Love will Find The way

Chapter 44- The Closure

Manik's POV:

Is she for real! What is she even asking? "Why would I come in between both of you?" I can't believe she asked me to join them both in their date. "No, I will not come" I said and hung up on her. This girl is too crazy. She called me again. "Nandini maine kaha na!" I said. "Manik, please listen to me. I thought of asking Cabir, but he has his wife at home and can't leave her to come with me. And then I thought of Rohan too but he doesn't know Sid" she said. So after Cabir and Rohan finally main isko yaad aa hi gaya. ''Manik'' she called my name. ''Ok, I'll come'' I said. ''Thank you, I'll send you the address'' she said in a chirping tone. 

She looked so sad and gloomy till morning and suddenly Sid ke dekhne ke baad ye kitni khush ho rahi hai. Ab kya iski date ke liye mujhe ache kapde doondna padega. I felt too bad to dress up for someone else date. Wouldn't it too awkward to be a third wheel in between them. Of course acha nahi lagega, Sid ne tho subah hi mujhe ghar se nikal diya. I called Nandini to deny. ''Nandini, tum dono ke beech mujhe aana theek nahi lag raha hai mujhe, I think I shouldn't come'' I said. I couldn't hear anything from her. ''Hello'' I spoke again. ''Manik, I'm already at the venue, I'm waiting for you, jaldi aana'' she said and cut the call. There was a lot of noise in the background. I had no option other than going there. I have cut the call and came down. 

Ab mujhe ghar walo se bhi chupke jaana padega, warna they will think I'm going out with Siya. I tip toed till the door and swiftly ran out of the house. Finally I'm in my car. My thoughts were never ending till I reached the venue. The weather is quite romantic as it is drizzling. I walked further looking for Nandini. There she is! She looked stunning in a saree, her eyes seemed to glued to the entrance. Her fingers tapping the phone uncontrollably. She would never miss a chance to make me skip a beat. I couldn't stand there further and went back to my car. I sat back and had to rethink the idea going to her. I took my time to go to her. ''Itna late kyu hua?'' she asked me. ''Is Sid already here?'' I asked her seeing her alone. ''He said usko time lagega'' she said. ''I'm sure uska late hone ka reason traffic hi hoga'' I said. ''Mumbai traffic ke baare mein sab ko pata hai, should have started earlier, itna bhi traffic nahi hai aaj'' she said.

''No one except you would come on time, at least to a date'' I said making it obvious. ''There he is!'' she said pointing her eyes towards Sid. He came and sat down with us. ''Are you alone?'' she asked him. Did he also called someone. Jeez, how could they invite anyone or everyone on their date! ''No, she came too'' he replied showing a woman. She came till the table and sat beside Sid. ''Shweta, she is Nandini Murthy and he is Manik Malhotra'' he introduced. I don't even remember someone introducing me in the past few years. Nandini and me whispered a 'hi' for once. ''She is Dr. Shweta, Cardio surgeon'' he said and looked at her. Why the hell would he bring a doctor to a date. Nandini ko kyu isse milwane jaa raha hai ye. Is everything fine with Nandini, I thought as I held her hand. Nandini looked at me confused as I held her hand. ''My wife'' Sid said after a pause. 

I was more shocked now. That means Sid is already married. Nandini didn't seem surprised, I guess she already knew about Sid and his wife. Suddenly, I felt a sense of relief and I sat very relaxed. I was so blank when I saw him in the first thing today morning. ''Hi guys, I'm Shweta'' she said shaking hands with Nandini and then it was my turn. I shook hands with her. She smiled sheepishly. ''So, what do you guys do?'' she asked. ''Shweta, they both are professional actors, they work in movies'' he said. I think she got offended when we did not introduce ourselves. ''Sorry, generally people recognize us when they see, so we generally don't introduce ourselves. But I guess you don't watch movies at all'' I said. ''Actually, I never watched any movies, so I didn't'' she tried to say something but stopped when she was short of words. ''In India, cricketers, film actors, actresses and politicians are very famous, they need not introduce themselves. Aisa dekha jaaye tho you don't live in India'' I asked her. She smiled at me. ''Yes, we don't live in India'' she said. Nandini looked at us. Shweta's phone rang and she excused herself for a while.

