|| Understand me.
I am not like an ordinary world.
I have my madness ||
🔹🔹🔹
The St. Regis, Mumbai
A reckless Aryaman wandered along the length of the corridor, immersed in his own thoughts. To be precise, those were not thoughts but he was trying to muster up his courage to go and knock on Nandini's door. The plan that he layed was successful, as it seemed to the eye but when it's Nandini who is involved one can never be sure that it has worked.
What it looked to Aryaman was that she hasn't understood that it was his doing, yet he had his apprehensions regarding the effect. He still took a chance and knocked on the presidential suit of the hotel, which was Nandini's room for the day.
He knocked once, he knocked twice, yet there was no reply from her. Nandini not replying at once was a bit of a surprise but, their life recently has been like that.
Unexpected and unprecedented. Full of surprises.
Aryaman entered still, peeping his head in and not founding anyone in there. He had almost decided upon returning and launching a search for Nandini, but there was a flutter of cloth and a rustle of heels which made him stop and look around, with extra focus.
There, just near the window, stood Nandini in a cream white dress, almost submerged into the white of the curtain, making herself as good as invisible. “Nandini?”, he called out, unsure of his vision.
As if woken from a trance, Nandini looked at Aryaman with saucer like eyes. “Arya?”, she was in too much in rawness to settle herself. “Are you okay?”, the concerned and questioning eyes of Aryaman made her cover herself vulnerability quickly. “Yeah...yeah... I was just wearing these”, she put forth her hands which had golden hoops.
“Oh!”, even though Aryaman was sure that there was more to it, he knew it wasn't the right time. He had been treading on thin ice with the plan he enacted, and he in no mean, wanted to shovel a hole for himself.
“Then let's get the show on road”, he exclaimed, circling his arms around Nandini's neck. If there is someone in the world who can do this with THE Nandini Murthy, it's only him. Nandini too didn't mind, instead gave him a small laugh, noticing him dressed up for the event too, “Yeah, let's do it”.
~•~
With just five minutes to the start of the show, Nandini was challenging the tick of the clock. Running ahead, looking at everything and correcting all what she could. In that kind of a bustling environment when a whisper runs through, it intrigues everyone. Even the ever ignorant Nandini.
The full blown whisper surrounding her made even Nandini turn towards the entrance, and wait to see who was such an influential person who can make his presence felt even when not actually present.
Never. I repeat. Never before has someone been able to make Nandini's breath caught up in her throat with just their sight. Many intimidating personalities have tried but none could achieve that level, but the sight of a Manik Malhotra, walking towards you with swag in his trudge, clad in ivory blue three piece suit, this reaction is bound to happen.
It won't be an hyperbole to say that every pair of eyes present backstage, turned to look at the beast walk by. If not famous for his acting skills, Manik would have been taken for a playboy billionaire. The air of confidence in his style was something that can effortlessly set the stage on fire.
Nandini was taken aback. It's not like he is the most handsome man that she has seen. She has seen many and maybe more sexy when sporting the formal look but there was something, something in the glimmer of his eye, or maybe the humbleness in his manner that fascinated her. That made her take a look, twice and thrice and again.
Anyone could have missed Nandini's reaction but not Manik. He had noticed that nymph in the cream dress standing in one corner the moment he had stepped in. He has been monitoring her since. He noticed the subtle changes in her demeanour. From her eyes going wide to the restlessness in her language. He noticed everything and was sure that he was successful in having some affect on her.
Now this was too big of an achievement for Manik to let it pass without acknowledging it. With every step that he took towards Nandini, ideas formed in his mind. Which to follow was the only question. Dismissing every other idea, he stick to his instinct for getting the best out of the situation.
“Stare as much as you like it when we're alone...here we have a reputation to maintain”, if Nandini is fire then Manik exactly knew how to play with fire. Just one remark from him and he knew how aggravated situation had become because Nandini...was fuming. Even before she could stablize herself and think of a retort, he had gone his way, to stand in line, just as Aryaman who had taken his place as the comparer welcomed the guests.
The moment was gone so was the chance, but Nandini would surely give it back when the time comes for the fire with which she looked at Manik's way won't die out so easily.
~•~
The show had started and inching closer towards the end. Things went pretty smoothly for the entire staff including Nandini. The response from the audience which included many eminent actors and actresses and people from the flim fraternity, made it clear that DUSAN the brand was a clear hit.
With just three more models before him, Manik was shooting intermittent glances at Nandini. ‘Isn't she supposed to walk the ramp with me? Am I not the show stopper’, Manik thought. Asking this or for that matter anything to Nandini right now will mean digging your own grave. Aryaman too was out comparing that means he has no one to ask his query.
Yet, he took the third best option available, Payal. Manik called Payal near him and asked the troubling questions, “Will Nandini not walk with me?”. There was a small smile flashed from her end to his, “No sir. Ma'am doesn't walk the ramp”. This was peculiar to Manik. All the shows that he has walked for as a show stopper had the designer walking with him at the last.
Manik being the instantaneous and spontaneous person that he is, decided within seconds that this anomaly needs to be set right. He thanked Payal for the information and started drafting the plan of action required.
