Part-16
"Yeh mein kya kar rahi hu...!! How can I talk to him so freely...!!! And why the hell am I happy listening Bhabhi maa from Dhruv..!! No Nandini...u r giving him hope...u should not do this...Ayyappa...please give me strength to avoid him..."Nandini thought while resting on bed.
Next day...
In the college canteen,
Nav-Nandini...can I ask u something..??
Muk-thu kab se baath karne ki permission le ne lagi...??
Mukthi and Aliya smiled seeing each other while Navya looked at them angrily.
Nan-Acha Navya poocho na..
Nav-Umm...wo...How did u feel when Manik proposed u in the first meet..??
Mukthi and Aliya opened their eyes widely while Nandini went back to their first meet.
Nan-aisa kyun pooch rahi ho..??
Nav-aise hi...bolo na...I wanna know..
Nan-Well...shock hui thi sab se pehle...it was our first meet after all..and first meet mein I love u thodi na expect karthe hai hum..!! My senses stopped working after listening him...
Nandini explained when images of that day flashed in front of her eyes.Remaining three listened her very carefully while Navya started imagining herself.
Nav-Nandu...tumhe kaise patha chalaa wo jhoota nahi hai...??
Nan-wo...unki aankhon mein hai...I saw honesty in his eyes while he uttered every word...Navya..we can easily distinguish between truth and lie by looking at their eyes...wo aankhein kabhi jhoot nahi bolthe..
Muk-Tum yeh sab kyun pooch rahi ho...??
Nan-Ha Navya...u don't like Manik jii na..!!! then why are u asking all these...??
A-kya tumhe bhi...??
She stopped and everyone's eyes fell on Navya while she nodded her head.
A-what...??
Muk-Koun...??
Nan-kab..??
Navya explained everything to them.
Muk-What...?? Manik ka friend Cabir...???
Navya nodded.
A-Navya..Haven't u seen his eyes...??
Nav-Aliya...I froze at my place all that while...and u are asking me whether I noticed his eyes...!!!
Everyone smiled and just then Nandini's phone rang.It was Manik.
"Why is he calling me at this time...??"She thought and looked around if he is there.
She answered the call.
Ma-Hey...Sorry..are u in class...??
Nan-Nahi...hum canteen mein hai...
Ma-Acha...kya ho raha hai..??mere baare mein baath kar rahi ho..??
Nan-Nahi..nahi toh...
She stammered and looked around again while Mukthi signaled others that they should leave.
Manik smiled and leaned back on his chair in his cabin.
Ma-Acha..maan gaya...Actually I called u to tell that...kal 1 week ke liye London jaa raha hu..ek conference hai...thought of informing u...
Nandini fell silent for a second and said "oh..ok..."
Ma-And...I may not be able to call u because of my hectic schedule...and ha..u can drop a voice message in case u miss me...
He said slowly while Nandini took a deep breath and gathered the strength which she asked her ayyappa.
Nan-What rubbish...??mein aap ko kyun miss karoongi...?? Aap hothe koun ho...??
She said in a serious tone just to disappoint Manik.
Ma-Acha...miss nahi karogi..??
Nan-nahi...bilkul nahi...
She said firmly and this disappointed Manik to his peaks.
Ma-Nandu...Stop lying...atleast stop deceiving urself...
He raised his voice and hung the call.
"Ayyappa...kaise samjhaoo mein inko..I don't want him to get hurt..." She thought and left to join others.
Manik gritted his teeth in frustration and her words echoed his ears.He hit the glass placed over there and it shattered into pieces at the door.Just then Dhruv entered and saw that.
D-Bhai...what happened...??itna gussa..??kis par...??
He asked while entering his cabin.Manik came to normal when he saw Dhruv.
Ma-Arey Dhruv...come...
D-Bhai...it's bleeding...
He said seeing Manik's hand and ran to get first aid box and started dressing.
D-kya hua Bhai...??
Ma-kuch nahi
D-Koun tha phone par..??
Manik kept mum while Dhruv completed dressing.
D-Bhai...was that Bhabhi maa..??
He asked and expected the answer should be no.But Manik nodded in a yes.
D-What...??? Aap bhabhi maa pe chilla rahe ho...??
Ma-Chilla nahi raha hu Dhruv..bas batha raha hu...
D-Kya..??
Ma-Ki...I am going to London..for 1 week...ek conference and business meeting hai...
D-what...?? Aap London jaa rahe ho...??
He asked and forgot about Manik's frustration on Nandini.
D-Bhai...I just came yesterday..and u r leaving tomorrow...this is not fare Bhai..not at all fare...
He said making a sad face.Manik held his hands and said "Beta...just for one week...important hai...and if I finish my work,then I'll be back before 1 week...plz beta samjhaa karo.."
D-promise..??
Ma-Pakka promise..
Dhruv smiled a little and said "Bhai..aap befikar jayiye...I'll take care of Bhabhi maa.."
Ma-Nahi Dhruv...tum uss se baath nahi karega...in fact tum uss se milne bhi nahi jayega..
He said in a firm tone.
D-par kyun Bhai..??
Ma-Kyun ki mein keh raha hu...
