At Manik’s house,
Fab 5 were jamming, “guys I have to head home now varna Nandini will have to lie for me and the consequences will not be good for me” said Cabir.
Mukti and Dhruv laughed “vaise why is your mom so hard on you?” asked Dhruv.
“Pata nahi yar, jabse she caught me smoking tabse and all this is because of Nandini, she is so good that my mom wants me to become like her” complained Cabir.
“Hmm Nandini is too good to be your sister, accha ab ja” said Dhruv.
Cabir said bye to all and headed home.
“What’s going on Dhruv, Nandini ki kuch zyada hi side le raha hai, Aliya ko pata chala toh she will kill you” said Mukti.
“I don’t have any enmity with her so khamokha kisi ko bura kyo bolu and Aliya does not have to angry with me she knows that I love her, right sweety?” asked Dhruv .
Aliya just smiled and nodded her head but she was burning in anger from inside.
Suddenly Manik also left the house “Yar yeh Manik itna sad kyo lag raha tha, he just went out without saying anything?” asked Mukti.
“Nyonika se baat kar raha tha abhi then mood off ho gaya, I think I noticed that his eyes were glassy too. But don’t worry he will manage jaise humesha karta hai by getting lost into music” uttered Dhruv.
Mukti sighed “I wish he could get rid of his pain, a guy like him deserves all the happiness” said Mukti.
At the beach,
“wow this place looks so awesome and calm at night, kehne ka man toh nahi karta but thanks for bringing me here” said Nandini in a happy voice.
“I know you don’t go out much and you like a quiet and peaceful place that’s why I bought you here” said Cabir.
Nandini looked at him with suspicion in her eyes "sach bol" she asked.
“okay, I give up I have a date today and if I go out with you then mom will not put any restrictions on me, that’s why. You enjoy the calm environment here, while I enjoy my date” winked Cabir.
“Oh toh yeh plan tha tera, but I will not rebuke you coz I really liked this place” said Nandini.
Cabir smiled “the pub is very close to this place, and I will be back in an hour or 2 tab tak you sit here , read a book or take a walk and bore lage toh call me then we will leave for home” said Cabir.
“Okay, not a problem, abhi it’s 7:30 toh be back by 9,otherwise I will come there and will spoil everything” warned Nandini.
“Okay meri ma I will be back by 8:50 sharp” said Cabir. Nandini smiled and he waved bye to her.
Nandini was sitting on a rock; she putted her feet in the water and was listening to a song in her phone. The reflection of the moon on the water and the cool breezes certainly created a romantic environment and Nandini liked it, she too was humming the song. She plugged out the headphone “this beauty is so mesmerizing” she uttered. She heard the rock tune of a guitar it sounded very extreme and the pain of the player was very much evident in that music.
“Looks like someone is in pain” thought Nandini as she became curious to know the source of the sound. She walked a few steps then saw that someone was sitting on the upper side of a rock. The dim moonlight did not let her see the face but she made out that it was a guy. She stood there for some time and was hearing him, suddenly the music stopped and he the guy jumped down.
“Oh no! it is that monster Manik, Ayiappa what is this ap mujhe kabhi chain ki saas nahi lene dete” whispered Nandini as she tried to hide herself behind the rock.
Manik felt that there was someone “Nandini, is it you?” he asked.
Nandini was shocked she came out “how do you know that it’s me?” she asked.
“I heard your praying and no one complains to Aiyappa like you do. So are you trying to spy on me?” asked Manik as he came close to her.
“I can say the same for you,monster humesha mujhe pareshan karta rehta hai” said Nandini in disgust.
“Ab maine kya kia?” asked Manik.
“Kuch nahi, you face is enough to make me angry vaise guitar tum baja rahe the? Kya hua tumhe that tune it sounded so sad” said Nandini as she bit her lip.
Manik looked away “you don’t need to know everything, stay in your limits” he said rudely.
Nandini felt bad and walked away. She kept blabbering to herself “Mujhe isse kuch puchna hi nahi chahiye tha, agar koi concern dikhta hai toh yeh attitude dikhata hai” said Nandini.
“Kisne attitude dikha dia iss pyari si ladki ko, humare paas ao hum kuch aur dikhaenge” said someone.
Nandini looked back and saw that 2 goon type of guys were following her, she panicked and walked faster. She called Cabir but his phone was off “Aiyappa it’s 9 kaha reh gaya yeh cabir” said Nandini as tears welled up in her eyes. One of the guys reached to her and held her hand “leave me you stupid, otherwise I am going to smash your face” said Nandini.
The guy laughed “you can just plant kisses, sweety” said the guy as he inched his face closer, Nandini became angry and punched on his face hardly. The guy got pain and left her hand, the other guy got furious on seeing that “now, we are not going to spare you” said the guy. Nandini got the chance and she started running as fast as she could the goons were following her. She spotted Manik, she sighed in relief and ran upto him “Manik…those…” she was panting. Manik, who was sitting got up “what happened?” he asked by seeing her in that condition. “some weird guys are behind me, save me na” she said.
Manik looked at the guys “do you think of me as a movie hero, who will fight, no way. I can’t help you” said Manik as he sat down again.
“You are so mean” she said. Manik smirked “tell me something I don’t know” he said.
The goons approached them, “so you think your boyfriend will fight us, kabhi nahi yeh hume hath vi nahi laga payega”said the guys as one of them grabbed Nandini’s arm causing her pain.
Manik saw that and could not control himself he got up and smacked their faces “bhai, Nikalte hai yaha se,larka bohat damdaar hai” said one of the goons as they ran away.
Manik came close to her and held her hand “are you okay? Is it paining?” he asked with a concerned voice.
He saw that Nandini was weeping, he could not hold back and took her into his arms. He rocked her into his arms and kept reassuring that everything was fine. Nandini hugged him back tightly her face was on his chest and she whispered “Thank you Manik, I….” she could not complete her sentence when she realized that she was actually hugging Manik, she parted away from him and looked away.
“No need to thank me, I am not used to it, by the way its all you fault, who told you to roam around here? This place is not good at night did n’t anyone tell you?” Manik said.
“It’s not my fault, Cabir took me here he had to go for a date and he was about to come back but he did n’t” said Nandini in a low tone.
“Huh! Cabir, don’t push your fault into others you should have been more careful, thank your lucky stars that I was here and had kept an eye on you, otherwise can you even imagine what those guys could have done to you?” yelled Manik as he grabbed her arm “ouch” she uttered and he left her.
“Manik, ab kitna daaton ge” said Nandini cutely.
All his anger melted by hearing her voice and looking at her face.
He stretched his hand forward “now come, I will drop you home” said he. “But Cabir” said Nandini and bit her lips as Manik looked at her “he is not a kid, but you surely are, so lets go” said Manik. Nandini held his hand and they walked together to Manik’s car.
To be Continued....