I followed him at a slow pace towards the car. I was blushing, smiling, glowing all at the same time while Manik reluctantly walked towards the car rubbing his eyes to get out of the slumber. The poor guy probably had just slept and now he had to escort me to have ice cream. But I was loving it. I had always liked this side of Manik, sweet, caring, overtly possessive but still gave in to my wishes easily. The long lost smile had glued to my lips and gave no signs of wearing away any time soon.
"Why are you smiling like that??", he suddenly turned around and asked me suspiciously.
I smiled more and bit my lower lip to hide the glee in me, "Nothing", I crossed him and occupied the front passengers seat.
Manik gave a confused look and seated himself. He made sure that I had my seat belt on. He saw to it that it didn't stress my tummy much and after tugging it in carefully we drove off.
"So tell me where do we go?? It's your city you know better", Manik heaved a deep sigh and tossed the ball in my court.
"Take left from here, I will take you to a really special place.", I said with a brooding smile.
He smirked at my excitement and followed my instruction. We drove for around the next 20 minutes and I directed him. Manik began getting curious as to where I was taking him and gave me some scary suspicious looks in between.
"Nandu you should be resting around this time and you have to now go on a drive...see no shop is open..I told you ", he darted his eyes back and forth to find at least one open shop which was remotely possible at that hour.
"Manik please na...a little more", I tried to cajole him to continue driving and when we reached the desired place I squealed, "stop...stop...stop..we have reached", I flapped my hands on the steering wheel to halt the car.
We got down. It was a lonely street, at this hour even the busiest streets of the city would be lifeless. The place had a very special place in my life. I had vague memories of the place and it hadn't changed much. There was a park adjacent to the street. Appa used to take me there whenever we came to Ahmedabad during our vacations, the softies there were my favorite. Although Nanu used to get us there, along with my other cousins to play but the place was never the same for me after Appa's death. It reminded me of Appa. How I would clasp his palm and run around like a crazy kid and he would just laugh to see me that excited. The swings and the see-saw's were just the same as it were once. It was years since I had been there.
I don't know what made me take Manik there. May be I wanted to share it with him. Manik looked at me awestruck as he found me drinking the aura around. I glanced at him to find him getting curious about that wide grin on my lips.
"Manik.. Ice cream", I pointed to a street side softy vendor. The stall was closed though and probably the owner was fast asleep on the platform by the road.
"Are you crazy?? You are not having that street side ice cream..I am sure there must be a proper softy joint somewhere around..we will go there.", he rejected my suggestion at once.
"But I want that only", I nagged in a demanding tone.
"No that's not safe Nandini..god knows what all they mix..yuck..I am not letting you have that..besides it's not good for the baby"
"Manik baby wants that..pleaseee", my puppy eyes flickered in plea.
"Why are you being so stubborn Nandu?"
He got more irritated as I nagged further. Manik knew he will give in finally so he didn't waste any further time and reluctantly went towards the stall. I giggled at his helpless struggle to say no to me. I occupied the nearest bench and gazed at Manik. It was a treat to watch him do these stuff. He tried to wake the man up who was happily sleeping. Manik nudged him to get up but he gave no signs of waking up. I could see Manik was mumbling something out of annoyance and I burst out sneering. Helpless he took the charge of making the softy himself. It was love to see him putting efforts to fulfill my wishes. I rested my chin on my palm as he displayed his skills of being a dessert king. He took a cone a big one and showed me the flavors to choose from. I rejected butter scotch and vanilla by nodding my head and settled for a twin dose of chocolate and strawberry. He stuffed the cone with a hefty amount of cream and looked at me in between for approvals and I nodded back. He quickly put the money in the man's pocket and came up to me.
"Here you go..happy now", he handed the softy to me.
"Very..", I took it from his hand and he settled beside me on the bench.
One bite on the cream and it melted in my mouth like liquid chocolate, the taste had to be the best. It was made by my Manik after all. Manik fixed his gaze at me without a blink. He captured the tiniest expressions of joy on my face that I gave away while having the ice cream. I could see he was content to see me happy.
"I love you Nandini...", he confessed without breaking his gaze on me.
