MaNan FF: Falling For The Detached One

Chapter 17

I didn't see him much for a month. A month? Like a month seriously ? That was too long. It was not like I didn't see him at all, I just did not really see him as much as I used to previously and truth to be told ? I was missing him. I really missed him a lot even if I didn't admit it. I used to go to the staircase behind the music wing every single day to check if he was there but he just wasn't. He used to be physically present in the college at times but most of the times he was nowhere to be seen, until one fine day I located him at the hospital.

Manik had the most beautifully captivating pair of deep brown eyes I had ever seen. His face was a perfect sphere with all his features at the right spot. He wore his usual smile, just that it was a little faded than the usual and I wanted to know what was wrong with him, and most of all, where was he for so long ? I wanted to talk to him because I was certainly over that "he doesn't trust me even if I do" phase. I mean, it did hurt me, it hurt me a lot for some goddamn reason but it took me a while to convince my retarded emotions that he was a different personality altogether who was miles away from me even if I didn't think so. Just to satisfy my emotions, I couldn't , under any circumstances make him feel the same way. Yes, the reality was hard hitting but at the end of the day, it was the reality.

"Manik.." I muttered in a fairly audible tone as I saw him coming out of one of the doctors' cabins.

"Hey Nandini ! What's up?" His face lit up, his wary smile became a little cheerful as my eyes met his chocolate brown ones.

"Why are you here?" Did he forget that we had an argument few days back?

"Umm.." He thought for a moment. "My car actually hit a lady so I got her at the hospital."

"That's pretty nice of you Manik. How's she feeling now?"

"Perfect. " he faked a smile. "They operated on her. It's just a fracture."

"And why are you here?" He asked , seconds later.

"My neighbour is sick so I got some food for her." I replied. I wasnt lying though.

"Okay, so do you need me to drop you home ?"

"No, I need to go back to college. Where have you been all these days?"

Manik pretended that he hadn't listened to me and asked me to tag along with him instead. What was wrong with him?

"Nandini, Im sorry." He said after a brief hiatus. We walked towards the the parking lot outside the hospital and he asked me to occupy the seat next to the drivers' and I hesitantly did. Well, I wasn't that hesitant.

"The time I didn't speak to you, as in this one month, it was pretty much stressful, and many a times I had this bad dream of you walking towards me and pouring a glass full of orange juice on my face because your face , the other day I asked you for the movie, was pretty frustrated and it kept roaming in my head and it was pretty much stuck so uh..well yeah !"

Orange juice?

I couldn't really control any more and broke into giggles. This whole orange juice thingie looked made up , and his face looked so stupid and full of regret.

"You're funny and cute." I mused and then quickly looked over to the other side hoping he hadn't heard me. His cheeks weren't even chubby or anything yet I felt like pulling them.

Even if he did hear something like that, he didnt reply to me and I preferred it that way. Rest of the journey to college wasn't that eventful and absolutely didn't involve any Hindi film cliche like the guy staring at the girl while she's looking out of the window or the guy and the girls' hands colliding or anything of that sort.

"Thanks for dropping me." I said. I located Cabir and Navya at some distance and Cabir frantically ran towards Manik and asked him if he was coming from the hospital. He agreed and then gave me a look. I didn't listen any further and went inside the college with Navya to the library.

--

"You will not BELIEVE what happened Nandini ! " Few days later, Navya popped in, right where I wasn't expecting her, at the library where I was reading a book, and surprisingly Manik was reading one too. He sat right next to me, both of us were engrossed in reading different stuff until Navya came and scared both of us.

"What am I not supposed to believe Navya?" I asked. I tried signalling to her that we were in a library and not her room.

"Umm Manik, can you close your ears?" Navya requested but Manik shook his head.

"Please !"

"Why do you want him to do that?" I asked.

"Because its a girl thing Nandini." Navya promptly replied and Manik quickly blocked both his ears with his huge hands.

"Okay then! Cabir just asked me out. As in, not just, he did that half an hour back and I was unconscious for a while and the I gathered my senses and ran to you !"

I was happy for her. I did not know what to feel exactly although I felt she had a crush on Cabir since like ages but I was never sure but maybe today I was.

"And, he is taking me out, to the rose day party at college two days later ! I am his partner Nandu can you believe it ?" She was so happy, so so so happy and I was happy for my best friend. I gave her a friendly hug before the librarian came and asked her to stop yelling inside the premises. Navya gave a sheepish look to me and then waved me a bye telling me to meet her later.

"Manik, what's this rose day ?" Somehow I couldn't control my curiosity for longer and asked him the question I had actually been dying to.

"It's a day like any other ." he replied.

"No, I mean the party..what's all that about?" His reply was pretty stupid.

"Oh that, its nothing much, couples are allowed and only couples are allowed and they dance and at the end they crown a rose king and queen thats it."

"What does this entire thing signify?"

"Nothing at all, to be honest, it's just something that happens every year so its gonna happen this year as well."

"Do you attend it?"

"Yeah, I do. And every year they crown me as the rose king." He said. He seemed disinterested in this entire thing though.

"But I never asked anyone to be my partner. Last year I went with Mukti, and year before last with Mukti again but this year Mukti isn't in town so I guess I won't have a partner."

I CAN BE YOUR ROSE DAY PARTNER. My stupid emotions yelled and I tried opposing the same. I didn't want any of it to reflect on my face.

"Okay." I mumbled and resumed to my books.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you going?"

I shifted my focus from my books to him and looked him in the eye. Slowly shaking my head, with a tinge of sadness and hopelessness I added that I didn't have a partner.

"Okay." He said and both of us resumed to our books.

We read and read for two hours. I was surprised as to how Manik could sit and read a book for so long but he did and probably in between kept stealing glances at me, as I presumed , until I declared that I was done for the day and he agreed with me.

"Nandini..." He said as soon as we stepped out of the library.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking if we could go , you know,together for the rose day party?"

My whole self shuddered as he kept in front of me a proposal worth a life time. I turned towards him as I saw his gorgeous eyes looking towards me expectantly. Our eyes met and were probably stuck for quiet a long time until he finally parted his gaze and asked me the same question again.

I had these rapid churning movements inside my stomach and my entire self failed to wonder the cause of this extreme ecstasy before I said 'sure, it'll be a pleasure.'