38. ATTENTION SEEKER

Ma:- ( embarrassed ) who the hell changed my pants ?? 

This statement makes the brother-sister laugh hard until their stomach hurts. Abhi controls himself hard and speaks further to irritate him more.

Abhi:- Manik, you are not a five-year-old schoolboy who always pees in his pants and Nyonika aunty always changes your clothes. 

Hearing this cute yet embarrassing childhood memory of Manik’s, Nandini laughs wholeheartedly. Whereas Manik feels insulted because Abhi is revealing his little secret in front of his girlfriend.

Nan:- ( giving naughty stares to Manik ) Bhai?? He always pees in his school pants. Hawww….. Shame shame…

Manik feels offended. 

Ma:- oh …… What shame haa? I was 5 or 6 years old at that time. And it happened unintentionally. 

Abhi:- ( mocking ) yaa… He wets his pants UNINTENTIONALLY daily. 

Nan:- ( shocked ) really?? 

Manik just wants to hide his face somewhere else where Nandini can’t spot him. 

Abhi:- yup!!! You know why always Nyonika aunty changes his pants. 

Nandini nods her head in No. 

Nan:- No… Bhai, but I want to know. 

Ma:- oh… ( Imitating Nandini ) I want to know ……. Just focus on our baby’s future, not on my childhood memories. 

Nan:- shut up !! Manik. ( to Abhi ) Bhai, you tell me. 

Abhi is sitting on the bed with his mouth wide open because his mind is stuck at Manik’s last sentence. 

Abhi:- ( innocently staring at Manik ) Did you guys do IT

Nan:- ( confusingly ) what have we done? 

Manik knows exactly what Abhi meant. But to take his sweet revenge he nods his head in a big yes like a kid. 

Ma:- yup! We are going to be parents soon. She is two months pregnant. We didn’t inform anyone because it’s a surprise to everyone. 

Nandini looks at him immediately while gasping at his comment. She coughs to digest this lie while Abhi is coping with another nervous breakdown. Before she gathers herself, Abhi faints and directly lands on her arms. She panics whereas Manik signs in relief. 

Nan:- ( glaring Manik )  you idiotic Malhotra!!!! …. What did you do to my Bhai? 

Ma:- ( getting scared from Nandini’s big eyes ) what did I do? I did nothing I swear… 

Nan:- shut up and go call the doctor. 

Ma:- ( hastily ) yaa … Yaa…

He moves towards the door to go out but immediately realizes his situation and moves back. Seeing him coming back Nandini yelled at him.  

Nan:- don’t you want him to witness our wedding? 

Ma:- I didn’t say that. 

Nan:- then, why are you not going? 

Ma:- ( like a child ) How can I go out in a towel? 

Nan:- ( sarcastically )  just the way you come here while showing your TANDOORI LEGS to the world. 

Ma:- ( glares her ) if we were at home at this time then I will surely tell you, How my TANDOORI LEGS look between your legs?

Hearing their flirty talks, Abhi himself comes to his senses and speaks in an irritating tone.  

Abhi:- Here, I am suffering because of you two and you guys are fighting on the TANDOORI LEGS. 

Nan:- ( worriedly ) Bhai, are you fine? 

Abhi:- can’t say…………. It depends on you both. 

Seeing Abhi’s poor face, Manik giggles. Something stuck in Nandini’s mind. She immediately shouts, scaring the two boys. 

Nan:- oh… Shit !!! Manik, that means the people in the restaurant are laughing because of your towel ….. 

Abhi clearly got her words and again his laughing session started. 

Abhi:- ( laughing ) not because of his towel they are laughing at HIM. 

All this conversation does not affect Manik because he is busy thinking something very sincerely.  

Ma:- everyone is watching my towel instead of me. IS MY TOWEL IS MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN ME?!! 

Abhi:- Ohh …. Malhotra back to earth, please. I want to have a serious talk with you. 

Manik nods simply with blank expressions whereas Nandini starts sweating because of nervousness.  

Abhi:- Nandini, go out! 

Ma:- ( shocked ) what!!! But why?…… Can’t she stay here? 

Abhi:- No……. I want to have a man-to-man talk with you. 

