Standing there, holding her in his arms, he had lost track of time. Except for the chirping of crickets, it was eerily silent. Night had slowly descended.
He could no more feel her grappling against him, her sobs had stilled. He slowly released her from the embrace.
Her eyes were puffy from the crying, her sullen face was smeared with tears. He cupped it gently and wiped off the tears. She was right.. It was because of his stupid anger that he was almost going to lose his life, but he felt worse for having made her cry.
He wanted to kiss her, not in a romantic sort of a way but to assure her that he was ok and that he was sorry. He hated it when people cried, especially girls. He thought crying was a trick they used to seek attention. He also hated crying because it reminded him of his own tears, of how he used to break down in the hospital, alone, scared and helpless. But now when he saw her in tears, why couldn't he hate it, why couldn't he just order her to stop the drama. Instead, He felt protective of her, and this was so new to him. He hadn't felt this way for anyone, not even himself. He didn't care for anyone but he wanted to care for her.
His mind was telling him not to.. he knew he shouldnt but he couldn't resist himself. He bent forward and gave a peck on her forehead.
He pulled back and stood motionless for a while. He was dreading her reaction to his impulsive kiss, and was mentally preparing himself to stay calm if she were to. But much to his dismay and relief she didn't. Bettr still she was back to being the Nandini he adored. "Haan to yahi khare khare rat bitado aur jab main bhook se mar jaoon to yehi pe dafnake wapas jaio"
"Whaaatt ?? You are hungry to pehle kyun nahi bola? "
"Huh!! " She rolled her eyes at him " Tumhara yeh angry young man ka role play khatam ho to bolun na ki insaan ko bhook bhi lagti hai.. Pyaas bhi lagti hai.. N especially jab samne wala sara poha safachat kar de aur aapko offer bhi na kare"
"Wooo... Wooo.. I m sry" He scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Acha batao is jungle mein kanhi ek decent restaurant milega."
They started walking towards his car. The nearest restaurant.. No not a restaurant, it was a small tapri.. was a couple of miles downhill.
'Nandini Murthy that was a really really narrow escape.. Aaj to to tum pakri jati. The way you reacted, the way you cried, woh kya soch raha hoga? Ya to soch raha hoga ki tum drama queen ho ya fir pakka samajh gaya hoga ki u know more than u r showing' Nandini was caught in a tussle between her sharp mind and dumb heart.
'Soche to soche, jo marzi soche. Uski kismat achi hai ki usko kuch yaad nahi. Warna aaj to manik seriously pit jata mujhse. Aiyappa when will u give some wisdom to this guy and when will u have some mercy on me. Yeh koi iron-magnet ka game hai kya, ekbar paas bhejte ho n then u pull him away and hide him some where. 3 months n then 3 years n now what. Agar aaj usko kuch ho jata na Aiyappa, I swear on Rishab i woukd never ever have spoken to you again. Its ok i can hate him, i have reasons to but u aiyappa will always protect him. U hv promised me remember."
"Nandini !!! Yeh restaurant hai??? R u serious?"
"Yeh Mumbai nahi hai Mr. Manik Malhotra, yeh Panchgani hai. Yahan raat ke 9 baje tumko yahi milega... kaka ki tapri." She totally ignored Manik's u-got-to-be-kidding-me look. "Kaka, mujhe ek bun maska or omlette dijiyega, and in janaab ko.."
"Nothing, mujhe nahi khana yahan tumhare kaka ki tapri par"
"In janab ko kuch nahi. Inka ego hai na inki bhook mitane ke liye."
She grabbed her plate and sat on a nearby bench.
Manik realized this was the closest thing to food he was going to get for the rest of the night and he was already starving from the hiking and all that followed afterwards.
"Acha chalo mujhe bhi wahi dedo.. Who jo usne order kiya..omlette n.....whatever."
She smirked at him when he sat next to her with his plate.
"So Miss Murthy, tum kya padati ho school mein?"
