The Forbidden Fruit (MaNan FF)

v.

Once she opened her eyes with great difficulty, Nandini didn't recognize her surroundings. She was in a large room and on a huge king sized bed, covered with silk black sheets. The windows were open, making the white curtains sway and allowing the evening light to come in. There was a huge wardrobe nearby, a full-length mirror, and on the bedside table beside her lay a first aid kit. None of those things made any difference to her. However, once she noticed the large photo frame of someone she certainly knew on the wall, Nandini sat up on the bed with a jerk. It was Manik.

Speak of the devil, and he appears.

Just in that instant, the door opened as Manik Malhotra stepped in. He froze when he noticed her awake, his eyes going wide. It took him a few seconds to gain composure of himself and once he did, he closed the door behind him with a gulp. Manik Malhotra was scared.

"Where am I?" she questioned, her voice firm. She was glad she could be strong in front of him now, she needed this.

"In my house," he replied, trying to be calm, "and in my room."

"Why?"

"You don't really want to know, but I figure you must." He came forward and sat on the corner of the bed and although he was far from her, she still scooted backwards. "First, I need to ask you something; are your lips burning?"

"What?" she was quite confused by now, where was he getting at?

"I think you've realized that I made you inhale chloroform twice today," he explained. "I looked it up and you may suffer from solvent burns. Tell me if your lips are burning or if you feel any pain. At first, we'll wash your mouth and then, if needed, we'll go see the doctor."

Nandini cringed her eyebrows. Was he serious? He seemed to care' for her after kidnapping her. What exactly was he doing? His behavior made her grow more and more confused by each passing second.

"I just want to go home," she admitted, not bothering to answer any of his questions.

"Home?" he questioned. "Where exactly is home'? I would say that this is your home now, Nandini."

She didn't like the way he said her name. It gave her chills and she just didn't like that. "What are you trying to say?"

"Do you remember the papers you signed?" Manik reminded her. "Well, thanks for not reading them. I'll just let you know that they were marriage documents. After we both signed them, it legalized a marriage between you and me. I submitted the papers to the court and got a call an hour ago. Its official, Miss Dhawan. Or was it Miss Murthy? Well, I guess it doesn't really matter now, does it? It's Missus Malhotra now."

It took some time for Nandini to register his words properly. Once she gulped down all of it, she just couldn't believe it. He couldn't possibly be telling the truth. "You're kidding," she stated, hoping he was.

"As a matter of fact, I am not."

"No," she closed her eyes, refusing to believe any of this. "Please, Manik, please just tell me you're kidding."

"Nandi-"

"Manik!" she almost shouted. "Please!"

His eyes widened in shock. He knew the depth of his actions. He knew that he had just ruined both of their lives and he expected such reactions. Still, actually witnessing them had a whole different feel to it. He hated this, and most of all he hated himself. He just made a grave mistake and there was no turning back now. He so desperately wanted to apologize, but what good would that do?

"It's done now," he slowly spoke. "All of it is just... done. No matter what you say, it can't be changed."

Nandini's breath stuck in her throat. She wanted to cry and scream and hit him so very hard. She just wanted to let it all out. She felt a flood of emotions rush through her.

Anger. Betrayal. Sorrow. Disbelief. Loneliness.

Out of all of them, there was one which surpassed all the others.

Disgust.

As she looked up to give him a look of pure and utter disgust, she could only say, "I despise you."

I despise myself too, Nandini, he thought to himself.

xx

Cabir stepped out of the house after finishing his part of the plan. He closed his eyes tightly, regretting everything he just did. He knew it was his entire fault. He had successfully manipulated his friend to ruin two lives. Now, it was all on him.

Once Nandini didn't return home for an hour, his parents grew worried. Cabir hated that, but more than that he hated himself. Hours later when they were about to leave for the police station to file a report, Cabir got the call from his friend to let him know that the job was done'. It was then that he chose to feed his parents with the lie he hoped would make them hate his sister.

"I just got to know that she ran away," he had said, "with her lover."

"Excuse me?" a polite voice of a female caused him to open his eyes. He looked beside him to find a girl of Nandini's age a few steps away. Her hair was in a braid and she was clutching her bright, flashy, and obviously cheap handbag tightly. "Um, are you Nandu's brother?"

"Nandu?" he questioned. "Do you mean Nandini?"

"Yes, Nandini Murthy. Are you her brother, Cabir?"

"I am," he answered and almost immediately, her eyes lightened up. She's very... cheerful, he thought to himself.

"I am her friend, Navya," she introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Right," he drawled out.

"You see," Navya started to explain, "Nandini isn't picking up her phone or anything so I got a little worried. She was supposed to be having a date with Dhruv but he told me that she didn't show up. That is totally unlike Nandini so I just thought something probably happened with her. That's why I came over, sorry. I just have to meet her once, is she home?"

Cabir debated on whether or not he should tell her. He practiced many times about what he would say to his parents but he didn't predict this scenario at all.

"She's sleeping," he lied after careful consideration.

"Oh," Navya sounded disappointed. "Well then, I guess I was just being paranoid. She probably bailed on Dhruv but... err, I'll handle it. Thank you, and goodbye."

He gave her a nod and Navya started to leave. As she made her way back to the gate, a strange feeling took over her. She just felt like something really bad was happening. Something really, really bad.