Hello Fam :)
As I have told you, I will be updating during the weekends but I have an exam this Sunday. Hence, an early update.
By the way, look who's here. :P
Happy Reading...
Manik went to college early, the next day, in order to get himself prepared for the class after missing a whole day's lessons. He asked one of the boys about them and was noting down the important points whatever were available as Abhimanyu was seen nowhere. Just a few minutes into the start of their class, he was pulled up from his seat into a rough hug. It was Abhimanyu while Mukti, who was standing beside him, grinned at Manik. Manik frowned when Nandini rolled her eyes ignoring them and went to the last bench.
"I am sorry", said Abhimanyu, breaking the hug.
Manik didn't know what he was sorry for but before he could ask them, the professor arrived with a stack of papers for their class quiz. They couldn't talk during the class and it was later during the break in the canteen when Manik again found his friends.
Abhimanyu pulled a chair for him after an over excited wave of his hand and asked him to sit. "Were you sick yesterday?", he asked Manik.
"No", replied Manik, "I am perfectly alright. Why did you have to ask that question?"
Abhimanyu looked skeptically at Manik before turning to Nandini, who was ignoring everyone, Manik in particular, and was busy playing some game on her mobile.
After the previous night's conversation with Abhimanyu about the whole Harshad's drama, Manik was trying to see Nandini in a new light. She was hiding something behind her anger, he thought to himself. Gathering his courage, he cleared his throat. "Hello, Nandini."
She ignored him as if he wasn't present. He looked at Abhimanyu and Mukti, who too were confused at Nandini's behavior.
"Did I do something?", asked Manik again, "Nandini, I apologize for whatever-"
She cut him off by banging her hand on the table, her trademark signature indicating she was pissed off. "Stop messing with me. Just because I called you, doesn't mean you are an undercover prince of some forbidden kingdom that people need to take an appointment to get you answer your calls."
"You called me?", Manik asked dumbfounded.
"Where the hell is your goddamn mobile, you idiot?", she asked, gritting her teeth.
Manik frowned and shrugged. "I forgot it in the office. I will collect it after college", replied the boy.
Nandini gave him an incredulous look. Abhimanyu and Mukti were equally confused.
"Bro", called Abhi, "don't tell me you work in some part-time job after college hours?"
Manik shook his head. "No, my mom was out of town and they needed a few signatures on some important files. I was reading them the whole day", he explained.
"You own a company?", asked Mukti.
"No, how can I own a company at nineteen?", Manik asked in disbelief. "My mom owns the company."
Nandini rolled her eyes and slapped his hand which was on the table. "It's the same thing, you prat. Which company?"
Manik shifted uncomfortably in his seat on finding himself the center of attention even if there were only three of them. "There are many branches", he said, confusedly.
Nandini glared at him. "Stop using your over smart brain. Name?"
"Malhotra group of Industries", said Manik finally.
"You are the son of the Nyonika Malhotra?", asked Nandini.
Manik nodded. "You know my mom?" He was quite confused about why they were acting shocked. It wasn't a news.
The trio stood up from their places, mouth wide opened as if struck by lightning.
XXX
At some other part of the college, not far away from the canteen, Harshad was twirling the notebook in his hand. His friend Dhruv was standing beside him.
"What are you thinking?", asked Dhruv, when he realized Harshad was in no mood to open his mouth today.
"I need to teach Nandini a lesson", he said.
"But aren't you already in enough trouble because of the last time?"
"Just because her father is a trustee of this college doesn't mean she will get a free reign. The principal is becoming a puppet in her hands."
"What are you planning?", asked Dhruv.
"Nothing much. Let's repeat whatever we asked that new boy of hers", explained Harshad, "but this time we will make sure our target is a first year instead of second."
They looked around to find someone. As if the universe heard their little plan, a boy entered the corridor. Harshad and Dhruv exchanged glances and concluded, they didn't see him anywhere in the college before. He had a few papers in his hand, maybe the admission papers, they guessed, while his other hand was busy scrolling through his mobile. Instead of plugging the earphones, the music was blasting through his mobile which gained the attention of all the students around, if not his funky jeans and t-shirt.
Harshad smirked before calling him.
The boy switched off the music and went to them. "Yes, what can I do for you?", he asked.
"Did you think this is your private party that you are listening to a music audible enough to the whole college?", Harshad asked sternly.
"I am sorry. I am a new student and nervous. I need music to calm my nerves but I forgot my earphones at home", he said and looked around the corridor. "I didn't think it's disturbing anyone as hardly a student is studying here."
"Are you a fresher?", asked Harshad.
