ANAM CARA || A MaNan Fanfiction

Chapter 61: Bhula Dena Mujhe

*unedited*

“I am leaving Mumbai”, Nandini said bowing her head and hiding her teary eyes, in whispers. She looked up slightly to see Aryaman's reaction to her words. His face was devoid of any emotion. “What do you mean Nandini?”, he asked slowly. Taking in a sharp breath she replied,“I mean I am leaving Mumbai and going... forever”. “Wha... what about Manik?”, Aryaman asked trembling still not able to believe her words. Nandini remained quiet. Her silence made her answer quite clear.

Taking long strides Aryaman reached towards Nandini and held her harshly from her shoulders,“Tum pagal ho gayi ho Nandini (You have gone mad Nandini)”, he roared. His eyes widened exposing the redness as he spoke. Nandini tightly shut her eyes ready to absorb anything but not changing her decision. She had decided to keep a firm stand. “Tumne soocha hai Manik ka kya hoga? (Have you thought what will happen to Manik?) He loves you god dammit.”, Nandini refuse to speak a word.

“Speak up Nandini... Speak up... How can you be so cold hearted?”, Aryaman pushed her from her shoulders a little. “You didn't even think once about Manik? How could you Nandini? Did you even love him or that was a lie Nandini? How could you? He fucking loves you”, Aryaman's temper knew no bounds. He desperately wanted to knock some sense in her mind.

“I KNOW!!! I KNOW ARYAMAN MANIK LOVES ME LIKE HELL BUT THINK ABOUT ME”, Nandini screamed back at Aryaman making him absolutely quiet. “Mera kya Aryaman? How will I live with him? With this guilt in me. How am I supposed to tell Manik about his badimaa? What shall I tell him? That I killed her?...I was the one who gave him the hope that maybe one day badimaa will be back but...kaise bataun usse ki uski badimaa wapas nahi aayegi kabhi and he won't even get to have a last look at her. Batao Aryaman kaise bataun mein yeh Manik ko? Nyonika aunty and Raj uncle who loved me like their daughter, Cabir and Abhi who called me their sister. Alya Ammu Mukti kaise face karu unhe? How should I ? Bolo Aryaman how should I ?? ”, Aryaman was absolutely quiet and all What could be heard in the room was Nandini's sobbing. 

Aryaman was about to say something when Hari appeared at the door saying,“Manik baba aaye hai Nandini ma'am se milne”. Nandini's face looked as if a thorn had pricked her heart. “Manik...”, she whispered to herself. She looked at Aryaman with her red swollen eyes pleading him to face Manik for her.

He again had no choice. The Nandini in front of him was too weak to face Manik and he knew it. Pushing her right now will lead to nothing he'll have to think about other ways. “Kaka Mai aa raha hu”, Aryaman said and walked out of the room, stopping once just to say,“Tum galat kar rahi ho Nandini”. This was not something that she was yet to realize. She knew what she was going to do is not right but that is what she felt is in the best interest of both Manik and his family.

Aryaman walked out of the room mentally preparing himself to face Manik. From the top of the stairs he looked at Manik, one stare at him and he knew how worried he was. He was nervously tapping his foot and rubbing his hands on his jeans. Aryaman felt awful thinking about what was about to happen . He quickly put up the facade of happiness on his face and cheerfully came down,“Hey Manik!”.

Manik instantly looked up with twinkling eyes but that twinkle didn't last long as he realised it was Aryaman coming down the stairs and not Nandini. “Hey Arya!...umm... actually I came to meet Nandini. I am not able to contact her since last night. She is okay right?”, Manik's uncertain tone mirrored Manik's care. “Is she in her room? Or in her office. I just wanted to meet her once and see if she's okay”, Manik said scratching the back of his neck. 

Seeing the innocent love in Manik's eyes the mask started to melt away from Aryaman's face, but he brought himself together. “Manik...Nandini is in her office. Actually...she had an urgent meeting...and her phone is discharged. She'll contact you soon. Don't worry. She's alright”, Aryaman smiled and assured him. “I'll meet her in the office then”, Manik quickly tried to leave. “Manik wait! She is really busy today, we have quite a few meetings lined up”, Aryaman saw Manik's face turn into a wilted flower with his words. He didn't even care to reply Aryaman with words, he just gave a simple nod. As Manik was tracing his steps back, he stopped in his tracks. His eyes, mind, body anything can deceive him but his heart can't. What none could perceive was perceived by his heart. His heart was able to catch those love filled glances coming from somewhere.