8. MONSTER!

Aditya comes behind Manik and yells, “Bhai! Aapne kya kar diya? Hume iss ladki ko surakshit rakhna tha…Ah…… leave this matter for now!” ( Bhai! What have you done? We have to keep that girl safe… leave this matter for now! ) Not getting any response he shook him and continued, “Bhai, We have to move from here… quick… quick!” 

Manik comes out from his thoughts and the first thing he does is look at the girl who is wincing in pain on the street. For the first time, he regrets doing something seeing the number of tears HIS FAVORITE ALMOND EYES are showering. But his condition is more miserable than Nandini’s. 

Nandini is bearing only the physical pain but he is dealing with physical and mental pain both. His heart wants to trust the girl who reminds him of HER but his mind is denying to trust the same girl again. He wants to yell at the almighty to show him the right path but he lost belief in him the day he snatched his everything. 

Kaushal came there with the car and yelled at them to come inside before they were all caught by anyone. 

“Ah….” Nandini winced, grabbing her bleeding leg. For a moment Aditya and Manik both felt bad for her. But Manik is guilty as well because he is the reason for her pain.

Aditya walks ahead in a hurry and just slips his right hand beneath Nandini’s head to lift her in a bridal style but is over-crossed by MANIK MALHOTRA who takes the charge instantly seeing another man touching the body which he owns. The sudden urge of keeping every male touch away from her made him do that. Although he is still not ready to accept HER. 

A current runs through his veins as soon as his skin comes in contact with hers. Every cell of his body felt alive with her mere touch. The peace which he has been finding for the last 18 years, he found finally. He got those vibes again which he owns 18 years ago. The same smell and the way his body reacts after making contact with her are still the same as before.  

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to control his veins. Keeping all his feelings aside, he lifts her with a jerk and for a second his eyes get a closer look at her beautiful face which is wet because of her sweat or tears. Her cries reach his ears making him realize again that she is suffering because of him. HE IS THE CAUSE OF HER PAIN. 

Unknowingly, Nandini clutched him in fear and kept her head on his shoulder giving him goosebumps. She is dealing with this new kind of pain for the first time. Her eyes automatically move up to witness the face which looks hard and scary. Her fear increases and her breath becomes uneven, scaring him. 

Manik sat inside the car quickly taking his Nandini followed by Aditya. The car zoomed out from there at jet speed. He laid her down on the seat and sat beside her injured leg. Unknowingly he is getting worried seeing her blood whereas her heart is pounding hard. It’s God’s grace that she didn’t get a heart attack till now. 

“Calm down…” Manik roared looking deep into her eyes. He doesn’t want to be rude but he can’t change himself. Her painful shrinks are enough to frustrate him. His brain is messed up like his heart when he went on, “I will fix everything.” 

At first, Nandini got scared of him and cried harder but couldn’t stop herself from wincing when he pressed the same injured leg, “Ah…. It’s paining… it’s hurting me so much.”

Aditya and Kaushal take a sigh of relief when they are away from any kind of danger while Manik is looking at Nandini worriedly. He hides his worry effortlessly. His heart blocked his senses that’s why he doesn’t know what he should do to lessen her pain. Although he is well-trained to cope with these types of situations but this time the victim is none other than HIS PAST. 

“Bhai, iska toh bahut khoon beh raha hai…” ( Bhai, she is bleeding heavily. We have to do something…) Aditya spoke when he looked at Nandini and he felt bad for her, “Aap iska lehenga upar kariye mai yeah kapda bandh deta hoon. At least through the cloth, we can minimize her blood loss.” ( Just raise her lehenga and I will tie this cloth around her wound to stop the bleeding. ) 

The anger rose and Manik’s eyes turned red when he heard that Aditya wanted to see her leg, HER BARE LEGS. This mere thought gave rise to his possessiveness which he buried after her demise. With those scary red eyes, he looked at him and yelled, “Shut up!… I will handle her. Turn your eyes or better go and sit on the passenger sit beside that mor*n.” 

Kaushal feels offended while Aditya moves back seeing the live MONSTER in front of him. “Oh Bhai, mujhe kyu gaali de raha hai? Saari gad-bad is Adi ne ki hai, maine kuch nahi kiya.”, ( Oh Bhai, why are you accusing me? It’s Adi’s fault, I didn’t do anything. ) Kaushal cribbed and elbowed Aditya blaming him for everything. 