He said maintaining his firm tone.
D-but..
Ma-Dhurv...I don't want any more arguments on this...Am I clear...??
D-Jii Bhai...mein nahi miloonga uss se...
Dhruv gave up seeing the seriousness in his brother's face.
They sat silently for a while and Dhurv stood to leave.He walked to the door and said "Bhai...Bhabhi maa se nahi mil saktha...I'm not restricted to meet her friends no..??"
He said and winked and before Manik could register,he left throwing his sheepish smiles at Manik.
Manik too smiled and thought "yeh sudhrenge nahi...I just hope yeh kuch gadbad na kare.."
Just then his phone beeped and it was message from Dhruv.
DON'T WORRY BHAI...I WON'T MESS UP UR DELICATE LOVE STORY
Manik smiled seeing the message.
...
Mukthi thought deeply how to spend time with Harshad and asked Manik about this.He suggested to get enrolled for Salsa classes if Harshad is fine with it.
Mukthi enrolled their names for Salsa and they decided to spend an hour before and an hour after the classes.
Cabir started planning how to get closer to Navya.
...
Manik left for London without informing Nandini before boarding the flight.
And it's been two days,he hasn't called her even once.
"I just hope he is fine...call kyun nahi kiya usne..."She thought being worried for him.But little did she know,how hard it is for Manik to stop himself from calling her.
"I won't call her..She has to call me..iss one week patha chal jayega whether she loves me or not.."Manik decided.
"I have to be strong...I won't call him...agar call karoongi toh phir se hope bar jayegi...No...I won't do that..This one week should prove him that I don't have any feelings for him.."Nandini decided.
But Love Has Its Own Ways...
...
Third day
In the college canteen,
Mukthi was on call and was smiling continuously while talking.
Nav-yeh kis se baath kar rahi hai itni dher se...??
A-Haa Navya...she has been talking since so long...
They all looked at Mukthi when she joined them.
Nav-Who was that..??
Muk-Bhai...
She said while having a constant smile on her face.
A-Bhai..!! kiski bhai...??
Muk-Meri..aur kiski...
Nan-Mukthi...koun Bhai...??
Muk-Oh...I forgot to tell u guys...mein aur Manik..Bhai behne ban gaye hai...
She said like a child who won a trophy.
A,Nav-Acha...
Nandini couldn't stop herself from asking his well-beings.
Nan-Acha..toh...kya keh raha tha tumhara Bhai...??
She asked as if she is not effected and expected that she would get some information about Manik.
Muk-kuch nahi...bas aise hi...
Mukthi answered plainly and diverted the topic.Nandini was disappointed as that plan of hers was flopped.She hesitated to ask again and Mukthi understood that.
"I'm sorry Nandu...I can't tell u anything because Manik is stopping me.."Mukthi thought.
"Mukthi ko call karne ke liye time tha..par why didn't he call me...??Shayad gussa honge...Ayyappa...What should I do now...?? Kaise patha karoo ki wo theek hai ya nahi...I so want to listen his voice...but kaise..."Nandini thought.
She thought of calling Dhruv and he rejected the call as per his Bhai's order.But Mukthi and Dhruv kept on updating about Nandini to Manik.
"Ek baar call karo Nandu...I wanna hear ur voice..."Manik thought while looking at the wallpaper and resting his head on bed.
To his surprise,his phone fulfilled his wish by flashing the name NANDU.
Manik's happiness has no bounds when he saw that and immediately answered the call sitting on cloud9.
Ma-Mujhe patha tha...mujhe patha tha ki tum call karogi...
Nandini closed her eyes tightly and a lone tear escaped her eyes listening his voice.But again she gathered herself to talk.
Ma-Nandu...kuch toh bolo...I'm dying to listen u...
Nan-kaise ho aap..??
She asked slowly and Manik's eyes filled with happy tears listening her voice.
Ma-I'm fine...How r u..??missing me huh..??
She took a deep breath and answered "Manik jii..please...please don't make the situations even more complicate for us..."
Confused Ma-Mein...??mein complicate kar raha hu...??
Nan-Jii haa...Can't we be just friends...??
Her voice broke when she wiped her tears.This again irritated Manik.
Ma-What...??kya kaha tumne...??friends...?? Listen Miss Nandini Murthy...mein jiss ladki se beintehaa pyaar kartha hu,uss ladki ko kabhi apna just friend' samaj kar hello hi bye-bye nahi bol saktha...aur jiss ladki ko mein friend samajthaa hu,uss par kabhi pyaar nahi hotha mujhe...samjhi tum..??and for god sake,stop all these..please...and call me only if u wanna speak truth...that u miss me...and I hate lies more than anything else in this whole world..
He said in a go and cut the call while Nandini's eyes flooded.
"Manik jii...please try to understand...I'm doing this just for u...U should not get hurt at the end...because...I know..we being together is impossible...I can't break my family's trust..."She cried and dozed off while crying.
"Kyun...???kyun kar rahi ho tum yeh sab...??why are u hurting urself and me too...??Why don't u accept the fact that u love me like I do...??" Manik talked to his wallpaper and left to conference after a while.
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