(A/N: First of all, I would like to thank you all for being very patient and I would also like to apologize for the delay. I am extremely sorry guys. Maaf kardo, please? Now the good news is, boards khatam. So that means I'm free to write now. Which also means I would be ready to update regularly, given that I get good response from you all. Since many of you insisted for this part, I am writing it so I am expecting about 200 comments, as usual. Who wants the next part? Condition yaad rakhna. Now padhlo. Cheers.)
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I woke up after almost 12 hours. Navya was sitting beside me, caressing my head. I held her hand and placed it on my tummy.
"Thanks Navya." I owed her many explanations but she didn't mind. She still cared for me, unlike someone supposedly closer to me. But there was something different about her. Perhaps she was hiding a lot behind that fake smile.
"Navya, kya hua?" I looked at her and asked. I was afraid. If she said something I wouldn't want to hear, I couldn't take the pain. My hand caressed my tummy.
"Nandini..." She whispered and I already got my cues. I almost knew what she wanted to say but I wanted to hear it from her, just as much as I didn't want to know. I wanted her to confirm my assumptions though I wished it were false.
"My baby... is alright, hai na?" My voice cracked and Navya closed her eyes. My baby... Ayyappa. I began to cry. I screamed.
"Navya... Main tumse kuch puch rahi hun. Tell me." I wanted to hear the truth. I wanted to face it. And this time, I was alone. I had to fight for myself, all alone.
"Nandini, I am sorry." She muttered and kissed my forehead. She smiled faintly and walked out of the room. That was it for me. Navya had walked out of my life too, or I thought she did. I screamed and cried. It hurt emotionally more than physically. Manik... My subconscious yelled. But how could I face him? He was responsible for it. He killed my baby.
I stood with great difficulty. I walked into the washroom. I stood under the shower. God knew for how long I stood there. All I could think of, was the previous day. First, Uncle. Then, me. Now my baby. It hurt real bad. He was the only one I had.
"Nandini..." I heard a call and the bathroom door burst open. It was him. Manik. He stood in front of me. I stared at him. I wanted to cry and hit him hard for doing this to me. My life turned upside down in a matter of minutes. I didn't want to believe anything. I wanted everything to be a nightmare. I wanted my baby back. And he was responsible for my baby's death.
"Nandini, kuch bolo. Please?" He was on the verge of crying and I was already in tears. It hurt real bad. Why always me? Everyone I love, leaves. Why? I stood before him, as strong as a statue. I didn't move. I didn't speak. Amidst the turmoil between my heart and mind, I stood quiet, facing him. He raised his hand to touch me and I slapped him hard. The sound echoed in the room. He cupped his cheek to soothe the pain.
"I hate you." I screamed into his face and walked out of the door. He deserved more than a slap but it hurt me to hurt him. No matter what he did to me, I could never hurt him the way he hurt me. I loved him as much as I hated him. I began to wail. I fell to the floor, against the bed and brought my knees against my chest. I wrapped my arms around them and cried.
Manik stepped out of the bathroom. His eyes were bloodshot either from crying, or from anger. He sat beside me and grabbed me into his arms and I cried into his chest. He wasn't angry with that slap I gave him. He deserved more, though.
"Pyaar karte ho mujhse?" I asked from under his chin, with teary eyes.
"Bahut." He confessed purely and I shrugged myself out of his grip. I scooted away far from him and began to tremble because of he sudden loss of warmth.
"Jhoot kyun bol rahe ho? Tumhe lagta hai that I love you for money, hai na? You hate me. You think I cheat on you. You don't trust me, right?" I was letting out all that I'd been carrying in my heart since the previous night.
"Nandini, listen..." He tried approaching me and I denied him.
"No. Don't touch me." He sighed and stood up. He went to my closet and pulled out a knee-length dress for me.
"Change karlo." He tossed the dress on me and I held it tight, looking at his face for any guilt, or regret but all I could see was pain.
"I need answers for my questions." I asserted and his eyes met mine.
"Nandini, it's nothing like that. Abhi..." He tried convincing me but the deductions I drew from my assumptions were clouding my head. I was blinded by my own self that I didn't bother to hear him out.
"Abhimanyu ne kaha that I loved him. I was dating him. Aur tum maan bhi gaye, hai na? Sirf itna jaante ho mere baare mein, Manik? And you think I should believe you when you say you love me?"He said he loved me. But he couldn't trust me enough to believe what Abhimanyu said was wrong. What is love without trust?
"Nand..." I cut him short with my tears and words.
"Manik Malhotra, you are the most sickest person on this planet. Just because you wanted revenge for what you believed, you killed my baby. My baby, Manik. Do you know how much he meant to me? Do you have any idea?" I cried and he shook his head in disbelief.
"Nandini, you're getting it all wrong. I didn't..." He tried justifying his actions.
