Nandani put a hand before her mouth but Manik slowly pulled her hand down and was about to claim her lips.. That's when Nandani tried to get up from his lap again to run away, but Manik was fast and pulled her again in his lap. All this while, Nandani was looking down blushing. Manik raised her chin with his forefinger making her look into his eyes, noticing her cheeks turning crimson. Looking at her like that, sitting there with red cheeks giving competition to tomatoes, Manik forgot everything for a second. She looked into his eyes and immediately hugged him as she couldn't bear his intensity with which he looked at her. It was full of love. No need at all to say anything. It's all written in his beautiful brown orbs..
Manik smiled and hugged her back and rocked her in his arms back and forth, just the way she likes... Enjoying the intensity of her love through her hug... When they were in their little paradise, they both heard a knock.
Both whispered 'who is there' and looked at each other. Manik smiled and Nandani giggled and hugged him back when they both heard another knock. Nandani grunted and without moving, just tilted her head to look at him with a pout. Manik smiled and kissed her temple when they again heard a knock. This time even Manik got irritated.
Cabir: Chotiii...
Manik: saale ki abhi bhi timing pakka hai..
Abhi: babydoll...
Manik groaned hearing Abhi when Nandani just giggled.
Manik: yeh toh asal mein saala hai but timing sense zero..
Nandani hit his shoulders but Both of them, not even trying to move towards the door.
Mukti: Chotiii?!
Manik: tum kya celebrity ho ki sab ko tumse milna hai?!
Nandni just showed him tongue and Manik looked towards the door feeling irritated and looked at Nandani indicating they needed to open the door, when Nandani fake whimpered, not in a mood to share him with others.
Arya(worried): Nandani...
Manik: sach keh Raha hoon, Indian President ko bhi itna dhoonte nahi log..
This is what they missed. Spending time together and commenting on all the people around, teasing everyone, ganging up on them... They were unshakeable when they were together...
Manik(whispered): mmm.... Ab kya kare?! ek kaam karte hai.. you act like you are asleep. I'll manage them somehow and I'll be back before you know..
Nandani thought about it for a second and nodded her head in a big yes, smiling like a baby with a twinkle in her eyes... while he just ruffled her hair and kissed her forehead and made her lay down on the bed covering her with a duvet. Nandani winked looking at him and he let out a small laugh and moved towards the door annoyed, before anyone broke in.
Prinku(trying to knock on the door): Ammu....
That was the moment Manik opened the door and Prinku knocked on his chin instead of the door.
Manik looked at her ridiculously. Prinku realising what she did, gave a sheepish smile.
Manik(without masking his irritation): kya chahiye tha aap sabko.. kyun knock kiye jaa rahe the.. koi mar raha hai kya?!
Cabir: saale, agar patha hotha tho, darwasa kyun nahi kola bey itni der?!
Manik(stuttering): I.. I mean.. (quickly)I was in the washroom..
Abhi: what about babydoll??
Manik(gritting his teeth): Who?!
Prinku: He means Ammu!!
Manik (smirking): Again who?!
Mukti: she means choti!!
Manik(biting his lips): Who again?!
Navya: Arey Manik, woh log jaanu ke baare mein baat kar rahe hain!!
Manik(smiling): Jaanu?! Who is that, Navya?!
No one, not even Manik noticed that Navya just called Manik by his name and he answered without any delay or hesitation..
Cabir: Abey saale, tu Jaan buchke yeh sab kar raha hai kya?!
Manik looked at him with fake confusion, totally enjoying the situation: mein?! Mein kya kar raha hoon?!
Anshu: arey, tu andar Monkey ke saath gaya tha.. toh obviously, we are asking about her na?!
Manik(controlling his laugh): now, A Monkey?! When and where did I ever see a Monkey?!
Everyone released a frustrated sigh and Manik had a wonderful time as he was annoyed as they disturbed his time with his Ammu. Till now, ShivOmRu, Annika and Gowri were not there as they were busy in Cooking but they were hearing their talks when they started climbing the stairs to reach them.
Annika: woh kya hain na bhaisaab, woh log sab aapke cherry ke baare mein puch rahe hai?!
Shivaay: jaise aapne bade pyaar se usse "CHERRY"(air quoting) bula rahe the, waise hi hum bhi usse alag alag naam se bulathe hain..
Manik turned his head towards cabir glaring at him for being a BBC broadcasting everything happened as soon as they arrived. At the same time, when they teased him, his ears slightly turning pink.
Gowri(distracting him from Cabir): so, ab sharmana hogaya toh, aap bata sakte hai, aapke cherry Kahan par Hain?!
Manik: woh... woh...
