So I was going to write the next chapter over the weekend. But all the comments showered in the previous chapter were very overwhelming and so, that motivated me to start writing the next chapter and once I started, I couldn't stop till I finished this.
And I am very impressed on how none of you were spewing hate on Mr. Malhotra. I'm glad that you all didn't think he was a villain.
Also, this one, by far, is my favourite chapter. Let me know what you guys think.
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Manik was fuming when he was walking back to his room. He was furious with the discussion he had with his Dad. Just because he wanted Manik to pursue business and he didn't want it, he was blaming Nandini for it. Where did Nandini even come into the picture? She didn't even know that his Dad wanted him to choose business as a career option. Why was she getting blamed for things she was nowhere related to? And why did everyone have a problem with his relationship with Nandini. Was it so rare for people to be in love nowadays? Everyone just kept talking about how it's not possible to find your forever at such a young age and life is hard and all that crap. Everyone thought that his and Nandini's relationship was a bed of roses and a teenage romance and kept waiting for them to break up but only Nandini and he knew how much the two of them had to endure to just be together. Why couldn't they mind their own business. He hated when others butted their nose in things related to Nandini and him. It was their personal life, their relationship and they knew it more than anyone else. What was troubling him more was how everyone kept telling him that Nandini will drift away from his life. And that unnerved a lot of his feelings of insecurity. He had nearly lost Nandini one too many times in the past. But now, when they were so deeply in love, he knew it was impossible for him to breathe without her. And when everyone kept telling him that his relationship with Nandini won't last or when people tried breaking them time and again, it triggered those feelings of helplessness that he felt when Soha was about to murder her or when the Pandit had kidnapped her. He had this constant fear in his mind about losing her and the various possibilities of what could've happened had he not reached on time during both these incidents. And it became difficult for him to breathe when he thought about it.
He barged into his room distracted with all these thoughts and absolutely forgot that Nandini must be fast asleep. He banged the door shut in his anger and walked straight into the walk-in closet to look for a pair of clothes to change into. Everything was a mess of course because he had dumped everything earlier and he was getting all the more irritated finding something. Finally, he did manage to find a pair of shorts and he decided to give up on finding a T-shirt.
Nandini's sleep broke with all the noise that Manik was making. First, the closing of the door and then Manik making some noise in his new walk-in closet.
Nandini - Manik...
She didn't get any response and so she called out a little louder.
Nandini - Manik...
She switched on the bedside lamp and was about to get off the bed to check on him when she saw Manik coming out of the walk-in closet. He looked disheveled, his hair messed, his eyes blood red and he was also sweating and breathing a little heavily too.
Nandini - What happened to you? Come here.
She called out to him stretching her arms and he came running to her and hugged her tight. He hid himself in her neck and Nandini put her arms around his head hugging him close. He just stayed there for a few minutes without saying or doing anything but just kept hugging her and she kept kissing him on his head from time to time giving him the time and space to tell her what was wrong. She knew that his conversation with his Dad had triggered this behavior of his. She was well aware that he had a complicated relationship with his parents and certain encounters with either of them brought out the lost little boy who was left alone by his parents back. However, she also knew she shouldn't push him and let him open up on his own. Until then, she'd continue to give him the security he needs.
Manik - Nandini...
Nandini - Hmmm...
Manik - Tum aur main.... you and I.... humesha na?
Nandini smiled at his tone. He sounded like a cute 5 year old afraid of losing his favourite person.
Nandini - Humesha. Till the stars shine and the fireflies glow.
Manik - Promise.
Nandini - Nandini promise.
Manik finally let go of her a little to see her face. He still looked a little disturbed and unsure and Nandini pulled him into a kiss trying to give him the assurance he needed. Manik kissed her back almost immediately making himself believe that his Nandini was going nowhere and was going to stay with him forever. They parted from their kiss and stared into each other's eyes for a bit. He came forward once again and kissed her forehead, her eyes, her tiny little nose, her cheeks, her jaw, her chin moving down to her neck. His hands crept under her top holding on to her waist while he continued to kiss her neck.
She kept pulling onto his hair in the beginning and then slowly, her hands found the buttons of his shirt. Soon his shirt and her night suit top were thrown on the floor. When Manik was just about to unclasp her bra, she suddenly held his hand.