"Wow! How can you guess it within one dialogue of our conversation?", asked the boy enthusiastically but Harshad felt the hint of sarcasm in it.
Dhruv wasn't as smart as his friend. "That's called experience", he said bragging about his friend. "He is the head boy of our college."
"Really?", the boy said and grabbed his hand for a handshake. "It's my pleasure to meet you, sir."
Harshad nodded. "Leave that. We have a task for you. Go straight to the canteen and propose to the head girl sitting there."
"And why do you think I will do that?", the boy said, raising an eyebrow.
"Because you don't have a choice. It's part of the college ragging", said Dhruv.
"Ragging? Oh my god!", exclaimed the boy. "I am so excited. It's my first time getting ragged. Will you provide me with a rose or anything? I want it to be perfect. What's the name of the girl?"
"Nandini Murthy", replied Harshad handing him a rose. Their college had a small rose garden at the backside of their building and many students took advantage of it even when its restricted.
Dhruv dragged Harshad aside for a discussion and whispered in his ear. "Listen, this guy is weird. Who even gets excited on getting ragged? He is behaving as if he is meeting his blind date."
"Nandini Murthy will take care of the blind date. The more excited he is, the more mess Nandini will create unknowingly around herself and it would be easier for us to trap her in her own game", explained Harshad and smirked thinking about the fate of their head girl.
They go to the boy and ask him to go ahead with the plan when he took out his mobile. "Can I have a selfie with you? I want to save my first memory."
Harshad gives him a tight lipped smile and nods. The boy walks away after the selfie.
"He looks touched in the head", muttered Harshad before raising his voice to call him. "Listen, what's your name."
The boy glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Cabir Malhotra. Naam toh suna hi hoga."
As he walked inside the canteen, Harshad snorted. "He is behaving as if he is a celebrity. All the attitude will come down in a few minutes." He followed along with Dhruv to witness the drama.
XXX
Listening to Manik, the trio stood up shocked. The boy whom they thought as some innocent nerd wasn't any average guy but the heir of Malhotra Industries and the son of one of the most powerful businesswomen in the country, Nyonika Malhotra. As the trio gaped at him, Manik stood up from his seat as a reflex, tensed about their reaction.
Nandini, who had some knowledge about the business world, was quick to compose herself. Even before she could manage a word from her mouth, they heard a loud scream and within seconds a boy jumped on Manik, wrapping his limbs around him like an overgrown Panda. To their astonishment, all the frowns on Manik's head transformed into a wide grin as he hugged the boy back with as much force.
"MANIK! SURPRISE!", yelled the boy for the college to hear.
"Kid, I can't believe you are back", replied Manik before breaking the hug. He ruffled the boy's hair lovingly after balancing him properly on the floor. "When did you come back? Why didn't you tell me? I would have come to the airport to pick you up", blabbered Manik.
"I wanted to surprise you. Are you surprised? Tell me, tell me", the boy almost jumped in excitement.
Manik chuckled. "Of course, I am surprised." He pulled the boy again into the hug and kissed the side of his head. "This is the best surprise. I have missed you a lot", muttered Manik.
Nandini, Abhimanyu and Mukti were gaping at the two boys. Nandini noticed the new boy was a head taller than her but hardly reached Manik's shoulders. His funky jeans and overbright t-shirt was heavily contrasting with Manik's plain jeans and full sleeved sweatshirt. His t-shirt hardly covered the biceps and the folded sleeve made her roll her eyes. Boys and their ego to flaunt their muscles. Even if Manik mentioned a sibling of his, the two boys were poles apart except for the fact that both of them were good looking. On top of everything, Manik was calling him kid.
She pulled Abhi's sleeve and whispered into his ear. "Don't you think this Panda is too grown up to be sorted in the category of 'kids'?"
"I know right", whispered Abhimanyu, "and look at how cool Manik is with the boy but he jumps a meter at any other human contact. They are practically glued to each other."
They both glanced at each other and Nandini nodded, wordlessly agreeing to his argument.
XXX
Harshad and Dhruv, who followed their new target to witness the drama, were baffled seeing the boy jumping on Manik.
"Did you clearly tell him to propose Nandini? It looks like he is about to propose that weird kid", whispered Dhruv.
"Weren't you there with me while I was telling him?", said Harshad passing an irritated glare towards his friend. "I don't know what did he listen to my words in his excitement", he muttered.
XXX
When the two boys were in no mood to break their little reunion and busy in having their own whispered conversation, Nandini cleared her throat. She faked a smile at Manik. "Ah, Manik. Why don't you introduce this 'kid' to us?"
