Angel's Brute (Complete✅)

Chapter 49 - "His nightmares, her dilemma..."

"I was sleeping peacefully. Nandini fed me and literally made me sleep like a baby. It's truly said, women have so many shades. Sometimes they love you like a lover, wife and sometimes they take care of you like a mother. I bought this bungalow when I was 20. Till 18 years old I spent my life in Panchgani. After my parent's death, I wanted to stay away from our Mumbai house because there I couldn't escape from their memories. Every room and every corner of that house used to remind me of my Mom and Dad's memories. That's why I told Abhiroop uncle to admit me to a boarding school in Panchgani. He arranged and I started living here. This place gave me peace, friends and solitude to think about myself. I still remember how I made a gang in my school. Dhruv, Aryamaan, Abhimanyu, Cabir and me. We were famous as notorious five. Actually, we all had our bitter past and maybe that brought us together. Usually, we didn't bully the other students but we didn't allow anyone to bully us either. If it happened then those didn't get a second chance to stay in the school. I can still remember how Dhruv trapped our class monitor in the staff bathroom and made a story that he is a voyeur. He stealthily watches female teachers in the bathroom. We were just 14 years old then but in our mind, we were much more mature. Our dark and bitter past made us like this. Dhruv and Cabir were brothers. After I left the boarding school, both of them shifted to the US. Aryamaan was in boarding for another year and after that, he moved somewhere. Nobody knows where did he go? I tried a lot to find him out but he vanished like camphor. And Abhimanyu...well we lost him before I left my school and returned to Mumbai. It was an accident and we lost one notorious of us. Perhaps that was the reason we eventually parted away. That school used to remind us about Abhi and we wanted to escape from reality. After coming back to Mumbai, I started taking responsibility for our business. For a few months, I tried to keep a connection with Dhruv, Cabir and Arya but gradually, I got lost in my work and education. They faded away from my life. Sometimes life is so ruthlessly realistic. Time decides the priorities and life decides our destiny. However, Panchgani never faded away from my memory and life. Because of that, I bought this bungalow. I had a plan to make a resort but my political career didn't allow me to materialise this plan. But whenever I used to seek peace and solitude, I used to come over here. In this place, I can find myself. I sold out our previous house where I used to live with Dad and Mom and bought the bungalow where now I am living. There were many musical instruments in the old house. Most of them were my Mom's. However, they were hampering my mental peace. I wanted to discard them. But I couldn't destroy them. Abhiroop uncle suggested to shift all of them here. I have made a separate room for my Mom's musical memories. However, my caretaker is strictly instructed to lock the room when I visit here. The reason is obvious. Her musical memories give me pain and nightmare. It's like I can't get over them, neither I live with them. My sleep got disturbed. Someone is playing the sitar. I saw a car speeding on a deserted road. A boy yelled, "Dad...slow down...It's scary." A female voice pleaded, "Do something. We can't die like this." A man panted out, "Jump from the car... GO....OO...." I jerk to break the nightmare. I am panting. I am sweating. The sitar tune is still hammering in my head. I get down from the bed with a jolt and stagger towards the door."

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"I was sunk into the music. After a long time, the sitar strings came into life under my agile fingertips. Suddenly the closed door slammed open making me startled in a shock. Manik barged into and screamed in a high pitch, "STOP IT.....How dare you enter this room?"

Nandini remains motionless for some moments. Her timid eyes are fixed to Manik's furious orbs. Manik comes near with hostile pace and again spits out,

"Can't you mind your own business? Who gave you the key? Mahesh....Mahesh"

He calls the caretaker in his highest pitch.

"He doesn't give me any key. This room was unlocked. I was searching for a place to arrange my small temple. I just came inside and saw these musical instruments. What happened? What sin I have done by entering this room that annoyed you so much? It's just a sitar and if its tune has broken your peaceful sleep then I am sorry. I didn't realise that the music could reach so far."