff.
I turned to other side of my bed only to see Nandini not there.
I opened my eyes with a jerk.
Just then,I heard a thunder roar pretty loudly. Hell, she's scared of lightning.
I stood up and my hand went towards the switchboard to switch on the lights.
Damn,no electricity.
"Nandini" I stood up and called for her. She's actually scared of lightning. She doesn't admit it but I know.
And suddenly I was scared of the darkness too,
My shining light wasn't here with me that's why. My light- my wife.
"Nandini" I called for her again,little loudly. Where is she?
I don't have good feeling about all this.
I had to walk slowly because I could see nothing due to darkness.
"Ma-manik" I heard a faint voice.
"NANDINI" I shouted back. Balcony? SHE'S IN THE BALCONY. FUCK.
In this rain, she's outside. Plus her voice didn't really give me a good vibe.
I ran outside towards my room's balcony.
Luckily garden's like were on probably because of our lane's generator. Those light were faint too because of rain.
I saw outside only to see a sight which never fails to break my heart.
Nandini sitting in a disheveled state. Clothes drenched in rain. Eyes red. Hair messy.
👀
Manik ran towards Nandini seeing her state.
"Kya hua Nandini?" He asked in a panic stricken voice. He kneeled down in front of her. Her knees folded till her chest.
"Kya-kya huaa?" Manik asked her again cupping her cheeks.
Nandini's breakdowns were not new. She often got nightmares. It broke Manik everytime but there was nothing he could do about it and that broke him more.
The nightmares were usually about her parents but that never resulted into her being like this.
She'd hug Manik tight and sleep whenever that'd happen. This was unusual.
"Pan-pandit" Nandini whispered. A mere whisper shook Manik's heart.
Pandit? PANDIT??!!
"Fuck, PANDIT!!!" He thought.
"He-take..me- away" Nandini spoke in a broken sentence.
Manik was heartbroken to know that she thought about pandit and that probably resulted into her getting a nightmare about it.
That incident of her life was very hard to forget,harder to think about.
"Kuch nahi hoga" was all Manik could say taking her in a hug.
It was raining cats and dogs.
Thundering badly.
Manik hated thunders because it scared Nandini but for the first time he wished Nandini was shivering and shaking because of thunder and not the reason she was shivering for right now,in his arms.
"Kuch nahi hoga,mein huh na" Manik said to her kissing her wet hair.
Nandini's hold on Manik was tighter than ever.
"He.." Nandini tried to speak something but Manik shushed her.
"No" He didn't want her to talk about him.
Nandini broke the hug and went back to her position. She was angry/frustrated/scared/irritated all at the same time.
"Idhar aao" Manik said opening his arms for her.
Nandini looked at him. Seeing him in front of her did give her some peace but then she had him around when pandit kidnapped her,what if he comes again was scaring because of her stupid nightmare.
"Come here,baby" Manik said again,softer than ever.
She couldn't hold back and went crawling towards him crying.
Manik let her cry. He got a pandit nightmare probably the first time in last 7 years.
"Ho gaya?" Manik asked her after good 5 minutes of crying session.
"Kya huaa?" Manik asked not breaking the hug.
"Pandit aayega..toh?" Nandini asked, keeping her head in the crook of Manik's neck.
"Tumhe lagta hai mein usko tumhare paas tak aane dunga? Aur woh kyun aayega Nandini? Amms ne bola tha na ki went to US forever after his time in jail got over" Manik stated, caressing her hair time to time.
She was shivering due to cold.
"Andar chalo" Manik said and broke the hug.
He held her hand and walked inside. Luckily the electricity was back.
Nandini sat on the bed still looking around to make sure there was nobody that could harm her.
Manik went towards their cupboard to get clothes for Nandini to change.
He brought one of his shirts for Nandini.
He turned and saw Nandini looking down, scared eyes staring into nothingness.
It broke him. How much more will this angel suffer.