Manik broke the hug, embarrassed, but the huge grin on his face was intact. "I apologize for forgetting. This is Cabir, my brother." He then turned to his brother, "kid, these are my friends. Abhimanyu, Mukti and Nandini."
"Hello everyone", said Cabir waving his hand but his whole attention was soon on Manik. "Wow, Manik. You didn't tell me you have made so many friends", he teased.
Manik raised an eyebrow. "Because you don't have time to talk to me. Really, kid, when was the last time you have called me?"
"I called you yesterday just because I had to and you didn't pick up my call. How can you ignore me, Manik?", he pouted dramatically.
Manik crossed his arms. "That was once when I have missed your call. Yesterday was one of those rarest days but before that?"
Cabir grinned in return.
Manik rolled his eyes. "Are you done with your admission process?"
"No, I was searching for the principal's room but", he turned to Nandini, "hey, you are Nandini, right? Nandini Murthy." When Nandini nodded skeptically, Cabir grinned, forwarding his hand. "I came searching for you."
"Me?", she asked in confusion.
"Yeah, just a minute." Cabir craned his neck ignoring the confused gazes of people around him. He stopped at one position, smirkes, and yelled. "Sir, here. Can I have you here?"
Nandini narrowed her gaze when Harshad strolled reluctantly in their direction.
Ignoring both the head students, Cabir grinned. "Sir, stay beside me. I need all your strength." Harshad faked a smile and Cabir handed over his admission papers to Manik. He took the rose out of his jean pocket and turned to Nandini, flashing hid teeth. "Nandini ji, it's an honor to be a part of this prestigious and divine project."
Manik tugged at the back of Cabir's t-shirt when he correlated the rose and the head boy. His brother brushed him away. "Manik, stop disturbing me." He once again turned to Nandini. "Nandini Murthy, I am so proud of you. It's not been an hour and yours is the first name I have heard in this college. You must be really best at your work and I can only imagine the ever increasing following of your fans. The thing I am going to say is very important. It's almost equal to the matter of life and death. So, give it a thought before taking a decision."
Nandini crossed her arms and gritted her teeth. "What the hell is going on?"
"Nandini Murthy, the head girl of our college, you are so beautiful of a person that Mr. I-forgot-to-ask-his-name, the head boy of our college is immensely in love with you. He is so scared of confessing it to you and asked me to inform his feelings to you. Please, accept his love", said Cabir. While Harshad is busy gaping at Nandini with his mouth wide open, Cabir secretly winked at her.
Except for Manik, who was muttering constant prayers for his only brother, rest all were amazed at the way Cabir trapped Harshad in his own plan.
Harshad glared at Cabir, once he came to his senses. “When did I say I love her?”, he asked Cabir.
“Sir, you are our head boy. Don’t feel shy”, assured Cabir in what he thought as an comforting tone.
Nandini rolled her eyes. “Harshad Saxena, what were you even thinking before having feelings for me?”
Harshad paled. "I swear Nandini, I was trying to rag him. Who in their right senses will develop any feelings for you?"
“Your senses aren’t right”, muttered Manik.
Unfortunately for him, Harshad heard his comment and raised his fist at him but Nandini was quick to stop him midway as Cabir pulled Manik towards him and wrapped his hand protectively around Manik’s wrist.
“Harshad Saxena, before you land yourself in a greater mess, what the hell are you thinking before ragging a student? You are the head student. It’s your responsibility to stop other students, not giving them the excuse to bully their fellow students”, said Nandini.
While Nandini tried hard not to yell at him and create a scene to harm the reputation of her college, Harshad made no such effort. He threw his hands in frustration and yelled at Nandini. “What the hell is wrong with you?”, he asked, “I understand if it was your lover boy, he is a second year student but this drama company here is a fresher. I can do anything I feel like.”
Cabir stiffened up listening to Harshad’s words when he referred to Manik.
Nandini glared at him. “As the head student, I can do anything I feel like too. Let’s go to the Principal’s office.”
“Listen, let’s come to an agreement. You forget everything I did and I will forget whatever you have done to me”, told Harshad.
Nandini narrowed her gaze at him. “What did I do?”
“You punched me in front of the whole college, you framed me in front of the principal about Manik and it’s just a month into the start of the term. That’s why I asked this boy to propose you and planned to trap you so that the principal would believe you aren’t his ideal head student”, spat Harshad, angrily.
“Glad, you have agreed whatever you have done in front of everyone, Harshad.”
All the students turned around to the source of the voice and found the principal. It was rare to see the anger on their ever smiling principal. It didn’t really surprise anyone when they saw the sweat beads forming on Harshad’s head. He wiped them furiously before putting a brave smile on his face. “Sir, I don’t know anything. Nandini is just in her elements to create havoc wherever she goes", he said, although unconvincingly.