My focus shifted from the ice cream to his eyes. He had said it before too it was never like a confession. Earlier it was more like convincing me about his love. But today it was different it was confession and submission.
"I know I haven't said it enough but I want you to know that I really really love you..that smile on your face gives me a reason to live and be happy about life", Manik admitted with a heartfelt smile.
That was probably the best known fact to me but every time he said, it made me feel better. It felt special to be loved by him. Years back he was a far fetched dream..months back he was a vague possibility but now at this moment he is my reality and that too my favorite one.
"I am sorry Nandu", he said softly
I could see that he was still guilty. But I didn't want him to feel that way. I nodded in denial requesting to not start it up at this hour. I didn't want to remember the chain of those painful events between us.
"No Nandu..no matter how many times I say sorry to you.. it will never be enough."
"It wasn't your mistake alone even I was wrong to have lied to you..in fact somehow all of it started from me only", I tried to make a little less at fault.
"Now you are being generous..whatever I did was wrong very wrong..I never realized when I started comparing you with my mother..the thought that you lied to me shook me to the core..I was insecure not about you but about my past..subconsciously I thought I was punishing my Mom by being harsh with you...I got so messed up when I saw you getting close to her that I couldn't help it... you know Nandu after Mom and Dad's separation..I was all by myself.. After years of struggle I thought I had become strong enough and nothing could break me. I thought I was happy and content, I thought I was at peace with myself. I was alone, carefree, relationships were experimental to me. I never understood that those fears had never left me instead were buried in some corner of my heart." he paused for a breath.
" But then you came and everything changed bit by bit..I would be lying if I say it was love at first sight but there was something about you which held me..it started with attraction mere physical attraction and I never knew when my feelings over powered me. I grew protective and possessive of you but my past had doomed me to such an extent that I could never get out of it. When I saw you with my mother I couldn't just...", He paused for a moment to get a hold on his emotions and started again, "But then that can't be an excuse. The truth is I have hurt you and I shouldn't have especially when I had promised to take care of you."
I just listened to him patiently without interrupting. I wanted him to talk and he did actually. The softy in my hand had dampened and was not eatable anymore. Manik was silent and fidgeted with his fingers.
"Manik can you get me some water??", I asked to pull him out of his guilt ridden thoughts.
Manik nodded silently and got up to get water from the car as I threw the softy in the nearest bin. He came back and helped me wash my sticky palm and mouth. I needed to drink the water to gulp the lump in my throat that had emerged with his words. He was such a lonely man who was deprived from the love of a family and I felt sorry for him to have gone through such emotional turmoil at such young age. Somewhere I understood him, living without a parent was so difficult and who better than me would vouch for it. But my case was different, it was fate, Appa didn't choose to leave us alone. Besides I had an affectionate family by my side all the time. Nanu made every possible attempt to fill up that vacant space.
Although he had shared his deepest insecurities with me but that also meant he again made him go through that zone in his memories. He looked down at the grass underneath to hide his susceptibility from me and I knew I had to comfort him now. I wanted to assure him that I would always be with him. I slowly took his arms into mine and pulled him back to the bench and made him lie down on my lap. I brushed his temple and hair with my fingers and kissed him on the forehead to ease out the pain and he closed his eyes.
"Do you know Manik why is this place so special to me??"
He opened his eyes again to look at my face.
"It reminds me of Appa, with whatever memories I have, this place holds a special corner in my heart and I wanted to share it with you"
He looked at me intently and a joy filled his eyes. We shared our worlds with each other and made a world of our own. We fell silent for a bit and I spoke again.
"Manik can I ask you something??"
"Hmm..", he relaxed more on my lap under the comforting caresses of my hand.
"Will you ever be able to forgive her??... She loves you lot and misses you too...I know it is a difficult call for you but please try at least may be it would help you to make peace with yourself."
"I don't think so Nandu..something's are beyond our control..let's not talk about her"
"But Manik trust me she is really nice..she took care of me when you were not there"
"Well that would be the only thing I would ever thank her for"
"Please Manik"
Manik got irritated and attempted to get up from my lap. I held him and pulled him back to my lap.
"Achha okay I am sorry we won't talk about her..please..we will talk about us..hmmm..tell me who will you love more me or the baby??"
