Love will Find The way

Chapter 48- Half Baked

Manik's POV: 

''Mom, aap mujhe cooking kyu nahi sikhaya?'' I asked my mom in the airport. ''Gender equality naam ki bhi ek cheez hoti hai, Mukti ko cooking aata hai tho mujhe kyu nahi'' cooking pehle seekh gaya hota tho Nandini mujhe taunt nahi karti cooking ke liye. ''Manik, gender equality tho aunty samajti hai, tabhi tho Mukti ko bhi cooking nahi aati'' Abhimanyu said. ''I can see you both are making fun of me. Mukti aur Manik, tum dono ne kabhi kitchen ki side aaya tak nahi'' Nyonika said. ''Acha hua Mukti shaadi ke baad atleast cooking seekh liya warna roz mujhe hi cook karna padhta hoga'' Abhimanyu sighed. ''But Manik, ghar mein cook haina, wo tumhare liye khaana banayega'' Mukti said. ''But I'll miss maa ka haath ka khaana'' I said hugging mom. ''Jaise Abhimanyu ne mujhe khaana sikhaya, tum aur Siya bhi ek professional chef se cooking seekh lo'' Mukti suggested. ''Waise tum bhi aate jaate rehna, hum yaha nahi hai par kabhi kabhi ghar jaana'' mom said.

Nandini must be waiting for me. I should have asked her to sleep. But why she did not called me yet. Mom, Mukti, Abhimanyu and my little nephew checked in and I had bid them goodbye until I visit them next time. Mom is too sad as she is leaving me and also she is sad as she is missing to watch Siya's new film releasing tomorrow. I have finally come out and started my car to meet Nandini. It was very late night, I tried to call her but it did not connected. I went inside to see her sleeping on the sofa. She must have waited for me as she slept on sofa in the drawing room with the lights on. ''Nandini'' I tried to wake her up but she was fast sleep. I carried her till the bed and made her sleep. Dikhne mein choti hai par ye bahut strong hai. Looks like she applied oil to her hair. I love her long hair being left loose but she made a messy bun after oiling. I can feel a sweet fragrance which is so feminine but I'm not sure whether it is because of her night creams or the oil she applied to the hair. I need to go now as Siya will be waiting for me and she might come home if I don't go. I don't want to invite any trouble for Nandini. 

I took my keys to leave but how will Nandini know that I came for her. I placed a sticky note on her fridge saying Good night to her. My sleep deprived face made me look like a zombie. Ever since I started sleeping for hours, I feel so refreshing but when I don't get to sleep I'm feeling so tired. I've never felt so tired when I didn't sleep all night too. I should have been careful with Cabir, ab tho usko pata chal gaya, but I should ask him not to reveal it to Nandini. I will invite him to watch premiere with us, so that I will get some time to speak to him. I went home, slept for good 2 hours and got ready to leave for Siya. As usual, she looked nervous before the release. She is in a haste to see the response. 

''Thanks for coming'' Nandini messaged me and her thoughts are enough to make me smile. I messaged Cabir to come over to the theatre but did not get a reply from him. ''Manik, we're getting late'' Dhruv called me. ''Ab tho Alya bhi nahi aayi'' I said but he replied that Alya will directly meet us at theatre. I informed them that Cabir will be joining us. Siya looked excited and nervous at the same time. ''Everything would go well, don't worry'' I smiled at her and she crossed her fingers in hope. We met Mithra and Ethan, her husband at the theatre. ''Nervous?!'' Siya asked him. ''Ye mera pehla movie hai, you know the level of stress'' he replied. I shook hands with him formally. It's show time but Cabir isn't here yet. We went inside theatre and the movie started screening. Cabir was late, he came there after 10 minutes. I looked at him and asked me to sit beside me. Siya is sitting beside me and Ethan next to her. Alya and Dhruv, the love birds were sitting in my front row. ''Late kyu hua?'' I asked him.

''My parents and Roshni's parents came today, it was a surprise to us'' he said. Siya had hit me on my arm as I was disturbing them. I felt like I'm in a lecture where talking to the other person is not allowed. We watched the movie in silence for some time. ''Did you went to meet Nandini last night?'' Cabir asked me. ''Ha par wo so rahi thi, so I didn't wake her up and came back'' I said. We didn't get to talk much thereafter. Ye sab gadbadh maine poore picture dekha hi nahi. Everyone clapped after the premiere show and congratulated Siya and Ethan. Siya was way too busy in answering the questions from media personnel and Dhruv is busy with Alya. After few minutes of celebration, we had a private lunch from Mithra and Ethan and they have invited everyone. Ethan, Mithra, Siya, Cabir and I sat together. ''I've seen your film recently, it was too good'' Ethan congratulated Cabir. ''Lagta hai aap Manik ka acha dost bhi ban gaya, you have hit a jackpot with your first film'' Mithra commented. ''I don't make friends with everyone, Cabir favored me by giving me an opportunity to work with him. I did not do any favor. Cabir would have got Dhruv if not me'' I said.