Contract or Covenant

Part 18

Only a few days were left for Fab5's final day of the contest. Manik had been waiting eagerly for that day. There were a few reasons for his wait. Of course the first one was it would decide the future of Fab5. They all had been putting in a lot of effort and he was hoping that it would pay off. If they win, Fab5's dream of making it big would be fulfilled.

The second one was he wanted to sort out things with Alya. Even before Alya came to talk to him, Manik had decided to talk to Alya after the contest. He had thought of apologizing and telling her that he wouldn't return to her. Nandini had become his life partner because of the contract, but now he had decided to abide by their marriage and stay with her.

Manik wanted to wait till the contest so that his revelation didn't affect Alya's performance or become a reason for her to back out in the last minute which in turn would affect Fab5's performance or cancellation of their entry from the contest.

But after Alya's outburst, Manik had realized that an apology wouldn't be sufficient. Alya was still behind wealth and he didn't want her to harm Nandini because Alya would end up losing both him and the wealth. Manik felt wealth was more important to Alya than him, but he didn't want to ask Murthy or Nandini for it.

Manik's thoughts : "The only possession I have in my name is the land. It may not be worth as much as Mr.Murthy's property but it is still worth a lot. I can give it to Alya for now, she can fulfill her dreams to a certain extent by selling it. I can always purchase it back in the future. That seems to be the only option now."

Manik contacted a lawyer and got the land papers transferred to Alya's name. He had been holding onto it without selling because it was dear to his mom.

The third and the most important reason was himself and Nandini.Manik had been under the impression that what he felt for Nandini was only care and concern. The fire incident broke his illusion. He had realized that day that he could neither see her in tears nor could he see her hurt. Manik had been used to hearing that Nandini would die soon from the beginning, but that incident gave him a glimpse of how it would feel if something really happened to her.

Even the thought that Nandini might have been hurt had panicked him, then how would he bear if she leaves him. She had become so important to him that he couldn't imagine a life without her. Manik didn't believe in love since the time he came to know about his mother's past. So he tried to deny his feelings at first, but couldn't for long.

After a few days, Manik came to the conclusion that he had fallen for her. Though he hadn't conveyed it to Nandini in words yet, his gestures already did and he thought Nandini would have figured it out too. Since there were only a few days left for the contest, Manik had decided that he would convey his feelings to Nandini after the contest and sorting out things with Alya.

Manik knew Nandini's views about love and love stories, but he also knew she wouldn't expect something extravagant. He had found a natural setting where everything she liked could be found at one place - her favorite flowers,stars and the fireflies.

Manik's thoughts : "Just two more days Nandu, I will express what I feel for you amongst the things you like the most. I can't wait for that day to see your reaction. I know it won't be a surprise to you, you would have already figured it out. You wished for a love story like your parents, but ours is different. Yours was one sided love till recently. I never thought I would be able to reciprocate your feelings. You were right when you told me that I have to experience it to believe in it. Now your love story, I mean our love story will be complete."

Things don't go as planned and the same thing happened with Manik too. He wasn't aware of the fact that Navya had already expressed what he felt for Nandini to Alya and that was the reason for her outburst. Alya's outburst in turn was overheard by Nandini and she misunderstood him.