Its been a month that I chanced upon the magical world of Manik and Nandini. It's such a pity that the personal equations between the cast turned so sour that an epic story of love and friendship had to untimely die out. However, I feel they (Manik...
His heart was pounding so hard against his chest that he could almost hear the throbbing in his head. Manik, Ranbir and Navya were sitting in the lobby of an IT major (Information Technology company) in Gurgaon, waiting for miss Ria Sengupta to turn up. It was still early in the morning, 7.42am to be precise and while the rest of Delhi was still getting ready for the day ahead, Ria, as the receptionist had told them, was finishing the last leg of her night shift. Ranbir and Navya, fresh from a nap in the hotel had their eyes fixed on the lift, adjacent to the lobby. Though they had been assured by the same receptionist that she would inform them, the moment she would sight Ria, they were not leaving anything to chance. Navya had no clue how Ria looked, Ranbir however had a vague idea from Ria's Facebook DP (Display picture), which incidentally was the single publicly accessible pic in her entire profile. But then Ranbir was extra cautious, given the level of photo editing women do these days. Who knows, a Sunny Leone in Facebook might turn out to be a Rakhi Sawant in reality.
Manik, sitting next to them, wasn't exactly in a decent shape. Disheveled hair, crumbled shirt, swollen eyes, he was a mess. He hadn't closed his eyes for a second in the last 24 hours, neither in the flight, nor at the hotel. He was just hoping that they would find something worthwhile from this wild goose chase. He needed her to wish him goodluck,for she was his lady luck, but he didn't have the heart to call her. Besides, he had promised he wouldn't, till he could actually prove his love.
"Manik!!!" Ranbir's voice, brought him back to the present. "Ria.."
Manik looked up & saw a rather tall girl with dark kohl lined eyes approaching them.
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"Excuse me, I am Ria. She just told you are here to meet me." Pointing at the receptionist, she introduced herself. "I am sorry but I wonder if we have ever met before." She was courteous, but not overtly sweet. Her coarse voice complemented her tough persona.
"I am Ranbir" Ranbir shook his hand and then introduced both Manik and Navya.
Though the girl was a little perplexed to have these three unexpected visitors, and was apprehensive about their motive, Ranbir convinced her into coming along with them to the Café Coffee day, just outside the lobby.
Once settled in the café, Manik came straight to the point. "Actually we are here for Nandini. She is.." Ranbir took over as Manik could not finish the sentence. " engaged to Neel." While the other two were engrossed in conversation, Navya was observing her keenly. She noticed how Ria's body language changed at the mention of Neel. But strangely, her face remained expressionless. "Not engaged, say he blackmailed her into it. That guy is a thorough criminal but yeh baat sirf hum jante hain, and to prove this to Nandini's family we need some evidence to tap him." Manik added.
"I see.... so you are trying to help your friend, but where do I come into the picture? Main kisi..kya nam tha..Neel Dixit ko nahi janti." She casually replied with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, while running fingers through her medium length straight hair. "I think you are looking for someone else here."