“That is not my problem, YOU DIDN’T DO ANYTHING.” Manik lashed out at Kaushal and instantly look at Aditya with the same red eyes and continues, “Aur tu mujhe kya dekh raha hai… chal aage Jaa sa*le…” ( And why are you looking at me?… just go away from here… ) 

“Jaa toh raha hoo… bharak kyu rahe ho.” ( I am going… why are you getting hyper? ) Aditya says timidly and turns his gaze away from the girl giving a kind of relief to Manik. “Waise aap ise Jante ho?” ( By the way, do you know her? ) He asked the question because he found something weird from the time this girl came in front of them. 

Manik has no answer to his question. He is himself finding out the truth about this girl that’s why he spoke after taking a glance at her, “NAHI!!” ( NO!!! ) 

“Toh, Why are you breaking your *NEVER TOUCHING A GIRL* policy for her?” Aditya asks, gaining a chuckle from Kaushal and making Manik speechless. 

Kaushal found Manik’s silence weird and turned to get a glimpse of the girl but could not see anything because of the darkness inside the car.

“Please… let me go!” Nandini winces, gaining their attention. Her cries became louder than ever making her throat dry but still, she didn’t stop begging for her freedom, “Let me go!… I promise I won’t say anything about you to anyone.” 

Manik ignored her and took out his handkerchief from his back pocket. Giving an emotionless look to her, he raised her lehenga a little but stopped abruptly hearing her plead, “Don’t touc…. Touch… me…. I… I beg you…” 

“We won’t do anything, trust us.” Aditya tries to assure her but how can she ever believe HER KIDNAPPERS? 

“How can I trust you? You guys just kidnapped me…” Nandini yelled back out of frustration but the next second looked down at Manik who raised her lehenga to her knee making her gasp.  She starts protesting while Manik glares at Aditya whose gaze is still stuck on Nandini. 

“Turn your eyes away or………………. Do you want to be another victim of my gun?” Manik said irritatingly looking at Aditya whereas Nandini’s protest became violent but he didn’t pay any heed to her. His concern is her injured leg which he is dying to treat for the sake of humanity. He is trying to convince his heart that he doesn’t care about HER but failing miserably. 

With great difficulty and with immense strength, Nandini kicked Manik and snatched the cloth from his hold. This act of hers made Manik angrier who just lost his calm. He hovers over her and locks her both hands above her head making her scared of this Monster.  

“Don’t you dare to do that again….. If I were that type of man… then you will be n*ked beneath me till now.” Manik said angrily, looking deep into her eyes. It pained him when he witnessed her tears again which were caused by him. Suddenly he calmed himself and spoke gently which is rare for him, “I won’t touch you anywhere except your injured area.” 

Nandini stayed quiet because of fear while Manik wrapped the cloth around her leg to stop the bleeding. After a brief eye-lock with her, he covered her legs again while touching her bare skin unintentionally and that unintentional touch aroused some hidden manly desires in him, making him take a deep breath. 

“I can’t become weak… not now!… I can’t let those feelings rise again in my heart which I buried years ago…. I can’t let her overpower my senses this time.” Manik murmurs angrily while looking outside of the window pane. Without thinking anything he banged his fist on the window glass breaking it into pieces while he didn’t care about his blood. “YOU HAVE TO BEAR THE SAME PAIN WHICH I WORE TILL NOW. I WON’T LET YOU BE IN PEACE, GIRL!…” He thought with a tint of revenge which he chose to hide HIS FEELINGS FOR HER. 

On the other hand, Nandini too felt the sensation of his rough fingers on her bare skin. She felt like her skin would burn with his touch and not to mention her body become hot because of some hormonal locha ( hormonal imbalance ). “What is happening to me, Ayyappa? Why do I want those fingers again on my body?” 

One is ready to take revenge while the other one is dealing with that new feeling of being touched by a Man. Both of them have no idea what is stored for them ahead by the almighty who tests two lovers before writing HAPPILY EVER AFTER in their stories. 

To be continued…