He grinned affectionately at my question, "You both mean my world to me..how can I choose?", he turned his head and kissed my tummy, "Thank you Nandu for completing me and giving me a family....Nandu I know words are hard to forget ..you will remember them from time to time and be hurt..so I have an idea..look at any point of time you remember them and feel bad about it, just hit me... any time... anywhere and I will be okay about it..I promise", he said in a very silly yet sincere manner.
I wanted to laugh out loud at his idea. Yes Mr. Manik Malhotra and his great ideas how can I forget.
"And what about me..even I have hurt you so many times..will you hit me too?? Bolo you want to hit me.", I queried making a sweet innocent face.
Manik giggled like a baby and took my palm into his and kissed it tenderly.
"Nandu do you have any idea how cute you really are?? I want my princess to be exactly like you..innocent and pure..I will love you both so much so much that you will get tired of me and yes I want a boy next year and again a girl in the year after that..we have to make our football team remember."
"Manik you are mad", I hit him playfully on the chest and he laughed more.
"That I am..for you", he raised his head whilst dragging my nape for a kiss but I stopped him by pulling his hand back.
"Acha Manik what will you do when she will cry"
"Huh!!Why will my princess cry..I know how to handle my baby"
"Really...stop boosting okay..you couldn't deal with Adit for only two hours..you made the poor kid cry..bade aaye handle karne wale.", I said teasingly.
"Listen my princess is not going to be like that brat okay...I am telling you keep that brat far far away from my daughter."
It was so endearing to see him get possessive about everything between us.
"Fine you only handle your daughter I won't come in between", I faked annoyance for a bit but broke into fits of laughter as he tickled me.
The night went by and we didn't even realize when we dozed off there.
***
My eyes were not ready to open; a strong source of light attacked my slumber. I felt irritated unable to get the light out of my face and as I moved a little to cover my face I felt a strong almost painful catch around my arm. I was sleeping on my arm and that had made it stiff. Reluctantly I lifted my head to ease the pain a little and moment I opened my eyes I got the shock of my life. It definitely wasn't my cozy room. My room had a ceiling at least and was most definitely not a fish market as it looked right now and then it struck me almost immediately. Shit!! I was still at the park. It was morning already and there were people around jogging, doing morning walk and exercising. Everyone who crossed me looked at me with a disgusted expression especially the old uncles and aunties, some even whispered amongst themselves. Now come on this was the heights of it. Haven't these people seeing anyone sleeping under open sky? I mean there are thousands of people in our country who sleep on footpath and a park, on a bench definitely was a better place. I glowered at some to shoo them away.
"Chii.. Chii.. Chii.. ye aj kal ke bache bhi na..", a random aunty scowled in my direction picking at me and spoke to his husband (probably)and went ahead.
I couldn't quite understand her remark but it was meant to me for sure and just then I saw the reason. It was Manik, Shit!! Shit!! Shit!! How could I forget him? His head was still on my lap in fact quite comfortably. He had squeezed his long legs to of their size to fit in the bench and his face was stuffed in my tummy. He had found a brilliant way to escape the sunlight brooding over us and an even more brilliant way to embarrass me. I wanted to shove my face somewhere and may be just vanish.
Embarrassment and being with Manik went hand in hand. I should have understood that by now but my luck would just find out invariably amazing ways to punish me. I shook his shoulders frantically to wake him up and he conveniently pushed his face to my tummy further. Of all places on earth this had to be the most comfortable to him. The youngsters and the kids around were having a treat in front of them, most of them laughed like lunatics as they saw me sweating to wake him and he was busy stopping my hand and pulling me to him for his good morning kiss. Gosh!! Where on earth could I hide my face? With Manik in my life I have had honor of having the variety of mornings, the adventurous morning to the beautiful ones to the ugly ones and now the embarrassing morning.
"Manik please get up ..for heaven sake please", I ruffled his hair urgently.
"Daddy loves to too baby", he mumbled while nuzzling in my tummy.
Like seriously. I couldn't believe he was having sweet talks with his princess while the mother of the princess wanted to drown herself in the pacific out of shame. All my efforts to wake him were going down the drain when it suddenly struck me.
