Chapter 9:
'Nandini are you okay?' he says taking me out of my trance, I realise I've been gawking at him all this while.. OMG AWKWARD! I never fail to embarrass myself.. 'Yeah I'm fine.. Sorry.. I.. Erm' I stammer trying to come up with an excuse for staring at him so shamelessly. 'Where's Cabir?' I say to distract him and change the topic.. 'He already had his breakfast this morning along with the rest of the gang so they've left me here alone, by myself' he says looking back at the menu, 'you're not alone Manik, I'm here' I say as I once again gaze at him, 'I'll always be here' I continue saying all this crap which probably makes no sense to him. 'SNAP OUT OF IT NANDINI' my brain yells at me, I'm definitely freaking him out at this point. 'Huh?' he says looking confused AGAIN, that confusion is always there on his face these days. 'I mean you're not alone, I'm here to keep you company.. For breakfast..' I say hoping he'll be convinced by my excuse and he seems convinced; or maybe he's pretending to look convinced. I'm officially an idiot for freaking the heck out of him. 'I'm sorry am I freaking you out?' I say as I notice him smirking at me.. 'Sorry I'll leave' I say making a very sad petty face totally embarrassed by my behaviour. He holds my wrist to stop me from leaving, oh how much I've him grabbing my wrist. 'Hey, relax! You're not freaking me out at all.. And you're great company.. So don't worry and come sit' he says to make me feel less embarrassed.
***
'Cabir are you nuts? What if Manik and Nandini find out??' Asked a worried Mukti. 'They won't find out, and even if they do so what? We're doing this for their happiness' explained Cabir.. 'But Cabir we can't get Manik's memories back and you know that.. We've tried so much and even the doctors said its near impossible to get Manik his memory back so whatever the plan is won't work' said a concerned Alya. 'But who said the plan involves getting Manik's memories back' as Cabir says this Alya Mukti and Dhruv looked more confused than before. So Cabir continues 'the plan isn't to make Manik's memories of Nandini come back, the plan is to make Manik fall in love with Nandini all over again.. He already feels a connected to her so something tells me it won't be hard.. Look guys Manik has done a lot for us we owe him this' Cabir continued. Anjali seconded him as she said 'guys same is the case with Nandini, I don't know why she's staying away from him but she still loves him a lot, she needs him back in her life'. 'Cabir is right guys Manik needs Nandini whether he remembers her or not, and definitely owe this to him after all he's done for us' Dhruv speaks agreeing with Cabir. Just then Cabir's phone rings interrupting their what-to-do-with-Manan conversation. Cabir talks to Manik and somehow distracts him with breakfast to keep him away from FAB 5 for the time being so they can continue their planning. 'Look guys me and Anjali are already set for the plan, now it's up to you guys whether you want to help out or not' 'I'm in' says Dhruv.. 'Fine, we'll do it if it makes Manik happy' Alya also seconds Dhruv. Now only Mukti is left and everyone looks at her, 'okay fine, for Manik and Nandini.. But what's the plan?' Cabir smirks at this and winks at her leaving everyone confused.
***
She's behaving very different today, yesterday she was so reserved and gloomy and today she's just so different. I must say I prefer her this way, but she's making absolutely no sense.. And she keeps staring at me, staring usually makes me uncomfortable but that's not the case with her. Suddenly she says 'you're not alone Manik I'm here', hearing that from her was very comforting, I just smile listening to her although I am very confused, 'huh?' I say still very confused. She just continues to blabber not giving me a chance to speak and gets up saying she's freaking me out. I hold her wrist, very rightfully, and ask her to stay to make her less uncomfortable. She still looks very embarrassed. 'Nandini would you like to join me for breakfast, please?' I ask her as politely as I can and she finally gives in and sits in front of me. An awkward silence prevails between us, 'so slept well?' I start the conversation after placing order for breakfast to break the silence. 'Yes, very well actually' she smiled, 'you should smile more, you have a beautiful smile' I compliment her.. She does have a good smile. 'Thank you, so do you' she compliments me back with a smile.. 'So how do you know Cabir??' I asked as I'm still don't know how they know each other, her expressions change almost immediately she looks like she doesn't know what to say.
***
After they discuss the plan Mukti asks what she's been dying to ask 'but Anjali and Cabir how did you guys meet after so many years? Anjali you moved here with Rajeev uncle years ago and we haven't been in touch since and how did Cabir know Nandini was staying with you.. And why is Nandini staying with you how do you know her?' Mukti shot her list of questions at Cabir and Anjali to which they just smirked. 'Okay calm down Mukti I'll explain, we were on vacations in India two years ago and I I met Nandini when we were coming back from India on our flight, dad had a minor heart attack in the plane and I panicked to no end. In that time Nandini being the amazing human she is, helped me out throughout the flight, after dad was medically treated Nandini stood by me the whole flight and we bonded really well. She also told me and dad her whole story. Dad felt very connected with her so he offered her a job since she had no one else here. She was very alone so I offered her to stay with me. She did nag like a baby at first but eventually she gave in.. And then we became best friends. She told me everything about Manik, she was very upset but she never told me the reason she left him. However not me, nor dad, ever told Nandini we know Manik or FAB 5 as we didn't want to hurt her. Years passed and Nandini was still just as alone as she was the day we came here, and I couldn't see her like that anymore so I contacted Cabir, who I knew I could trust with this matter and then we made this plan to get them back together. I convinced dad to ask FAB 5 to perform in our school and now you guys are here' everything made sense to now, as to why Cabir was so excited and stubborn for this trip, and they were all very supportive of their idea to bring MANAN back.
***
He asks me about how I know Cabir, what do I say? My brain stops working as I can't think of an excuse.. Just then his phone rings and I thank all the Gods out there for saving me. From his conversation I can make out its his dad and they're talking about some business deal, business has always been beyond me so I didn't pay any attention to their conversation, but I did feel so proud of him at this moment. He's a come a long way and I'm so happy to see him take up his responsibilities. 'Sorry that was my dad' 'it's okay, busy life huh? I mean FAB 5, music albums and business, isn't it all too much to handle?' I asked genuinely concerned about him, 'it is, but I mean that's life isn't it'.. Our conversation was again interrupted by Anjali as she says, or rather screams 'NANDINI!!!' wait what is she doing here???! 'I've been calling you all morning but I see you're busy' she says pointing towards Manik.. 'Oh no not at all, erm Manik this is Anjali my room mate' Anjali just ignores me and jumps on Manik to hug him, and Manik hugs her back even tighter. Wait am I missing something, why is she hugging my boyfriend? Wait what boyfriend? Well technically we never broke up officially which means he's still my boyfriend. STOP HUGGING HIM I yell at Anjali in my mind. She finally gets off him and I sigh in annoyance. 'What a surprise what are you doing here?', Manik seems beyond ecstatic to see Anjali. 'Manik I am the one who live here remember, omg it's been so long I missed you!' They already know each other?? Why did Anjali never tell me she knows Manik? Urgh this is so frustrating. 'I missed you too, it really has been long' he says as he takes her in another hug. I feel like crying, I feel so left out here. I turn to walk away and almost lose balance as Alya Mukti and Dhruv jump on me to hug me. I hug them back just to show Manik I can hug people too, 'Nandini it's been so long' said Dhruv as he took me in another side hug, 'yeah we missed you' says Alya. 'I missed you guys too and I'm really glad you guys are here' we continued to catch up totally ignoring Manik who was now the most confused he's ever been to see me this close to his friends. 'Wait how do you all know Nandini?' he asks.
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