20. THE PUNCH!

Nandini is reading Manik’s file thoroughly to get his full information before taking her step to teach him a lesson for messing with her. But, she didn’t get anything solid to use against him. In all the cases he was accused of being guilty, one or the other man came to surrender himself confessing his crime which will prove Manik a victim of the police’s wrong investigation. 

After reading his file, she concludes that he couldn’t stay behind bars for more than 10 minutes. His approach is bigger than she ever imagined. He is not a simple roadside goon, he is the right hand of a mafia leader. But, it didn’t even affect her confidence. 

“Maam, there is an injured man on the door who is asking for you.” A constable comes running to inform Nandini who gives him confusing looks and asks, “What?” Her frown deepens because she is new in this state and no one other than her team knows about her. 

Seeing her non-responsiveness, the constable pleaded again, “Maam, It’s urgent, you need to see him, immediately.” 

Seeing his urgency, Nandini stands up and comes out to find a man crying with numerous bruises on his body and on the verge of losing consciousness. His right hand is also bleeding as if someone scratches it with the sharpest knife. He is barely trying to stand and looks at her while she bends down to see him. Before she could say anything, the bruised man gripped her feet and cried harder, rubbing his face while apologizing continuously, “Sorry madam ji… I promise I will not slap anyone again. Please, forgive me!…”

Nandini looks at him with shock and looks around at the other officers who are also witnessing the scene. She tries to push him away but he is adamant. She recognized him as the guy who kidnapped her and hearing his statement confirmed it. “Hey, leave me!” Finally, she comes out of his grip and opens her mouth to ask him about his condition but he beats her in this. 

“Please… Forgive me ma’am… or else HE will kill me. Please…” The man pleads, joining his hands and begging for forgiveness. Saying this he also slaps himself numerous times, making everyone shocked. 

“Who will kill you?” Although Nandini got the idea of the man who is behind this condition still she asked. 

“Ma…” The man opened his mouth to utter the name but stopped abruptly knowing the consequences of his action. “Nahi! Mai unka naam nahi le sakta.” (No, I will not take his name.)  

Nandini rolls her eyes and notices the terror he has of MANIK. She further asks, “Manik? Is he, Manik Malhotra?” Hearing the name, the man panicked and shook his head frantically. Seeing his reaction, she did not need further confirmation. “Where will I get him?” She asks and the floor slips away from the man’s feet, “Will you take me to him?”

The man looks at her with wide eyes and pleads, “Madam, mai kuch nahi janta bus aap mujhe jail mai daal do.” (Ma’am, I don’t know anything, you just lock me in jail.) 

“Why will I put you behind the bars?” Nandini asked, getting frustrated seeing his behavior who is willing to go to jail. She went on, calmly, “When you did nothing then, why will I lock you in jail?” 

“Nahi madam, main ek chor hoo aur choti-moti kidnapping bhi karta ho kafi logo ke liye.” ( Ma’am, I am a thief and also do small kidnappings for many people. ) The man begs and confesses his sins while continuing, “Mai aapko sab bata duga aur saboot bhi duga par bus aap mujhe jail mai daal do.” ( I will tell you everything with proofs but please put me in jail. ) He knows that he would be safe in jail because outside Manik won’t let him live for touching HIS POSSESSION. 

Now, Nandini has no choice but to put him in jail because he confessed everything and also gave her details of every crime he did. After completing his arrest procedure with a heavy heart she runs outside and unlocked her Jeep to go somewhere. 

The same constable comes and tries to stop her, “Maam, why are you going in the lion’s den? He is the lion himself, he won’t leave any officer who dared to go to his place.” He is worried for his Ma’am safety but is also scared of accompanying her. 

“And there is no one who will stop me from meeting him,” Nandini yelled aggressively with a stubborn mind to teach him a lesson for messing with her. “Are you gonna join me to find HIM or I would do it myself?” With an unsteady mind, the constable agreed to accompany her and also told her the address of MANIK’S DEN. 

X—X—X—X—

Seeing the police in their area, all the goons come out except the one for whom Nandini is here. 

“Police!… Here?” One of the goons asked while almost every other guy was checking her out. The first time, they see a girl in Khaki Uniform who is looking extra hot with that royal attitude on her face. The blue shades on her eyes make her look like a typical action heroine. She is standing all alone in front of 50 goons without a tinge of fear giving competition to them. 

One of the guys flirts, “Oh…oh… Chammak Challo….” He whistles getting Nandini’s attention who looks at him from behind her blue shades but stayed silent and he went on, “Aaj toh hamare ghar khud Chand chal ke aaya hai.” ( The moon itself came to our house. ) 

Nandini chuckles with a smirk and asks simply, “Manik kaha mileage?” 

One of the goons gets offended because no one takes Manik’s name without adding “Saab”. He said rudely, “Aye Madam, Bhai ka naam thoda izzat se leneka.” ( Hey Madam, take our Bhai’s name with respect. ) 

“Toh, tumhara ye Izzzat wala Bhai kaha milega?” ( So, where is your that respected Bhai? ) Nandini again asked with double rudeness, making them realize that she won’t follow the “Manik Saab ” rule. He looks at another boy and orders, “Rajat, jaa Manik Bhai ko bula ke laa.” ( Rajat, go and call Manik Bhai here. ) 

X—X—X—X—

Rajat knocks on the door and says, “Manik Bhai, koi aaya hai aapse milne.” ( Manik Bhai, someone came to see you? ) 

Otherside, Manik is dozing on his bed and remembering HIS MADAM in dreams. Suddenly, the knock on the door disturbs his wet dream with his Madam Ji, making him irritated. “Abey jaa, bol de usko ki mujhse milne ke liye appointment leni padhti hai.” ( Hey, just go and tell them they need an appointment to see me. )  

“Bhai, lekin woh police wali hai.” ( But Bhai, she is a police officer. ) Rajat counters back, still standing at the door not having the courage to walk in his room without his permission. 