Rudra(peeping in between Annika and Gauri, putting his hands on both their shoulders): arey Bhai, O is here only, we wanna know about crazy?! What's she doing?!
Manik(in plain tone): Nandani is sleeping..
Om(teasing): Ohhhhhhhhhhhhoooooo!!!!
Shivaay(in a teasing tone): toh tum kya kar rahe the?!
Manik: mein?!! Mein yun bait raha tha!!
Dhruv(smirking): Buddy, didn't you just say you were in the washroom?!
Everyone controlled laughing out loud seeing Manik get roasted by them..Manik closed his eyes not knowing what to tell..
Annika: bhool gaya hoga?! Haina?!
Manik: Haan!! Matlab nahi!!
Gowri: Haan ya nahi?! Choose karlo darling..(playfully hitting on his shoulders with her shoulders)
Manik: I meant she slept, then... I was sitting.... after which... I had to use the washroom. That's when you guys knocked.. Haan... Yehi hua!!
Manik lets out a sigh of relief once he is done with his monologue..
Alya(mischievously): Agar Nandu so rahi hai toh, tum kyun yuhi bait rahe ho?! Come down, let's talk and have some fun..
Annika: Alya, my sweetheart, meri muh ki baat cheen li.. Let's go down.. let's spend some time(winking at Manik)..
Nandani was enjoying all the teasing under duvet but when she heard he will be going down, she jerked up and sat on her bed, when
Cabir(with a mocking smile): Arey dekho, meri pyari choti bhi ut gayi...
Anshu pushed Manik aside, going towards Nandani and said with tease: Agar yeh niche Jaa raha hai toh, isse utna hi chahiye na, kyun monkey?!
Nandani: zyada smart mat ban, okay?! Shanaya se baat karke saari phol kholun kya??
Anshu: mat kar meri maa!! Thoda toh izzat bachalene do uske saamne🙏🙏🙏
Manik smiled with stars in his eyes happy for his friend and turned to look at Nandani, when her eyes locked with his and she blinked her eyes in affirmation without anyone noticing..
Arya: toh agar sab tik hai toh, niche chale?!
Nandani: nahi, mujhe sona hai..
She said that immediately because she is still not in a mood to share him with others. In everyone's presence, he will again go back to PARTH not her MANU. she doesn't know why he was hiding but now that he knows she knows, it's a matter of time before the whole truth comes out. If at all, his excuse for this three year drama is lame, he is done in her hands. She knows a huge drama awaits them but before all that, she just wants to soak her soul in his presence. She wants to assure herself, he is back.. he is back to her.. Just like she wanted all these time. She just wants them to be MaNan for a few more time. While she was thinking all that, looked at Manik. Manik was already looking at her to know what she was thinking and he, himself was a little confused on why she was not reacting to his absence.
Annika came near Nandani and patted her head affectionately: tujhe neendh aarahi hai?!
Nandani smiled at her didi and leaned on her shoulders and said 'hmm' with a fake yawn and closed her eyes..
Gowri(patting Nandani's cheeks softly): bahut neendh aarahi hai?!
Nandani looked at Gowri peeping with one eye nodded an 'yes'
Rudra: toh, tum soja crazy..
Nandani and Manik smiled.. They can spend more time.
Om(teasing): sab kya kar rahe hai?! Bahar chalo room se, meri behan ko neendh aarahi hai.
Shivaay: Haan, aur no one should disturb her..
Everyone turned around disappointed as they can't tease MaNan more because of these stupid siblings and their partners..
Nandani sat on her bed as she was standing there only, when
Annika: aap chalo!!
Nandani looked at Annika with wide open eyes as she was asking Manik also to go with them.. MaNan both talked at the same time...
Nandani: woh kyun?!
Manik: mein?!
Prinku (looked at Manik): obviously...
Manik looked at her in confusion and then turned to look at Nandani, when Om came near Prinku, placing a hand over her shoulders
Om: Haan, Ammu ko neendh aarahi hai, woh sojayegi.. par tum.. tum kya karoge yahan.. tum bore hojaoage na.. we don't want that, so humare saath chalo..
Nandani: woh, Bhai.. mein kya bolna chahthi thi ki..
Gowri(interrupting her): yehi na ki jaldi sab bahar chalo.. abhi Jaa rahe hai Ammu.. chalo.. chalo..
Everyone was controlling themselves hard not to laugh..
And without giving any time to react, Annika, Gowri and Prinku dragged Manik away and he kept on looking at Nandani not knowing what to do.. The last he saw, was Nandani sitting there with a sad pout.
