22| Love Pockets

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A/N: Hello my lovelies, firstly here's wishing you a very Happy Valentine's! I hope you guys have some romantic plans tonight, because I clearly don't have any! I mean, I thought my hubby & I could go for a nice dinner & drinks without the kids for once, as we had arranged for a nanny and things this time, BUT hubby dearest had other plans! He tore his ligament last week :/

Now, the moment I mentioned my husband's ligament situation to my boss, his face literally lit up in excitement (hold on, don't get ideas! :P)! He was supposed to fly to Bhopal for a merchandisers meet & his wife was super pissed for that, now he just knew whom to replace himself with! So yes, if you guys don't have a date, don't be sad, at least you folks are home & can order in your favourite stuff. I on the other hand will be celebrating this day of love in Bhopal, where I absolutely know no one, in a hotel room, having soup & salad! :/

On that note, happy reading! :D

PS - LONGGG chapter alert!

***

It had been five days since Abhimanyu's demise and Nandini had completed his 4th day funeral (a.k.a. chautha) prayers with Manik in a Hindu temple in London, as promised by Nyonica. The reality was slowly sinking in, and Nandini was slowly realising what this meant. It meant, there would be no Abhimanyu giving her the sceptical look when she'd want to step out at odd hours, maybe for a walk; or there will be no Abhimanyu to consult with when she felt a little emotionally overwhelmed. Who'd Nandini turn to, when she wanted to share lame PJs over texts? Who'd call them lame with a straight face & then roll his eyes and double up in laughter? Abhimanyu was the only little bit of happiness left in her otherwise well curated trophy life; her small sanctuary of truth and peace. Abhimanyu had taken that bit of her life with him.

[Mukti, how are you? Where are you? Can you please tell me you're okay?]

Nandini stared at the last text message she had sent Mukti, about half an hour ago. It was delivered alright; much like all her other texts to her, but she hadn't read it. Nandini sighed. Mukti was the closest she could get to Abhimanyu now, and God knew she needed that; she knew Mukti needed her too, but this misunderstanding was slowly eating them both away.

"Nandini, are you resting?" Manik's voice floated into her ears, after she heard him knock on her door. Manik was taking good care of Nandini in the last few days, they were in London. He was giving her all the space she needed, but would keep an eye on her all the time from afar. He didn't even let her wear her belt, stating they were undercover from the media right then, and it wasn't required. Nandini felt relaxed and that was probably helping her cope with the sudden loss.

"No, I am not. You want to talk about something?" she replied, looking at his face peeking through the door.

"Umm..yeah. Actually we have a concall with the investigating case officer (ICO) on the Abhimanyu case. He wanted to discuss and present his findings so far; I thought you'd want to know" he answered cautiously, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Of course. I'm coming!" Nandini replied at once and hopped off the bed to join him. "Hey, where'd you keep the belt? I need it for the call." she added, as she reached him, but he gave her a weird look that she couldn't place, before muttering, "Cam will take closeup frames, it won't be required."

"Still, I should wear it for safety, why risk it?" Nandini asked, looking concerned.

"You're not risking anything here." Manik replied curtly, before walking out of the room. Was he hiding something? Nandini found his behaviour very weird. They had gone through so much to keep the charade up, why was he behaving so lenient when they are so deep into it? Although, she decided to park that conversation for now. She was curious to know what results were obtained from the police probe.

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