The Betrayed Soul

#20

Next Day : Space Academy 7:30pm

The evening was set for one of the most happening event ! The security was tight and no one
except for the invitees and participants were allowed in !

Fab5 were busy with management and Maddy was styling his hair in the green room! The green room was common for all the participants!
The event had already begun and there was no sign of Nandini!!

Neyonika was waiting for Nandini at the entrance! It was half an hour left for her slot and miss Angel of Space was missing !!
Out of blue , there came a wave of paparazzi! They were here to cover for Nandini!
Neyonika at once hide herself behind a banner cause she was not at all in a mood to face them ! She was constantly trying to call Nandini but her phone was switched off!! It was getting difficult to handle the media !

Manik

Manik was passing by when he saw the chaos and Neonika behind the banner trying to call someone! He moved towards her !
Neonika was murmuring-
Nandini! Beta pick up the phone!! Where are you?
Suddenly she saw Manik approaching her!
Manik- what is happening here Mom? Aur why the media is so cranky ! Unhe toh allowed hai phir bhi??
Neyonika- Beta ! They are here for Nandini! But she is missing! Woh ab tak aai nahi ??
Manik - okay Relax ! I'll handle them !
Manik moved towards them and as soon as the reporters saw him they shooted him with questions!
R1- Sir ! Where is Ms. Nandini? It has been reported that presently she is at number 1 . Is that true?
R2- sir ! How do you feel? I mean you are an international rockstar and a girl junior to you is gaining so much fame ??
Manik tried to say something but failed!
R3 - Sir ! Do you plan to sign an album with her in near future??
R4- Sir ! We are been informed that Nandini is missing do you have any thing to say ?? Or is it that she backed out ?

Manik- No !
He almost shouted!

Manik- Nandini murthy must be on the way and she will be here soon !
Yes ! Presently she is at number 1 but her chances to win will be dependent on her today's performance! And I am not signing any album with her as of now !
And its a request please move aside
and a separate interaction with media is arranged at the end of the event! So kindly co-operate !!

Manik was frustrated ! He moved towards Neyonika!

On the other hand, it was now Maddy who was going to perform! Alya had designed his costume! The remaining of them were discussing random things and motivating him! Giving him all the last moment tricks!!
They were not informed about the current issue!
The host announced for Maddy and he performed on :

Do listen to it !!

His performance ended good ! Audiences were roaring for him! Well they had to cause this song was composed by Manik! Fab5 were going to perform on it earlier but later on it was cancelled!
Just to make Maddy win , Manik said him to perform on it !

While..
At the same time Dhruv appeared!
Dhruv- yaar Manik! Where the hell is Nandini? 3 slots ke baad uski bari hai and she is nowhere! I don't know how the Audience came to know about this aur ab un mein rumours spread ho rahe hai k she backed out!!
Maddy ka performance bhi ho gaya !
He paused and saw their faces ! Manik was in a deep thought ! So he continued!

Hume kuch karna padega , varna Nandini k fan following ko handle karna mushqil ho jayega! Aunty ap administrator se number leke uske ghar phone try karo na !!

Neyonika- meine uske ghar phone kiya but no one is answering! Last time meri ushe baat 2 ghante pehle hui thi ! She said she left her place but she is not here till now!! God !! Where Is Nandini?

She was getting all worried! Nandini is like a daughter to her and not knowing her whereabouts made Neyonika all work- up !!

Manik to was getting restless now ! He was so stressed that he didn't notice one thing :

His mother was in contact with Nandini!
His mother was in CONSTANT touch with Nandini!

He murmured to himself,

Manik- Nandini! Kaha ho tum ?? Stressing each word to control his frustration!!

At the same time they heard the announcement!
The next up we have on the stage is none other then Ms. Nandini Moorthy!!

The audience hooted at once !! Manik , Neonika and Dhruv rushed towards the stage! And there Nandini stepped on the stage!

She Looked Weak But She Was Strong Enough To Stand By Her Words !!

Nandini took a deep breath and controlled herself ! The curtains were about to open and she saw herself shivering!
She fisted her left palm and released it and keep doing it till she saw the bright light flashing at her which meant that the curtains were raised!
With a determined vision and confidence she began strumming her guitar!

She ended the soon smoothly !! But surprisingly there was no response from the audience! A Pin Drop Silence was engulfed by each one of them!!
Nandini was confused as to what happened!!
Was she bad ??
Was the song off beat??
Or Did she committed some mistake ??
She asked herself. The first thought flashed in her mind was to leave the stage!!
She picked her guitar horizontally and turned her back towards public!

Barely had Nandini taken a step towards exit when a random guy from audience clapped and soon his clapping was shushed by the amplitude of the applause of others !!
People literally gave this girl of 18 a standing ovation!! And each and every one were present there were included!! Even Manik Neyonika and Fab4 !!

Right now all were behaving subconsciously!!

Nandini turned back and the first thing she did after seeing that scene was to cover her wide open mouth with her palm!!
She gave a weak smile and bowed her head down in respect and left the stage!!

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