Nandini - Did you lock the door?
They were in a house full of people and she didn't want any embarrassing situation to arise. Especially when she knew Manik and his Dad had had a very intense conversation which somehow involved her.
Manik got up from the bed, locked the door and unbuckled his belt and his trousers and also picked out a protection from the bedside drawer on his way back to the bed and got into the bed and under the duvet to resume his love-making. He once again pulled her into an intense kiss and simultaneously unclasped her bra moving it out of his way. He then feasted on her bosom. Soon, the rest of their clothes met the floor and Manik slipped into her finally feeling at home, in the truest sense. Manik was insatiable today. He was a little rough and a little wild but at the same time showering her with all his love and attention. It was a love-making where Manik was seeking an assurance that Nandini would always be there with him and she was giving him just that.
An hour later, when finally both of them lay satiated, basking in each other's warmth, Nandini waited for Manik to talk to her. She knew he would open up to her now. He usually shared all his troubles with her after they made love and looking at him distantly staring at the ceiling, she knew that today would be no exception.
And so she was waiting, doodling on his chest.
Manik - Dad wants me to have a Plan B.
Nandini - Plan B? For what?
Manik - Career wise. He thinks FAB5 might not work out.
Nandini - Unhe aise kyu lagta hai?
Manik - He observed and noticed. Hum sab ko. And he thinks hum sab ke priorities alag hai. And we might not be able to make it together as a band. Aisa kaise keh sakte hai woh? This is FAB5. Mera FAB5. You know na how important they are to me?
Nandini - I know.
Manik - But he thinks we all are not on the same page. And that's why I should have a backup career plan if FAB5 doesn't work out. And then he asked me what I wanted to do other than music.
Nandini - Aur phir tumne kya bola?
Manik - I told him I don't want to do anything but music because that's who I am. I'm a musician and will always be one. But you know what he said?
Nandini - What?
Manin - He said I should pursue business. Kyuki unhe lagta hai I am good at business. God knows where he got that from? I've never studied business nor have been in any business-like situation. How the hell does he think I'm good at it? Woh party mein unke koi colleague, Mr. Mehta or something, unko bhi he was showing off my non-existent business skills. He was telling me ki mujhe MBA karna chahiye to understand if I like business or not. You know Nandini, yeh sab sirf bahaane hai. Right now, he's telling me to do an MBA yeh dekhne ke liye ki if I like business or not. But ek baar MBA kar liya na, he'll ask me to join Malhotra industries. Fir bolenge, 'tumne toh MBA bhi kiya hai, ab maine itna bada business banaya toh tum usse sambhal lo.' This is just his game to get me to leave music and do business.
Nandini - Toh tumne Dad ko kya bola?
Manik - Maine mana kar diya. I don't want to pursue business. Uss raaste par jaana hi nahi hai mujhe.
Nandini - Phir Dad gussa ho gaye?
Manik hesitated a bit at that question. He didn't want to really tell Nandini about the rest of his discussion. But he knew he wouldn't be able to hide it for long. Besides, secrets with Nandini were a bad idea anyway. So he just decided to get over with it and tell her.
Manik - Haan. He thought I was being unreasonable for not wanting a backup plan and then he just assumed that I don't want it because of you.
Nandini - Aisa kyu bola Dad ne?
Manik - Unhe lagta hai that we both are way too involved with each other. Too possessive and protective and behave like a married couple. He thinks hum dono, especially me, am ignoring my career because all my attention is on you. I told you na, he had his own agenda and that's why he came here. Nyonika ne unhe call karke kuch toh bola hoga. On the same lines. So he must already be prejudiced.
Nandini - Hmmm. I told you na. I had a feeling he was observing me subah se.
Manik - I know. But woh sirf tumhe nahi, hum sab ko observe kar rahe the. Imagine, he caught on to Dhruv and I not talking, Alya not talking to Dhruv, Cabir taking care of Navya and of course, hum dono ko.
Nandini - Aur kya kaha unhone?