"Music"
Now this was interesting and intriguing. This girl always took him by surprise. There wasn't a single thing about her that was normal. She was beautiful but oblivious of it, she was sweet, but equally catty. One moment she was emotional and the next she was up and running to fight with him. She took him to see the sunset and brought him to eat in a tapri. She bakes cakes for the kids and cooks poha for him and then she says she teaches music.
But he was loving it, with her he was witnessing a world that his affluent background would have never let him see.
"Music is my life.. Manik, its like a real friend. In my darkest days, when I had lost everything, it was music that helped me find myself back." This was true but not the entire truth. Music was so special to her because it was a part of him, the only part of him that he couldn't take away. "Why don't you try it too, who knows, Music might help u find yourself too. Even you have lost yourself, haven't you?"
That struck him deep. He had found another reason to be in awe of her. She happened to read his mind before he could do it himself.
"Chai peeyoge?" She asked, no more mocking him.
"Main chai nahi peeta, only filtered coffee."
"Kabse??" She was stunned. Destiny and time! There was a time, she remembered when he offered her tea and she refused because she didn't like anything other than filtered coffee.
"What do you mean kabse? European hospitals mein mujhe chai kahan se milegi.. Coffee is all they have and coffee is all I drink."
She smiled. "Tumhe apne pichle life ke bare mein kuch bhi yaad nahi?"
"Nopes.. Kuch nahi.. The earliest memory I have is of getting some sort of an electric shock in a hospital in Denmark. Doctors ne kaha tha ki my memory is like a hard disk but ek connection kanhi snap ho gaya hai in between. Agar main Denmark aur Switzerland nahi jata jo it could have been worse. Like Every day I would have woken up and forgotten what happened the previous day. But ab aisa nahi hai. Jo abhi ho raha hai, I mean life after the memory loss, I will not forget it... but if there's a miracle, someday I may wake up remembering my entire life. But that's that, a miracle and as much as I wish that it happens, I don't have much hope."
"You should have hope. Because miracle wahi hote hain jahan hope hota hai."
"Does it work? I mean have you ever experienced hope winning."
"Yes, I have. Even when nothing seems right and everything is going against you, keep ur hope strong and u will witness magic. I have seen it for myself." Her thoughts travelled back to the fusion concert, to their hope tree, to the performance and the magic that they witnessed, the unseasonal rain, the candles, the mirrors..the kiss...the confession...THEM....
She heaved.
"You know Nandini, that day when you were at my home.. You asked me why there were no old photographs in my room. When I returned from Zurich, I was desperately looking for something that will help me trail back to my past. But there was nothing, nowhere, in person or on web. Everywhere direction I headed, lead to a dead end. And its strange.. If I have spent my entire life in Mumbai, I must have friends, I must have someone looking out for me, waiting for me. But noone came, no one ever reached out."
Nandini's heart was tearing from inside. He wasn't alone, abandoned. He had friends, he had love. They had looked out for him, she had been looking in , out, around , about, everywhere for him. She had always wanted to be by his side, in his good and bad times. She had fought the world to be with him during his treatment then why, why he did he push her away, why did he push them all away?
"Every one has a story Manik. Hum sirf wahi dekhte hain jo hamein dikhta hai.. But as I told u earlier, jo dikhta hai who hamesha sach nahi hota. Tumhare bhi friends rahe honge, tumse bhi koi pyaar karti hogi, par kaun jane unki kya majbooriyan rahi hongi."
He heaved. "Kahan se, I mean kahan se pick karke ke lati ho ye dialogues?"
"Original hai, u dumbo."
"Acha chalo I will drop you home and I will check in to a hotel. Its getting late and as it is, its pretty secluded here."
"The clock is still running MnM. N u still have few more hours.. I have promised to show you the sunrise and Nandini Murthy doesn't go back on her words. So hum yahi rehenge, yahi par till the sun is up and smiling."
"Tumko pata hai Nandini, tum single piece ho...totally custom made."