58. STONE!

Manik is lying on his bed and crying his heart out after the realization that he pushed his love away and now he regrets his words and actions. He stumbled all of a sudden and received a slap from his mother who was shooting daggers at her son. 

Ritu:- Why are you crying now? 

Manik:- ( Crying hard ) Maa, her brother fixed her marriage with another guy. I lost her, Maa. I lost her. 

Ritu:- ( Sarcastically ) Really? Then when is she getting married? Should we buy a decent wedding gift for her and her to-be husband? 

Manik:- Here I am crying over my fate and you are sprinkling salt on my wounds. 

Ritu:- So what should I do when my son accepts his defeat even before fighting for his love? 

Manik:- I didn’t understand. 

Ritu:- ( Smacking his head again ) Her brother just chose a boy for her, didn’t fix her marriage. So, you still have time to win her back. 

This gives enough courage to him and he is now determined to try his luck one last time. But he will try his best to win her this time because he can’t live without her. He stood up with determination and went out without saying anything whereas his mother dialed a number and excitedly spoke. 

Ritu:- Hello, BAHURANI, I did what you told me to do. Now, he is super energetic unlike before. 

Nandini:- ( Excitedly ) Excellent, SASUMOM. By the way, where is he? 

Ritu:- Don’t know, he went out without saying anything. 

Nandini:- ( Worriedly ) Is he fine? 

Ritu:- Don’t worry, he will be fine. I think he went for a stroll to calm himself. 

Nandini:- Sasumom, will you please give me a call when he will be back? 

Ritu:- ( Smilingly ) I will, now, sleep and good night. 

Nandini:- Good night. 

She cuts the call and is worried for her Shyboy who went out late at night. She opens her balcony door and breathes the fresh air as she knows she won’t get any sleep until she receives a call from her Sasumom about Manik’s well-being. 

It’s been an hour but there is no clue of Shyboy, making her hell scared for him. She turns around to fetch her phone to call her Shyboy keeping her anger aside but is HIT BY SOMETHING HARD WHICH DIRECTLY BANGED ON HER HEAD. She looked down and picked up the thing which hit her and gasped. 

Nandini:- A STONE! 

Before she could process anything, another stone came from the balcony and this time directly hit her forehead. 

Nandini:- ( Angrily ) Who the hell dares to throw a stone at me? 

She barged inside the balcony and looked down only to feel dizzy seeing the unexpected person standing there. 

Nandini:- ( In shock ) SHYBOY, A STONE-THROWER!

In a little flashback, Manik went out of the house with a pledge to win his Fireball back and for that, he planned a beautiful surprise for her. He bought some essentials from different shops and also stole a long ladder from her neighbor’s aunt as well. If Nandini gets to know that then, she will kill him after taunting him a million times. But right now he only cares for her. He doesn’t want to give unnecessary attention to society as he learned a great lesson from his previous act. 

He places the ladder below her balcony but is scared to climb it. The old scared and cowardly Manik is back. Not having enough strength to climb the ladder, he decided to call Fireball on the balcony who would encourage him to climb it. And for that, he chose A STONE. He picked up the lightest stone and threw that into her room from the balcony unaware of the fact that she was standing just a little away from the balcony door and the same stone hit her head. 

Not getting any response from her for a second, he threw another stone which hit her forehead, making her blood boil. He picked up the third stone to throw but stopped seeing HIS FIREBALL standing on the railing, looking down at him and 1… 2… 3…

She threw the same stone at him which hit directly on his foot, making him wince. 

Manik:- ( Innocently ) Fireball, my foot. 

Nandini:- Oh sorry, Honey, I aimed to hit your head but my bad luck I missed that but this time I won’t. 

Before he could understand her words, another stone directly hit his crown area, making him jump in pain. 

Manik:- ( Rubbing his head ) Ah… Fireball, what are you doing? 

Nandini:- ( Angrily ) First, you broke my heart and now you want to break my head as well. 

Manik:- What have I done now? 

Nandini:- Go and learn something from LAILA-MAJNU, ROMEO-JULIET, they throw flowers on their lovers but you… you threw stones at me. 

Manik:- I didn’t. 

Nandini:- ( Gasped ) Then, who threw those stones at me? 

