Forever And A Day || Completed

14. The talks!

~ Happiness is like a kiss, you must share it to enjoy it!'

"Can we talk about them?", Nandini offered, her eyes expectant as she looked at him, but the unconscious sigh that escaped him, gave her second opinion about the entire matter.

He didn't look at her, his gaze fixed on his lap, as he played with the engagement ring on finger.

" What do you want to know?", When he questioned her back, she could not even hide the surprise from her facial expressions, because in all honesty, she thought he was preparing to avoid the conversation.

" For starters, how long have you guys known each other?", Nandini questioned, even though she had an idea it was a long time, courtesy the photo frames on his wall.

" Almost twenty years. We met when my parents shifted to Mumbai and I had to change my school. I was eight years old then. They were already studying in that school!", He could not help but smile at his memory lane. They were the first and the only friends he made, except Abhik and now, Nandini!

Nandini smiled at the softness on his face, and shifted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder and holding his left hand in his, as they sat comfortably, their back resting on the headrest.

" The first friend I made was Mukti, I was asked to sit beside her on my first day there. Apparently, they had some rule like one boy and one girl would sit together, and being the tom boy she always had been, no one liked to sit with her! We bonded over the first few classes, when I helped her with Maths and she helped me with social studies. And then, she introduced me to Alya, her best friend who in turn introduced me to Dhruv, the guy she sat with, just behind us. And a few weeks later, we were joined by Kabir, who got his seat reshuffled and made to sit with Alya because he talked too much with his ex bench partner, not that it changed later", he chuckled and Nandini squeezed his hand, lending him silent assurance that she was listening.

" We went on to become thickest of friends, seven-eight years of schooling together, and later we all went to the same college, different streams! All my fond memories are with them. First fight, first punishment, first crush stories. We have always been there for each other, all those years-", he stopped midsentence, before taking in a deep breath. The slight shiver in his body language and the way he fiddled with his fingers, didn't go unnoticed by Nandini.

"Then Madhyam came into our lives. The cool dude, who didn't give a damn to anything, threw parties at the drop of a hat, enjoyed life without a single drop of worry in his plate. He was the opposite to me. Me, always fussing over assignments and due dates, poking my nose into their lives as well, too much interfering-", he was about to continue when Nandini kept her palm on his mouth, and he looked up at the sudden movement from her.

" I heard what they said Manik. I don't want you to recite me their points. I want you to tell me how you felt, why you did what you did, not how they had interpret it", she stuck to her point, without twisting or sugarcoating them.

Manik sat silenced thereafter, unable to decide what to speak.

" Why do you think what they say is not correct? Why do you think there is my side of the story?", For the first time in the three months of her marriage, Nandini could clearly see the insecurities in his voice. She didn't even need to look in his eyes, everything was palpable in his voice.

" Somethings are not always about proof. I believe in my intuition", she answered so lovingly, but one look at him and she knew he was having a hard time believing her.

She sighed, before scooting closer to him, and resting her head on his chest this time. Turning her head, she kissed the area over his heart, and then rested her head back, fully realizing that he had gone stiff under her touch.