"Why she is taking so long?"
"How would I know? You must know she is your granddaughter"
Both the men tried to talk when Nandini was gone to an aloof motel for some urgent work.
"Don't you think she is taking long," Manik asked being a bit worried.
Daadu gawked his watch and then looked at dirty deserted motel.
"No, I think she is not taking long," He said casually after taking the dramatic pause.
Manik sighed in disbelief.
"Don't you get worried for her?" He asked in disbelief.
"No," This time Daadu answers immediately.
"Actually I am always worried for people with whom she is," He added.
Manik titled his head in agreement.
"That's well said, Brigadier," He agreed, "Who can know this better than me!"
Silence prevailed as both the men huffed and puffed as she still didn't return.
"I think I should go and check," Manik said and was about to step out.
"No, no, no. I have better idea," said the old man, "Go get the wheel before that daughter of devil comes and resumes her drive to hell."
Manik smirked and then winked at Daadu, "That's a good idea."
Manik quickly took the driver's seat and looked at Motel. She was coming out and she looked a bit angry. As she looked up and saw him sitting on driver's seat, she looked even more angry. Manik tried to calculate her mood as she stormed towards car.
"How dare you touch steering wheel?" She yelled and opened the door.
Manik and Daadu looked at her and then each other.
"Get out or else I will," She warned pointing her finger.
"Else you will," Manik asked in a calculating tone.
"I will...I...will," She fidgeted with words as she tried to find an appropriate threat, "Urghhhhh..."
"Relax Nandini. I told him to take the wheel," Daadu intervened and Manik sighed in relief.
"I thought you were tired," He added and Manik gave a nod.
"Otherwise You know how much I love your driving," He added and Manik looked back at him all shocked.
Nandini folded her arms and looked away, still trying to control her anger. Daadu winked at Manik and Manik chose to let him play his game.
"Do you think you can do this stupid trick, Daadu?" Nandini mocked and glared at Manik.
"Okay, we can't take your driving skills anymore," Daadu admitted.
"What we?" Manik interrupted and looked at Nandini being all terrified. He could not comment on her driving skills, no matter how mad they were, especially after what had happened few minutes back.
Flashback
Nandini was driving recklessly on edgy roads and it was almost impossible to hold breath for Manik. He was afraid and his face was enough to tell about it. He looked at her grandpa and then at her who was looking nothing less than a ghost rider with 90s rock music in background.
"Can you not scare the shit out of us and slow down for heaven's sake?" He yelled at her in loud music.
She looked at him and then smirked, "Did you say something?"
Her grandpa tapped his shoulder and gestured him to be quiet. He shrugged him away and turned completely towards her. He switched off the music and she glared him.
"You know how reckless you drive?" He asked being irritated, "Who gave you licence?"
He ridiculed and she smiled. Her grandpa was still tapping Manik's shoulder to make him stop.
"Wait, does she have a licence even?" He mocked her and looked at her grandpa. He looked pale.
"Are you done?" She asked, "Or still have some more to throw out?"
"Let me tell you real meaning of reckless," She said with a smirk and grandpa held his head in palm.
Manik could just look at her when she shifted the gear and paced the car. It was like one hell of 10 minutes when she drove like mad on a road not even wide enough to race a bike. When she stopped the car, both the men had vertical pores and terrified faces.
Flashback ends
Manik gulped the scene and then looked at her. She was expecting a reply.
"See, Nandini. Your old man asked me, otherwise you know how fearless I am," He clarified with a fake smile.
Before they could carry on their endless banter, three cars stopped by. She saw her parents getting out of car along with Singh's. Her mother smiled at Manik as soon as she saw him sitting in driver's seat.
"Oh God, I am so glad you are driving, Manik," She exclaimed in relief.
Nandini made an angry face and shot some daggers at her.
"See, girls should take the passenger seat and enjoy the heavenly view of Himalayas," She added and Nandini huffed in anger.
"Is there a place to pee in that motel?" Her father intervened and asked Manik.
Manik looked clueless. Before he could answer, Nandini said, "Yes, there is. And I just made the lazy staff clean it for use."
"Oh God! This girl," She heard her mother sighing.
Manik looked at her and realized why she was so angry.
"Nandini, you should have let Manik take care of that. I don't like you dealing men business," Her mother said yet again.
"I would have, Mom. But he decided to shower the bushes instead so I didn't bother him," She mocked straightforwardly.
Manik coughed as he heard her. Everyone looked at her perplexed and she stood there like one live wire which could burn down the entire forest.
Manik gave her 'Are you mad' look and she stared at him.
"What?" Her mother asked being not able to understand Nandini's words.
"Nothing, Mrs Murthy," Manik immediately said.
"It's nothing," he said and smiled.
Elders went inside to freshen up and Manik glared Nandini.
"Are you insane?" He shouted as soon as everyone else went inside.
She shrugged her shoulder and walked to back of truck. She jumped and sat on ramp of truck and he came out banging the door loud to mark his annoyance.
"You are seriously mad," He again said as she sat there and looked at snow capped mountains in middle of sunset.
"Not my fault that my mother loves you so much. I needed to enlighten her," She said casually still looking at sunset.
He huffed and sat next to her. A moment of serene silence bloomed as they both bid adieu to sun quietly. Swinging legs and smiles on face, both didn't realize when they had have a moment of peace together. They looked at each other. His smile vanished as soon as he saw her smiling. She laughed in glee for having him so affected by her every time.
"Shut up," He asked and she laughed more.
Elders came out and saw them sitting together. After giving some more girly instructions to Nandini, her mother agreed to leave in her car. Daadu had successfully retreated and chose to travel in BMW owing to his super handy health problems. Manik took the wheel and Nandini sat right beside him as their guardians paced their cars. As soon as they disappeared in dusky road, Nandini looked at him warning him to give the wheel back to her.
