Celebrity Castaway | COMPLETE | MaNan Fiction

25| The Last Straw

A/N: Hello readers! How are we? Damn, can you believe it, it's March already? It seems only yesterday we rang in the new years!

So folks, here is my weekly dose of MaNan love all ready for your eyes! Hope you enjoy!

Happy Reading!

***

"Nandini.." was the only word that rolled out of Manik's mouth in relief, after he reached her that night, and needless to say, she ran into his arms and engulfed him into a hug. Manik could feel her entire frame trembling from the shock she bore all day & Manik could only gulp the guilt down, & do nothing more. He hated himself for feeling so weak & helpless; he had never felt more powerless than this. Love does that to you, it gives you the kind of strength that keeps you standing strong even when a tornado hits you; but it also makes you as fragile as a tuft of cotton floating in the wind, with no self control and direction, being led by the whim of the wind. Today Manik felt both empowered and helpless.

"Manik, is..is everything taken care of? Is the report sent to the press? Will Abhimanyu's name be cleared by tomorrow morning?" she asked in one go, while snuggling further into his chest.

Manik was silent.

"Manik?" Nandini began again, when she didn't receive any response in the first go. She broke the hug briefly to look into his eyes. Manik's eyes were hooded and expression blank.

"Manik, say something..please?" Nandini coaxed again. There was a slight edge to her voice and that caught Manik's attention.

"Nandini, not now. This place is not safe anymore. Please go get your stuff, we need to leave immediately." Manik replied in a gruff voice, looking away.

"..but Navya?" she mumbled, confused.

"It's not safe for you, she's okay here. Plus she is busy working, she won't return tonight." Manik replied, crisply.

"..Manik is everyth.." Nandini began again, something didn't seem right. Manik looked distracted. Of course he was distracted, considering the mess they were in, but even then. However, Manik didn't let her complete her statement this time.

"Nandini, please hurry up, we have managed to get the cops to cordon off this bylane for just thirty minutes. We need to drive out undetected by then, else the press will come harassing us again, and it's just us right now. There's no security with us." Manik replied quickly.

No wonder he looked distracted, Nandini realised, as she nodded and scrammed to the guest room to pack whatever minimal things she had taken out for the night. She was back with her luggage in ten minutes and soon they were on their way out.

***

The first thing Nandini noticed, when they started driving was, unlike always, Manik didn't have a chauffeur and he wasn't driving one of his fancy cars. They were in what looked like Cabir's car, a plain silver Honda City. She supposed it was a clever camouflage to mislead the press. She kept quiet, both from the emotional exhaustion she faced all day and also hoping Manik would proactively throw some light on what was going on. When they drove silently for the first thirty minutes, and she saw they left the city and got on the highway, she decided to break the silence.

"Umm..Manik, where are we going?" she voiced her thoughts.

"My farmhouse" he replied, nonchalantly.

"We're going to Panvel, now?!" she exclaimed. Panvel was almost halfway to Pune, and judging by the time they started, she calculated they'd not reach there until the wee hours of the morning!

"Hmm" he replied.

Nandini knew about Manik's Panvel farmhouse of course. This was one of his well guarded properties that the press didn't know about. She even remembered signing an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) during their brief marriage & divorce stint, to stay mum about this property, during trials. This was where Manik liked to escape when he needed privacy. Basically this is where he'd bring all his partners of indiscretion, when they were married, and he didn't want the press to know about his erroneous ways. This was also the place where he'd hide to close himself from the world, when he needed solitude to prepare for critical roles. Nandini had known all about it, but never visited it. Afterall she wasn't ever Manik's partner in that sense to make it here, and nor was she a part of Manik's solitude to accompany him here. Today however was different. Today he was getting her here to stop her character annihilation before the press till proof was submitted; till the truth was out. As in whatever version of the story that needed to act like the truth to let her and Abhimanyu's news off the hook. Nandini almost chortled in dismay. How smoothly she was referring to the paternity report as the truth, when in reality, that was also a lie to cover up another lie. Nandini wondered what had her life come to, they were trying to use a smaller lie to clear out a larger lie and to keep the sanctity of an older lie intact. Was there any honesty left in her life?