Understanding his situation as a brother, Manik nods. Without saying anything, Nandini stood up and moved towards the door. Before moving out she looks at Manik to give him strength. 

Manik gives her looks saying “if something happened to me today then always remember that I LOVE YOU A LOT. And tell my babies that their father loves them too.”

Seeing his drama Nandini bangs her head on the door and cries. 

Nan:- Bhai, do whatever you want to do with him. I am permitting you to break his stupid yet empty head.

Abhi gives her a thumbs-up whereas Manik gives her an accusing look. Without saying anything Nandini moves out. 

Abhi settles himself on the bed comfortably and looks at Manik with sharp eyes.  

Abhi:- LEAVE HER!!! 

Manik immediately shot his head up hearing him. He never expected these words from him. He thought that he heard something wrong.  

Ma:- sorry!! I didn’t hear you properly. Come again. 

Abhi:- you heard it right Manik. LEAVE HER!!  FORGET ABOUT THAT YOU EVER LOVE ANY GIRL NAMED NANDINI. 

Ma:- ( trying hard to keep himself sane )  may I know who the hell you are to say this to me? 

Abhi:- I am her brother…

Ma:- ( cutting him in middle ) yes, I know say something new which I don’t know. 

Abhi:- you are not understanding Manik….. You are not right for her. Aryaman loves her and wants to marry her. So it’s better if you forget about her.  

Manik is stopping himself from bursting on him. His hand turned white due to his tight grip. 

Ma:- you cared about Aryaman’s love over Nandini’s choice. 

Abhi:- she is still a child Manik. She doesn’t know anything about love. 

Ma:- she is not a child anymore Mr.Murthy. She is mature enough to make decisions on her own. 

Abhi:- ( frustratingly ) why are you not understanding? 

Ma:- I also want to ask the same question. What happened to the brother who always wants his sister’s happiness above all? Why can’t you see the love which we share? I LOVE HER SO DAMN MUCH THAT I CAN DO ANYTHING  FOR HER. 

Abhi:- Then, why can’t you leave her? You know about your enemies. Almost all the businessmen envy you. If they get to know about Nandini. Then they would go to any extent to hurt you by hurting Nandini. You know that, right? 

Ma:- ( taking a deep breath ) yup! I know but I AM WAY TOO SELFISH  IN HER MATTERS. DUE TO THE SAME REASONS, I LEFT HER BACK IN THE PAST. AND THOSE TWO WEEKS I FELT LIKE HELL. I CAN’T  STAY AWAY FROM HER NOT EVEN FOR A MOMENT. I NEED HER IN EVERY BREATH THAT I TAKE. BECAUSE  OF MY IMPULSIVE DECISION  I ALMOST LOST HER A FEW YEARS BACK…… THAT DAY I UNDERSTOOD THAT FOR LIVING I NEED HER NOT OXYGEN. ( chuckles ) I KNOW THIS  SOUNDS TOO CHEESY BUT THIS IS THE TRUTH AND I CAN’T CHANGE IT NOR YOU!

Abhi:- I don’t know what happened between you guys back then and trust me I don’t even want to know because it’s a past. But, what if in the future my sister’s life is put in danger only because of you?

Ma:- I won’t promise that I will keep her safe because this is life. I can’t predict anything. But I am sure about one thing, which is that I WILL ALSO DIE THE SAME DAY WHEN  NANDINI IS NOT GOING TO BE BESIDE ME………. THAT DAY IS GOING TO BE THE END OF MANIK MALHOTRA WHEN MY NANDINI IS NOT GOING TO BE IN MY ARMS…….. I know as a brother you are concerned about her safety and to assure you I would just say one thing SHE IS MY LIFE AND TO SAVE HIS/HER LIFE ANYONE  CAN DO ANYTHING. THEN WHY NOT ME? I WOULD GO TO ANY EXTENT  TO MAKE SURE THAT SHE IS SAFE. 

Hearing all this, not only Abhi, even Nandini become emotional. She is hearing their conversation while peeping inside the room through the door. She knows that Manik loves her beyond her imagination but still she became emotional seeing him taking a stand for their love in front of her brother. Wiping her slight tears she goes to meet the doctor asking for discharge formalities. 

To be continued…

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