Please excuse the unintentional typos!
Next morning:
It was Manik who got up first as he had to leave early. He quickly got ready and cam e to Nandini's apartment.
He knocked once and opened the door with the key. When he entered Nandini was looking at her phone. She was reading the message Manik sent.
Though he was there in front of her, she replied to his message,
"It's okay Manik. Don't blame yourself. Tum sahee time pe aaye the na... I can't imagine what if you weren't there then kya hotha... I wouldn't have tried to face him"
He saw her typing something without even looking at him once, though she saw him coming in.
Manik's phone beeped and he opened to check it. He read the message and looked at her. Now he started typing.
"Hmm... I still feel I couldn't protect you" he replied.
She saw the message and now they were texting to each to her, standing opposite to each other.
N: Forget it Mani! It's okay I ma fine now J
M: are you sure?
N: yes baba!
M: Okay!
N: Acha I forgot to tell you something
M: What?
Now instead of replying, she looked at him and said, "Good morning Manik" and both started laughing.
"Paagal hain hum Manik" she said and pat his shoulder.
He side hugged her and said, "Very good morning Nandini. Ha! Who toh hain" he said smiling.
"Acha come lets have breakfast... today we have South Indian special rava idly" she said with a wide grin.
"Wow! I love idly... lets attack" he said and went into the kitchen.
"Wow Nandini these are yummy" he said while eating/
"Thanks... but is mein mera kuch credit nai hain ... they are instant idlies I just have to heat them" she said.
"Phir bhi! They have Nandini's touch" he said holding her hand.
"Acha ! Enough now... jaldhi karo... we have to go" she said. Soon they both finished breakfast and went to school in Manik's car.
"Wow! It feels so good to drive to school. We can reach school in one minute. I hate walking through that uphill..." Nandini said.
"That's true! "He agreed.
They reached in just a couple of minutes as school was real close.
"Okay Nandini! Take care and koi bhi problem ho toh just give me a call. I will make sure you won't see him but if you do, toh bilkul darnaa math.. tum meri brave girl ho na?" he asked cupping her cheeks.
"Haan!" she replied smilingly.
"Good. That's like my girl" he said and kissed her forehead.
"Okay! Let's go now. Aur I will see you at lunch" he said and they got down the car.
"Bye Manik" she said and went away.
After three hours:
Manik was still in practice and nandini was waiting for him in the cafeteria. It's been already 15 minutes that she was there. She called him up but he did not pick up. She thought she'll go see him at the basketball ground and started walking when she heard someone calling her.
"Sorry sorry! Very sorry late ho Gaya... chalo "he said.
She stood there crossing her arms.
"Manik! tumhe game kea age kuch dhiktha nai hain na?" she asked.
"Aery kuch kaam tha..thats why I was late" he said.
"Kaisa kaam?" she asked.
"Typical girl friend ho tum potato.. okay clse your eyes" he said.
"What?" she asked.
"What nai.... Close your eyes" he said and she did.
"Okay open now" he said.
She opened her eyes and saw him holding a small box.
"Ye kya hain?" she asked.
"ISe lane mein hi late ho gaya.. now open it and tell me how it is" he said and gave her the box.
She opened the box and saw two pretty bracelets with the word "MaNan" written on it.
"Manik who is Manan?" she asked.
He held her hand and tied it to her wrist.
"Manik ka 'Ma' and Nandini ka 'Nan'.. 'Manan' and you see this infinity symbol? It is the symbol of our love. Hamesha" he said.
(Please please please daantnaa math for putting in the same lines.... I am pretty sure you will like it... don't prove me wrong)
She was overwhelmed at his words.
"Manik this is beautiful! Kaise kiya tum ne?" she asked.
"Meine nai kiya. I just designed it and got it done from somewhere else. I am glad you liked it. Abhi mujhe pehnao" he said and extended his hand. She tied it on his wrist.
