Cordially, Yours!

-10-

Fab 5 was broken. Unofficial- yes, officially-no! Cabir was sick of Dhruv's ego. Manik was flustered balancing Fab 5 and Nyonika's games. Dhruv was on his own ride of thoughts while, Mukti and Aliya were bogged down and derailed by the happenings. Navya, all alone, was on a guilt trip. She couldn't help Fab 5 come out of their problems and she couldn't get hold of Nandini. In past 24 hours, she was constantly searching for Nandini, trying her number only to hear back from the voicemail. She was worried but a part of her also assured herself that Nandini might need some time and she is strong. She didn't inform Manik or Fab 5 regarding Nandini, she wanted to see if their egos allowed them to see further than themselves, especially Manik, and if they didn't notice then bringing up Nandini's issue would only polarize the situation more. As the only intermediate and the only string left between Nandini and Fab 5, Navya was being pulled apart. 

"Kahan ho tum Nandini!" Navya muttered to herself. 

"What happened,Navya?" she heard a voice she didn't want to deal with right now. 

"Kuch nahi Harshad. Koi aur din hota toh kehti-"Sab maata rani ki dain hi",  par, Space mein tum mata rani se kaam thodri na ho!"Navya  smirked. 

"Navya!" Harshad bounced back. "Yeh sab, it's..."

"Ek din keliye hume maaf karo, Harshad." Navya cut him off, "Ek din chord do! give me a rain-check! Socha nahi tha humne kabhi itni nafrat hogi kisi se par aaj woh jhoot lagta hi", she turned and made her way to the Classical Music section. Music was her only relief. 

--Space College: Canteen--

"Bhai, zaara char sandwichs, doo coke and let's see what do you have for sweets?" Cabir placed his order. 

"Sorry sir, the sugar is finished and dudh phat gaya, kuch meetha nahi hi. Shaam tak ban jayga." the canteen waiter responded. 

"Kya manoohsiyat hi! Phir baaki ka order bhi sham ko dena, canteen khola hi kyu hai?" Cabir snapped back and turned away. He was hungry and stressed and that didn't go well.  He pulled out his phone and dialed Navya's number. 

"The number you are calling is not responding please try again later".  Instead of Navya he heard the voicemail. 

"What is this! Abe, yeh kahan gayi!" Cabir cribbed and redialed her number simultaneously making his way towards the Classical Music section. As he entered the hallway, he heard distant voices of melody, recognizing it as Navya's sur, he followed the voice and entered the room where she was rehearsing. 

"Nange pauv daudi aankhen meri, Khwaboon ki saari bastiyaan. Har duriyaan, har fasale, kareeb hi; is umar ki bhi shaksiyat ajeeb hi.. hmmm" he heard Navya sang. 

It didn't take him a moment to understand her falling tears and shaking figure, the lyrics said it all and so, they also explained why his calls were unattended. He quietly kept his hand on her shoulder. 

"Cabir tum?" Navya wiped her tears. 

"Nahi, mera bhoot, Madhubala!" Cabir teased making Navya rolled her eyes on his comment. "Kya hua?"

"Kuch bhi nahi, hum riyaz kar rahe the. Tum yaha kese? What happedn ki tum sardh ke paar es desh mein chale aaye" Navya changed the topic. 

"Mein andha nahi hu, nahi meine pucha tum kar kya rahi ho aur nahi hum 20-20 questions ki cricket nahi khel rahe hain!" Cabir said as he swirled a chair for him to sit on and took Navya's stuff off it. 

"Aur na hi yeh kursi tumhare liye."Navya crossed her arms. 

"Mafi, Madhubala, hum bhul gaye the ki aapki darbari sahab, "purse" ne aapni tashrif yaha jama rakhi hi."Cabir said. "Par ab hum hi!"

"Mudde par aao, Cabir" Navya pointed the discussion. 

"Mudda yeh, mohtarma, ki Canteen barbad ho chuka hi- dudh ki jwala phat chuki hi, jalebi ki chashini tapak-tapak ke beh chuki, Madhubala ji, hum barbad ho chuke hi" Cabir said dramatically. 

"Kya bakte ho Cabir, tum sedha-sedha bologe ki utare hum appni juti!"Navya angered. 

"Nahi!" Cabir screamed fearing Navya's juti and protected himself with his hands. "The canteen is out of deserts, would you come to go to a thela to have something?"

"Ab aya unth pahard ke neeche. Uthao humara bag and nikalo gardi" Navya commanded him. Cabir followed and they sat in his car to go to the nearby kaka for some Jalebi and a chat. 

-----

Manik was strumming his guitar in the Jam room when suddenly he was interrupted by his phone. 

"Ji kaka!" he responded with utmost respect. Nandini had taught him a few things that he had imbibed in life and decided not to forget them- well, if he had to save himself from her punch. 

"Okay, make him comfortable. Hum raat ko milenge, jab sab honge." He kept the phone down. "Let's end this, Nyonika" he wore a smug smile and whistled away as he made his way towards Nyonika's office. 

"Hey mum!" he barged in and grabbed a seat royally and kept his feet on her table, unabashed. "I have guests at home tonight. Would you mind to be there.? I am sure you will love them and of course, later on, we can sign that contract of yours". 

Nyonika stared at him blankly listening to him and recovering from the fact that he came to her himself. She thought through it for a moment and when she found no loophole, she replied "Okay Manik! But, I don't want any stubbornness like last time. I have had enough"

"Sure mom! I'll be on my best behavior." Manik smiled back trying to hide his smirk and was about to make his way out when he turned, "Actually, I trust you with coming home. Could I just sign you deal right now?"

Nyonika was astonished by his come back but still instantly pulled out her papers. Manik flicked open a pen, looked through the black words and signed them without a fuss. 

"These look interesting mom! How about you process them as quick as tomorrow? Wait, I'll call the lawyer, he'll do it right away!" Manik commented and dialed up the lawyer informing him to come and look at some papers urgently. Nyonika was slightly apprehensive of Manik's behavior, but then, he was the king of capriciousness.

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Hey, 

Okay, I agree this was a drama and may be a drag! I'm sorry. I promise I'll make it up in the next update! Truce?

Happy reading!

Love, 

HF