Manan : Love On ! (Epi-6)

~~A Phone-call~~

Nandini’s POV

This night I m totally broken. Hearing ‘Where do broken hearts go’ did not help either. No one can fix me. But I have to fix my already very-screwed life. Time to forget him Nandini. Yes, Nandini you can do this.

I ripped off all the big pictures I had with Aryaman including the innocent childhood ones in one go with an outburst of anger and agony.
If I had a time machine and given a chance of tome travelling I would have undone the meeting with him or probably prevented myself for falling for him.

I took all his greeting cards and pictures and went to the lawn. I burnt them all. The warmth from the fire not only destroyed all our sweet memories which I guess he always faked out but it also evaporated my tears. Now I wont cry anymore for that guy. Not at all.

The next day.**

Today was Sunday, the day for which I desperately wait as there is no work to do on Sundays. Yippie ! I was doing a happy dance in my mind on The Best Song Ever.
I was on my bed sitting and thinking about Manik. It was so sweet of him to help me when I felt so miserable. We had become good friends in a very short span of time and I loved spending my time with him. CORRECTION : Not loved I liked it.

As I was thinking, all these thoughts disrupted as my phone rang. I was in no mood to talk so as soon as I saw the unknown number I rejected the call without a second thought.

Again the phone rang. I was picking it up to reject the call again but something inside me forced to attend it.

“hello ?” I asked.

“hello darling.” Someone replied in a cheeky yet flirtatious voice.

“sorry, whose this ?” I asked again.

“your future hubby babe. You don’t recognise me ?” Now this was going over board. He was laughing his heads out on the other end.

“will you bother to tell me who the hell you are !” I shouted at the top of my voice.

“oh forget talking about me love. Lets talk about you. Your beautiful black eyes. Your rosy cheeks which turn pink when you blush. Your kissable and soft lips which I can kiss the whole day..”

“do hell with you ! I m cutting the call.”

“no no no Nandini wait…… Its me Maannnikk !”

“haha. I knew it. You thought I would forget my new friend’s voice so easily ? By the way, you were pulling my leg !”

“very funny. Looks like someone forgot what happened yesterday.”

“I dont wanna talk about them. I have with much difficulty gotten over what happened. I m glad, I managed to delete all their memories from my mind. They are no longer a part of my life. So there’s no point in talking about them.” I felt like patting my shoulders. Yay I m fixed !!!
“I m happy to see you moving on.”

“Nandu .” Ams called me from downstairs.

“yes Ams.” I shouted and then said to Manik , “Ams calling. I have to go for lunch. Talk to you later ! Okay ?”

And then I hung up.

**After Lunch**
I was again on my bed getting bored then I thought of Manik. I thought about out ringing him up and started debating whether to call him or not ? I decided not to call as he might be taking a nap. After all its 2:30 p.m. and according to my Ams normal people take an afternoon nap except me. And believe me I m an alien in this case.

Just then my phone rang and I was surprised to see. It was him. This boy knew how to make my day !
I answered his call at the second ring.

“hey !” I greeted him cheerfully.

“hey wazzup.”

“um nothing much. I was just debating whether to call you or not.”

“you know what ! I was just doing the same thing.”

“Really ? Why do you have to debate about it ? You can call me anytime ! Dont forget we are friends.”

“no. Um. Actually I was confused. I thought you might be sleeping. Anyways, dont you think the same rule applies to you too. You can also call me anytime, my friend.” He adds my friend in sarcasm.

“yeah fine. Whatever. Now tell me how you got my address so that you could drop me at my place ? Hmm.. Tell me.”

“actually its a long story.”

“dont worry. I have a lot of time to spare today.”

“okay actually. um. I had your phone number already. So I called Pizza Hut for an order. There, I asked them to confirm the address for home delivery which they did. That way I got your address. After that I cancelled the order.”

“so you were desperate enough to get my address from Pizza Shop. Huh.”

“um yeah. I mean I didn’t want to wake you up that moment. You looked beautiful when you were asleep. So..”

I started laughing. That was so sweet of him to say .

He certainly to avoid this topic, asked me “where were you all this time ?”

“I told you already that I was having my lunch..”