"See, Your mother has given me her number if you don't cooperate," he said showing her his phone. She pouted in anger and looked away.
"Lemme drive peacefully. I can drive us safely in nighttime," He added.
She was still looking out with a pout. Her arms were folded near her chest and she was fuming. A smile crept on his lips for a minute seeing her that flustered.
He pulled the gear and their car started to glide on road.
__________________________
What a peaceful moment!
Manik sighed and smiled as it was almost half and hour since she was quiet and it sounded like music to him. He had almost forgotten that moments could be this quiet too. It was dark by then and only light was headlight which was drenching the road and mountains a bit. He smiled in content.
But didn't they tell him you can jinx your own happiness by smugging over it.
He felt her sharp gaze over him even when it was dark. She was constantly looking at him. He looked at her and found her not even moving. His brows twitched a bit seeing her behaving weird.
"Are you alright?" He asked and she moved her head a bit. She then was looking at road. Her face was not visible to him and her silence now was not helping.
A vehicle came from other side and light flashed on her face. She was sitting there with a straight face.
"Nandini," He called her name.
Adding to his worry more, she didn't reply but put on the music. It was some hippy track playing on stereo.
Manik tended to switch on the cabin's light but she held his hand. He quivered under her touch. She held his hand in time as if she had all her attention on him.
"Let it be. I like dark," She mumbled in dry voice.
"NANDINI," He said in warning tone, "Now don't start with your stupid pranks."
She didn't reply but rolled down the window to let the cold wind enter the car.
Her hair almost flew along as she chose to look out of window. Manik's heartbeats were a bit fast by then as her behaviour was strange. He switched off the music and she turned around to look at him. Her eyes were wide open and her hair covered her face.
"You are so damn predictable, Murthy," He said to cut her drama, "Who plays this ghost face pranks in 21st century!"
He chuckled a bit and she pulled the hand brakes abruptly to make the car fumble on edgy road. Car took some zigzag turns before stopping as Manik tried hard to control the steering wheel. Car stopped inches away from a big rock and Manik caught his breath. He gulped hard and looked at her.
"Are you mad?" He yelled on top of his voice.
"Do you realize what have you just done?" He added in utter fury.
She remained quiet and it worked as last nail in coffin.
"Enough of your drama. ENOUGH," He shouted and unfastened his seat belt. He stepped out and stormed to her her end.
He reached at her side and saw the door wide opened. She was gone. He looked inside and then around. She was not there. He frowned in disbelief. When did she get out?
"Nandini," He called out.
He ran around the truck and searched every corner of it. She was not there. He called her name time and again. His voice was echoing in valley. Howls of animals filled the space. He looked at deep valley. It was dense forest. Sweat formed on his forehead as he didn't find her around. He fisted his hair and then ran towards the deep valley.
"NANDINI," He shouted her name and stood at edge of it. He was distressed, worried and afraid. He heard a thud and turned around. She was standing in front of headlights with her face covered in hair. She stood still like a statue. He saw her and sighed in relief. He ran to her and before he could reach there, headlights went off. She was again gone. He was panicked. He was feared now. He stood there breathing heavily in dark when he heard another thud. It was from back of truck. He ran and saw her standing there. He stopped and looked at her. Without breaking the eye contact, he walked to her. He reached her and her face was still covered in her hair. He was a bit hesitant. He stood a little far and saw her. She didn't move. His face could tell he was terrified and tired. He gulped and took a step. As soon as he reached her, he saw in her eyes. She looked back. And then he didn't know what happen but he heard her laughing like maniac and he felt burning lava in his ears. He couldn't feel anything for a minute and stood numb there.
"Look at your face, Manik," She said in between her laughs.
It took him few minutes to recover and when he did, fury struck like never before. He stormed towards her and grabbed her from shoulders. Her giggles faded down a bit as he walked her to mountain. Pinning her to the rocky wall, he held both her wrists behind her back. She hissed in pain as her giggles died completely.
"Do you think it's funny?" He yelled.
Gripping her wrists more roughly, he pinned her harder in rock crust.
"Why you stopped laughing? Laugh now," He yelled looking at her. She was shocked.
"You think this is funny?" He shouted.
She squirmed under his grip to come out but his fury was so dominating that she couldn't.
"Manik, it was just a prank," She stated casually and groaned to come out of his grip.
He knotted her hands over her head and leaned closer to her.
"You love to play. Right?" He asked.
Nandini sensed he was real angry.
"You love to play people on your fingers. Right?" He asked.
"Now, play it," He challenged and stared in her eyes.
"Leave my hand, Manik," She said gritting her teeth, "This is is not funny."
He leaned so closer to her that she could feel his breath on her lips. It felt like hot she had never felt. His anger was so damn intense that his body burned. And she could feel the burns.
"You are hurting me, Manik," She yelled as he kept tightening his grip around her wrists.
"And what about me? You know how I felt just few minutes back?" This time he asked in fierce yet soft tone.
"Look, I am sorry," She said after a pause, "I didn't know you would feel this bad."
She felt his grip loosening a bit as he withdrew. He slowly let go of her hands and backed down. Even though, it was dark but she could see his face dipping in guilt as she rubbed her wrists. She felt an urge to tell him that it's okay but she stopped herself.
He walked back to truck and waited there. She walked there and turned on the headlights with remote. His face was now visible. He was furious yet down. Something was eating him and she realized what it was when she saw him looking at her red wrists.
She walked to back seat and took a packet out. She walked to him and offered him nachos. He looked at her a bit shocked. She waited for him to take the offer and then started eating shrugging her shoulders. A smile crept on his lips as he saw her being her all time best cool about whatever happened. He leaned on bonnet and again she offered him the packet. And this time he took it.