As we reached the porch of our home, i decided to tease manik and slowed my pace while walking. He unlocked the door quickly and turned to take me in but he found me quite a distance away. He frowned.
"Nandini, why are you walking so slowly yaar, come in fast "he spoke impatiently.
"Manik i am feeling very tired i can't walk even" i spoke loudly so that he could hear me.
He gave me a sad look "i knew it, you will be tired, anyways come i will help you, once you sleep properly , you will feel rejuvenated" he tried to smile before he lifted me up to take inside, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. He really wanted to make love to me that too i was the one who had started the topic! He carefully placed me on the bed and took off my shoes. I watched his every action keenly. How easily he suppressed his desires for my comfort. And my love started overflowing seeing his care. After covering me with the sheet, he said "jaan , you sleep okay, i will be back" and he started to walk away but i held his hand and asked "kahan ja rahe ho?" he smiled and said "bas kapre change kar ata hu.."
"kapre toh mujhe bhu change karne hain, chalo lets help each other" i said acting very innocent and fighting back the smile. He gave me a confused look "nandini you are tired na..so sleep i will change myself" he said without noticing the invitation in my speech. I jumped off the bed and stood in front of him on the floor "who said i am tired?? I thought you will do something to make me tired" i spoke seductively while tracing my finger on his face. It took him a second to process what just happened.
"ohhh so you were playing around with me wifey??" he spoke with a seductive threat coloring his tone and i knew he is going to tickle me so i ran away from him before he could put his words into action. He ran after me through whole of the house. I teased him by showing my tongue "manik you are a monkey" i chanted and he replied "and who are you? Jhansi ki rani??"
"haha yes i am Jhansi ki rani...you can't catch me" i showed him my tongue again. I ran back to our room and maybe he was waiting for me to get in there because as soon as we were there, he bolted the door "ab kaha jaogi bach k...jhansi ki rani???" and i knew i was caught. Within seconds i was on the bed with manik hovering over me "you are gone tonight, mrs nandini manik malhotra...jitna tumne mujhe aaj tease kiya h na..sab ka badla lunga mai.." he whispered looking into my eyes for any sign of disapproval. I fisted his hair near the nape of his neck and pulled him down for a never ending kiss and passionate and wild love making session.
6th day of honeymoon!
It was early morning and we were sitting in the porch of the house watching the beach with juice in our hand to sip. I was collecting the memories of these 6 days in my mind. The beautiful 6 days of my life. Manik was also lost in his own thoughts. Suddenly his phone started ringing; bring both of us out of our reverie. He answered the call while i got up to go inside and start preparing for breakfast. I had learnt a lot of cooking in last 5 days. Now my chapattis were not shapeless and i had learnt a few more dishes from the internet. Manik had loved the aloo ka paratha that i had made. Although i didn't make dishes as good as maa, for that matter i was not even close to her skills, yet manik never made me feel that how horrible cook i was. Instead he encouraged me, whenever i did some mistake. Even he had quietly eaten the vegetable which had an overdose of salt. When i had spit it out muttering ewww' he had said if i kiss him the taste of salt would vanish. He has his own ways of getting things that he wants, so we had ended up making love on the kitchen floor itself, that day. I smiled remembering the moment and manik startled me when he came and back hugged me "which naughtiness of mine has brought a smile on your face jaan??" he asked and sucked my earlobes "manikkk" i spoke to stop him.
"Hmmm" he spoke as if relishing a dish.
"What was Dhruv saying?" i asked to distract him as i had seen the caller id.
He paused his torture to answer me "he wanted to know if i will be there for tomorrow's meeting or not?" and he resumed his torture.
"so what did you say?" i asked even though i knew the answer. He groaned as he had to stop again to answer me.
"i said i will be there and before you ask further questions to distract me let me list out the whole schedule for you. We are leaving from here after finishing breakfast. We will shop stuff in port blair today to give gifts and rest in a hotel tonight and then early morning we will leave for Mumbai. By afternoon we will be there and i will attend the meeting in the evening then we will make love in the night and then we will have kids and then we will send them to school and then marry them and then have grandchildren and then we will be old and you will have grey hairs and i would still feel the same about you as i do now..." he spoke at once and i giggled. He concluded "ho gya??? Ya aur batau??"
I shook my head "ho gya" i said giggling. He too smiled.
...
We had reached Manilla {Mumbai} as per manik's perfect schedule. Fab 5 was waiting for us. They were so excited about our honeymoon, especially, alia, mukti and navya. They wanted to know if i had used up all the sexy dresses that they had packed or not? When i nodded shyly, they jumped up in excitement as if Indian cricket team won the world cup!! Next they wanted to see pics and thankfully manik had separated our private pics and placed in other sd card, so i showed them the less private ones. They gushed at the pics of our scuba diving, snorkelling and kayaking and random beach moments. Mukti exclaimed "how romantic!!" and i made a point in my mind that i will plan her honeymoon so that it would be more romantic than even mine and manik's!