Nandani was sitting there scolding and cursing all of them harmlessly when her phone beeped with a message.. she unwillingly checked her phone to see it was a message from her Monster.
Cherry ke chehre pe laal rang sirf sharamane se aani chahiye. Gusse se nahi.. Aur wo rang dilane mein baad mein tumhare paas aunga. Ab smile and take rest.. -- Cherry's Monster
Nandani blushed and then realised he called her as 'cherry' and not ammu. She got annoyed and tossed her mobile on the bed but hid inside the duvet smiling...
Here Manik just smiled thinking how he missed a beautiful blush which was reserved only for him..
Annika: badi hasi aarahi hai!! Hume bhi toh batayiye sir ji..
Manik turned to Annika hearing her voice and saw her hands which had his favourite carrot halwa and smiled how all of them wanted his attention and he is more than ready to shower them with his love...
Manik: woh kuch nahi, bas soch raha tha ki, Annika ji kaise itni khoobsurat aur sweet hai and automatically a smile came up. You are such a sweetie just like this halwa..
Annika smiled seeing his attempt and as soon as he completed his sentence, Gauri came forward with his favourite Vanilla milkshake with lots of caramel dripping with chocolate sprinkled over the icecream at the top with a cute cherry.
Gowri: Then, what about me?! I brought you this especially with a cherry on top..
Manik: Arey Gowri ji, aap thodi na Kam hai.. aap tho itna cute hai ki mein kya bolun.. you are a cutie just like this cherry...
Gowri smiled brightly whereas ShivOm opened their mouth in perfect 'O'
Manik(smirking with pride): Arey Shivaay sir and Om sir, aap donon apne muh thoda band karlo.. warna makki chali jayegi...
Everyone laughed at that..
Anshu(laughing): tu na.. tujhe sudar hi nahi sakta koi..
Manik: Excuse me?!!!
Prinku: Excused😁😁😁
Cabir: ab mujhe bhook lag rahi hai!! Aur toh aur Aaj obros cooked.. so, mujhe bahut saare expectations hai.. Agar aap logon ka hogaya toh khane chale..
Manik, Mukti,Alya,Navya: Bhukkad!!
Cabir glared at them and moved towards the dining table. All followed when Prinku noticed Manik not following,
Prinku: kya hua?!
Manik: bhook nahi hai.. aap log Khao.. mein baad mein khaleta hoon..
Abhi(teasing): kyun apne cherry ke behair khane ka man nahi hai kya?!
Everyone laughed but Manik just glared at Abhi..
Annika: Feel free to watch some TV..
Manik: Thanks sweetie!!
Shivaay groaned and Manik just smiled thinking how some things never change..
Manik sipping his milkshake, turned the TV on and browsed through the channels when in one channel, the song that was running stopped his hand from changing the channel pulling him back to a beautiful memory lane...
🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥
Nandani and Anshu just came from Bangalore for their annual holidays and Manik also came this year with Raj and Nyonika. He will be joining SPACE with Abhi and his Fab 5. Abhi will be joining him here after two days. Manik tried his best to keep Nandani from falling asleep, but due to travel, she was drowsy that she just leaned on him and slept even after he possibly did everything to annoy her like pulling her hair, tracing his fingers all over her face, tickling her.. Nothing worked... Finally he accepted his defeat and made her lay on the bed and came down to see it was raining heavily.. It was around 10PM. he was bored.
On one side, Annika was pestering Shivaay to make pakoras for her as the climate is too good while he was working on something in his laptop.
Shivaay: Raat ke das baje rahe hai, u want me to try pakoras. Inflammation hojayegi. Go and sleep Annika...
Annika: Billu ji, please na...
Shivaay just glared at her once, concentrating back on his laptop, and continued his work. On the other hand, Gowri is reading for the internals for her medical exams but Om is troubling her to be a model for his painting..
Om: Sirf ek ghate, darling! Maan jao na!! Please
Gauri: Omkara ji, aap yahan se dafa hojayiye. Mujhe gussa mat dilayiye.. mujhe bahut important internals hai tomorrow
Om: Don't be a nerd, baby.. come on!!
Gauri's nose flared at this and Om gulped visibly scared.
To be short, his sweetie and cutie are getting irritated and soon gonna come to him complaining..
Anshu already hit the bed before Nandani.. Rudra and Prinku are not at home as both of them are out. Rudy said he is going to his friend's home and Prinku is just at some school conference.. Manik wished only if Prinku was here.. He would have done something to tease these lovey dovey couples.
Manik just slumped on the couch taking the remote and browsing through some music channels..
Just like he thought, Annika and Gowri started yelling at ShivOm.. Shivaay didn't even flinch and just ignored Annika and Om just looking at Gowri with a pout..
