Hey guys, thank you for all the support and kind words all of you sent me on the note previously. I'm going to respond to each of you soon. In the meanwhile, I hope all of you enjoy this chapter. It's not a romantic chapter but something filled with a lot of 'reality'. I hope you all like it and would love to know more about it from you guys.
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All the boys came back with a lot of beer and a whole lot of board games together. Dhruv was holding the two large beer crates where Manik and Cabir had their hands full with the board games.
Cabir - Manik, hume saare board games lene ki zaroorat nahi thi. We won't play all of them today.
Manik - Haan but we can play the others later. We don't have to go and buy them every single time.
They placed all the games down on the dining table.
Manik - Dhruv, beer butlers ko de de to put in the refrigerator.
Dhruv - Okay.
Cabir - I think the girls are getting ready.
Just then, Nandini came in to see the whole bunch of board games she had mentioned earlier.
Nandini - Itne saare games kyu lekar aaye. One or two would've been fine na?
Cabir - Tumhare boyfriend se poocho. Saari shop lekar aaya.
Nandini knew he did that because she was mad at him but she didn't acknowledge it.
Nandini - Great. Tum log sab shower kar ke aa jao. I'll order lunch abhi. What do you all want to eat for lunch? I was thinking we'll call for Chinese food?
Cabir - Sounds good.
Nandini - Great. Tum log fresh ho jao. I'll get everything else in order.
Manik was trying to catch Nandini's eye but she consciously looked away and went into the kitchen. Manik decided to just go have a shower as he could see that she was still pissed off and wouldn't talk to him with so many people around.
A couple of hours later, the whole mansion was loud and noisy with everyone screaming and laughing and fighting over the games they were playing. They played some 10 rounds of Jenga as the thought of combining it with Truth and Dare was appealing to all of them. However, after the first two games, they only cared about ensuring that the brick tower doesn't fall down. Once all of them were tired playing Jenga, they all decided to take a break and have lunch. They all settled down and Nandini asked Manik to call his Dad for lunch.
Nandini - Manik, go call your Dad for lunch.
Manik didn't want to go to his Dad owing to his argument with him last night. But he knew that if he refused, Nandini would get even more pissed off than she already was. So he decided to just get over his pride and call his Dad.
Once Manik's Dad came down, they all started having lunch and everyone continued discussing and fighting about the game they had just played.
Cabir - This Mukti. Humesha tu hi woh tower tod deti hai. You let it fall 4 out of 10 times.
Mukti - Oye. Main kya karu? Tum log uska foundation weak kar dete ho toh not my fault. I didn't have an option to pick that piece.
Alya - But I think this board game idea was so much fun. We should do this more often.
Manik - I know. Har baar we only drink, dance and listen to music. This was fun for a change.
Navya - Ab koi aur game khelte hai. Manik kitne saare games lekar aaya hai.
Dhruv - Scrabble khetle hai.
Cabir - Nahi yaar. Mujhe spellings nahi aate.
Manik - How about Monopoly?
Nandini - Haan. Monopoly is too much fun. Chacha ki favourite game hai. We all play a lot of times at home.
Mr. Malhotra - Yeh wohi game hai na? With the landlords and tenants and buying and selling of properties?
Nandini - Haan uncle. The same one.
Mr. Malhotra - Main bachpan mein bohot khelta tha. It was my favourite game.
Cabir - Toh aap bhi kheliye na humaare saath. Mazaa aayega.
Mukti - Haan uncle. Why don't you join us?
Mr. Malhotra - Nahi nahi. Tum bacche khelo. I don't want to interrupt.
Nandini - No uncle. You won't be interrupting. Please join us.
Mr. Malhotra - But...
Nandini looked at Manik asking him to invite his Dad as the only reason he was uncomfortable was because of Manik.
Manik - Dad. Play with us. It'll be fun.
Mr. Malhotra smiled when Manik said that. He also noticed the secret eye conversation Manik and Nandini had with each other because of which Manik had said what he did. It was quite intense and amusing about how these two read each other's eyes and spoke to each other without saying a word. Nandini was probably right. He had never seen Manik so considerate of anyone's feelings before. She really did bring out the best in him.
Mr. Malhotra - Okay fine. Let's play a game of monopoly after lunch.
All of them gathered around the coffee table choosing to sit on the floor to be more comfortable and into the game. The next few hours was a riot playing monopoly. All of them, one by one got bankrupt and were out of the game. The only two people who fought tooth and nail were Manik and his Dad. They both kept outsmarting each other with various tricks under their hat and buying and selling the right places and receiving rent and making the other run out of money. But each time, both of them managed to emerge as phoenixes from the ashes and then kept getting richer and richer. Everybody else had long given up on the game but was either in Manik's or Mr. Malhotra's team. They eventually also got bored of Manik and his Dad's never-ending quest to monopolize the monopoly. Finally, after another grueling hour, Manik did manage to win with his assets exceeding Mr. Malhotra's by a significant but not a large difference.
They were all tired after a long game and now were just lazing around drinking their drinks and just talking about how much fun the entire day was. Nandini managed to slip out in all the chaos. She couldn't pretend to be happy and chirpy any longer. Fights with Manik, no matter how big or small, always upset her. Manik's mind or heart was also not in the conversation with anyone once she left the room. He had too tried very hard to remain normal in front of everyone today and the games had helped a lot in that. But the constant nagging feeling of Nandini upset with him had made him very low. He was looking for opportunities to get Nandini alone with him to resolve the fight but they had a lot of company all day and he didn't get a chance to be alone with her until now. He quietly slipped out of the living room too and headed towards his room. He knew she'd be there. His room was her happy place and that very fact made him very happy.
He entered his room and immediately heard a loud noise from the walk-in closet. He rushed in there to see Nandini had dropped a box and was picking up all the contents that had fallen off. Manik bent down and helped her pick everything up. When they were finally done, Nandini managed to push all the boxes on one side and sat down on the floor and opened a box with Manik's shirts to start folding all the clothes neatly so she could place them on the shelves eventually.
