As soon as Manik opened the door, Nandini closed her eyes. She thought that Manik would see all of them hiding in the room and her surprise will be disclosed in front of him.
Manik : Yaha toh koi nahi hai.
Nandini : Huh?
She opened her eyes and found that the room was empty. She sighed in relief.
Nandini : Maine toh tumhe pehle hi kaha tha. But no. Tumhe toh meri baat sunni hi nahi thi naa. Tumhe toh laga tha yaha chor hai.
Manik : But yeh room ki window kyu open hai? I think you were right. Billi hi hogi aur shayad yahi se aai hogi. You wait, mei window bandh karke aata hu.
Nandini nodded her head. At that time, her phone vibrated. She checked and saw a message from Cabir. It read, ‘We escaped through the window. I hope Manik ko shak nahi hua.’ To this, Nandini replied, ‘Nahi hua. Thank God.’ Manik closed the window and they headed back towards Nandini's room.
In Nandini's room
Nandini sat on the bed. Manik was just about to sit besides her when,
Nandini : Manik it's quite late. I think tumhe bhi ab ghar jaana chahiye.
Manik : Huh? What? Abhi thodi der pehle toh tum itni romantic ho rahi thi and now you are telling me to go back home. What is wrong with you Nandini?
Nandini : Nothing is wrong with me Manik. Woh toh late hogaya tha isliye maine kaha.
Manik : Tum sach mei chahti ho ki mei chala jaaun?
A look of despondency appeared on his face. Just a while ago, Nandini was all romantic and dragged him to her room. And now she wanted him to go back to his house. He felt bad. He was unaware that Nandini had dragged him to her room out of the desperation to get him out of the living room. Although he composed himself within a second, Nandini didn't miss the disappointment that flashed across his features.
Manik : Okay. Mei chalta hu. Take care.
Manik turned to leave. Nandini thought to herself, ‘Did I just see hurt in Manik's eyes? Lekin woh kyu.. Oh God Nandini. Yeh tune kya kia? Woh yaha tere saath time spend karne aaya tha. Aur tune.. tune usse ghar jaane ke liye keh diya. Chacha-Chachi yaha nahi hai toh obviously woh yaha rehne ke liye hi aaya hoga naa. Tu bhi na Nandini. Ab jaa, rok usse.’ By the time Nandini completed her self talk, Manik had already left the room. She got up from the bed and rushed out of the room. Nandini saw Manik going downstairs. While going behind him, she shouted,
Nandini : Manikkkk…
Manik turned around as he heard her shout. He was headed towards the door. As she was running, she skipped a step towards the end of the staircase and was going to fall face front on the ground. Manik rushed towards her and held her by her arms before she could fall. He made her stand. Manik was annoyed.
Manik : Nandini, dhyaan kaha hai tumhara? This is the second time that you've slipped, since I'm here.
Nandini was out of breath due to the running.
Nandini : Ma.. Manik, wo..woh…
Manik : Woh kya Nandini? Tum apna khayal kyu nahi rakh sakti ho, God damnit?
He turned around with his back towards her and shut his eyes in pain. Nandini hugged his waist from behind.
Nandini : Manik, I'm.. I'm sorry. Wo.. woh mei tumhe rokne ke liye aa rahi thi aur mei slip hogayi. I'm sorry.
Manik removed her hands from his waist, turned around and enveloped her in his arms, tightly. He let out a breath.
Manik : I'm sorry too. Mujhe aise baat nahi karni chahiye thi tumse. Par tumhe bhi apna dhyaan rakhna chahiye na. Tumhe pata hai na, agar tumhe kuch hota hai toh meri jaan nikal jaati hai.
Nandini : I know. I'm sorry.
Manik kissed the top of her head. He broke the hug.
Manik : Tum thik ho?
Nandini : Yes Manik. I'm fine.
She smiled at his concern. He smiled knowing that she was okay.
Manik : Acha ab mei chalta hu. Tum please apna khayal rakhna. Aur aise girti padti mat rehna.
He was about to leave when she held his hand.
Nandini : Manik, tum yahi ruk jaao na. Mere paas.
Manik : Arey, abhi toh tum keh rahi thi ki late hogaya hai aur mujhe ghar jaana chahiye. Ab keh rahi ho ki ruk jaao? Nandini are you alright?
Nandini : Manik woh actually mei kuch aur soch rahi thi and while doing that, I didn't realize ki tum yaha mere saath time spend karne aaye ho because Chacha-Chachi yaha nahi hai aur maine tumhe jaane ke liye keh dia. I shouldn't have said something like that. I'm sorry.
Manik : Haa woh toh hai. Tumhe aisa nahi.. Wait a minute, tum kiske baare mei soch rahi thi? Mei toh yahi tha. Fir tum kiske khayalo mei khoyi thi? Haa?
Nandini thought of playing around with him.