Seconds before Manik hit the ramp, he called out to Nandini who was standing behind the stage discussing something with Payal, “Ms. Murthy?”. Just as Nandini turned her attention to him, within milliseconds of it, Manik held onto Nandini's arm, flinging her towards his taut chest and he walked onto the ramp, taking her along, stunning not only her but also every member around.
~•~
Nandini was in her own little world, standing at the ledge where the backstage meets the front stage, overlooking every model with precision, hearing Aryaman compare and trying to make things better if possible.
The call of ‘Ms. Murthy’ from the voice which she has now familiarised with, broke her reverie and pushed her to the real world. ‘Why do I need to deal with him?’, she questioned her own destiny. As the woody husky scent closed in on her, Nandini realized Manik was close to her. Heaving a sigh that she had been holding onto, she turned.
Nandini had not even completely turned when an alien touch, that warmed her from head to toe, came in contact of her arm, firmly holding onto it and she was dragged from the ledge to the front stage. There was no time given to settle or to refuse. Manik came like a robust wind and blew her away with him.
The hall went completely still and silent. The comparer, Aryaman stopped speaking in the mic for what was happening in front of his eyes was nothing short of a dreamy miracle. The collective gasp that was heard from the crowd itself was a proof that this was a rarity happening.
For Nandini, her surroundings were still frozen. The sounds around her had gone all blurry into muffles. The only noise was of her own rapidly beating heart and shallow breaths. She did feel Manik's hand shift from her arms to her waist, grasping it like a thing of his possession that he guards with his life.
With due respects to their height difference, Nandini looked at Manik's face trying to adjudged what was going on but her mind and concious was too clouded to judge anything. She was walking on tunes of Manik, without any helping from her own brain. Her system went berserk, and Manik's touch wasn't helping her too.
Manik was noticing how the crowd had gone all silent. He had a slight idea too that it may make Nandini a bit uncomfortable. Though he didn't have crowd in his control, he, through his eyes hinted Aryaman to continue with his comparing.
A little vision that Aryaman's foggy eyes showed him, he got what Manik was trying to convey. He began “...Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome the main architect behind this great show...the director of NA textiles and chief designer of DUSAN, our dear Nandini Murthy along with our show stopper of the day, Manik Malhotra...”, no matter how hard Aryaman tried, the emotional tone of his voice was not hidden. The thickness in his tone conveyed it all. Hidden from the sight, Aryaman quietly wiped a tear that had slipped from his watery eyes. It was a moment he was going to savour, for who knows if this will come again or no?
They stopped in the middle of the ramp, posing for the photographs. The stifness that ran in Nandini's body could easily be felt by Manik. It didn't take him much to understand, she was getting conscious of the camera in front of her. With his hand that was kept on Nandini's waist, he simply started drawing random patterns on the waist line, completely shifting her focus from the shutters to Manik and his antiques.
It was all because of this that they shared a fiesty sizzling eye lock which the shutterbugs captured. The hazel eyes of Nandini were completely into Manik's brown ones. The tussle was very visible and it was definitely going to make headlines tomorrow. Afterall who won't be interested in seeing such a power couple put up a show of their chemistry.
This day was going to be remembered for eons to come. If not for the fact that Nandini Murthy walked the ramp for the first time then surely because it gave the media and people a sneak peak of amours beginnings.
~•~
The staff behind the stage waited with bated breaths as they saw what transpired in front of their eyes. The scene that they thought they will never live to see finally came and came in a way no one ever imagined.
As both Manik and Nandini stepped on the backstage, only then did Manik's hand leave it's place from her waist to come to his side. Manik, since the time he dragged Nandini till then, looked closely at Nandini's face. He could figure out her form shaking and her lips quivering. Her plams folded into fists by her side and her chest heaving up and down with agility.
Walking the ramp for the first instance can be overwhelming. Thus when Manik saw Nandini's condition he was sure that it was the anxiety which was acting on her. “Nan...”, he held his hand up in a bid to comfort her, but a raise of Nandini's hand dismissed him from doing so.
The exact moment in which Nandini finally came face to face, eye to eye with Manik, he knew he had completely misjudged the situation. It was not anxiety or nervousness or anything of that sort. It was something absolutely different from what he had thought.
Her eyes. It was her icy stare that made Manik wince internally. There was something in her stare. It was not her regular angry stare. It mirrored some kind of vulnerability mixed with truck loads of emotions. He was quite certain that in those hazel orbs were hint of tears too.
Nandini walked, almost ran, from beside him and he couldn't get himself to follow her. Something was wrong and he was the reason it went wrong. But what was wrong, only one person could tell him, who had just arrived from the front stage and had witnessed Nandini running away to her room.
Manik was blank and not even a percent aware of what damage he might have done. Yet, he could just wish that he hasn't scarred that girl for life. He could just wish for that and he did, with all his pure heart.
~•~
Hello all!!
I made a small change 🙃🙃
I renamed Nandini's textile brands. Following are the new names
“Niran : The western chain”
“Nesta : The Indian wear chain”
“Sila : The formal clothing chain”
“Dusan : The men's formal clothing line”
So any ideas what might be the reason of Nandini's reaction?
Will Manik be able to make things alright for Nandini?
How will this affect their long term relations?
Stay tuned to know❤️