A Part, Yet Apart

Chapter 111- An Accident

Nandini's POV: 

Why did this stupid device had to make a sound now? I tossed it in bed before I went to bed. I looked out of window and he was going off. Why is he doing all this! If he had said it 2 years back, I would have left my whole world just for his word but is it too really late now. What about Isha then? Manik said he doesn't love her. How could I even trust him when he had too many girlfriends in the past. There's clearly a difference in his actions but I don't have enough strength to go through everything again. I drifted to sleep amongst these thoughts and woke up with a call. I opened my eyes sleepily and saw Tara's name on screen. I looked at the watch and saw its already 7 am. Why is she calling me this morning? I thought before I answered her call. "Hi Tara, Good morning" I said. "Nandini, I need to talk to you" she said, her voice different than usual. "Ok" I said. "Can you come to City Hospital, I have an appointment today" she said and I hung up on her. 

I got ready and wondered why she has called me to her hospital visit. I guess I was late as I had 2 missed calls from Tara by the time I reached there. "Sorry late because of traffic" I lied but she caught me instantly. "You don't have to lie" she said sweet as ever and took my hand. As I read the doctors' name I asked her, "Didn't someone come along with you? Aryaman". "I generally have my hospital visits alone" she said. "Strange! I heard most women like to go with their husbands" I said, "but you can go alone". "Aren't you coming with me?" she asked. "Ah Tara I..." I stammered as I tried to speak. "Dr. Jahnavi is like a friend now, she asked about you and Manik when I met her for my last checkup" she said. Walking into Jahnavi's cabin felt weirdly strange. 

"Hey Nandini! I've seen you long time ago" Jahnavi had a broad smile and I formally smiled back. I felt like Tara had me in a fix. "Let me first have a look at Tara and her baby" she said and Tara went behind the hospital curtain and I heard Jahnavi saying that the baby is doing fine. "You should take a growth scan so that we can know when the baby is ready to arrive" she said smiling. I felt like a complete stranger sitting there. I uttered not a single word. "I've heard about you and Manik" she said after a while and I showed no expression. "When we were together, Manik had actually told everything about him Nandini" she said. "What you know about Manik and what I knew about him is totally different" I said and I exited from that room and Tara followed within a few moments. "If you'd called me for meeting her, I'm already done Tara" I said. "Nandini, you're misunderstanding" she said. "No, its you who is misunderstanding! Manik never cheated on me, just like how he told Jahnavi about Alya, he told me too. He never kept her a secret" I said. "But you were complaining about Manik that day!" she asked with a doubt. 

"Despite knowing about Alya, I loved him. Despite knowing about Kiara and the fact that he had spent Valentines' day with her after our marriage, I still loved him even though I was upset. I thought Manik would never love me and that was proved true when I proposed him. We had a contract marriage but after that I fell in love with him despite everything happened" I said. "Nandini, which Valentines' day you're talking about?" she asked. "We had only one Valentines day after our wedding and he wasn't with me that day" thinking of that day would boil my blood even till today, but what Tara said had really shocked me, "He was with me that day". "What? Why will he be with you?" I looked at her in disbelief. "Nandini, you don't know about me or Aryaman, I guess. I used to work as senior product manager at Aryaman's office and he proposed me. I didn't accept his proposal because I was already engaged. Aryaman ne mujhe Mukti ki shaadi ki din hi propose kiya hai. My wedding was on Valentines day and Manik came then" she continued, "Manik stopped my wedding and convinced me and my parents to give Aryaman and his love, a chance". 

"In a way if Manik hadn't come that day, I'd be someone else's wife by now and would never even consider Aryaman" she said. "Matlab, he wasn't with Kiara that day!" I didn't realize I blurted out. She took my hand in hers. "Manik took a stand for his brother, just imagine how would it be to love him" she said. Oh no, she is talking about a second chance with Manik. No! "Manik ke liye humesha uske family pehli aati hai and he would do everything for his family. But I'm not his family anymore. Maybe if I had knew about this before, I would have felt happy but it doesn't make sense anymore" I said harshly. Did I really not feel happy after knowing Manik never belonged to someone else. Na Kiara ki, Na Isha ki, Na Alya ki. But no, he can never be mine too. "He never trusted me Tara and I think I should leave. Bye" I said and didn't wait for her response. If I had stayed there for a few more moments, she might be successful in convincing me, so I left from there.