Manik - Aur kuch nahi. Same old. You haven't seen life yet. 20 saal ki age mein people don't find their forevers, relationships are hard, life is hard etc etc. I don't understand why people keep saying that. It's like everyone thinks we're like some teenage romance couple. Jo kuch mahino mein ya saalon mein will break up. I mean unhe kaise pata. They are a part of the relationship or we are? It's like poori duniya wants us to break up. Humein pata hai how much we went through to be together. So many troubles, so many fights, so many ups and downs. We know how incomplete we are without each other and how important we are to each other. But everyone thinks ki humne kuch dekha hi nahi hai. So anyway, Dad bhi yeh lecture de rahe the about how our 'teenage romance' won't last when life happens. Toh mujhe bhi thoda gussa aa gaya and I told him about how he was being so judgmental without knowing the truth. And told him the few difficult things we had to go through to be together.
Nandini - What did you tell him?
Manik - I didn't tell him any details. But just about my arm amputation, Nyonika framing me for Soha's murder and then whatever Soha tried to do with you and also Nyonika instigating the Pandit to kidnap you.
Nandini - Phir Dad ne kya kaha?
Manik - He said sorry because he didn't know. I mean what's the point of that sorry anyway? Jo bolna tha toh unhone bol diya. He should've spoken to either me or you before jumping to conclusions. You can't come and observe us for one day and judge our relationship. What if we have found our forevers at 19 and 20. We are one of the few lucky people that we found each other when we were young. Aisa kisi rule book main toh nahi likha hai na that you can't find your life partner before 25. But Dad just kept telling me that life is tough, relationships are tough, people leave you, everyone falls apart and I should concentrate on my career and not be foolish in love.
Nandini - Dad sahi toh keh rahe hai na.
Manik - What? What do you mean? Tum bhi yeh kaise keh keh sakti ho?
Nandini - What I'm trying to say is that we're not in some fairy-tale na. Jahaan tumne aur maine ek dusre ko 'I love you' bol diya and we have a happily ever after. Saying 'I love you' is just a start. Then comes the real challenges. The ones we face every day trying to maintain our relationship. Every relationship requires work and effort and if we don't put that in, we will fall apart too. There will be bad days. Sometimes for you and sometimes for me and sometimes for both of us. We're still building our careers. There will be a lot of successes and failures and ups and downs and our relationship will be tested throughout. So Dad is not wrong when he says that life will happen to us because it will happen. But it also depends on how well we let these things affect our relationship. And how much effort and time we give our relationship. You're right when you say that we're lucky that hum ek doosre se mil gaye at 19 and 20. But yeh relationship ko humesha ke liye rakhne ke liye humein bohot mehnat karni padegi because life is not a fairy-tale. It's reality and it's going to be a roller coaster ride.
Manik was intently listening to her and picturing their life together with the various ups and downs but also picturing them together through it all.
Nandini - So humein life ke iss roller coaster ride ko saath mil kar enjoy karna hai. Like today's day. It was such a long day with so much happening. We both had major career stepping stones today. We had the responsibility to do well there. We both had anxiety and pressure and excitement but we went through it by supporting each other. Jaise tum subah subah uth kar mujhe wish karne aaye just because you wanted to support me at a difficult time. And then, I was helping you out setting up everything for your performance because you were anxious before your performance. And then we both celebrated both our successes after. But then, Dad ke saath ka conversation made you upset but here again, we're talking to each other and discussing our problems and working it out. And guess what, iss sab ke beech mein, we landed up creating our fairy tale moment also. Woh Cinderella waala moment.
Manik smiled at the thought of how all their friends were teasing them about it.
Nandini - Waise ek secret bolu?
Manik - Hmmm?
Nandini - I'm so glad Navya captured that picture of us. It makes me believe that I have my own fairy tale in this big bad world.
Manik smiled and leaned in to kiss her cute little nose.
Nandini - So my Prince Charming, we just have to keep doing what we're doing and be there for each other during good times and the bad times and keep creating more and more fairy tale moments. Deal?
Manik - Deal. But main MBA and business bilkul bhi nahi karne wala.
He cribbed like a child again. Nandini laughed at his cute stubbornness.
Nandini - Theek hai. Hum MBA aur business bilkul bhi nahi karenge.
He made himself comfortable on her chest and they prepared themselves to finally sleep, marking an end to this eventful day, not only sharing each others' naked bodies but also sharing each others' naked souls.