MaNan

Chapter 1

And just when we think we are shaping life...life is shaping us.

~

The city of dreams lay draped in the silvery moonlight with the stars studded in the empyrean, embellishing and giving an ethereal appeal. But nights like these encapsulate secrets that lie underneath thick sheets of frozen crystals that had once cascades down the cheeks and had the audacity to scathe the souls that usually are left alone to swim across the river of grief and reach the state of where there appears a void which transforms those into another version of themself.Better.Stronger.

Manik's eyes were fixed on the the screen and his long fingers,resembling those the of a watchmaker or a surgeon brushed swiftly on the keypad while his other hands rubbed the nape of his neck,clearly pointing out that something might be haunting him and the sweat beads trickling down his forehead put an official seal on this very fact. For a moment he seemed to be distracted as he swayed his jaws,rolled his eyes and then tapped on the screen and then finally slid down his phone into the pocket.

He gazed at the window pane and then at the mansion with keen eyes.

As soon as the car came to a halt,he stepped out of it. His eyes scanned for his buddy, Dhruv Vedant and his partner in crime,Cabir Dhawan. They were his friends and he, Manik Malhotra was the lead singer of the band, Fab 5.

One for all and all for one.

They shared an unbreakable bond. Period.

Manik was blessed with an enigmatic personality and had the audacity to make shiver run down anyone's spine.

His sharp jawline, soul piercing eyes and the curve that rests on his lips,especially that mole on his upper left corner of his lips made girls go gaga over him.

He shrugged off his jacket and straightened himself.

A subtle smile played on his lips as he saw Dhruv approaching him and Cabir following closely behind but it was not enough to wipe out the existence of desperation in his eyes. Maybe he wasn't looking for them only.

They shared a warm welcoming hug and Cabir passed a flying kiss to Manik to which Manik rolled his eyes and Dhruv smiled, a gentle one.

" C-A-B-I-R" ,said Manik gritting his teeth.

Cabir gave a sheepish smile to Manik while Manik did what he was best at. Rolling his eyes!

" Manik, you must be tired.Take a quick nap and freshen up Mukti's haldi ceremony is tomorrow but we can still catch up...errr... like old times?",said Dhruv.

" Yeah! but first let me see my baby girl and Aliya ",said Manik.

"Aliya hasn't yet arrived. She had a really tough time cajoling her friend to come. Anyways she'll be here in an hour. ",informed Dhruv .

" Dhruv isn't she the same friend that..." Cabir trailed off the last part.

"Which friend are you talking about, Cabir?",asked Manik stressing over the friend part.

" She's -- uhh--she's my..."stuttered Dhruv.

" Crush.." ,prompted Cabir.

" Yeah.. Uhh.. No.. ", fumbled Dhurv.
" Not at all. Why would I-I... " He looked at Cabir and mumbled ,"Okay fine! I've got a crush on her. Happy? "

" No, I'm not. In fact you deserve to be thrown in gutter for this", snapped Cabir.

" For crushing over his crush? "asked Manik.

" No",Cabir said flatly." We've not met her! Can you believe it Manik? We've left him free for sometime and he'd conveniently forgotten about us. We've not met our bhabhi! Dekh Manik dekh --yhi dosti yhi pyaar "