Written in the stars

Sequel - Part 13

Nandu became sad remembering what Abhi said.

Manik : "What happened? Why are you sad?"

Nandu : "All these days, I thought i have a brother at least, but he isn't my brother. Bhai told me that he found me drowning in a river and saved me."

Manik : "He may not be your brother by blood, but he takes care of you more than a brother right?"

Nandu : "That he does. But it also means that I am actually an orphan."

Manik : "No, you have a loving family waiting for you."

Nandu : "How can you tell that? If I had a family,wouldn't they have come looking for me?"

Manik realized what he said and covered up.

Manik : "I feel that you are not an orphan. May be your family looked for you and weren't able to find you. They will come looking for you sooner or later."

Nandu : "But what about Bhai if someone comes looking for me and I have to go with them. He will be left all alone."

Manik : "Abhi will be an addition to your family. He is the reason you are alive, your family will definitely accept him as a part of their family. May be you can also start looking for a sister-in-law so that he isn't alone."

Meanwhile, Manik managed to fix her twisted ankle. He could have done that before too, but he didn't want Nandini to walk bare footed. The car engine cooled down and they were on their way back.

Manik stopped at a store to get her new sandals. She needed one for the rest of the day.

Manik : "I will get a new pair of sandals for you and be back. You stay in the car."

Nandu : "I will come with you. You don't know the size."

Manik : "Size x right?"

Nandu : "How did you know?"

Manik blurted out without thinking and again he had to cover up.

Manik : "I was holding your feet while examining your ankle, so I could make a guess."

One day, Nandini went to use a different restroom since the restroom in the cabin was out of order. When she went in, she saw a man hovering over a lady. The lady was pleading to let her go, but the man wasn't listening and forcefully trying to kiss her.

Nandini : "Why are you forcing her when she isn't interested?"

Harshad : "She is my fiancée and I can do anything with her."

Nandini : "You can't misbehave with her just because she is your fiancée."

Harshad : "You stay out of it. It is none of your business whether I forcefully kiss her or even have sex with her."

Nandini tried to stop Harshad.

Harshad : "You don't want me to force her. Shall I do it with you then?"

Harshad took his face near Nandini with the intention of scaring her. She had been irritating him. But Nandini didn't know about that. Nandini's temper rose and she punched his face with all her strength.

Harshad was taken aback by Nandini's reaction. He wasn't expecting that. Nandu took the lady outside the restroom with her.

Harshad's ego was hurt and he was fuming with anger.

Harshad : "You punched me. You didn't do it right. I will not let you go so easily. This punch will cost you."

Harshad : "You tried to save my fiancé from me when I was just trying to kiss her. I will see who will come to your rescue when I do more worse things to you. You will never forget what you had to pay in return for this punch."

Soha who happened to come there around the same time witnessed everything that happened between Nandini and Harshad. She also heard Harshad's words.

Once Manik was strumming the guitar when he took a break from work.

Nandini : "Do you only play guitar? Or do you sing too?"

Manik : "I do sing sometimes."

Nandini : "I haven't heard you singing at all. Can you sing something now?"

Manik couldn't tell Nandini what he felt for her directly. So he expressed it through the song.

Nandini : "Wow! That was breathtaking."

Manik : "Thanks!"

Manik : "Do you sing?"

Nandu : "No, I just listen to songs and hum sometimes."

Manik : "You should try singing. You may be good at it and may not be knowing about it yourself. You remember what happened with the guitar right."

That evening when Nandini was at home,

Nandu's thoughts : "I have heard his voice before. I haven't heard Manik sing, then where did I hear it?"

Nandini remembered the recording Manik had given to her sometime back. She played the recording, her doubts were confirmed.

Nandu's thoughts : "Why did Manik tell that the recording is his friend's though the voice is his?"

Soha's plan of showing Manik that Nandini was inefficient didn't work. Soha's main intention was to keep Nandini away from Manik. Whether Manik distanced from Nandini or Nandini distanced herself from Manik didn't matter to her.

Soha came up with a plan. She called Nandini for coffee at the canteen. She selected a spot which was away from the rest of the crowd. After the initial pleasantries,

Soha : "You are new here and you don't mingle with others too. There are things about Manik sir which you don't know. I felt that it is my duty to inform you being your senior since you are around him all the time."

Soha : "There was a time when none of Manik's sir's P.A's stayed for long. They quit after a few weeks they joined. Do you know why?"

Nandu : "Why?"

Soha : "Manik sir is not as good as he appears to be. He misbehaved with his personal assistants, that's why they quit."

Soha : "Now his eyes are on you. Have you ever observed how he looks at you? I have seen him looking at you with lustful eyes, like how a eagle looks at it's prey."

Soha : "I thought I should warn you. You go out with him often, so be careful. I would advice you to stay away from him, it is for your own safety. If it is possible, you should quit this job or you should move to a different department in the company. Don't wait until it is too late and you can't do anything to come out of his clutches."

Soha tried to fill Nandini's mind against Manik. Nandini was thinking over what Soha said. Seeing Nandini in deep thoughts, Soha felt that her plan had worked. Soha had already started imagining how to get closer to Manik once Nandini goes away from Manik.