Chaotic Tangles!

32|| The Unbecoming Of Manik Malhotra (A)

Note - How many of you thought I bailed on my promise yet again? Raise your hands :p

The best way to find out whether you’re on the right path? Stop looking at the path.”
–Marcus Buckingham

The entire drive home, Manik was in a daze. Gears in his mind kept turning and everything that had happened for the past few years kept flashing like a live movie in front of him. There were things he could make sense of, and then there were things he still didn't understand anything about. But for a change, after quite few dull years where all he had done was accept the circumstances and played along, he now had questions.

Many, many questions.

When he had to stop at a red light, he leaned back in the seat and exhaled before pinching the bridge of his nose. Frustration thummed in his veins, and he hit the steering wheel before yelling a loud "Fuck". There were still fifteen seconds before the light would turn yellow and Manik made a split second decision. Instead of turning right towards his apartment complex, he drove left and parked outside a hotel instead. There was no way he could go home and face his sister, or Nandini. He had answers, and he had questions but more than that, he had a steely determination fueling his movements. He had let the chaos inside and outside his life linger a bit too long, and everything was now a tangled mess. He needed to sort it out. And he needed to do it himself first before he could talk it out with anyone else.

Everyone's story was different. His father, Medha, Nandini, Simran, Aadya, his own - the puzzle never fit, Nandini was right in pointing that out. All the narratives should have together made one picture, but the more people talked, the more it jumbled.

Locking his car, he walked to a stationary shop first, and brought a packet of A4 sheets and color pens and markers. Then he booked himself a hotel room for the day. Once inside, he called room service and ordered a coffee and a sandwich. Then he texted his sister about being late and that she shouldn't worry. He hesitated for a moment after, considering if he should text Nandini personally or ask Medha about her.

It wasn't like texting Nandini was an issue, but there was a certain tension between them since last night that was eating at him. Her words were raw and honest, but her action last night - putting herself in a dangerous situation deliberately - had been brutal.

“The pebble will find me” one day his foot.

That was also another major reason he had chosen to not go home immediately. Not only he needed to cool down, he also needed distance from a certain doe eyed girl who had his attention since the day he had laid his eyes on her. Nandini and Manik were both walking the opposite edges of a doubled edged sword, and even though they were both walking in the same direction and you could say they had the same destination, the chances of the edges hurting them when and where were vastly different. He had understood it pretty well now - better late than never - and being around Nandini put his rationality to back seat. He acted out of impulse and instinct around her more often than not, and if he had learnt anything from the last week of mess his life had become, it was the fact that his emotions have been the major roadblock in the whole situation. He needed to compartmentalize, and he needed to do it now.

Hence, he chose to add another text to his sister instead, to inform him if "anything happens" and he knew his sister well enough to know she would understand his subtext.

By the time he freshened up and came out, room service was on the door. He received his meal and coffee, paid and thanked them and closed the door. Then he sat on the bed, and spread the sheets, and pull out the markers.

First thing first, he needed to make a chronological order of everything that had happened. He chose to start from the beginning.

Number 1 - His sister Aadya died - by drowning. He was three years old, she wasn't one yet.