Manik rolled his eyes and palmed his ears with the pillow while saying, “Toh phir mere pass 2 mahine tak ki appointment nahi hai… bol usko ki 2 mahine baad aaye.” ( Tell her that I don’t have time for 2 months so, she will come after that. )  But the realization drew upon him after a moment which made his eyes wide, “Ek second, kya bola tune, police wali?” ( One second, what did you just say… Lady officer? ) 

“Haa…” ( Yes… ) Rajat confirms, frowning at the way his voice almost changed from irritated to excited. The next second, he saw him running in the corridor to meet the officer. 

X—X—X—X—

“Are aap yaha?” ( You here? ) Manik asks with surprise seeing Nandini at his doorstep in her uniform. Once again, he gets lost in her beauty and attitude, and continues in a flirty way, ignoring all the lusty gazes,  “Aap hume bula lete thane mai, bina kuch phuche chala aata mai.” ( You should call me at your police station, I will come there running leaving everything for you. ) 

Nandini rolls her eyes and walks forward in attitude while looking into his eyes, matching his height. “Us aadmi ko maar ke kya sabit karna chahte ho tum?” ( What do you want to prove by beating that man? ) 

“Kounsa aadmi?” ( Which man? ) Manik acted innocently giving a cute smile and went on, “Yeah police wale bhi na kabhi nahi sudharne wale…” ( I tell you, this Police department will never going to improve… ) Saying this, he shook his head dramatically and chuckled, “Zaroor kisi ne jhut bola hoga aur aapne maan liya. Par acha kiya isi bahane aap yaha toh aayi mujhse milne.”

Nandini chuckles hearing him and showing attitude, killing him with her smile. She crossed her arms around her chest and continuous, “Chalo thik hai, yeh mera mamla hai toh mai hi usko samjha lugi ki ek police wali ko bhare station mai touch karne ka kya fhaal hota hai.” ( It’s ok, now, it’s my issue, I will teach him a good lesson for touching on duty lady officer in front of the whole station. ) 

Manik’s smile was replaced by anger when he heard that man AGAIN touched HIS POSSESSION. “Kya kiya us ch*tiye ne…” ( What did he do? ) He asks while abusing him, making her smile in victory. ‘“Us k*tte BHANU ne tumhe dobara chuha?” He asks possessively. ( Did that bast*rd touch you again? ) 

“Tumhe kaise pata ki uska naam Bhanu hai? Maine toh nahi bataya uska naam.” Nandini says with a constant devilish smile and catches his lie in a second. ( How did you know his name was Bhanu? I didn’t tell his name to anyone. ) Manik laughs while tilting his head back as this is the first time when someone acted so smart in front of him. “Ah… Badi shatir hai madam aap.” ( You are very clever, Ma’am. ) He walks closer to her and whispers, seductively, “Aur hum isi ada par fida hai apki.” ( Your this behavior always attracts me towards you. ) 

“Agar fida ho toh yeah hi bata do ki kyu mara use?” ( If you love this version then, do tell me why you beat him. ) Nandini asks not getting affected by his closeness. Manik again speaks in his flirty tone, “Usne aapko haath lagane ki himmat ki thi toh uski saja toh milni thi na.” ( He tried to touch you so, he got punishment for his sin. ) 

“Tum kon hote ho saja dene wale?” ( Who are you to punish him? ) Nandini asks aggressively, seeing his boldness whereas he just laughs and shouts, “AAPKA AASHIQ, DEWANA, PREMI.” He looks deep into her eyes and ends, “AAPKA OR SIRF AAPKA MANIK.” ( Your darling, sweetheart, lover… and only yours Manik. ) 

Nandini greets her teeth and lands a punch on his left jaw, showing him stars in the bright daylight. His supporters shouted at her but stopped when Manik showed them his right hand. They all move back leaving Manik and Nandini to deal with each other alone. He looks into her eyes with rage while she is no less in this, she continuous, “Ainda mere kaam ke bich mai aane ki koshish bhi mat karna aur khabardar jo tumne mujhe aab dobara kiss kiya toh…” ( Don’t you dare to come in between me and my work. And dare you if you ever tried to kiss me again. ) 

Saying this, she turns around and looks at the guy who flirted with her at the start. She walks towards him and kicked his balls really hard showcasing her fighting skills and says, “Is Chand ko batti bhujhani bhi aati hai.” Manik witnesses her actions while she says looking at the other guy but Manik knows that she is saying this to him indirectly, “Ummed hai samaj gaye hoge?” ( I hope you understand. ) 

She walks out royally adjusting the shades on her eyes while the rest of the boys see her retreating figure with an open mouth. Manik rubs his jaw because it pained him like hell and murmurs, “You messed with the wrong guy, Madam Ji.” 

To be continued…