Parineeta

O Rey Chhori

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"Well, wasn't that great.. and that was our dear Madhubala" Manik walked on the stage. His smile was wide and all I could do was ogle at him. I know I was not supposed to do this. I know we were starting fresh and that I wanted to know this Manik Malhotra that he had become but he was too pretty for his own good and as strong as I wanted to be, it has never worked when it comes to him and I don't know if it will work now.
He took the spot next to Navya and looked back at the crowd and I could ladies gush at him.
"Yeh song Alya aur Dhruv le liye tha.. ya tum Cabir ko koi hint de rahi thi?" Manik teased Navya as she elbowed him in the side trying to hide her pink face. She was blushing. She had wedding plans too. All of us girls do. Mine were just not considered.
"Now we have one special performance by your favourite Fab 5, except Alya and Dhruv ofcourse, for our dear bride and groom... and the extended Fab5" he said the last part in a lower voice as his voice scanned the room and then settled on me. I don't know what to make of it. He used to do this back in college as well and I never knew what to make of them then, either.
"So are you readyy?" He screeched over the mic and the whole crowd of ladies screamed and shouted back in response. Wow.. he really was The Manik Malhotra that people were crazy about.
"What's the deal with all these people going crazy about Manik" I muttered under my breath but I guess my wasn't quiet enough.
"Are you serious... he's the Manik Malhotra... the rockstar.. his voice is so soothing, people have been dying to see him for real, he never does a concert, not a press conference, never even reaches the launch of his album, everybody, the entire Fab 5 comes for the event nut he never does.." the girl next to me almost shouts because it's too loud.
"Why doesn't he go?" I asked, curiosity building within.
"Don't know, really, his mom, once said, in an interview, that he has to take care of his daughter.. he adopted a little girl a year ago.. isn't that adorable..." I smiled at her meekly. He had told me all about why he had adopted Medha and when.
"But I bet it was more than that.."
"What" she brought back to the room. "Why would you say that" I asked her. The girl had calmed down. She seemed more interested in telling me about her conspiracy theories about Manik than Manik himself.
"There have been rumours... he was married to his family friend's daughter.. they were in the same college.. he cheated on her... or she cheated on him... something... she left, he stopped playing... he had left music until this album thing came along and.. somewhere in between his daughter came... but I mean he was too young to be married... and if he left music because his wife left, then what's this about... has he moved on?" She pointed in the direction of the stage where Manik, Cabir and Mukti were setting their instruments and other equipment.
"It's all very confusing and controversial... but bro.. ever since that album and his joining Malhotra industries... he's the most eligible heartthrob in town... girls dream of him as their husband... he has fanclubs... but the guy is heartless... I even heard he fired his former secretary because she had a secret crush on him... doesn't like unnecessary attention... he is like a beasty businessman... eats his competition for breakfast... the business world is scared of Manik Malhotra and the music world is a fan of the guy... but he's so oblivious to all of this... ghar se office... office se ghar... the media doesn't even get any intel about him..." she ranted and I was surprised at the kind of information she had about him.
"You know quite alot about him... stalker? Fan?" I asked. I'll admit as flattering as the entire beasty businessman thing sounded, he was my beast, all of these girls.. they needed to back off.
"Not really... none.." she said as she looked in his direction.
"Actually fan a little..." she took a pause and I could feel mu ears heating up.
"But journalist by profession...." She said and I nodded. It made sense why she had so much information or I should say theories and rumours.
"Now, now.. calm down guys... it's not a concert.. although it may seem like it... since we have your heartthrob in the house but remember he's a dad before a daddy..."Cabir took over the mic and winked as he said the last sentence. I rolled my eyes at the snarky comment but the ladies around me once again hooted excitedly. It was exactly like a concert for them.
"So are y'all excited...?" Cabir was stalling while Mukti and Manik set up their guitars.
"Also.. i know that Manik said that this song was for the bride and groom... but it's not just that..." he paused and looked at Manik who stood behind him.
"This song is special because this is another one of the songs that Manik wrote..."he looked ahead scanning the room as if looking for someone.
"Now Manik usually doesn't write songs... he's not talented like me... just a pretty face..." he said and the crowd giggled. I caught glimpse of Manik cursing at Cabir from under his breath as he nodded his head in a no while struggling with the equipment and a small laugh left my lips.
"I never write..." Cabir slowly buttered into the mic and the crowd burst out laughing. He was good at crowd work.
"But yeah so this song is written by Manik for a special person.. for special reasons..." cabir went on looking around the room before his eyes settled on mine and his smile grew wider. I knew he was talking about me and us. Manik and me.
"But while this is his song..." Cabir's eyes once again began roaming around the room.
"And entirely his message... but it also is our emotions.. mine and Mukti's and Dhruv and Alya.. it's our emotions... it's our message too.." his eyes dropped to the floor of the stage and I knew what he meant. He was dedicating this song to Navya. He was so in love with her. Actually both of them were so in love with each other that they had the courage to admit it openly, atleast for those who know about it.
The crowd began hooting again. People were getting impatient. I looked around but Navya was not next to me. I realised that the crowd had pushed me to a far corner of the room while Navya stood right next to the stage, smiling and blushing. An involuntary smile spread across my face. I was happy for her.
"Alright... Are y'all ready..." Manik finally came to the centre. The equipment had been set and everyone was finally ready. Ready to hear the song. My song. The song that Manik wrote for me. The crowd began screaming amd hooting once again. Manik's eyes scanned the room again. He was looking for me. But I was too far from his view.
"Wait.." he stopped just when Cabir had started beating the sticks as a countdown. Something had changed in his eyes. I could see panic in his eyes. He was frantically looking around the room. The panic then mixed with fear. He was scared I would leave again. He dropped his guitar and turned towards Cabir. I could see him shaking his head in a no. He was getting anxious. All this time that he was so confident on stage was because he could see me. My resolve to not budge, my resolve to stay firm and have Manik prove himself was weakening but I had to stay strong.
I began cutting through the crowd as I saw Cabir jump from his place and look right into the crowd where I was standing sometime back. I pushed through the groups of people until I reached the spot a few steps away from where Dhruv and Alya were seated and slowly waved my hand grabbing Cabir's attention. His eyes darted at me and within seconds a relieved smile spread his lips. He patted on Manik's back assuringly asking him to turn and face the crowd but Manik wouldn't budge. I finally spotted Cabir murmuring something in Manik's ears and he instantly turned towards the crowd. Glancing across the room, his eyes finally found mine and the turmoil in them seemed to settle. He immediately strummed his guitar and the crowd began cheering again.