I gave everybody the gifts that i had bought and maa seemed to be extremely happy seeing that i was carrying out my responsibilities pretty well. I was happy to see that they liked the gifts. Next, manik dropped me to murthy villa, my mayka , on his way to the meeting.
I met only amma as appa and bhai were in the office. Amma was joyous to see me. we sat down and talked a lot. I gave her gifts which i had brought. She refused initially but after a lot of persuasion, finally she accepted them. I even asked amma to make my special coffee, it had been so long since i had that and i missed it a lot. Amma was happy to know that i still miss her coffee. I realised she was thinking that maa had taken her place and i don't miss her. I pulled her cheek saying "amma you are so cute! How can you even think that anyone can take your place?? Maa has her own special place in my heart and you have yours. There is no issue of swapping at all" i assured her and she was pleased at last. I was still talking to amma, when i received a text from mukti, which read
"Nandini be at home
We are coming
Situation is a little tensed"
I was alarmed instantly, what could have happened? I texted back
"i will be there but what's the matter?
Everything ok na?"
I wanted to ask if manik was ok, but i stopped myself as it would seem very selfish of me to care about only my husband.
She replied quickly
"Yeah everything is fine
Rest you will know at home"
I took leave from amma immediately and borrowed a car from her with driver.
...
I reached home in twenty minutes and thankfully they had not arrived yet. I sat down with maa and showed her pictures of our honeymoon. I didn't tell her about mukti's message that would worry her unnecessarily.
As we were talking, doorbell rang and i opened it. Only mukti was there, which confused me. She had a much tensed expression on her face.
"Where are the others?" i asked her.
"They have gone upstairs" she informed and turned to maa "mom i will take nandini with me. Something important to discuss"
Maa nodded quickly realising its something important. "i will send snacks and drinks, beta" she said but mukti stopped her "no mom, we aren't in a mood for it right now. I will inform you when we need it, ok?"
mukti spoke politely and maa said
"okk beta"
When i reached upstairs, i found an unusual calmness. Dhruv and alia were sitting on couch, scrolling their phones, while cabir was standing near the window, looking out. But the most distressing sight was of manik.
He was lying back on the bean bag with his arms folded near his chest and his eyes closed. I took in the environment, it was stressful. I wondered how can i help and why were they involving me in this? As far as i know fab 5 sorts out their matters among themselves.
I quickly walked up to manik while mukti went to cabir. I sat down on my knees beside manik and ran my fingers in his hair, lovingly. He opened his eyes slowly. He looked so stressed out. I smiled when he looked at me. He smiled feebly.
"Coffee piyoge?? Banau mein?" i asked softly. He sat upright on the bean bag and held my hand "nahi, i am fine jaan, relax. Let's talk first" he said and hearing the word jaan from his mouth, relief flushed through me.
That means, he is not angry with me. Then what is the matter?
I nodded and sat down on the floor beside him holding his palm. No one spoke anything for a few seconds. But mukti being impatient soul like her brother couldn't hold more so she was the first to speak.
"Nandini, tum janti ho hm new album k discussion k lye khurana se milne gye the..And that bas***d has come up with a new farmaish of his..." she paused.
"he wants you to sing a song for our next album with manik" alia gave the most important information which was the reason for this fiasco. But i was very clear that i am not going to sing professionally ever. And i had told this to khurana too! Oh did i forget to mention that khurana and his company was pursuing me from last one month to convince me to sing for them. When they failed there, they resorted to this means! I so knew it that this khurana has some evil intentions.
"jaan" manik shook me to bring to reality "what happened? Where are you lost?" he asked.
"Nothing" i said "so btao tumlogo ne kya kiya?" i asked looking at all of them.
Cabir turned to me "mai toh bol raha hun ki koi problem ni h...we can sing with you..but ye manik hai ki maan hi ni raha hai!" cabir said annoyed.
"tum log samajh ni rahe ho..ye sab khurana ki planning hai...i am telling you again and again " manik spoke frustrated.
"i agree with him, khurana's intentions are not right" i seconded manik and all of them , including manik, gave me quizzical looks. So i thought of clearing the confusion and turned to manik "i didn't tell you this but khurana's company has been pestering me to join the music industry and become a singer. He has tried every possible way of convincing me but when he failed so he resorted to this means" i said and looked at all of them. Manik's eyes were burning with rage. He got up from the bean bag leaving my hand and started pacing in the room "i told you , he is definitely upto something. He has been troubling nandini...he is troubling my wife!! I will just not leave him!!" manik burst out in anger.
I was too scared to go near him. His anger always scares me because he is always so sweet and caring. They looked at me as if waiting that i will make a move to pacify him. I thought of trying. So i moved closer to manik. I was nervous. Gaining a lot of courage, i placed my trembling palm on his shoulder "manik" i spoke softly but he didn't turn or react, so i moved and came in front of him. He had his eyes closed and was taking short breaths. I placed my palm on his heart and he opened his eyes instantly.
