Things that matter

Chapter 8: Nandini

"Nandini!" mukti and alya barge in my room as I fold away my clothes putting them away neatly in the wardrobe. I almost drop the clothes on the floor in fear.

"Thoda warning ya Kuch de kar aana tha" I roll my eyes at them, mukti and alya just got off their shift—it was around 7am they were let off early because they started early because of me:

"Tu kaisi hai ab? Kal baat bhi nahi hui we had to leave in hurry" mukti touches my forehead to check my fever while alya holds me like I will run of like a kid.

"I'm much much better now guys, relax!" I give them a smile as they ease up a little

"We were so worried ki koi tumhare saath tha nahi to take care of you" alya looks at mukti then me

"Manik was here, he took good care of me" I reply Instantly. I remember the scenes from last night very clearly in my head when manik cancelled his date to take care of me, him feeding me soup and then us talking about relationships—I don't know why but I felt comfortable to share things around him with any hesitation and he wasn't judgmental about them too, then he went to take a call and I don't know how I ended up here.

"Manik did?" Mukti raises her eyebrows

"Yup He cancelled his date to be with me, it was a sweet gesture" I smile

"That's nice of him, manik isn't the guy to cancel his plans for someone he barely knows" alya says, true I wonder why he did that I could've taken care of myself too

"I guess humhe bohot galat fehmi hai usko le kar" I shrug my shoulders

"What do you mean?" Mukti looks at me

"I mean ki we thought that he was some cold heartless guy jisse kissi ko fikaar nahi hai, but yesterday he was different he was caring—even though it was maybe because I'm cabirs sister and Cabir had told him to take care of me Lekin phir bhi, he showed that he cared not about me but cared about keeping his words to cabir" I explain, I can see alya agreeing with me but mukti just gave me that weird look

"Are you falling for him?" Mukti asks

"What. No-of course not I'm just saying uhm that manik accha hai, I don't know uske saath past mein Kya hua hai but there some reasons to why he acts like that" am I really falling in love? I don't think so, I just hate that I mistook manik as those heartless guys but it's like he wears a mask, he does have a heart of gold but he hides it.

"But it's a fact that ki Woh sab ko use karta hai and throws them whenever he wants" Mukti argues

"Damn Mukti you really do hate him" alya laughs as Mukti rolls her eyes at her.

"But in all seriousness what he did for me yesterday was very sweet" I look at Mukti "shayad jo manik ko mein jaan ne lagi hu is different to whichever cold heartless rude manik the world knows"

"Don't get fooled by fake kindness Nandini, I'm just looking out for you" she gives me a side hug, I know she's looking out of me but the feeling I have around manik is different to what mukti says.

"I know I love you" I hug her back as alya jumps on to us trying to feel included, me and Mukti laugh taking her in the group hug too.

"Anyways big big problem guys! Tomorrow is the charity gala, Cabir ka mujhe phone aaya tha he wants us to go" I break the hug looking at them with all seriousness "he wants me to fill in for him, Kyunki iss baar woh nahi jaa payenge obviously, but he really wants me to go and I don't know what I'll do there honestly"

"Toh usme problem Kya hai?" Alya goes to my bed and lays down on it feeling tired

"The problem is waha pe kitne bade businessman aayenge and I don't know shit"