Nandini was sitting on her bed thinking about Manik's demand.. Though she told Navya that she had given in, but still somewhere she couldn't make up her mind for this.. She was unsure of this moving in thing... She was unsure of the baggage that would come along with this.. It will be a whole new thing and she was not sure if it would actually prove to be a good step for building up their relationship that was just a few days old..
Not even for a moment had she regretted what they had shared last night because she knew that it was a much needed connection for both of them.. She had given her whole self to him without a second thought.. So there wasn't a question of trust.. She trusted him with all her heart.. But then she wasn't able to pinpoint why exactly she was skeptic about this idea of moving in.. She didn't have an answer to that 'why' herself..
Knowing him, she knew that denying him was not even an option.. He would anyhow have his way.. So she decided to prepare herself mentally for the upcoming changes in her life.. Even the thought gave her jitters.. She was feeling really restless and was no lesser than an emotional wreck right now..
Her running thoughts came to an abrupt halt with the ringing of her phone.. She looked at the screen and even the caller's name was enough to bring a huge smile on her face.. It was indeed a relief at this crucial point of time when she needed a good piece of advice..
"Hey papa.." She spoke ebulliently..
"Hey kiddo.. How are you??" She heard the voice and the sudden surge of emotions took a toll on her..
After the death of her grams, her father was all she had.. Staying away from him killed her but she never let that feeling be surfaced as she didn't want to sadden him.. But today she had no control over her emotions..it was now that he called when she realized how much she missed him.. He was the solution for her every problem.. Now that she was taking an important decision of her life, it couldn't be better to have him by her side..
"I miss you papa.." She said in a choked voice..
And it didn't take her father a second to know that something was wrong with her.. Though she never told him, but he knew how much she missed him.. He knew her in and out.. He was not only a father to her, but a mother too.. He could easily tell that something was off or else she would never behave like this..
"What happened sweetheart?? Are you okay baby?" He asked, worry laced in his voice..
"I am fine papa.. I heard you after so long na..that's why.." She said sniffing..
"You know na you can't lie to me.. Tell me what happened.." He demanded..
"Papa.. How was it being with mumma??" She asked out of the blue...
Her father had a sad smile at the other end.. No matter how long it had been that his wife died, his love for her never decreased.. In fact it increased with every breath he took.. But he gathered himself for his daughter and sighed deeply...
"It was heaven sweetheart.. There is no better place in the world than to be with your love, your soulmate.." He said affectionately and she smiled at this..
"But why is my doll suddenly asking this??" He enquired..
"Papa there is someone I...I.." She trailed off and her father was hell amused sensing his daughter's nervousness..
"Do you love him doll??" He asked calmly..
"Yes papa..I love him a lot.." She said with a smile..
Her father had never restricted her..he was an open minded man... In fact, he was the one who taught her to live freely.. He was more of a friend to his daughter, a teacher who would guide her through all the difficulties of her life.. She knew she could share anything with him.. He was the one who gave her wings.. But no matter how high she flies, he was her home.. He had all the rights to know what was going in her life..
"Aww..then what is the problem, sweetheart?? Love is a blessing.. Why is my doll sad??" He asked her..
"I don't know papa.. Everything is so messed up..." She sighed..
"Why?? Doesn't he love you back?? Who is this special person whom my daughter loves but a moron to not reciprocate it back??" He asked in mock anger and she chuckled hearing him..
"Papa.. It isn't so.. He reciprocates my feelings but he is so confusing at times.." Nandini said thinking about Manik's still impending confession..
"Okay.. Listen to me.. Had your mother been there, she would have told you all this.. But now I have to do this.. Beta, men are the most confused souls on the earth.. They are never good at expressing their emotions.. But that doesn't mean, they don't feel them.. It's just that their ways of expressing themselves are different.. Like they start demanding your attention, or they show tantrums.. They would stick by your side all the time, would feel jealous of any man coming close to you.. They would find reasons to spend time with you.. And all these sides, they show only to the person they love.." Her father explained her and she had an ear to ear grin having found Manik behaving exactly the same...
"So tell me.. Are you still confused about him?? And if yes, then he might not be the one for you.." He added..
"No papa.. I know he loves me.. But papa, there is more to it.." She spoke the last part hesitantly..
"What??"
"He wants us to move in together.." She told him nervously..
"Do you want this??" He asked her and she went into deep thoughts...
"Yes.." She spoke after a long pause unsure of her own answer.. It came out of her mouth on its own accord.. But now she couldn't take her words back..Her father sighed at her response..
He knew it was time his daughter takes decisions for her own self.. He wouldn't be there forever.. And she had to learn to live by herself.. She might make mistakes but that was a part of her learning process.. He couldn't trust his daughter with a stranger but restricting her was no way out.. She might end up hiding things from him and he never wanted that..
"Do you trust him??"
"Yes.." She said instantly, confidence dripping in her voice..
"Look doll I don't know this guy and as a father, I wouldn't approve of this.. But I won't stop you either.. Follow your heart sweetheart.. Go where it takes you.. And hopefully, you won't make a mistake.. Even if you do, then making mistakes is not a sin.. But always learn from your mistakes.. And remember one thing, no matter what, you always have me.." He explained lovingly..
"Thank you papa.."
"You don't need to thank me, doll.. And yeah, I wanna meet this guy whenever I come there.."
"Sure papa.."
"Bye doll.. Take care.. Love you.."
"Love you too papa.." With this she hanged up the phone, her mind at peace now..
