HIS LITTLE BRIDE- a manan story

Baahon ki darmiyaan yaa Aa dekhein zaraa?

"vivah sampan hui ab aap apne badon ka ashirwad lijiye sukhi jeevan k liye" the pandit chanted. Nandini still sat in the mandap unmoving.

"Nandini" manik called touching her shoulder lightly.

She sprang up with the touch. "don't u dare touch me", she screamed. "Tumhari aukaad nahin hain mujhe chune ki". Manik looked stunned for a moment.

Mukti and alya ran upto their bestie as they saw her crying and screaming. They too felt broken seeing their nandu like that. Navya tried to reach nandini but alya stopped her, "mat aao uske pass aaj k liye itne betrayals kaafi hai."

Manik stood clenching his jaw as he saw nandini break down. Her friends held her close to them as she cried to them.

"Listen nandu, stop ur drama aur navya k sath apne kamre mein jao" it was the voice she hated, her father.

Alya and mukti nervously looked at each other.

Manik was fed up with all this drama. He couldn't even spend some time with his beloved bride till now, they ought to have their suhaagraat by now.

He went ahead and pulled nandini out of alya's embrace. He held her wriggling body close and announce for one and all present there, "enough of discussions, excuse us" and pulled a violent nandini with him who fared him with colourful abuses some of which were still unknown to many.

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In manan's bedroom:

As soon as manik locked the door nandini picked up the vase lying harmlessly and readily threw it at him. He ducked it quite efficiently and reached her in two long strides.

Manik held her in his arms and whispered dangerously "what did u say downstairs....aukaad nahi hai....huh?"

"Manik leave me.....how dare u touch me?" nandini tried to maintain her brave front.... Manik smirked at her.

And then happened something manik couldn't think of, she kicked him where it hurts the most. 'Oww' manik groaned...taking this opportunity nandini kicked his stomach n in a flash took the sheet off the bed and covered manik's head with it. As she tightened it around the back of his head gave him a push using all her might, making sure he fell on his face on the other side of the room. She ran out of the room but not before taking manik's phone off the dresser. She came out and locked the door from outside.

Nandini breathed her first sigh of relief almost 36 hours later. She knew this is only momentary. She could hear manik pounding the door from outside.

The phone was her only help today. She kept it safe around her waist. The room allotted for mukti and alya was not hard to find, afterall it was the only room from where faint sounds of sobbing came.

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The room at the farthest end of the third floor. Mukti sat on the couch thinking hard, she knew she cant break down 'I'll have to save nandu' she almost had a plan.

The condition of alya was completely different. She was crying her eyes out. She still shuddered thinking of nandu's condition. Her hiccups were the only thing breaking the silence of the room.

Shanno and nyonika had mirrored expression of pain, hatred, angst, fear all passing through them. The sudden sound of steps alerted them all. All looked at the door to see Nandini running in and locking the door from inside. Where mukti and alya looked relieved, both mothers looked confused to hell at her sudden appearance.

'Muku pani de' nandini almost panting. Mukti rushed to her with a glass of water.

'Nandu tu kaise ayi' shanno questioned.

At this point of life nandini hated everyone except mukti and alya. Everyone proved to be selfish except for the two people she didn't even think had such big hearts. They stood by her rock solid fighting all odds.

'Mom plz aap ki ye kbc hum baad mein khelein, i need to speak to my friends.' Shanno sighed she knew this was to come even she proved herself to be selfish enough to not say her daughter everything truthfully a lot earlier. She was equally a part of the mess created in nandini's life like all other participants. Above that Nandini always had a temper to match that of a lava burning.

Nyonika took shanno with her. Wordlessly alya locked the door of their room. They both gave nandini the time to gather her thoughts before they started off with the plan. 'where are we? Ye shimla to nahi hai' nandini questioned all of a sudden. 'Manali very close to our school ye Malhotra's ka ghar hai' alya replied. 'How did u run from that monster' it was mukti this time.

As she narrated the tale they laughed, despite the situation.

'But what now we cant even run off, its guards all around' alya spoke frustrated. 'We? Guys pagalpanti bandh karo u cant risk your life here like this....' nandini was surprised how conveniently they jumped into her problem. 'Its always us nandu' it was mukti confirming it all this time.

'Aur woh kya hai na hum toh tere saath dahej mein aye hain, we wont leave u in this hell' alya tried her best to lighten the situation

They laughed.

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Navya paced the length and breadth of her room. Sleep was far away.

Did she do it right?

But why did it all feel so wrong now?

Why did her mom look at her with so much hatred today?

As the night wore off navya was at her confused best. She couldn't even think what the consequences would be if all she did was for a wrong reason. If all she did was to destroy her best friend.

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Harshad Saxena looked at his wife sobbing. Yes she was his wife so what if the law did not accept it. Their relationship was from heart he didn't need a stamp to prove it. He sighed looking at the broken woman too much was going through her mind at the moment. He knew it all but once she had faced it all.

His wife was a strong woman. Yet situations like this always brought out the scared young girl in her.

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Manik growled in pain as he sat up on the floor. He checked himself to see a split lip and ugly purple hit mark on his left forehead. He smirked despite the pain. This is what makes nandini all the more desirable, her feisty attitude. She's never going to give up come what may. Trying the locked door and finding the phone to call somebody for help both attempts being unsuccessful. Perks of having high end security locks, now even he himself can't break it he sighed.

Manik comfortably laid on the bed thinking about nandini, the only thing he could possibly do at this point.

P.S. SEVERE CYCLONE IS HITTING INDIA(ORISSA AND WEST BENGAL) AND BANGLADESH. PLEASE STAY AWARE AND SAFE. WATCH OUT THE NEWS. READERS IF ANY FROM BANGLADESH OR THESE PART OF INDIA STAY SAFE AND LOOK OUT FOR FELLOW CITIZENS AND ANIMALS. AND LASTLY PLEASE PRAY EVERYONE'S SAFETY , PRAYER HAS STRENGTH LIKE NOTHING ELSE.