NEVER IN A FOREVER (Manan)

69

Manik

“Nandini” My voice was high as she knelt on the ground like her knees gave up. She looked at the picture of my sister, her eyes wide as tears sprang up in them.

I knelt beside her immediately but she wasn’t tearing her eyes off the picture.

Soha Rajveer Malhotra, beauty and divinity on heels was smiling straight back at us in a human size length picture, a pale red skirt and maroon turtleneck hugged her body, making her look like a barbie from the fairy tales parents tell their kids about.

We share the same eyes, her cheeky grin so melting that’d put all the models to shame was making her look more beautiful than she already is.

But for the first time when I’m in this room, my only concern was my wife, who was on the verge of a panic attack.

“Come here” I muttered, hugging her but she just doesn’t look away from the picture.

“Manik.. I know her” She cried, hiding her face in my arms as she came out of her initial shock.

“Shh, I got you baby, I know you know her” I whispered, rubbing her back as she tried to look again but I held her head closer to my chest, hiding the picture from the view.

“Tell me she is alive” She was hiccupping after a few minutes.

“Calm down first” I said, not knowing how to say everything to her.

“Manik” Mom gasped, looking at us.

“What happened?” She asked, sitting beside me. Nandini immediately shifted into her arms. This little vixen.

Mom instantly gathered her in her arms, crying more. Dad and Dhruv stood at the door, their faces filled with concern.

“Nandini knows princess” I mumbled and their faces morphed into shock.

“Let’s go to the living room,” Dad said. Even they don’t know everything completely.

“I’ll have to make a call to Abhi and Mukti, you guys go with Nandini, make sure she doesn’t cry too much.

I called Abhimanyu. He lifted the second ring itself.

“What is it, Manik? Are you okay? Is everyone okay?” He shot questions, not even wishing me.

“Nandini isn't,” I muttered. I could hear silence.

“Is it Harshad?” He asked quietly.

“The day she forgot it is” I mumbled.

“Damn, right now?” He asked, cursing under his breath.

“You know how stubborn she is and you know what it is after two days. And I showed her Soha’s picture. I think it triggered her” I said helplessly.

“I’ll be there after picking up Mukti, don’t worry, handle her” he muttered helplessly, making me sigh in relief.

“I can’t do it alone princess, I miss you” I touched her picture before I turned off the lights and left to the living room, to find Dhruv trying to cheer Nandini up, she was laying in mom’s lap quietly.

“What is happening here?” I asked, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“Bhabhi can’t remember the day exactly, she tried too much and her head hurts now, so mom is massaging her head to calm her down” Dhruv sighed.

“You know, I saw you even before I found you as a match for Manik” Mom said, trying to divert her.

“When?” I asked, sitting on the other side of the sofa as I pulled Nandini’s legs on my lap and leaned back comfortably.

Dad shot an amused look at me. Nandini was looking at mom, waiting for mom to speak.

Dhruv was sitting on the love seat, relaxed and tense at the sametime.

“Almost two years ago” Mom said, caressing her cheek lovingly.

“How?” Nandini was now curious, but I know she is waiting for Abhimanyu.

“He had the mobile in his picture, it was with Abhimanyu, but he cropped you and saved yours” Mom said with a laugh. Nandini’s cheeks turned red. Dad and Dhruv chuckled.

“How were Abhi and Manik friends at that time?” Nandini questioned all of a sudden.

“We went to the same college for our masters,” I explained to her. She made an oh face.

“But why did you crop my picture at that time, you barely knew me” Nandini narrowed her eyes playfully at me.

“Haa manik, she is asking you. Answer her” Dad teased me. I glared at him but the old man was smirking.

“It was love at first sight bhabhi” Dhruv teased her. Her cheeks turned more red, eyelashes kissing her cheeks as she looked down, a shy smile played on her lips.

Teasing was worth it if she smiles. Biting her lip lightly, she looked at me. I gave a slight nod and mom chuckled.

“You guys are so cute” She pinched my wife’s cheeks, which gave another adorable smile of hers.

“You didn’t say what made her fall in love with you Manik” Dad pressed on it. I could see it in his eyes that he was worried for her. Everyone is trying to divert her mind.

“Her eyes” I said, skimming my hand with a feather touch on her legs. She gave me a soft smile, that showed how much she adores me.

Dhruv whistled while mom and dad looked at him. I mouthed her ‘I love you’ and she looked so cute at that moment.

First ‘I love you’ to her and her cutest reaction. The surprise and twinkle in her eyes, the blush on her cheeks, the way she tried to stop her smile but couldn’t resist, she is a damn goofball. This picture will stay in my heart forever.

“Why didn’t I see you when you saw me?” She asked after a while, when everyone was quiet.

“You did, you just don’t remember that day” I answered her question.

Her lips parted in shock.

“Yeah, we had to give you an injection to stop your memories of that day baby doll” Abhimanyu entered the room with Mukti.