"Thanks for everything, Manik Malhotra." I said, as I stood up and went into the bathroom to change. I came back out, pulled my suitcase and began to pack my things. Manik entered the room with some food for me and looked baffled to see me packing. He approached me and held my arm, pulling me towards him.
"Kahan jaa rahi ho? Mat jao." His eyes showed he was hurt. He was begging and it was rare to see him that vulnerable. He needed solace. But I was hurt too, possibly more than him. I shrugged myself to get out of his grip but he was too strong for me.
"Manik, you told me to leave right? You chucked me out of the house. Remember when I pleaded to you to not leave me alone like that? But you didn't listen." I said, and jerked his hand away. I packed my things and wit the help of a servant, took them down. I walked out of his room and out of his house. I wanted him to stop me. I didn't want to leave him alone. He came running behind me but just couldn't stop me.
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"Nandu, main..." Navya initiated as I sat on Cabir's guest bed. Neither of us spoke a word since the past 20 minutes we had been in that room.
"Navya, agar tum mere baare main ya phir Manik ke baare main kuch baat karna chahti ho, toh I'll leave. I'll find a hotel for myself." I stood up and she stood up too, trying to stop me.
"Nandu, it's not that. I just want to tell you that this is a phase. It will pass by, trust me." I wished I could believe her. I wished things would be back to normal. I wished to see the brighter side of my life.
"Nandini, please ek baar meri baat sunlo. Uske baad I won't force you into anything. Please? It's serious." Navya never pleaded that much for anyone and I got my cue. It was related to Manik. Though I didn't want to talk about him, I knew she was being serious this time. I signaled her to continue.
"Nandini, did you ever see a poster of five people on Manik's door?" She asked and my mind went to recollecting the picture I saw. It was supposedly his best friends. Yes, his best friends. Fab 5. My subconscious reminded me and I nodded along.
"Those friends of his, cheated him." What? Why? Friends can't cheat. Why would they? I looked at her with suspicion clear in my expressions and she decided to let the secret out. "They knew that his girlfriend was alive and dating some other man but they hid it from him intentionally even after they knew he was on drugs because of her." Who? Alya? Was she alive?
"Alya? She is alive?" I asked, with a totally surprised expression. I thought she was dead. No, rather that was what Manik told me and I believed him blindly.
"And she is dating Manik's best friend. Nandu, yesterday was very eventful for Manik. He faced the reality yesterday. He lost his friends and his father. It's not easy to deal with many losses together na? He didn't know how to vent his anger and pain. He didn't believe Abhimanyu. He didn't mean anything he said and you know that, don't you?" She tried to take his side and I thought about it. Why didn't he think of telling me? He didn't trust you. Perhaps he didn't. And the things he said, thinking about them pricked my heart. How could he think so low about me? Yet, I smiled faintly, thinking about the way he expresses his feelings.
"He is a child, Navya. He has extreme emotions, always. Either he loves like there is no tomorrow, or he says hateful things such that he'll never face them again." I'd seen those shades of Manik the most. He was very expressive, but he expressed his emotions through the wrong ways. Either hatred, or love. There was nothing in between.
"Nandini, he is in so much pain. You have no idea how he has been since he saw you last night, with Harshad. He didn't sleep last night. He was in pain, when he saw you bleeding. He was restless until you spoke to him, called his name. He loves you, he really does. He hasn't loved anyone like he loves you. You can see it in his eyes." I knew he loved me. I knew it since the day he made love to me. He was a love deprived soul and the fear of being away from me, made him accept those feelings he had for me. Unintentionally, I had disturbed him very much. The more I try to not hurt others, is the more I tend to hurt them.
"He doesn't want to lose you. He can't tolerate that. He said those words in anger but inside, he wanted you to prove to him, that not everyone betrays. If you were in the right state of mind, you would realize that, Nandini. Because you aren't, I'm trying to tell you." I would have realized if I wasn't so consumed in my own life.
"Mujhe Manik ke paas jaana hai. He needs me." I stood and walked out of the room without listening to Navya. I ran out of the house and rang his doorbell. His servant opened the door. I burst inside the house and called for him.
"Manik..." I saw him peeking through the door of his room. His fingers were bleeding. My eyes widened and I ran up the stairs to reach him. I checked on his hand to see 4 deep cuts on his wrist. I ran my fingers around the cuts and my eyes flooded with tears. I shook my head negatively. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly and I bent to kiss his hand. I kissed just above the 4 cuts and he winced as my tear touched his wound.
"Dard ho raha hai?" I asked and he smiled faintly.
"Nahi."
"I am sorry." I cried and his blooded fingers wiped my teary cheeks.
"I am sorry, Nandini. For everything."
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(Did you guys like it? Vote and comment please? Sorry for the delay. To compensate, I will be publishing this story almost everyday if I get the response I expect. 200 comments. Chalo. Ab tareef ya bashing, dono ke liye I am ready. :) Loads of love.)