He was person who never believed in God but when it came to her,his heart always prayed.
"Koi nahi aayega tumhare aas paas bhi" Manik said as he reached her.
He kept the shirt on bed and made her stand up.
"Until my heart's beating, nobody can even touch you. Okay?" Manik kept assuring her clearing all her doubts.
He wiped her hands and face with a towel.
"Nandini Malhotra,you never have to be scared. Tum toh itni strong ho" Manik said to her explaining to her like a baby.
"Aur tumhe yeh sab khayal bhi kyun aaye ha? Tum soch rahi thi iss baarein mein?" Manik asked with a tinge of anger in his voice.
He made her wear his shirt after removing the night suit she was wearing.
He knew exactly when to love her and when to make her FEEL loved. He knew the difference between the two.
"2 din se college ke photo albums mil rahe hai,kal bhi aese khayal aa rhe the. Aaj woh photo jo maine tumhe bheja woh pura time yaad aa gaya aur--" She didn't complete her sentence and she hugged him.
He made her sleep and sat exactly beside her on the bed. He closed her eyes with his hands and covered her with a blanket.
She still opened her eyes and held his hand.
"Kahin nahi jaa raha mein,baba. Tumhe chod ke kahan jaunga? Aur koi nahi aayega tumhare aas paas bhi" Manik assured her again.
"My baby" He whispered over her forehead and eventually kissed it.
He touched her forehead with his.
"Mujhe bataya kyun nahi? Ki yeh sab khayal aa rahe hai tumhe" Manik complained.
"Yesterday I called you but Amit picked up and said you were shooting phir I didn't want to bother you. Tum itne thake huye rehte ho. Aur mujhe aadat hai na ki tum khud hi samajhte jaate ho ki mujhe kya problem hai par--" Nandini wasn't a person to crib about her husband working still late.
She was the understanding one.
"Thode kuch dino se tum ghar aate ho tab mein so gyi hoti huh..sirf messages pe baat hoti hai isliye--" she was trying to frame sentences in a way that wouldn't make Manik guilty but also would express herself.
Alas, Manik was already guilty.
He got so busy that he couldn't see that Nandini was in pain.
Ofcourse work is important but not more than her,he thought.
"Daato mujhe" Manik whispered as he kissed her neck before parting away.
Nandini looked confused.
"Daato. Bolo mujhe ki mein kyun time nahi de raha tumhe" Manik said and took Nandini's hand and made her slap his cheek slowly.
Nandini smiled.
"Rockstar Manik Malhotra. Kaam karte ho aap itna mere liye na. Family ke liye..kyun daatu isme" Nandini said.
Nandini being understanding made Manik even more guilty.
"Mein tumhe kabhi kuch nahi hone dunga. Haa?" Manik said and again kissed her forehead.
"Jaanti huh" Nandini whispered.
"I never want to take your for granted. Please give me your famous punch if I ever do so" Manik said.
"Apne busy schedule mein se thoda sa Manik mujhe dedo bus. Aur kuch nahi chahiye" Nandini said.
"Thoda Manik kyun? Pura hi Manik tumhara hai" Manik said and Nandini laughed.
"I love you" Nandini said.
"I know. I love me too" Manik chuckled. He wasn't the one to say I love you too very often.
He showed it through his actions always, though.
Nandini slept in next few seconds while Manik was caressing her hair.
"Itna busy kab ho gaya tu duffer Manik Malhotra" Manik said looking at her cheeks which had faint marks of tears from all the crying.
He decided to take a day off for Nandini. His parents were out of town too and they could spend the day together.
He messaged his manager who by the way was online because he was a night owl.
"Let's spend tomorrow with you,baby" Manik said looking at the sleeping Nandini and went towards his side to sleep.
Not without keeping his hand around her,the whole time.
Nobody could love Nandini like Manik Malhotra.
Tomorrow will be a good day❤️
✨