Manik:- I did… but that wasn’t for you. I…

Nandini:- Not for me, means? ( After a pause ) Now I understand, you wanted to kill my brother who fixed my marriage with another guy. Let me tell you, Shyboy, my brother has a thick head. Nothing will happen to him with these stones. 

Manik palmed his face and looked at her, cutely. 

Manik:- Fireball, will you please hold this ladder? I want to come there. 

Then, Nandini saw the ladder tucked around her balcony’s railing and looked down at the person who was ready to climb it. He put his foot on the first step and here she pushed the ladder, making him fall on the floor followed by the ladder. He gasped in shock while she crossed her arms around her chest. 

Manik:- Fireball? 

Nandini:- Just go away from here. I don’t want another heartbreak on the same day. By the way, didn’t I tell you to never show me your face? 

Manik:- ( Innocently ) Yes, you did! 

Nandini:- ( Keeping stone on her heart and crossing her fingers ) Then, just go. 

Manik:- You don’t want to see my face then, don’t. But at least we can talk and regarding my face, I have a solution for that. 

Nandini looks at him curiously as he takes out a woolen monkey cap from his polybag which he brought with himself. He wore that cap and covered his face leaving his eyes, making it hard for her to stop her laugh. Now, his face is completely covered except for his eyes which had his specs. 

Manik:- ( Looking at her ) Is it ok? 

Nandini:- ( Hiding her smile ) What about your eyes? 

Manik:- ( Innocently ) If I hide them then, how can I see you? ( After a pause ) You also said that I have innocent eyes so never hide them from you. 

Nandini:- ( Murmurs ) Now say, how can I stay angry with such a cutie? ( To him ) Come up but be careful. 

Manik nods excitedly and climbs up to her and she takes him inside her room. He looks at her room which never looks like a girl’s bedroom. He decided to explore her room another time and should focus on her. 

Manik:- I am sorry. 

Nandini:- Sorry, for what? 

Manik:- For breaking your heart. For pushing you away when I can’t live without… ( Stops abruptly ) 

Nandini:- Without? 

Manik:- ( While blusingly ) Without you…

Nandini was overwhelmed hearing him and just wanted to give him a tight hug but stopped herself. She notices a black polybag in his hands and asks. 

Nandini:- What is this? 

Manik:- Sorry gift for you. 

Nandini:- Then, give me. 

Manik:- ( While rubbing his neck anxiously ) First, say that you won’t beat me after seeing the gift. 

Nandini:- ( With narrowed eyes ) I can’t promise that. 

Manik:- ( With a cute pouty face ) Please…

Nandini:- Don’t make that monkey face. 

Manik:- ( Getting offended ) It’s called a cute face. 

Nandini just gives him an expressionless face, making him pout adorably. He opens his bag and takes out her first gift that’s a small rose. With red cheeks, he passes her that rose which she took with no expression but inside she is jumping in happiness. Her first gift from his side was a rose, HOW ROMANTIC! 

Nandini squeals in happiness innerly and thinks, “Oh God… My Shyboy bought a rose for his ROSELADY. Somebody, please throw cold water on me. I want to sink in that.” Soon she composes herself and looks at him who turned into a tomato. 

Nandini:- A rose? Only a rose for the tears I shed for you? You think that I will forgive you and forget about the way you prioritize society above ME. 

Manik:- I am sorry na… Now, I realize my mistake and I promise I won’t let anyone between us. 

Nandini:- ( Dramatically ) Between us? There is no us. ( Whispers, “Please say I LOVE YOU, Shyboy. Please…” )

Manik:- Don’t say that… ( Trying to win her heart ) I also bought your favorite GOL GAPPE. 

And here Nandini melted like butter. She looks at the package which holds her favorite GOL GAPPE. Her mouth waters as well as her eyes seeing her favorite food which he understood. He especially took an auto to go 20 km to bring her favorite gol gappe at this time but now seeing her smile everything is worth it. 

Nandini:- Are you trying to bribe me? 

Manik:- ( Whined like a kid ) Ah… Please, maan jayo naa. ( Please, forgive me. )

Nandini:- ( Crossing her arms around her chest ) OK, I am letting this go just for my gol gappe but there is a condition. 

Manik:- ( Impatiently ) What condition?

To be continued…