Mananff-Forever Mine

Chapter 37

Hello guys! Long time no see;(

Sorry, i know it's very late this time and i have no excuses. Just wanted to be a reader for sometime. Please pardon me.

Happy reading...

It had been ten minutes since Nandini had been pacing in her room, ten extremely confusing and curious minutes. She couldn't hear much of their conversation, just a few lines here and there. She was just paying attention to be able to jump into the living room if any situation occurs. Manik's mom was here, his dead mom. Well, not dead obviously....

She was still having a hard time accepting the fact. The sudden louder voices caught her attention. Particularly Manik's voice. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he didn't want to speak with that woman. The question was why. Well, that and a whole lot of unanswered questions.

'No. You listen to me. Tum meri maa nahi ho! You understand that? You gave up that right years ago. So why don't you do what you're best at and leave!' She jumped as Manik yelled at whatever Mrs. Malhotra had said.

After a few moments, Mrs. Malhotra said something in a low voice which Nandini couldn't hear but then she heard footsteps and eventually the door closing. There was pin drop silence when she slowly opened her door. Without making a sound she made her way to the living room when she heard the sound of glass breaking. Running towards the kitchen, she saw Manik standing over the kitchen sink with his back towards her, his muscles tense and his head hung low. Staring at him for a few minutes, she noticed the blood dropping from his hand.

Jumping to his side, she cautiously placed her hand on his shoulder.

'Manik, you are bleeding.' She said in a very low voice.

'It's nothing.' He replied without any emotion.

Nandini gently took his hand in hers to examine the wound. It seemed that he had crushed the glass in his hand until it shattered, the pieces all around the sink. But the cuts weren't very deep, and thankfully there weren't any piece in his palm.

'Tum yaha ruko, mai first aid box leke aati hu.'

'Nandini-', he tried to stop her, but she was already out of the kitchen.

His lips were pressed in a thin line as he stared at the floor when she returned. Keeping the box in the kitchen table, she washed the blood off his hand before she took some cotton and put detol on it.

'Tumhe thoda jalega ha.' She said and he gave her a knowing look.

Dabbing his cuts with the cotton, she cleaned his hand before wrapping it in a clean gauze. She knew he didn't want to talk about what had happened, and even though it was killing her, she kept her mouth shut.

'I'm sorry tumhe wo sab dekhna pada.' He sighed.

'Tumhe sorry bolne ki koi zarurat nahi hai.' She smiled.

'I thought your mom- uh- that she-' she began hesitantly.

His eyebrows lowered in confusion before realisation hit him. He gave a fake chuckle, one that sent shivers down her spine at its bitterness.

'Ah, woh jhoot nahi tha. She's dead to me.' He stared at her emotionless.

Nandini swallowed, seriously concerned at what was going on.

'Do you want to talk about it?' She asked after a few minutes.

He didn't say anything for a long time before he sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

'She left us after- after Mayank's death. Wo- wo hame tab chodke chali gai jab hame unki sabse zyada zarurat thi. Bus, that's it.'

It seemed like he was having a hard time putting it in words. He put both of his hands on the counter and closed his eyes for a long moment.

'I need some air.' He said eventually opening his eyes.

'Manik-'

There was such vulnerability on his face which she had never seen before. But it was soon gone and replaced with a forced smile.

'It's nothing. Don't worry, I'm fine.' He said placing one hand on her cheek, softly brushing her cheek with the pad of his thumb, his eyes connected with hers, silently reassuring her the sentence he said was true. But it did nothing to ease her worries. He asked her not to wait for him and left the house.

She kept standing there for a few minutes to absorb what had happened in the past hour, and then started packing the first aid box.

***

Manik had gotten home late last night. She vaguely remembered him carrying her to bed after she slept on the sofa waiting for him. To say he was acting strange since his mother's arrival would be an understatement. Distant was one word to describe his behaviour.

Nandini had tried to search for information, but whatever she found wasn't worth it. In almost three days, all she found out was that Mrs. Malhotra- or rather Nyonika Malhotra was now a famous fashion designer who was currently in Dehli.

Yeah, that's it.

Whenever she tried to touch that topic, Manik turned into a closed book. But then she couldn't really blame him. She knew some things were really hard to talk about. But she was really worried. There was definitely something more to what he had said about his mother. She just didn't know who to help him out.

Stupid movies don't teach us how to handle these situations. She thought as she added salt to the gravy. As Nandini began to pull the plates from the cupboard, her phone buzzed. Balancing the plates in one hand, she swiped the answer button without checking the caller ID.

'Hello?'

The was silence on the other side.

'Hello?' She tried again.

Nothing.

A faint chill ran down her spine as she quickly pulled the phone to check the number- unknown.

'Hello?' She whispered again with her heart beating erratically. This time she heard slight noise before a voice answered,

'Can you hear me?'

'Yes' she replied cautiously.

'Hello, I'm Rahul from HDFC bank. Do you have a minute please?' She sighed in relief.

A freaking sales person! She thought ending the call.

***

Zubaan khamosh ankhon me nami hogi,

Yehi bas daastan e zindagi hogi,

Bharne ko to har zakhm bhar jaege,

Kaise bharegi woh jagah jaha teri kami hogi...

***

Finally Nyonika's truth is out. But what happens next?

Any idea how Manik and Nandini will cope through this situation with Maddy still in the picture?

Comment and let me know...

And don't forget to vote!

Lots of love,
#affy...