The principal glared at him and turned to Cabir. "Gentleman, as the main victim of this situation, I will believe whatever your word is. Tell me, if Harshad was ragging you?"
"No, sir", said Cabir surprising everyone, "our honorable head student has just lost his heart to our smart head girl and when he didn't quite know what to do about it, he asked me to pass on the message."
Manik lightly patted him on his back, a small smile playing on his face, before letting his hand drop at his side. It must be some kind of a code because Cabir grinned looking at his brother.
The principal ignored their little interaction and threw a hard glare at the head boy, making the younger male squirm under his gaze nervously. "Harshad, I have had enough of your misbehavior. You are appointed to help your fellow head student, not to make her life even more difficult. I am suspending you for a week. One more complaint and your headboyship will be terminated. I hope not to see you repeating this behavior after coming back to college next week."
Harshad nodded and stormed off the canteen. The principal focused his attention to Cabir. "What's your name, young man?"
"Cabir Malhotra"
"Are you Manik's brother?", he asked. When Cabir nodded, the principal beamed in happiness. "Not very surprising. I know what you did there, young man. Not everyone has a heart as big as a Malhotra."
The last few words of the Principal forced Manik to look up at Nandini with a frown on his face. Nandini scrunched her nose and shook her head, and Manik had smartly shut up.
"It's good to have you here, Mr. Malhotra", the principal said after having a few words with Cabir.
"It's my pleasure to study in your esteemed college, Principal", smirked Cabir and for a minute, they all were reminded of one Nyonika Malhotra.
Manik tugged at Cabir's hand, probably asking Cabir to shut up. The principal chuckled at the two and left the canteen after patting Nandini's head. She grinned at him. As soon as he was out of their audible range, Nandini rounded on her friends, who were standing as innocently as they could with their deer caught in the headlights look. "How did the principal come here?"
Abhimanyu smiled nervously. "I texted him through your mobile."
"Was that necessary?", she asked him.
"Yes, it was. We had to stop him somewhere. Am I supposed to wait while he sketches plans to make your life hell?", said Abhimanyu and wrapped Nandini in his arms. Mukti joined the hug making it their group hug.
Cabir pouted and looked at Manik, who chuckled and ruffled his brother's hair. "I am proud of you too, kid."
Abhimanyu broke their group hug and looked around. As the drama was over, the students were dispersing from the canteen. He then glanced at his watch and groaned. "It's time for the class."
"Can we bunk the class today, please?", it was Manik, who surprised everyone.
There were a few seconds of complete silence after which Abhimanyu and Cabir gasped dramatically and screamed a 'what'. The coincidence made both the boys grin at each other.
“What is this, Malhotra? You want to bunk the class? How would you pass the exam then?”, Nandini said, teasing with his own line.
“I can cover it up using video lectures”, said Manik before he stared at his shoes and rubbed the nape of his neck, blushing in embarrassment. “I wanted to spend some time with my brother”, he muttered.
The innocence of his wish tugged at Nandini’s heart and she found herself unable to speak any further. She rolled her eyes when Cabir grinned and latched himself around his brother once again.
“I love you, bhai”, said Cabir. “Why don’t you start the car? I will submit my admission papers to the principal and come.”
Abhimanyu and Mukti decided to bunk the classes too and they dragged Nandini along. The trio followed the Malhotra brothers out of the canteen before Cabir parted ways to meet the principal.
As Manik got engrossed about some random topic with Abhimanyu and Mukti, Nandini looked at him and for the first time she really noticed the boy. He was handsome in a way no boy of her age was. His innocence worked as an aura, attracting everyone around him. Now that Nandini knew who Manik was, his features struck her into realization. Manik was tall, had sharp features even though he was a bit on the leaner side. He resembled as a perfect son of Nyonika Malhotra but the resemblance ended just there.
On the other hand, Cabir was a head shorter but the confidence oozed from him, the confidence the world is familiar with, all thanks to his mother. One of the Malhotra traits, she thought to herself, remembering the articles she read about the late Raj Malhotra. Manik was the odd one out. If he didn't heavily look like his mother, she would have thought him to be adopted. A familiar knot settled in her stomach thinking about the hidden facade of the business woman she admired. It was not the first time when she wondered if the woman was any different from her own mother.
A/N - This is where the actual story begins. The Cabir Malhotra is here to add spark to the journey of Manik and Nandini. :P
Also, did you like the bond between Manik and Cabir? I have tried something very new between these two.