"Manik..MOM"
"What???..sorry..sor..", he leapt out of my lap gasping and sprung up to sit straight on the bench. He looked around to find his monster and found his breath back when he couldn't see her.
"What the hell Nandini?? Ye koi tarika hota hai uthane ka subah subah..It was such a beautiful dream..we were holidaying in Macau..princess was so excited for the adventure ride and you got scared like a rabbit", he mocked at me and chuckled while remembering the dream.
"Seriously Manik!! ..holidaying in Macau??", I wanted to rip his head apart, "Just look around where we are..its morning and we are still out."
It took him a while to get out his adventure ride in Macau as he registered the familiarity of the surroundings from last night and shrugged his shoulders in indifference. I grimaced at him fiercely.
"What?? Was it my idea..Ice cream date at 1:30..special place..park ..bench.", he yawned and taunted me wryly.
I didn't respond and just got up and hurried to the car. Manik sneered adorably as he saw me getting irritated. Teasing me was his favorite pass time. He stretched himself to free his limbs and followed me to the car. He purposely slow walked to hike my irritation. I hurried to him and pulled him by his arms to hurry. It was around 6 already and would take some half an hour to reach home depending on the morning traffic. He started the car and we headed back.
"Acha are you hungry?? Do you want to eat something??", he asked while crossing a signal.
"I don't know about me but Mom would surely be hungry enough to eat both of us alive", I was getting tensed now.
He gave a suppressed laugh, "You are so scared of your Mom..how are you going to tell her about us??"
"Yes ..I saw that just now who is scared of Mom", I reminded him of his wake up alarm.
He gave me a sarcastic smile and continued driving. Manik was fast, it was just 6:25 and we reached home. He parked the car outside and we both came out. I looked around but thankfully no one was there. Mostly everyone stayed up till late night and that's why enjoyed their morning sleep and thank god for that. I asked Manik to be at a safe distance from me while we walked in. Manik left no chances to tease me. He intentionally dashed against me on our way back. Although I enjoyed his cute antics to cling to me but I also had to be careful. I was just about to enter when my foot got stuck in the carpet and I was about to tumble down on my tummy.
"Careful!!!", Manik screamed and wrapped his protective arm around my waist before I hit the floor.
He pulled me up instantly to stand straight, "Are you okay??", he asked in a concerned tone.
I nodded in a yes apologetically and before I could say anything else he pulled me to his chest for a comforting hug. I should have stopped him though but didn't.
"How many times have I asked you to be careful??", he said softly in my ears while binding his arms around me. He held me for a minute and then released me. But that one minute could cost us a lot. Just as we turned we saw Nanu standing right in front of us.
If there was something that could make me go weak on my knees right now. It had to be that sight. I swear I could pass out any moment had it not been Manik standing by me. I was constantly trying to motivate myself to be strong. I didn't have the courage to look into Manik's eyes and Nanu's eyes were something I didn't want to look into. I was deficient in excuses by now and it surely didn't make sense as we were caught red-handed. Whatever it was I had to support Manik. Blessing was out of question with Nanu's blood shot eyes and if it was wrath we would bear it together.
"Come with me..", Nanu ordered in an ungenerous tone.
My eyes shot up to look at Manik and he seemed clueless.
"I said come with me", he growled again.
I grabbed Manik's palm in fear, that tone of Nanu shook me to the core. I have never heard that tone of his at least when I was around. Nanu was always calm and caring whenever it concerned me but today was different. Both of us didn't want to aggravate his temper so we took a step forward..together..to follow him.
"Not you Nandini..I want to talk to him...alone", Nanu gave us a look and proceeded towards his room.
Tears had started building in my eyes. I surely knew what it was all about and I wanted to be a part of it. I didn't want Manik to face it alone; I had to be with him. Manik blinked his eyelids to calm me down. He could sense I had started panicking. I clutched his arm with both my hands not ready to let go. Manik calmly released his arm from me and went ahead.
Note:
Thank you guys..last chapter got some amazing response..so keep supporting and commenting. You may get another update tomorrow providing I get a good response in terms of comments for this. Silent readers please grace me with your comments. As I had said before that the story is heading towards its end hence will have its share of drama as well so sit back n enjoy :))