And Manik shook his head with a smile and turned his head towards the TV. saw a perfect song that came on B4U in the next song list. He stood up with a bright smile to move towards the yelling ladies, mainly to save ShivOm and also he could make them(ShivOm) irk, just by doing what he intended to do..
Manik moved to Annika pulling her from the chair she was sitting right opposite to Shivaay, yelling at him. Annika gasped making Shivaay, OmRi to look at them.. Manik just twirled Annika to the music as he could literally see Shivaay's mouth get wide open making him smirk...
Dekha hai tujh ko jabse, Haaye main toh hil gaya
Lagta hai mere seene se, Dil nikal gaya
He looked at Annika and made a bird shape out of his hands and made a gesture like it flew away. He turned towards Gowri who is also looking at him with a smile already making Om pout his lips.
Dekha hai tujh ko jabse, Haaye main toh hil gaya
Lagta hai mere seene se, Dil nikal gaya
He came to Gowri and twirled her for the same lyrics and pulled her near Annika.
Mummy se kya daddy se bhi Milaunga tujhe
Raj and Nyeonika who were sitting in the dining room smiling and commenting on Manik, turned towards them and laughed as he sang. ShivOm whose concentration is on Manik and the girls stood up to argue with Manik when Manik just sang,
Arey jo bhi main kahun, Tujhe lagta hai Kyun galat
And he turned them and pushed them around and shouted,
Palat
He turned back to Annika and Gauri, who were looking at ShivOm and laughing at them and he started dancing with them singing,
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Toh palat
Tujhe itni bhi khabar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
ShivOm ki kaanon se aag nikla when they saw the girls dancing with Manik with the main motive to make them jealous. Knowing that also, they couldn't help but feel jealous.
And Manik did what he is best at.. Irritating them to the core. He turned to Gauri and took her hand in his and slightly pulled her towards the kitchen,
Arey aa, kahin Coffee pilaun tujhe
He pulled Annika the same way to the theatre room and,
Arey aa, koi picture Dikhaaon tujhe main
He put hands on both their shoulders standing in the middle,
Chal, le chalun Tujhko aisi jagah
O meri jaan e jaan
Jahaan humko nahi, Ho kisi ki khabar
Jahaan lage lage, Na kisi ki nazar
He winked at ShivOm, dancing with Annika and Gauri,
Arey jo bhi main kahoon, Tujhe lagta hai kyun galat
Palat
Annika, Gauri and Manik danced crazily irritating ShivOm.
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Manik was looking at ShivOm and found them looking at someone behind him with a huge smile, confused Manik, asked them what with his eyebrows to which they shouted,
Toh palat
ShivOm ran and stood with Nandani who came downstairs hearing the halchal, now looking at Manik, slash that, glaring at Manik, who looked like a puppy in front of her.. ShivOm totally used this opportunity to annoy Manik, as they lip synced to the song which was still blaring at television,
Tujhe itni bhi khabar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
They danced around Manik indicating he was Nandani's hero whereas Manik was just smiling at them and Annika and Gauri danced around Nandani now, teasing MaNan.
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Manik looked at them and moved towards Nandani and sang indicating his parents as 'zamana' who were still enjoying the performances, they playfully glared at them making him grin like an idiot
Ho kehta kyun hai, Mujhse zamana
Manik looked at Nandani's eyes as she stood with a blush,
Arey haan nahin, Aasan hai tujhko paana
Manik forwarded his hands to her lovingly to which she turned around without giving him her hands to which he just picked her up in bridal style singing,
Aa, tere nakhre Uthaoon sanam
Mujhko teri kasam
He ran towards their window where there was rain still pouring with her in his hands whereas she clutched his shirt tightly and ,
Taang doon chaand ko, Teri khidki pe main
Taank doon jaan ko, Teri kurti mein main
Nandani gave him a beautiful smile and he continued,
Arey jo bhi main kahun
Tujhe lagta hai kyun galat
Annika and Gauri who came near them, hitting his shoulders and shouting,
Arey palat
All the three boys danced around their girls singing and shouting at the top of their voices,
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Tera dhyaan kidhar hai, Yeh tera hero idhar hai
Shivaay, Om and Manik slouched on the couch pulling the girls beside them, taking heavy breaths and laughing out loud. And looking at them like that, Raj and Nyeonika felt so happy and content, silently praying to keep them happy.
-----------------------------------------------------------
A ghost of a smile came across Manik's lips and his eyes involuntarily turned towards ShivOm, Annika and Gauri whose eyes are already at him. He gave them a small smile and moved up towards his room.