Celebrity Castaway | COMPLETE | MaNan Fiction

28| Take 2

A/N: Hello dear readers! We are back with another much awaited chapter of the fiction, and might I say, this is the chapter most of you have been waiting for; it is a glimpse into Nandini Murthy 2.O! I hope you like what you read & do let me know your thoughts like always!

On that note, happy reading!

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Nandini was sipping her morning earl grey sitting in the little porch the guest house had. It was a bright morning, without a trace of cloud in the sky. She let out a relaxed breath in ages as she inhaled the fresh early morning air & spent a moment in blissful respite.

"You seem to be doing so much better, Nandu.." she turned to look at Smaran peering at her over the newspaper he was scheming through from the chair next to her. It was their daily routine for the last few days; having their morning tea and breakfast together. Smaran would visit her in the morning, chat with her & share the tea & breakfast & then leave for work. This ensured he knew how she was doing and what her mood was for the rest of the day & she, well his presence took her to a time in Mangalore that was peaceful and Manik free, it was her blind spot of bliss everyday.

"Of course, I am not acting or playing a story 24X7 nowadays, I am not faking anything, so there's no worry of being caught, I am getting a chance to be me, myself for a bit, how can I not thrive?" Nandini asked, in a relaxed voice, looking at Smaran.

"True that, but err..I just felt maybe the scar your ex-hus.." Smaran mumbled looking down awkwardly, but Nandini stopped him there.

"Oh you mean the protagonist of the script? Well he was acting too, wasn't he? Why should I take anything personally? Nothing was personal really.." Nandini replied in a matter of fact voice. Smaran looked at Nandini, she was looking perfectly normal, without a strain in her voice or expression. He sighed, this was not normal. Smaran could always tell, even before all this happened, while she worked for him previously that no matter what, she loved that Manik Malhotra. This denial was not normal, he worried she was suppressing everything and when it would explode, she would be in a bad place. However, what could he do about it, other than silently supporting his friend?

"Well, at least Manik Malhotra's press address wasn't as bad as we expected. He didn't attack you & in fact requested your privacy too. That's the least he could do.." Smaran tried again, to get a reaction out of Nandini.

"Aah, that was one smart PR save! Must be Zubin's idea, Navya isn't a pro at this as yet." Nandini praised with a smirk.

"PR move? I mean wouldn't a PR move want the scandal to stay, because it is giving him positive publicity? How is dousing it going to help them?" Smaran asked, confused. Nandini smiled indulgently, seeing her naive friend's confusion. They really didn't know this game did they?

"Smaran, if Manik Malhotra didn't try dousing it, it would still die automatically in another week, how would that help him? By addressing it head on, first he gave more authentic content for the media to bite for longer & secondly, it helped in his brand image building as well! Look at him, despite all the shit his partner put him through, he is fighting for her privacy? He is still lamenting for a baby which he now knows is not his. Isn't that the ideal heroic image we know? He is playing a larger game, he doesn't just want to play the hero on the silver screen anymore, he wants to be a real life hero for his fans! Can you imagine how much his brand value will increase now with this whole ambassador for humanity move?" Nandini explained patiently to a shocked Smaran.

"Also, Navya says, his PR was not involved in this speech at all, Manik Malhotra has scripted this himself.." Smaran added.

"..I am not surprised, you cannot delegate everything. This was an important power move, of course he wanted to take charge" Nandini responded nonchalantly.