In His Custody ✎ (MaNan)

✰ 16 - kismat

Manik

Despite being surrounded by what I would've once upon a time called the 'best company', I found myself remembering her. The ease at which Nandini comforted that Navya girl that morning, how her eyes glimmered with a magical trance, and how within moments the worry lines on the girl's forehead subsided and were replaced by curves at the corners of her smile, were mesmerising to watch. That moment of friendship etched into my subconscious.  

Dhruv was smiling at a comment Alia made. Cabir chuckled and continued, "Wait wait, that wasn't all. Alia almost tripped on him just to submit her book on top of Manik's!" Cabir reminisced his tensions when Alia encountered Raghav. If he had known better, he would have realised what that smirk on Raghav's face meant back then. Then again, we were all naive back then. Hell, it took me an entire year and a half to realise Cabir and Raghav were a thing.

Dhruv noticed the drift in my body language, and added, "And Manik's fangirl, who was she? The one who brought 72 roses on his birthday, she was seething because she had done the same two seconds before!"

Ah, that girl, she pissed me off in school. Philosophy was my favourite core subject, and noticing my active participation in it, she always had something to add to my sentences, in mere attempts to seek attention.

"Arre... she reminded me so much of that Madhubala! God, I can't believe she was crazy about my brother!" Alia said, palming her face.

"Yeah, she was a crazy girl!" Cabir scoffed; he was hounded by her to know Harshad's whereabouts a countless number of times.

Dhruv sighed, "I wonder where she is now..."

"Mumbai only, she got a job at Times of India... suits her actually, her dramatic stories are still much loved," said Cabir, that gained a giggle from her. "We should visit her workplace, see if it's decorated with Ranbir Kapoor's shirtless pictures." As disinterested as I was to see Ranbir Kapoor, she might have something to say about Nandini, which was more interesting than this bullshit. 

"Let's..." Dhruv said, and from that distance, I beeped the rental car open. 

⭒⭒⭒

2 September 2010

That evening was a busy evening for me.

"Let's discuss the features of the Deccan plateau. Three important rivers flow from the west to the east in this region, as you can see from the map..." I pointed to a point in the central-south region of the glossy India map that hung at the back of Rishabh's door. "...along with a contribution to a distinct type of volcanic soil that exists in this region..."

I confidently exhibited the information I had prepared to the only member in the audience, Rishabh, who was eagerly paying attention to the sounds and phonetics of every word I spoke. I had a tendency to talk fast when I was nervous. Seeing Rishabh in the audience subconsciously slowed down my talking speed so that he could decipher everything I said. He glanced between the timer and me, still smiling to encourage me to go on.

The door suddenly opened and I jumped away. Abhimanyu popped his head in, "Hi," and then made his way in with a mischievous smile. The whole incident rooted me and I lost my train of thought. He made himself comfortable beside Rishabh and frowned, "Why did you stop? You shouldn't distract yourself. Stay in your train of thought regardless of what happens in your surroundings."

"Easy for you to say, I need their attention also! I can't just keep rambling on if nobody's interested."

Abhimanyu sulked and scratched his head, "To be honest, I doubt anyone would truly be interested in this shit anyways," I rolled my script sheet and whacked him with it. "Ow! Okay okay, go on, I'll give you a more sincere opinion than this guy right here," He said, ruffling Rishabh's hair.