Almost Not Love! |COMPLETE| MaNan Fiction

19. One Step At A Time

A/N: Firstly, my apologies for missing out on wishing you guys on Eid Ul Adha, so here is my belated yet best wishes for each one of you readers. 

May Allah accept (Qubool) all your sacrifices for Him and help you in strengthening your faith in Him. May the holy one light up all your lives with countless blessings and virtues. May love, harmony and peace be in the hearts of all! I believe in white Eid, so I sacrificed a date fruit instead of livestock. I also want to teach my children that all the children of God/Allah are pure (Paak) irrespective of gender, so I made the sacrifice myself. Eid Mubarak!AlhamdulillahNow, coming to the story, a lot awaits & I cannot tell you how excited I am to present this chapter before you!Happy Reading!***

Manik was sitting with a few of his clients that they had invited, they were discussing their next project for quite some time now, he was so wrapped in discussion that he didn't pay heed to the time. They were interrupted by his father.

"My God Manik, take a break. You have invited these gentlemen here for your sister's engagement, not a conference! Let them enjoy themselves!" Manik agreed with a smile, he then looked at the time, was he actually sitting there for an hour. He looked around and his eyes fell on the stage, Mukti and Abhimanyu were talking to each other; he looked around as the guests were now scattered between the lawn and the banquet hall, having food. Where was Nandini? he thought to himself, he hadn't seen her ever since he left her near the stage. He quickly excused himself from the table and ran to the banquet, maybe she was there, but she wasn't; he came back to the lawn to check again, he scanned around but she wasn't there; for a second he looked around for Parth, but thankfully he was around, she wasn't with him lurking in some corner, with him trying his luck. He laughed away the idea. Nandini was now his. He quickly thought of checking with Abhimanyu, maybe he sent her for an errand?

"Hey Abhimanyu, where is Nandini?" he asked as he walked up to them.

"Thank-God you came Manik, I was going to ask you the same thing! I haven't seen her since the ring ceremony" he replied.

Manik scowled, "What are you saying, I left her with you guys an hour and half ago, wasn't she with you when all the guests were crowding over here to congratulate you guys?"

Abhimanyu and Mukti both looked surprised. "No bro, she wasn't here then, I was in fact looking for someone and then Navya, Abhimanyu's friend helped me out" replied Mukti, surprised. Manik was surprised too.

"But when I brought her back here from the banquet, she left saying.." he muttered to himself. "Okay, never mind, she must be around, I will call and check" he said quickly and left. Manik was feeling a bit strange now; of course there was nothing to be worried about, where would she go? Restroom? out for a smoke at most? he'd call her and find out; but why wasn't she answering her phone? He was contemplating whether he should check the ladies room first, but then he decided to check outside once, maybe she had gone for a smoke? Wasn't she saying she needed one when he was talking to her sometime back?

He rushed near the gate but there was no one there, he asked the guards but they were unsure, there were lots of women who went in and out, they couldn't confirm. Now he was starting to feel anxious, coming to think of it, she did look a bit pale and disturbed even in the banquet hall; he remembered how she had shrieked; but she had said she was okay, did he miss out on something? He was wondering where he should go looking for her, when he heard a phone ring; he looked around, there was no one there, where was the noise coming from? He followed the ringtone and that led him further into the driveway towards the parking area, then he spotted it; it was lying on the road before a car, he picked it up and looked at it, the name of the caller flashed, "Abhimanyu". Manik looked surprised for a second and then he realised it was Nandini's phone! An unknown panic suddenly gripped him but he didn't take long after that, as he took one step ahead, he froze on his spot, Nandini was lying there next to the car, unconscious; she was lying on her back, face up, arms spread and she was chalk white...