Love will Find The way

Chapter 41- Home Again

Manik's POV: 

How should I even find her? Who should I ask now? Aryaman, Cabir or Navya, nobody knows about her. I'm sure wo kisi ko nahi bataya. I tried to call her again but again it was of no use. How irresponsible she is! No, I'm very irresponsible. I should have answered her call that night and at least I should have listened to her rather than assuming something. Nandini never showed any special feelings for me. I knew it very well that I was not a special person in her life. It is her, who is so special to me. I cannot sit idle like this if Nandini is missing. But what should I do? Should I file a police complaint! No, I can't risk her safety too. 

''Manik'' I heard someone calling me. I saw Cabir there. ''You here?'' I asked him. ''You asked me about Nandini, so I thought I should check on her'' he said. ''She isn't here'' I said. ''How should we contact her?'' Cabir asked me and I have no idea. I walked out from there and Cabir followed me. ''Ab hum kya kare Manik?'' Cabir asked me. ''I've called her many times but her phone is switched off, we don't even know when she left her home, how many days she has been missing'' I said. ''Can we check the CCTV footage, aise pata chal jayega na'' Cabir suggested. ''No use Cabir, CCTVs are just a show piece here, they aren't working'' I said. ''Police complaint?'' Cabir asked again. ''No use, even if we file it, Dhruv won't tolerate it. He will do anything to stop us. He would never want a negative publicity and I can't go against him'' I said helplessly. ''So, the only option left is to wait until she come back by herself'' Cabir said with a sarcastic smile. I felt shame on myself when Cabir smiled. 

''At least we can wait here till she comes'' I stammered as I couldn't talk. ''Humare paas koi aur choice bhi nahi hai'' Cabir sat in my car waiting in the parking lot. We didn't talk much even though we sat beside each other seeming to be carried out by our own thoughts. Cabir fell asleep and I have started my car. He suddenly woke up. ''You seem to be sleepy Cabir, please go home and rest'' I said. ''No, we will wait here'' he said. ''I will wait here after dropping you home, your wife must be waiting at home, she is new to the city too'' I said. Cabir didn't speak for a while. ''Is everything good between both of you?'' I asked but then realized it was way too personal for me to ask him. ''You don't need to answer if it is too personal'' I quickly said. ''We both are just like room mates Manik, nothing more and nothing less'' he said. ''It will take time, but you will get habituated'' I said to console him. ''You are just saying this to make me feel less guilty. I know I'm not doing any justice to either Navya or Roshni'' he said. ''And you're not happy too, I know'' I said. ''Phir ye sab kyu? Leave everything, and follow your heart'' I said. I so wish Cabir could listen to his heart instead of being stupid.

He gave a helpless smile to me. ''I think we shouldn't be discussing this further, hum aise haath pe haath rakh ke nahi baith sakte'' he said. ''Yes, we should think of something'' I said. ''Is it possible to hack her phone'' it was a wild thought but at least we can try. ''Ethical hacking?'' Cabir asked. ''That will be the least we could do now'' I said. ''So, do you know any hackers for this job then?'' he asked. That means the plan is on. I tried to about hackers with my sources. I called up my manager to ask if he knew any hackers. After searching for an hour, I think I found the one. ''Cabir, I think I found a better hacker, So let's call him up'' Cabir said excited. ''Manik, it's 4am in the morning, we have been sitting like this whole night, let's call him in the morning'' Cabir said. I didn't want to wait but Cabir was right. We waited for the sunrise and Cabir dozed off unknowingly. I looked at my watch. It showed 5:30 am. There was a knock on my car window. 