"You trust me right? Then believe me no one can harm me. You are there for me always hai na? Whenever i will feel that things are going out of my control, i will come running to you. Trust me!" i whispered looking straight into his eyes. His eyes soften a bit and he held me by my arms "nandini it's not about trusting you damn it! You don't know khurana..How powerful he is, what all he can do to just get back at you. I know why he is doing this..." i placed a finger on his lips "even i know why he is doing this. He is trying to take revenge for what happened in our party. He thinks if you and me, both will be in the same profession, he will be able to create rift between us and that would be a perfect revenge...i know everything...so you relax..Ok?" i tried again to calm him down. Cabir came from back and placed his hands on manik's shoulder "after knowing all this, i am of the opinion that you are right manik. But the question is we are stuck now..."
Mukti, alia and Dhruv too joined us.
Mukti cut off cabir in middle "yeah bhai we are stuck..As khurana is adamant that he wants nandini, without this, album won't proceed and on the other hand.."
Alia cut off mukti this time "on the other hand we cannot back out because of the contract. He will sue us"
"There's one way out" Dhruv spoke and we all looked keenly at him.
Manik's frown also reduced a bit hearing Dhruv
"We can consult our lawyer and ask him to find out any loophole in the contract terms and conditions, which can get us out of this shit" Dhruv completed and manik and others jumped on him and Dhruv was struggling under their weight laughing and giggling all the time.
"manik, cabir choro usey..see he can't even breathe" i chided them and they got off Dhruv.
"Buddy you are the best!!" manik hugged him
"haan alia k pyar ne isey genius bana diya!" cabir joked and alia and mukti smacked his either arms.
"Ouch!" cabir rubbed his both arms "mukti maine tujhe kya bola that you hit me?" cabir asked.
"tu alia ko tease karega toh maar hi khaega" mukti spoke and side hugged alia.
Cabir gave an evil smirk to mukti and started singing "abhi abhi mere dil mein ye khayal ata hai ki jaise tujhko banaya gaya hai mere liye" and he sat down on the bean bag.
Dhruv corrected him "abhi abhi ni...its kabhi kabhi...cabir!!"
Cabir smiled inwardly looking at mukti's condition "haan wahi..abhi abhi..aye ya kabhi kabhi aye..khayal toh ata h na?" cabir spoke nonchalantly and mukti was trying very hard to act normal.
"guys listen , for now ,the problem seems sorted, let's see what the lawyer says" manik said thinking deeply and all of them nodded.
"wese nandini, i want to ask one thing..you didn't feel bad hearing that bhai doesn't want to sing with you??" mukti queried in a low voice , unsure that she might hurt me.
I smiled while taking manik in a side hug. He had a guilty expression. But he hugged me back pulling closer to himself.
"No mukti, i know if i tell him that i want to make my career in singing , he will arrange the best launch pad for me and will even sing with me. so i didn't feel bad. But the fact is that i am happy in whatever i am doing" i said confidently.
"Hmmm you both have known each other quite well in just 2 months of togetherness" alia complimented.
"Yeah and the proof was that she could make manik listen to her, when he was angry. Till now that was done only by Dhruv" cabir informed patting dhruv's shoulder.
"Today also it was done by Dhruv only cabir, nandini baki sab kaam ache se kar leti hai, but mera gussa handle ni kar pati hai" manik spoke and moved to dhruv's side, speaking suggestively for me. i knew what he meant.
"mujhe samajh araha hai tu kaun se kaam k bare me bol raha hai" cabir teased and i blushed, while manik smirked looking at me.
"i will go and get snacks for you all" i said and ran from there in order to save myself from all the embarrassment and also to hide the blush.
I heard them chuckling behind me.
"arey nandini suno toh.." manik called but i ignored him.
I went down and maa arranged the snacks and drinks. Servants brought them up. I went in our kitchen to fetch some glasses. As i turned around, i found manik standing behind me and smiling naughtily. I raised my eyebrows to ask what'. He shook his head quickly in a nothing' expression. I took a step forward and he blocked my way, so i moved to my left and again he blocked my way. I looked confusingly at him "manik kya kar rahe ho, sab bahar wait kar rahe honge glass k lye" i spoke shyly and he said "tch, anhan...ni jane dunga.."
"par q?" i asked tucking my hair behind my ear and looking down. Even after so many days, i am still feeling like a newlywed bride. That's how manik makes me feel.
"mujhe kuch chahye..de do fir chale jana.." he said huskily bending down to look into my eyes. My eyes widened and i bit my lips unconsciously.
"Exactly that's what i want!" he exclaimed looking at my lips.
"kya..kya chahye?" i stammered.
"ye.." he said and brought his face closer.
"ooops!! I am sorry!" suddenly we heard cabir's voice and manik gritted his teeth "mai bas glass lene aya tha..par mujhe kya pta tha ki yaha..." cabir spoke suggestively.
"cabirrr , how do you always manage to show yourself at the wrong time?" manik spoke annoyedly.
"always?? But i thought this is my first time??" cabir rubbed his chin pretending to think.
"tu chal main btata hun" manik grabbed cabir's shoulder and dragged him out but not before passing a wink to me.
___________________________________
Credits to the writer- Manini Mehra