“you took so long to have your lunch. How much do you eat dear ! No wonder why I faced so much difficulty lifting you up yesterday. You have gained a lot of weight.”

“god. You lifted me up ?”

“What do you think ? How did you reached your house. By flying or what ?”

“you should have woken me up, silly.”

“are you crazy ? I already told you, you were looking gorgeous when you were asleep.”

Again my cheeks turned crimson red hearing his compliment. But I didn’t want him to know that I was blushing so I asked him in a mocking tone
“you found a fat girl, gorgeous and beautiful ?”

“as if you don’t know you are not fat. Babe, I was just kidding…. so chillax!”

“ofcourse I knew you were kidding. I know I m irresistible. That’s a universal fact !”

“though I hate to admit it I have to agree on that.”

Then we started taking about random things. His likes and dislikes. Mine likes and dislikes, blah blah.

It was just when I told him. “I have a big phobia of bike rides.”

And I mentally cursed myself to let him know my weakness.

“really ? Then I know exactly what we are doing tomorrow !”

“huh?”

“you are going on a bike ride with me.”

“what no NEVER. No way ! That’s not gonna happen.”

“you have no choice baby.”

“no you are mistaken ! I do have a choice. I have an official meeting at ISRO tomorrow. Remember?” What an excuse Nandini.

“that’s alright. I know your baby is still hurt. So I would drop you there. Haha.”

“no way ! I can and I will go on my own. I don’t need your help.”

“so I will reach your office and tell everyone to persuade you to go with me for a bike ride in the evening.”

“um NO you wont do that ! And what do you think ? My colleagues will agree on this ? Dont forget they know me and not you. They are my friends, not yours.”

“if you have forgotten I m Manik Malhotra and I m sure everybody is not like you who hate rock music. Yup, they are your friends but many would be my crazy fans. You know. Magical Manik Malhotra. So be ready tomorrow you and me for a bike ride !”

“ugh. Fine don’t let my colleagues know anything though, you and me being friends. I dont want unnecessary attention.”

“okay so its final. We are going for a bike ride tomorrow. I ll pick you at 6:30 a.m.”

“6:30 ?? Like seriously. I dont wake up that early !!”

“um.so you want me to come to your bedroom through a ladder to wake you up or what ?”

“are you seriously going to do that.”

“um you never know.” He has made my mind confused.
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After few/SEVERAL hours.

Manik’s POV

“OMG ! Manik look at the time.” Nandini almost screamed at this end. I shifted my gaze towards the clock on the opposite wall showing the time 10:05. What ? I looked at my mobile to see the call duration. 7:49:56 Wow ! I just broke the record for the longest call that too with a girl, I hardly knew. And I didn’t even realize how the time flew by. AMAZING.

“oh shit. Its like almost 10:05.” I replied getting back to my senses.

“yeah. I have gotta go and check on the cooks. It’s almost dinner time.”

“oh. yeah sure !” I replied in dismay. Honestly I didn’t want to end this conversation soooo sooooooooooon.

“Hey Maaaaaaaaanik. Can I ask you for something please ?” She asked in an extra sweet voice.

“yeah. Ask ?” I replied in a rather doubtful tone.

“are we seriously going on that bike ride ? I mean can’t we cancel—”

“NOO NEVER!!” I said sternly. “it will be fun. Trust me on this.”

“um okay.”

“Nandini this time please be on time.” I said in a mocking tone.

“yeah yeah as if I have a choice. Six thirty right ?”

“mhm. I have to wake up early tomorrow.” I groaned.

“Kay then lets cancel the plan. You should have a proper sleep its really important.”she said in an ecstatic tone.

“haha as if–”

“ugh you are so…………………….jo bhi (whatever). Okay bye !”

“okay. bye. Dont eat too much right now.”

“ugh !” She said and disconnected the call.
She sounded so happy in the conversation. I grinned from ear to ear hearing her cheerful voice. The same one which I had once heard in London.

Next part : ~~Bike Ride~~

**
Another part completed. Hope you liked this story so far. Dont forget to comment. So far this was my favourite episode while writing. Haha actually, my friends do tease me for talking toooooooooooooooooooooooo much.
I’m sorry if you didn’t like this episode much. It was just a phone call after all but it will always be special to me.