Forever And A Day || Completed

9. Nandini's Plight!

~ When the hardships and the numbing pain crosses it's limits, it's not scream but silence that become your best friend~

The hours seemed to pass in a blur, as Manik Malhotra struggled to concentrate on the case he had to fight, but failed miserably, because in the black letters on the papers, swam the face of his few days old wife, teary eyed, hurt at his cost. He couldn't keep the image of Nandini crying out of his head, specially when he understood that it was his fault. He had promised to keep her happy, and here he was, shredding away the promise within a week. A deep sigh left him, as Abhik's words rang in his ears again and again. Maybe he was right. Maybe, Nandini won't mind his care, or emotions. Maybe, they could have a life, together and happy.

Unable to take it anymore, he dashed out to his car, stopping mid way at a flower shop. Nandini loved flowers, he had watched her talk to them and change them every morning in all the seven vases back at her home.

" A bouquet of Orchids please?", He asked the shopkeeper, and paid hurriedly, eager to go back home, apologize to her, and bring back the smile that lit his days.

Though, irony hit him hard, when he reached back home, and rang the doorbell, only to get no answer. The door was locked, and he had to open it with his set of keys. Flabbergasted, he kept the bouquet aside, and looked for Nandini everywhere, completely missing the fact that if the door was locked, it meant she did it for only two of them stayed in that flat.

Dejected, and scared, he could feel his breaths getting heavier. Did she do what he had been asking her to do all these days?

Did she really go away?

Maybe, she went to meet his Appa? A tiny seed of hope took birth in his mind, only to be crushed later, when he saw a message from Mr. Murthy, asking him to drop by Murthy house, with Nandini in the evening.

Not a single other excuse crossed his mind then, because it's rightly said, Your eyes see what your mind knows. And his mind knew only one thing, people left him, because of him. He chose to believe that, and gulped painfully, unable to decide a further course of action. His sane mind laughed at him, asking him wasn't that he actually wanted her to do? But his heart knew, deep down the answer was no. He didn't want to leave her, neither did he want her to leave him. He loved her for god sake, and wanted to cherish her forever. But then, things don't always go as per your wishes.

Two hours later, Mrs. Chatterjee entered through a half open gate, frowning, and found Manik sitting on the drawing room couch. His head was resting back, eyes closed, and demeneour silent. She walked to him, and sat beside him, softly resting her hand on his head.

Manik's eyes didn't snap open at the touch, as she had expected. He took his own slow time to open them, for there in his eyes, lay a world of his own. A world of the monsters that had attacked him again and again, and the demons he had lost the battle to. Mrs. Chatterjee's eyes filled up watching him but Manik's were dry, drier than the sand of the deserts. He didn't speak, didn't cry, didn't complain, instead, chose to lie down in her lap, and held her hands tightly in his hold.

Sometimes you don't use words to communicate things, you use gestures. And the way he was holding her hand, was communicating a lot to both, Mrs. Chatterjee and Nandini, who was standing behind her, frozen.

She had expected him to find her, fight with her, get angry for not informing her, and then, maybe, in rage tell her that she meant something to him. Not even in her wildest dreams had she anticipated him to accept that she left, or this lack of visible reaction from him. And yet, she could see the deep frowns on his forehead, the screams in his silence, the wetness in his dry orbs. Something was stuck in her throat, and she could feel the beats in her own heart, tangibly.