''So, where have you been living now?'' Nandini asked Sid. ''Melbourne'' he said. ''So, joint family mein rehne ka rule sirf mere liye tha'' she sounded disappointed. ''Aisa nahi hai Nandini'' he extended his hand towards her but he couldn't reach. ''Shweta was so good, you both make a good couple'' I complemented him and he said thanks awkwardly. ''Nandini, I think jo tum chahti ho wo tum mil gaya na?'' I asked turning towards her. ''What?'' she asked confused. ''Closure'' I said. ''Manik, please'' Sid said helplessly. ''I know I shouldn't interfere in between you but now that your wife is here too, I can speak on Nandini's behalf'' I said. ''Shweta knows about Nandini, I did not hide anything before marriage'' he said. ''Of course, but did she ask you why you left her?'' I asked him. ''Manik, it was Nandini who chose to be away from me'' he said. I felt Nandini couldn't take it any longer now.  

''And you never made any effort to get back too'' I said. ''No, it's not like you think. She chose her career over me and I had to choose my family over her. Hum dono iss rishte mein raazi ho gaye'' he said. ''And that's good for both of you to see moved on from each other'' I said. ''Shweta must have really impressed your family'' Nandini said. ''She is a doctor, doesn't watch movies, she is pretty. They must have really liked her'' she said. ''Shweta is a nice girl, ours is an arranged marriage, she is a distant relative of my vadina'' he said. Shweta came back and sat for the dinner. ''So let's order'' I said passing out the menu to both the ladies. They both seemed to be on a diet and ordered tasteless salads. I have ordered a delicious main course and three of them looked at me like an alien. ''Punjabi hu, khaana humare ragon mein hai'' I said justifying myself. ''Even I'm a big foodie, I bet you cannot tolerate the spice level of hyderabadi biryani'' Sid boasted. We all had dinner with chit chat and Nandini did not let me order wine or alcohol. She said Sid doesn't drink and she wants to be sober when she is with them. 

''It's such a pleasure meeting you both'' Shweta said. ''It's been a pleasure to dine with a beauty like you. I always thought doctors are too boring'' I said. ''You're such a charmer and thanks for letting me know I'm boring too'' she said. ''So I guess Sid and you must go to your nearest theatres to watch our film, you won't regret your first film and our first film'' I said looking at Nandini. ''I'm sure Sid would have already watched it'' she said. ''Sid, I will wait in the car'' she said and left. I guess I should also leave them alone. So, I asked Nandini to come and meet me in the car in a few minutes. I walked till the car and waited for almost 15 minutes until she came. ''Are you done?'' I asked her. ''I should be asking that, are you flirting with his wife?'' she asked me. 

''I was not flirting'' I said. She sat in my car. ''Are you coming with me?'' I asked. ''Yes, please drop me home, I may not find a cab because of this bin mausam barsaat'' she said. Her saree was a bit wet as she walked through the drizzle. Droplets of water were still there on her neck and face. She pressed the droplets on her face with a facial tissue from her purse. She looked so angelic with those droplets on her. I can just watch her all night. ''Are you Okay?'' I asked her. ''Yes'' she said. ''Tum bhi Sid ko expect nahi kar rahi thi na'' I asked her. ''It was all like a dream, he just closed everything in a day'' she said. ''I always thought you were exaggerating about him but he is truly a gem'' I had to admit. I dropped her at home and she got down. ''Nandini'' I called her. ''Do you want to say something?'' I asked her. She nodded no. ''Sid ne kaha ki you are my fan girl! Why didn't I knew about it before?'' I asked her.

''I'll tell you everything when we meet next time'' she said as she moved away from me.