Nandini : Woh.. hai koi. Bahut loving aur caring. Mera bahut dhyaan rakhte hai. And mujhe bahut yaad aa rahi thi. So ussi ke baare mei.
Manik stared at her, wide-eyed and dumbfounded.
Manik : WHATTT?
Nandini giggled at this but covered her mouth with her hand to hide it. It was becoming difficult for her to control her laughter.
Manik : Kaun hai woh Nandini? Tell me. Mere alava aur kiske baare mei soch rahi thi tum? Bolo Nandini. Mei abhi jaakar uss insaan ki khabar leta hu. How dare that person?
That was it for Nandini. She burst out laughing.
Manik : Why are you laughing?
In between her laughter,
Nandini : Look at you Manik. You are burning in jealousy. (Laughs)
She went towards him and pulled his cheeks.
Nandini : You look so cute when you're jealous.
She chortled.
Manik : What? What do you mean?
Manik realized that Nandini was playing around with him.
Manik : Yeh sab mazaak tha?
Nandini : Haan. Toh tumhe kya laga?
She started laughing again.
Manik : Nandiniiii, tummm…
Nandini ran around the living room as Manik tried to chase her. Their laughs reverberated in the entire house. After being tired of the chasing and sprinting around, they both sat on the couch. Nandini rested her head on Manik's shoulder.
Nandini : Woh actually mei Chacha-Chachi ke baare mei soch rahi thi. Chachi ka phone aaya tha. Unhone kaha ki kaam zyada hai toh shayad 1 week unhe waha rehna pade. I miss them.
Nandini snuggled closer to him. He just rubbed her arm and kissed her forehead in response. To cheer Nandini up,
Manik : Yeh kya hai Nandini? Tumhara boyfriend kabse tumhare ghar par hai aur tumne usse ek baar bhi khane-pine ke baare Mei nahi pucha. Tumhe pata nahi hai guests ko kaise treat karte hai?
Nandini laughed at his attempts to cheer her up. ‘Nautanki kahi ka’, she thought and shook her head. She got out of his embrace. Manik was happy seeing her smile.
Manik : Mujhe bahut bhook lagi hai. Kuch khane ko hai?
Nandini : Maine dinner mei pasta banaya tha. Woh thoda sa hai. You want to have that? Or should I make something else for you?
Manik : No, pasta is fine.
Nandini : Okay I'll just heat it up.
Manik nodded his head. Nandini moved towards the kitchen. Manik took out his phone and was surfing through it.
Nandini : (while keeping the pasta in the microwave) Manik, you want water or some juice?
Manik : Water is fine.
Nandini filled a glass of water. She was going towards Manik when her head started bursting in pain. The glass of water slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. Manik's head shot up at the sound. He saw Nandini clutching her head in pain. He got up from the couch and rushed towards her. Nandini shouted loudly,
Nandini : Manikkkk......
Nandini had fallen on her knees. Manik knelt in front of her.
Manik : Nandini, Nandini, kya hua tumhe? What's wrong, Nandini? Are you okay?
Nandini spoke with great difficulty. The pain in her head was excruciating.
Nandini : Manik... wo.. my head.. I don't.. know it's.. throbbing... in pain.. Ahhh..
Manik felt helpless, seeing her screaming in pain. His heart pricked on seeing Nandini's state. Before he could say anything, Nandini fell limp in his arms.
Manik : NANDINIIIII...
He patted her cheeks but she didn't respond. He immediately picked Nandini up in his arms and rushed towards his car. He opened the door of the car and made Nandini sit on the passenger seat. He put her seatbelt on and ran towards the driver's seat. He sat inside and drove towards the hospital as fast as he could.
At the hospital
He got out of the car, rushed to Nandini's side, picked her up and rushed inside the hospital. A ward boy got a stretcher and Manik laid Nandini on the stretcher. He called out for a doctor. A female doctor came rushing towards them.
Doctor : Kya hua inhe?
Manik : I don't know, doctor. Woh achanak se behosh ho gayi. She was.. she was just walking and her head started aching and then she.. she just fell unconscious.
Doctor : Okay we'll check her. Aap please kuch formalities hai woh puri kar lijiye.
Manik : But doctor Nandini..
Doctor : Don't worry we'll take care of her. You just fill up the forms. Until then we'll do some tests to know what's wrong with her.
Manik : She's my girlfriend. Please usse thik kar do. Please.
Manik had tears in his eyes. He couldn't see Nandini like this.
Doctor : Relax. Everything will be fine.
The doctor reassured Manik and left with Nandini. Manik moved towards the reception to fill out the necessary forms. After filling the forms, Manik asked the receptionist where the doctor might have taken Nandini for the tests and went there. As soon as Manik reached there, the doctor came out. Manik was panicking.
Manik : Doctor, Nandini?
Hey guys! Here's the next update. I hope you'll liked it. Do leave your votes and comments below.
- Sakshi❤️