Cordially, Yours!

-26-

--Dehradun--

Nandini and Abhimanyu had spent all of yesterday chatting to Aunt Gonsalvez  about the house and the area. Interesting enough, like them, she also had moved to Dehradun after being annoyed by the searching heat of Goa and the bustle of tourists. Additionally, her daughter's shift up north due to her work commitments had landed her in the hill station. As sweet and talkative she was, she also beloved in self worth. Following on which, she still with her slat and pepper hair and evergreen enthusiasm ran an art and craft shop with a small side cafe.Observing that Nandini and Abhimanyu were made of the same clay as her, she welcomed them in to call her house theirs too and told that her only condition was that they had to help her on their holidays not only in housework but also in the shop. And monetary gain was not her greed out of this, but, she wanted them to relax and do something different.
After finalizing the details, they left the house to pack their belongings and today, was the great day when they were going to shift.

Out of excitement, Abhi had waken up 5 in the morning and after many pleadings, he also managed to wake Nandini up by 6 o'clock. They freshener up, packed their bags, checked out of the lavish hotel and went to their customary place for their breakfast sandwich. They walked down the trail that Nandini had wished for since long. Though the bags took the fun out of it, the two made their way among the trees with the leaves crackling by the footsteps. It hasn't been long when Nandini saw a butterfly and childishly followed it leaving behind the luggage for Abhi to carry.

"Kid, you bet to go a bit slow!" He cautioned Nandini on the kind of steep hill. Receiving a small ignorant hum from, he sighed and tried to adjust all the bags on him,"Haad hoti hi! Madam aapki shopping.. I am leaving all of it here for the jungle animals to enjoy for the winters." Unlike what he expected, a tacky reply, the playful Nandini kept her focus on the wandering butterfly and fluttered along.  Her chase had led them deep into the jungle and in front of a small waterfall where butterfly met along so many of her kind, making Nandini and Abhi the odd one out.

Tired enough from the chase, Nandini sat down on one of the rocks and dipped her feet into the cold water. And after while, a huffing Abhimanyu joined her.

"Manyu", she spoke softly. He looked over his shoulders to find her head over his shoulders and smiled at her.

"I love you!", she whispered.

--Mumbai--

Even after a long drive from Space to Nandini's house, Manik was unable to decipher his emotions. Where he went wrong was partially clear to him but, Nandini' s indifference and unexplained exit to him had been  bugging him. He parked his car in front of her house. A gloomy night had set in, he got out of the car and stood in front of her house for a few minutes. A very unsettling feeling had crept into him and suddenly, his feet felt cold, and a twitching sensation churned his stomach.  The house felt distant to him and the silence was unnerving.

Despite the uncomforting silence, he made his way to the Murthy's door and pressed the frosty bell. The classical ding-dong echoed in the house and the utter silent response to it, frightened Manik. Gathering his courage, after a few minutes, he pressed the bell again and also, dialed Nandini's number. And when he had to dig her number out of his call log, his mistake dawned upon him in a certain aspect. The phone call went dead and so, did his door knocks. Finding it unusual, he climbed the pipe to reach for Nandini's balcony when he heard a female voice-

"Woh nahi hi! She has left. In fact, all of them."

He looked down from where he grasped on the water pipe.

"Aa jao neeche! Koi nahi milega darwaze par!" The female voice said and walked back into her house. Manik followed her instructions and carefully got down. He dusted off his hands, sighed and stared at the empty balcony and then, made his way towards the house where the woman had disappeared into. By the positioning of the houses, he figured that the woman was a close neighbor to the Murthy and thus, may be knew their story. He knocked before he entered the living room and called for the woman,

" Aap unke neighbor hi?" He asked like a lost child.

"Well, agar ghar unke paas mein hi toh- evidently, yes!" She answered with a smile and gave him a cup of hot coffee.

"Do you know where they are?" He questioned with hope in his eyes. Ms. Aggarwal stared into his deep orbs for a while and a small smile crept her lips as she identified it as Nandini's hope.

" They have left, beta! Kahan hai? kab aayenga? Aayenge bhi ki nahi, kuch nahi pata. Ese hi ek gehri raat, it took them away too." She said with sadness that oozed out her voice. Manik's face fell and tears flustered his eyes at the news, when Ms. Aggarwal added-

" Don't lose what she taught you. Kabhi chordna mat usse. She needs you as much. Give her what she gave you!

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Hey Peeps, 

How was this one? Nothing much but alas, your much awaited scene of Manik's efforts towards Nandini is here!

Love, 

HF