He came back and extended his arm to Mukti. "I am Ranbir, tumhare late best friend Cabir ka twin brother, jo by the way tumlogon ke bare mein sab kuch janta hai par unfortunately jiske bare mein tum kuch nahi jante."
Mukti looked up, tears still streaming down her eyes.
"And you, if I am not wrong, are Mukti Vardhan, the girl who never cries, the girl who can beat the shit out of any guy, the evil twin of my twin, none of which by the way fits your current state. So get up."
Mukti's eyes widened and so did Navya's. Twin??? They knew Cabir had a brother, who lived with his father, but a twin?? If this wasn't a dream/nightmare/fantasy, why did Cabir never tell them about Ranbir? Mukti wanted to kick Cabir for being such an a*****e. If only, someone could bring him back from hell now, where, in all probabilities, he was currently stationed.
"To matlab tumko pata tha ki hum dono yahan tumhara peecha kyun kar rahe hain, aur uske bawjoot tum jhoot pe jhoot bole ja rahe the. Kya kaha tha woo, drama queen?? Drama queen hum hain ki tum drama king ho...pehle nahi bata sakte the, yeh scene create karna zaroori tha?" Navya was in full form. She wouldn't admit, but the mere sight of Ranbir, someone who looked like Cabir, someone who was an intrinsic part of her beloved Cabir had unleashed a tsunami of adrenaline in her veins. She so wanted to believe in fairy tales She so dearly wished, that this was Cabir playing one of his pathetic tricks on them, knowing all too well that, it wasn't possible.
"Aur tum, what did Cabir use to call you.... Yeah, 'Black and white Madhubala' and I so understand why, tum to mujhse duur hi raho. Matlab what was that, na jaan na pehchaan seedha one tight slap?"
Mukti grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. She wiped her tears and hugged Ranbir. "To wo item number ko tune hi bheja tha... Rose?? Tu to Cabir ka bhi baap hai, And if I hadn't been in this state, I mean look at me, rolling on floor crying...like seriously, then you would have simply continued with your pretense and taken the taxi to wherever you were trying to go?"
"I am going to Bangalore" he replied, a little too overwhelmed by the emotional overdrive of these two crazy women. "I am...or I was....oh no... I have missed my flight. Congratulations to both of you, I will miss my interview. So thanks and bye." He looked at his watch and was understandably baffled.
"Chalo acha hua, Bangalore ka chapter apne aap hi band ho gaya, kyunki tum hamare saath Mumbai chal rahe ho." Navya stole a glance at Mukti and they both chuckled.
"What the hell! Listen girls, I understand how you are feeling right now, tumhe lag raha hoga I am Cabir - version 2.0, but that's not correct. Infact, that's hell wrong. I am Ranbir, I always have been and I always will be. I loved Cabir, just as much as you guys did, but that doesn't mean, one fine day I stop living my life and start living his, from where he had paused it."
They both understood he was right, he had a valid point. Just because his face was an exact replica, just because their mannerism and body language were similar, just because they were IDENTICAL twins didn't mean they were the same person. They had complete claim over Cabir, who was gone, but they had no claim over Ranbir. He was as good as a stranger, albeit with a familiar face.
"Par hum dost to ban sakte hain... 'Pause -and-start nahi' par Rewind-and-Start to kar sakte hain', Cabir ke liye.." It would break Navya's heart once again if he were to walk away now.
"No, I am not even going there" And that's how he sealed it.
*************
Nandini was just as happy as she was sad. She was happy that he chose to confront her instead of sulking and torturing himself more, she was happy that he now knew she doesn't love Neel, she was glad that she could calm him down and when he finally left, he was a changed man.
But she was sad that this happened in the very first place. That wierdo had done something....something so evil that Manik had to go through this. She couldn't even imagine the anger and hurt he had been holding inside. One whole day, one whole day he had kept his phone switched off, cutting all contacts with the only friend he had, the one friend he couldn't live without talking to. And when he couldn't take it any further, he drove all the way from Pune to Panchgani to get that one answer!
She was sad whenever his silent face flashed before her eyes. He had never been this silent, with her. She had always managed to make him smile, sometimes going out of her way to do silly things just to amuse him. But today that cloud of worry would just not leave him, no matter how hard she tried, until.... he asked her for that promise. A promise that she had already made to him years ago, a promise she makes before God every single day like a prayer, a promise she wanted to live and she would have lived if he hadn't push her away.
She knew Manik, it was a huge deal for him to actually ask anything for himself. It wasn't exactly ego. He was so used to being deprived of emotional support, thanks to his mother, that he grew up thinking , it was a sin to ask. He felt it made him appear weak and exposed his broken heart to the world. But today, he did that, he overcame that shame and fear to ask her to be with him forever. Nandini wished she could just hold him and tell him that she was already his, now and forever. No matter what happened next, no matter where destiny tossed her, her heart would only ever open to him. He alone had the key to her soul. Her hatred of three years couldn't change it, and she was sure nothing else ever would.
Should she just tell him everything about his past? It was so painful to see him like this. A man who doesn't know who he is.
But if she did, would it set everything right or make more things wrong? For one, all his pain and anger would come rushing back and inundate his vulnerable self. He would have questions but she wouldn't be able to answer them all. She wouldn't be able to tell him why he had left her for she herself didn't know. The sheer guilt would kill him.
What would she tell him about his father? She didn't know what and why he did it, but he definitely did play a game. Manik had always considered his father a saviour, how could she just trample down that faith. And what would she tell him about Neel, about how that too was a master mind of Manik's mother. No, she couldn't do this to him, not till he gained his memory back on his own, if at all. He was like a blank slate now and she couldn't fill that beautiful slate with expletives. She would rather scribble happy words on it.
And Neel, bloody wierdo, if she could, she would have just cut that shithead into two pieces and kick both the pieces off the cliff, down the valley. He made her feel so violent, so toxic.
He wanted to use her as a pawn to fish Manic. Now she will answer him in his own bloody language.
"Hi SweetBleedingHeart, could you please tell me some hip places in Panchgani and nearby. U asked me to take Manik around so I am planning to call him over the weekend to stay with me. And then we can go places and have some FUN :)Its been long, I have been stuck with boring stupid ppl, Manik will be a welcome change.... He is sooooo hot man n sooooo rich too, Good choice this time...loving it!"
She quickly sent Neel a long message and cursed him some more.