Stolen Promises|| Completed

10. Rectifying the Present~ the finale!

~ When pain gets too much and heart becomes too heavy, people usually don't cry. They just become silent, completely and utterly silent. ~

The wind blew harder, making the window doors collide against the window pane, as the rain outside became more disastrous.

Manik sat with Kabir and group, his eyes fixed on Jesse and Celine talking, on the laptop as the movie continued, but his mind registered nothing. The rain outside was scaring him, his thoughts running back to that day when he had broken up with Nandini, eight damn years ago.

The  heavy rains that fascinated him so much once, now scared him. All he liked now, was drizzle.

Slow, light, cleansing.

Not this, rapid, heavy, downpour. If all, he was extremely afraid of it.

That day, rain had taken away everything from him, and this bizzare yet heavy rain outside was mimicking similar circumstances, at least on the out front.

He remembered how Mahir had tracked down his phone, and brought an unconscious, shivering Manik home that night. It had taken him roughly a week to recover, physically. Mentally, he didn't think he ever recovered, or he ever would.

The loss had been too much that night.

" Where is Nandini? And even Aaryaman?", Dhruv's voice broke his trance, and his eyes roamed around the room to find her, but failed.

" No idea! Maybe catching up somewhere. Concentrate here guys, movie is about to get more interesting", Alya shut them up, and everybody resumed watching, and Manik, staring. He knew he had hurt Nandini again, but he also knew there was no way they could be together again.

That would mean happiness for him, and he had already forgotten what it felt like.

Life was all about, surviving one day at a time, till he was allowed to give up, and maybe die!

-------

Nandini fell down on her knees, sobbing out aloud. The sounds that left her were not muffled anymore, she cried like she felt every bit of the pain he did, all these years.

Aaryaman too was teary eyed. Of all his friends, Nandini was his favorite, had always been. Watching her weep was not something he looked on to, even though all these years a resentment had formed a home in his heart for her, but that was just because he knew nobody would be able to hold Manik except her, and she wasn't there for him, not anymore.

" I want to know the entire thing", she spoke when she stopped crying, her hands harshly wiping off the wetness from her damp cheeks.

" I don't know the entire thing, some of it is my theory. I think the best person to answer would be Mahir!", Aaryaman shrugged, and Nandini gulped before fetching her phone to call Mahir.

" You have his contact?", Aaryaman was surprised.

" Well, he practically tracked me down and forced me to come here, not that I was not coming anyway,so yes!", Nandini dialled and Aaryaman didn't know what to make of it.

He thought Mahir was with Nyonika Malhotra all this time, but now he was not sure anymore.

After a painfully long one hour, the door to her suite opened, and Mahir peeked in.

"Nandini di?", Nandini stood up at his voice, and so did Aaryaman, both ushering him in.

Mahir looked at both of them, and a sad smile escaped his dry lips.

" I thought you would take some time to gauge the extent of damage, but you did it pretty quick", he gulped down the glass of water Nandini handed to him.