Chapter 90

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"Why did you bring me here Nandu? Sab thik to hai?" Chachi was worried and she had legitimate reasons to be . The persistent changes in Nandini's behaviour had been too obvious for her to not notice. Nandini had grown distant, her daily calls had slowly turned infrequent before drying out altogether. Since her engagement, 5 weeks ago, she hadn't come home even once, till yesterday, when she dropped in suddenly quite late into the night.

Mr. Murthy had casually asked a few times, & so had Rishab albeit with a little more concern, when they both found time from their daily routine life. She, however, had been anxious all the time, only that she didn't have anyone else to turn to & share her worries with. Part of it had to do with Neel. The way Manik left all of a sudden had shattered Nandini inside out and then this Neel, who was litetrally forced first in their house and then on Nandini, by Amms. She hated Neel, his sly demeanour , those catty eyes and his raspy voice. How could Amms possibly approve of that jerk and why on earth did Nandini agree to it. Torn between the need to salvage her position in the family and her concern for Nandini, she had become just a helpless onlooker. She wanted to help Nandini, at any cost, even if that meant she had to stand guilty in front of Amms and Mr. Murthy but then Nandini didn't seek help. She only drifted apart, and every time she enquired, like she did yesterday night, Nandini would shrug her off with one excuse or the other. She so wished she were her mother, at least she could have slapped Nandini into confessing her feelings. But Being her chachi, she could neither be strict enough to do that, nor stop these nagging thoughts from paralyzing her.

"Chachi, apse kuch kehna tha, I couldn't have told you at home." It was the moment of truth for her. She had to take this leap, now. Enough of dilly dallying, enough of lame excuses, enough of running away from home, truth had to be told before the situation turned any more murkier than it already was.

Both their hearts started pacing. One in the fear of the reaction, the other in the apprehension of the revelation.

"Pehle aap promise karo ki aap puri baat sunoge.." She gulped down a glass full of water as if that would relief her of the anxiety induced heartburn.

"Aisi kya baat hai Nandu?" She took Nandini's hands in her palm.

"Pehle aap promise karo na chachi...please"

"promise, ab to bol"

"Chachi, Manik is back" Chachi, to be honest, couldn't make out how to react. Should she thank God for this miracle, should she be happy for Manik, for Nandini, for them, for her, or should she be mad at his audacity. That he had the guts to come back after putting Nandni through hell and beyond, or should she laugh at the irony of life, that he was finally back when Nandini was already engaged. What should she make out of the simple one liner bomb Nandini had just dropped.

But she had promised, she would first hear Nandini out. So she let her speak, let her rewind time and summarize the incidents from the last month and half into 20 tight minutes.

"Chachi aap kuch bol kyun nahi rehe ho?" Nandini had long finished telling her side of the story and chachi hadn't uttered a word. This was bad news, because on average, chachi spoke at least twice as much as Nandini, but on a matter as crucial as this, she had kept mum! What was she supposed to make out of her silence? and if this was the reaction she got with chachi, God help her with the rest of her family, especially Amms.

"Kya bolun Nandini...samajh mein nahi ata, dil ki sunu ya dimag gi. Main teri maa nahi hun par tujhse teri ma jitna hi pyaar karti hun. Maine tujhe pyaar karte hue bhi dekha hai aur tera bharosa bhi apne hi aankhon ke aage tut te huye deka hai. Kaise Manik pe fir se ekbar vishwas kar lun. Kya guarrantee hai ki jo ekbar hua who dobara nahi hoga? " It was so surprising that of all the things Nandini confessed, this was the only thing that bothered Chachi. Why wasn't she furious about Neel or upset about her job? Why was she only concerned about whether Manik was worthy of trust.

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