MaNan: It all started with a lie

Late Night Diaries

Manik

So twenty questions it is!

"I will ask you first" nandini chirped, sounding all excited and I let her after all its her birthday today.

"Your wishes are my commands birthday girl" I bowed dramatically with a mischevious grin on my face. Nandini giggled seeing me getting dramatic while I was lost in her giggles.  They were music to my ears.

"Chivalric much" she said making an 'I-am-impressed-face" and giggled again. "Chivalry is my middle name baby....don't you know?" I replied cheekily and a moment later we both burst out laughing like crazy.

"Ok so now lets begin with the game" "so my first question to you Mr. Malhotra" she said clearing her throat and continued- "your first crush?"

And there you go. Ab kya batau ise? Batau bhi ya nahi? Beta manik soch kuch I muttered to myself and raked my brain to find an appropriate excuse but my mind was all blank.

Great! Just great!

Everytime I want my brain to work, nothing occurs but when I want it to zip itself shut, it has to blabber all the nonsensical shit that is recently going on in this reckless life of mine.

Ugh! How awesome is it, isn't it?
I sarcastically commented to myself. I was pulled out of my thoughts by nandini who sat there curious to know about my answer. I sighed but answered her nevertheless. She is my best friend and maybe soon-to-be-girlfriend so she has the right.

Uh-uh manik hold your horses for now!
My oh-so-intelligent brain mocked me to which I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath, answering nandini's question.

"I...uh...I mean my first crush..." "yes your first crush manik" "she...she was in my school and we were kinda really close friends and I...um....we were kinda together but then we broke up after an year so uh yeah...it was just infatuation though" I said fumbling with my words. "Name manik. I need her name" she stated. "V-veebha" "oh nice name" she said slowly, her face seemed a bit dull and I instantly knew she was sad but my heart was dancing with the thought thatcshe did not like me having any sort of infatuation towards others girls.

She feels for you manik
My heart fluttered at the thought and a smile set on my lips but i hid it soon not wanting nandini to see it.

"So now my question. May I?" I asked and she nodded. "You were in NY for so long so did you....you know date someone there?" I asked biting my lip, fingers crossed, hoping for the answer to be negative. "Yes" her answer shocked me.

Yes!

That means she was dating someone

The thought saddened me.

"I mean yes but no" "what?" I was confused. "There was this friend of mine....that Mr. Khadoos remember?" I nodded, she continued. "He actually never made any friends and was a real asshole but he shed all his inhibitions in front of me and accepted me as his friend. Me being his only friend, we shared a very deep bond, specially from his side so people around us assumed that we were you know...dating. He is even friends with abhi, arya and navya now" she finished while I sat there processing the new found information. I really was eager to know his name but remained silent because I did not want to spoil my mood.

"My turn! So manik if you were to make a wish that you want to be granted then what will it be?" "you" I said without a doubt. She looked shocked by my answer, her eyes wide open. "I mean that I would wish for you to be with me forever nandini because that's all I want now. You are very important to me" I confessed looking right in her eyes, her palm in mine. She smiled wide listening to my answer, that twinkle in her eyes reflected how pleased she was with my answer.

"What makes you the happiest nandini?" I asked my next question. "Umm....there are a lot of things manik" "any one thing nandu" "ummmm......my family and friends! Yes! After amma appa all I have is you guys manik. Amms, Abhi and you are my family manik without you all there is no existence for me and my friends....they are the ones who make my existence all the more colourful and I am glad to have found you guys for myself" she ended. Her reply touched my heart. We mean so much to her. I was speechless, all i could do was hug her tight.

"And we are glad to have got you in our lives" I said softly and she gave me her best smile in return. "By the way family se yaad aaya....Bhai kaha hai? Did he forget my birthday? Arya and navya bhi nahi hai. Atleast they should have remembered it. Fab 5 toh are new....we have just met so its ok if they don't remember but Bhai, arya and navya too" she pouted sadly.

"Hey hey! Stop thinking so much cuz this is not it. Your birthday still has a lot more surprises that you have to unfold so don't judge them so soon" her face lit up as I completed saying. She seemed so much excited. "I can't wait to unfold those surprises now" she gushed making me laugh and our game was a long forgotten business now.

"Nandini come with me....I have something for you" "now what?" "come and find it yourself " I said. She nodded. Now we were standing near the shore, gentle waves hitting us and the cool breeze caressing our face making our hair dance with the wind.

"What are we gonna do?" "this" I said showing her a lantern with 'happy birthday' printed on it.

"Wow! Lantern! You know manik I always wanted to fly a lantern in the night sky standing at a sea shore and you just fulfilled my wish. Thankyouuuuu!" she beamed and kissed my cheek in excitement. My eyes widened as I touched my cheek where she just kissed still in daze and she looked away nervously, biting her lip, slightly embarrassed, her cheeks bright red and I somehow knew that they were red due to blushing and not embarrassment.

"Whoa!" I spoke still dazed by her actions. She peeked at me from under her lashes shyly. I coughed awkwardly. "So lets light it up?" I said trying to divert her attention and it worked. "Uh ya"

We lighted the lantern and now it was all set to fly. "Make a wish" she said. "Huh?" "make a wish manik. It is believed that if we wish for something and then set the lantern free, the wish gets fulfilled" she explained and my eyes twinkled. "Just like my shooting star?" "yes. Just like your shooting star" she smiled. We closed our eyes and made our wishes and then set the lantern free to soar high in the starry sky, illuminating the entire place.

We admired the lantern for god knows how long when I glanced my watch. It was 2:30 pm.

Damn we need to get back or else those friends of ours will kill me the first thing in morning for ruining their surprise.

"Nandini we need to leave now" "no na manik lets stay here for some time. Its so peaceful out here" I sighed. "Nandini I promise we will come back here for sure but now we really need to make a move. Its 2:30 already" "what?" she panicked. "Its 2:30? I didn't realise that it is so late. Lets go"

We moved back to our car and soon enough we were off to home after such a wonderful night with happy faces.

Hope you like it.
Ignore typos.
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