"Perfect! Ab chalo.. lets quickly have lunch. And yes I will be free by 4. If you have some work yahee pe rehna, we'll go home together" he said as they were talking towards the cafeteria.
"Nai manik. I will go home. I wanna sleep for sometime" she replied.
"Okay. As you wish" he said and they both sat on the table with food.
After having lunch, manik went for practice and nandini went home. She changed and immediately dozed off.
Around 3.30 someone knocked on the door.
She got up when that person was continuously knocking
"Key hain Manik tumhaare paas..phir knock kyu kar rahe ho" she said while opening the door.
To her surprise, it wasn't Manik at the door. She couldn't recognize who it was.
"You are Nandini right?" he asked.
"Yes. But sorry I don't recognize you" she said hesitatingly.
"I am karthik. Your Maama Raghu Murthy's son. I was here last week but you weren't there" he said and Nandini was stuck to the ground.
"Aiyappaa! Like seriously??? ab iskii hi kamee thee... " she was talking to herself looking up.
"Nandini are you okay?" he asked.
"umm...yes..." she was stammering, when she heard Manik's voice from behind.
Meanwhile Manik also reached. He came to Nandini's flat when he saw karthik standing at the door. He crossed him and went towards her and side hugged her. Karthik was looking at them confusingly.
"Nandini who is he?" Karthik asked.
Then Manik looked at him too.
"Nandini I asked you who he is and Avan en unnai kattippitittu ullatu?" he asked again. "Excuse me? Who are you? And what language are you speaking?" Manik asked.
"That is not your concern" he said.
"Karthik. Relax. This is Manik, my friend" she said. Manik was surprised as to why she was telling he is her friend.
"Nandini who is he" Manik asked leaving her.
"Manik! tum apne ghar jao.. mein aathi hoon" she said.
"Nandnini meine poocha ye kaun hain" he said sternly.
"He is my son karthik" Raghu came from behind.
"How dare you come here?" Manik said moving close to him. "I asked you to stay away from her. Ek baar bolne se samajh nai aatha kya tumhe?" he said angrily.
Nandini was trying to pull him back but she was not able to succeed.
"Tumhe apne parents ne manners nai sikhaaye honge. That's why you don't know how to talk to elders. Marne se pehle atleast ithna toh kar lethe" he said smirking.
Now Manik lost it completely, "Don't yiu dare talk about my parents with your shitty mouth. Achha nai hogaa tumhaare liye. I was being nice to you only because you are her relative. Else, tumhe tumhaari aukaath bohath pehle dhikhaa dhiya hotha.. now both of you get lost form my sight" he said pushing them.
"Mr. Manik Manlhotra. You have no right to interfere in our family matters. Better stay away nai toh mujhe police bulaani padegi" Raghu said.
"Will you please stop? Maama aap yaha tak aa gaye? Meine manaa kiya tha na.. I told you I don't want to have any kind of relationship with you. Why can't you leave me alone?" Nandini shouted.
"Nandini! Beta meri baath suno... I am still telling you the same thing. Karthik se shaadhi karogi toh you will have your whole family. Nana, nani, maama, maami aur tumhaare saare cousins. Sab ek saath reh sakthe hain India mein. Your naana naani wanted to see you. Maan jao beta" he said emotionally.
Manik was trying hard to control his anger.
"Maama ye Manik hain. I love him and he loves me too. Sunaa aap ne.. aur please ek aur baar ye shaadi ka proposal le ke mere paas aayenge toh mein harassment ka case kar dhoongi. Meine aap ko pehle bhi bola ki I a not related to you. This man is my only family" she said holding his hand.
"Toh please muhe dhoobaara contact karne ki koshish bhi math karna. This is the last time I am warning you" she said and pulled Manik inside and closed the door.
Both of them were standing silent, trying to understand what just happened. They did not expect her mama to directly come to her place.
Nandini couldn't take it anymore. She fell on her knees and started crying. "Nandu" he said and sat next to her.