''Navya'' I said getting down. ''Kya hua tum dono yaha?'' she said referring to Cabir beside me. ''We are here for Nandini, but she seems missing'' I said. ''Missing matlab? Kaha hai wo'' Navya is utterly shocked and so am I. ''Navya, I understand your concern for Nandini, even we feel the same'' I said. I had no energy to express how I feel about Nandini being not found. ''You will be more tensed if you don't find your debit card Manik, how can you be so cool about Nandini?'' she accused me. ''Cool! Raat bhar yaha wait karna tumhe cool lagta hai kya?'' I asked Navya. She saw Cabir sleeping peacefully inside the car. ''Did both of you stayed here all night?'' she asked with empathy. I nodded. ''Phir, tumne kya decide kiya Nandini ke baare mein?'' she asked. ''For now, we've decided to hack her phone to know her location'' I said. ''Shayad isse kuch pata chale'' she said. Cabir woke up and saw Navya talking to Manik. He got down from the car. They looked like they are lost in each other. I cleared my throat to get them back.

''Shall we call the hacker now?'' I asked. They nodded. ''Phone hack karne ke liye kuch tho chahiye her phone details, an app on her phone or just an IMEI number would do'' he said. ''IMEI number kaha se laaye ab'' I shrugged off. ''Let's break into her room and search'' Navya said. ''Are you sure?'' I asked Navya. She said she can try and open it with a hair pin/safety pin. She even tried and we miserably failed. ''Let's call an key maker and get it done'' Cabir suggested. ''Apartment mein koi hume dekhega tho?'' I didn't dare to do it but Nandini ke liye karna padega. ''Mere paas uska number hai, I'll call him'' Navya called him and he was there in no time. Me and Cabir hid and checked if anyone was coming there. Meanwhile Navya helped him to take measurements of the key. ''2 din mein ready ho jayega'' he said. ''What the heck, ye do din bol raha hai, Cabir go there'' I have forcefully sent him there. 

''Bhayya, aap aise kaise bol sakte hai, hum dono ko ghar mein jaana hai'' Cabir said. ''Aap kaun'' he asked Cabir. ''Main iska pati hu'' Cabir lied and he earned a sharp glare from Navya for it too. ''Aap ko jitne paise chahiye lelo, please thoda jaldi kijiye'' Cabir requested and he agreed to make it in 2 hours for 5000 bucks. He went away and asked Cabir to collect it in 2 hours. ''I shouldn't have lied that way, but if I don't tell him like that, he would misunderstand us hum bina shaadi ke ek ghar mein rahenge'' Cabir explained. She looked at him unbelievably. I did not spoke anything after them. We had to wait for 2 hours to get the key. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, I got the key in my hand. I opened the main door and we barged into her room. ''Search everywhere'' I instructed them. It gave me a secret agent vibes. ''Mil gaya'' Navya said as she found the phone box where IMEI number is there. We sent the IMEI number to the hacker and asked her to track her location. He said her location is not clear as it is switched off now. ''Switched off hai ye hume bhi pata hai, aur kuch details batao'' I asked frustrated. ''Usne last payment kiya hai apne phone se'' he said. ''Where?'' I asked him eagerly. ''Varanasi, UP'' he said.

''Kya ho raha hai yaha?'' we were all alerted by the voice but happier to see that it was Nandini. ''Where were you?'' I almost shouted on her and took a step to reach her. When Navya hugged her, I realized I should step back now. ''You don't even know how much worried we were'' Navya said to Nandini. ''You should have informed any one of us before you leave Nandini'' Cabir said. ''Kisse inform karna chahiye, I know there's no one to wait for me at home now'' she said with tears welled up in her eyes. She looked so pale and lifeless. ''Nandini'' I thought of saying something. ''Please leave me alone'' she said and didn't talk for a while. ''I think we should leave her alone sometime'' Cabir said and asked us to come out from there. I had to come out even though I didn't want to. ''Come, I'll drop you home'' Cabir offered Navya but she rejected his offer. I patted Cabir's back and he said he will leave. I sat in my car and drove back home. I didn't feel like leaving Nandini alone, that too when she needed someone. 

No, I can't leave her alone. I should be with her now. Nandini, I'm coming.