As she hanged up the call, she saw notification of 18 missed calls, all from Manik and a text message asking her to call him back.. She ignored it for the time being.. Her father had asked her to follow her heart and she was yet to find out what actually her heart wanted.. She couldn't come to a conclusion in haste..
She didn't want to mess up her mind for now and hence decided to talk to him tomorrow.. She dropped him a message telling him the same..She put her phone on silent and kept it aside.. She, then picked up her novel and started reading it to divert her mind..soon sleep took over her and she dozed off in the same half lying position..
NEXT MORNING, Nandini woke up a bit earlier than usual due to the uncomfortable position she had slept in.. She got up and stretched her body to ease up her stiffened muscles.. She then made herself a cup of coffee and moved to her balcony to clear her mind.. She knew she had to face Manik today, so she wanted to think through one last time to come to a decision..
She kept on sitting on the swing in her balcony for a long time, trying to figure out things.. At last, she came to a conclusion and she knew what she had to do.. She didn't realize the time that had flown by and jumped off her place once she looked at the clock.. She rushed to the washroom to get ready for the college..
SPACE ACADEMY
Nandini was walking hurriedly through the corridor, cursing herself for getting late even when she had gotten up early in the morning today, when suddenly she was pulled by a strong pair of arms inside a classroom and the very next moment, she was pinned to a wall.. She was startled out of the wits and before she could scream, she was calmed down as her gaze met the familiar pair of chocolate brown orbs looking at her with a burning intensity..
Fab5 were sitting in their jam room talking with each other but Manik was lost somewhere.. He had called Nandini for the umpteenth time now but couldn't talk to her as she still had her phone on silent.. She had forgotten to put it on general mode after last night and had shoved it in her handbag without giving it a look while hurrying out of her house to go to college..
Here Manik was getting restless by every passing second as she didn't talk to him last night and now also she wasn't picking his calls.. Not able to take it anymore, he decided to check on her himself.. He got up to move out of the jam room while others looked at him questioningly..
"Umm I gotta go.. I will see you guys later.." And he stormed out of there without giving them a chance to respond back..
He was walking through the corridor when he spotted Nandini coming from opposite side, almost running and blabbering something to herself.. He was relieved for a moment but then his anger knew no bounds as he was dying out of worry here and she seemed to be completely ignorant of his state.. Moreover, she hadn't even received his calls.. He angrily walked towards her and dragged her into a classroom and pinned her to the wall, his hands on her either side, locking her and pushed the door shut with his foot..
"God Manik... You scared me.." She said breathing heavily, still recovering from the sudden shock..
"Where is your phone??" He asked in a low yet a menacing voice..
"Phone???" She asked, confused..
"Pull out your bloody phone damn it.." He almost yelled at her and she was scared for a moment looking at his eyes burning in rage..
As a reflex, she started fumbling through her bag and pulled out her phone.. As she unlocked the screen, there came a notification of 29 missed calls and 7 text messages, all from him.. Now she understood the reason behind his outburst and tried to reason with him.
"Manik.. I..I didn't know.. It was on silent... I..I am really sorry.." She stuttered badly while he moved away from her, his anger increasing even more.. He started pacing to and fro in the room, raking his hand through his hair in frustration, trying to calm himself down.. He then moved towards her..
"What are you doing?? Trying to avoid me, haan??" He asked gritting his teeth...
"Manik now you are being unreasonable, why would I avoid you??" She said nodding her head in disbelief..
"I fucking called you so many times last night.. But your phone was busy.. God knows who were you talking to for so long that you chose not to reply back to my calls even.. I thought you needed some time to think clearly and that's why I didn't disturb you.. But then you chose to ignore my calls in the morning too.. Do you have any fucking idea, how worried I was?" He yelled at her...
Though she was highly enraged after listening to him but then the very statement that he was worried for her had her realized that he was right on his part.. It was really careless of her to not pick his calls.. She decided to keep her calm to handle the situation.. She sighed and tried to hold his hand but he jerked off her hands..
"Yesternight I was talking to my dad.. That's why my phone was busy..I didn't ignore your calls..I just needed some alone time and that too to think about us only..and about today, I am really sorry.. It won't happen again.. I promise I will be careful next time.." She said looking away from him..
She was herself very angry and him jerking off her hands had fueled up the fire but she knew one of them needed to be calm to avoid an argument and she couldn't expect him to be wise enough to understand this..
"Wow..look at you Nandini...this attitude.." He clapped mockingly with a sarcastic smile on his face..
"Don't apologize when you don't mean it.. Look at your stance. You don't seem to be sorry at all.. Actually you don't even realize that you have made a mistake.. All you want is to finish this conversation and so all this.." He spat at her and now she was really furious..
"What do you expect of me Manik?? Should I kneel down and beg for your forgiveness even when I am not at fault?? I am telling you my phone was on silent.. And I said I am sorry.. Why the hell do you have to make such a big issue out of it?? Moreover I am not supposed to be angry even when you speak rubbish.. It's only about you.. I can't even express myself." She yelled back..
"See..this is what I was saying.. You don't realize your mistake.. Then why that sorry drama??"
"Because for me, my ego is not bigger than my love for you.. But you just keep feeding your ego..actually its not even a point for you.. Because you don't even love me.." She spat at him and he was stunned at her outburst..
"You are right.. I am one egoistic man..and yes I don't love you.." He punched the wall in exasperation and left from there banging the door, leaving her in tears..
Love isn't easy.. There are times when you feel like giving up..and its that time only when you need to hold on..hold on even harder..