She immediately hugged him. "Kyu Manik? When I needed a family no one was there, and now wheni don't want them why are they behind me like this? Is money everything in the world? Kya ye log paise ke liye kuch bhi kar dhenge? Who mom dad ka hard work thaa manik. I saw them how they struggled, hiding eachj other's pain. Honon bhi apni family ko bohoth miss karthe the... they tried a lot to contact them. Par nai, then no one responded, par ab dhekho. That man forces me to marry his so" she kept on talking and crying.
"Nandini please rona bandh karo.. you know I cant see you like this. Please baby" he said. He was also on the verge of crying.
"Mujhe mummy chaahiye Manik...mujhe mummy chahiye" she was continuously crying.
Manik did not know how to stop her. As a last resort, he slowly touched his lips to hers.
He did not want to, but he was left with no choice. He started kissing her, while she was not responding. He deepened the kiss holding her tightly. She was just melting under his touch. Slowly she started to kiss him back.
Without breaking the kiss Manik picked her up and sat on the bed, with nandini on his lap. He slowly broke the kiss sliding his arms around her.
She slowly moved forward and bent her face towards his, forming a cute heart with their heads. They remained silent for a while.
"I love you nandini. Tum meri strength ho. If you cry like that phir mera kya hoga. Meri nandini aisi nai hain. Meine meri nandini ko bohoth strong banaaya. Now stop crying baby please.
"Manik, lets stop 'Mukti' aur wohh pasie maama ko dhedhenge. I don't want to see his face again Manik and I am sure, wohh kuch bhi karke problems laayenge. I will earn money and will do that project later but for now, let's just settle it with him" she said closing her eyes.
"Nandu tum kya keh rahi ho? I told you na jaan to trust me I will take care of everything. Kuch nai kar saktha wohh. We even got the government approval for the project. He cannot do anything now. I am using all my influence to keep him away from this. Uska saara background hain hamaare paas. One move by him, aur it doesn't take a moment for me to destroy him. But I am not doing it because, somewhere down the line he is your family. All what is yours, is mine too right? And we cannot hurt our family" he said. She was silent.
"Nandini kuch toh bolo" he said. And she looked at him sadly.
"Chalo utho! Let's go put for a drive. Tumhaare liye ek surprise hain" he said and her eyes lit up after hearing the word surprise.
"Tumhe surprise country ka president banna chahiye manik" she said and laughed.
He gave a quick peck on her lips, "meri naughty cutey pumpkin pie.. aise hasthee rehna hamesha... I feel like losing a second of my life with your every tear... promise me aise logon ke liye you will never waste these precious tears" he said extending his hand, and she gave a MaNan style promise by kissing his palm.
"Tumhaare wardrobe mein ek black bag hain, usme there is a dress. Jaldhee se get ready. We are going on our first official date" he said and winked.
She went to change and he quickly sneaked out to his house.
After 2 minutes, "Manik! are you crazy? Date pe koi ye pehenke jaatha hain kya?" she shouted and looked behind but he was not there.
She looked in the kitchen. He was not even there in the kitchen. That's when her phone beeped.
Oh meri mini monster! This is a special date. Toh jaldhi se wear that dress and upar aao.. I am waiting Manik
"Paagal" she thought to herself and quickly changed into that dress and went upstairs.
She knocked the door and he opened it for her. She was shocked to see what he was wearing. They were wearing similar pajamas. Manik planned an indoor date for them.
Nandini started laughing looking at him, "hahahhaa Manik bohoth funny lag rahe ho". he gave her a glare and let her in.
It was all dark except for one corner from where there was dim light coming she slowly went inside and was amazed by the preparation.
tadaa! i know i am late again... but stay tuned. i am writing the date update as well.... you guys are asking me to stop under estimating myself, but i still feel this update is not upto the mark.. let me know how it was... and the next update will be there in an hour.. i felt its becoming too long, so decided to break it!
hope you enjoyed reading ! :)