12. THE REPORT!

Aditya took a back hearing Manik’s rude tone and palms his face, “Kuch kaam nahi hai Bhai… mai toh bus is ladki to dekhne aaya tha.” ( There is no work brother… I had just come to see this girl. ) 

And this is enough to awaken the Monster in Manik. He fists his hand and was ready to give a punch to Aditya who comes just to see HIS NANDINI. HIS NANDINI? He asks himself. 

“Kyu?… Kya yeah kahi ka Taj Mahal ho rakhi hai ki jo tu bar-bar ise aakar dekhta hi rahega?” Manik asked angrily and hearing his tone Nandini shivered in fear while Aditya rolled his eyes as this is usual for him. He knows Manik and his anger are the two things that are famous in the town. ( Why?… Is she a tourist place that you will keep coming to see?” 

“Bhai, mai bus dekhne aaya tha ki woh zinda hai ya nahi…” ( Bhai, I just come to check whether she is alive or not… ) Aditya replies pointing at Nandini while shrugging his shoulders, making Nandini shocked who murmurs, “Are they planning to murder me?” 

Ignoring Manik’s red eyes, Aditya continues, “Nahi… woh aap ke sath itne der tak akeli thi na toh maine socha… ki…” He stops abruptly seeing the steam coming out from Manik’s ears. ( No!… She was alone with you so, I thought… ) 

“Ki mai use khajauga, nahi?” Manik grabbed his collar and completed his sentence in his deadpan tone giving goosebumps to Nandini who cried hearing his words. ( That I will eat her, no? ) 

“Yeah monster kidnapper kisi se thik se baat kyu nahi karta?” ( Why won’t a monster kidnapper talk to anyone nicely? ) Nandini whispers looking at her monster kidnapper who is dominating the cute boy. She looks at Aditya with sympathy and continues, “Woh bechara mera khayal puchne aaya hai aur ye hai ki use bolne hi nahi de raha hai…” ( That poor boy comes to ask about my health but this guy is not letting him say anything… ) 

Aditya tries to come out from Manik’s strong grip to save himself from his punches. He makes an innocent face and says, “Why are you getting hyper unnecessarily Bhai? I was kidding…” 

Manik pulls him closer, scaring him with his dangerous body language, and says, “Don’t play such games with me from now on, or else I will kill you first, understood?” 

Aditya nods scaredly and takes a relaxed breath when Manik pushes him back and walks into the corner. Adi looks at the scared girl who is looking at them with wet eyes. He smiles a little seeing her cute face and sits beside her passing her a smile.

Nandini got anxious and moved away from him and looked at Manik who was looking back at her. Unknown to both of them, they shared an eye-lock with different emotions. Manik is getting jealous seeing her with Aditya whereas she is looking at him with no emotions. There is a string that is pulling them together which is known as destiny but they are unaware of it. Once destiny separated them but now destiny will bring them together. 

“Tum thik ho?” Aditya asked Nandini, breaking their eye-lock and gaining her attention which was disliked by Manik. He doesn’t like the way he gained her attention. ( Are you fine? ) 

“Na…” Nandini opens her mouth to reply and catches a glimpse of Manik glaring at her which is enough to scare the death out of her. Her palms become all sweaty and she lowers her eyes without a word. 

“Bhai, aap use dara rahe hai…” Aditya notices why she got scared and tries to scold Manik which is next to impossible. ( Bhai, you are scaring her. ) 

Manik chuckles sarcastically and asks Nandini, mockingly, “Kya aisa hai? Are you scared of me?” Scared of his aura and dominating self, Nandini nods in negative, unwantedly bringing a victory smirk on his face. Whereas Aditya nods his head in disbelief. 

Otherside, Palak reached the hospital to talk to Abhimanyu and to know about Nandini because she is unaware of the fact that Nandini is kidnapped in real life. She approached the receptionist and asked, “Hey, I am here to meet Abhimanyu… Abhimanyu Rathore. He is admitted here this evening.” 

“Wait for a second mam, let me check.” The receptionist checked her computer and then replied, “Yes mam, Mr. Abhimanyu Rathore is here in room no 321 B 2nd floor.” Hearing her, Palak nods positively and walks forward. 

She reached the ward where Abhimanyu is having his sound sleep. She calls him politely, “Abhi?” He wakes up in a single call and smiles seeing her here while she asks, gaining his attention,  “Abhimanyu, How are you?” 

“I am fine mam just a little weak,” Abhimanyu replied, he had a fracture on his left shoulder and a few bruises on his face. 

“Woh…” Palak hesitates in saying something which he understands as he has a crush on this lady who is sitting in front of him. 

“You don’t have to apologize for anything,” Abhimanyu said with an assuring smile, making her amused with his simplicity. 

“But still, it happened because of me. I told you to kidnap Nandini…. But I am relieved that she is fine wherever she is.” Palak said with a smile after a brief pause but Abhimanyu frowned. He asked, “Where is Nandini mam?”

“Abhi, I should have asked this,” Palak said attentively. Suddenly she is getting some negative vibes which are making her scared for her Nandini. 

“I don’t know mam…” Abhimanyu replied genuinely, getting anxious about his little Nandini. 

“Abhi, this is not a time to joke… just tell me where Nandini is?” Palak stood up angrily and glaring at him, asking for answers to her question. “It was your plan to kidnap Nandini.”

“Sorry mam, That was not my plan….I thought it was your plan.” Abhimanyu replied not getting anything but still, he told her the truth, “I am not behind her kidnapping in fact I thought it was you who arranged those goons to take Nandini, mam.” 

“It’s not me!…” Palak said timidly and sat back while palming her face. The tears make their way from her eyes with the thought of what would happen to her Nandini. She went on, “IT MEANS THAT NANDINI HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED FOR REAL!” 

“Oh, shit!…” Abhimanyu yelled and cursed himself, “How can I be so irresponsible? It was my duty to protect Nandini mam and I failed!…” He looks at Palak with guilt and apologizes, “I am sorry… sorry mam…. This is all my fault.” 

“Abhi, it’s not your fault. You just relax and get back to work as soon as possible because I need you…. I mean, I need you to find Nandini’s whereabouts.” Palak can understand his guilt but this is not the time for that. They have to look for Nandini because she knows the Murthys won’t do that. They won’t care about their daughters. She wipes her cheeks and looks at him with hopeful eyes, “Should I report about Nandini’s kidnapping?” 

“No mam!… Sir will kill you if you ever step in that police station.” Abhimanyu denied it instantly knowing about how the Murthys are. 

“Then what should I do? I can’t keep quiet when Nandini is in danger.” Palak shouts at him. She cares about Nandini a lot. Nandini is like a daughter to her that she never had. She cries and continues, “She is just 18, Abhi. How can anyone kidnap her?”

“I think there is something which is missing in this kidnapping. But we can’t sit here doing nothing.” Abhimanyu said after thinking a lot but he didn’t get even a single idea to start his search for Nandini. 

Something stuck in Palak’s mind bringing hope back to her, “Abhi, you know Nandini’s friend NAIRA?” Abhimanyu nods while she goes on, “She is the daughter of CABIR DESHMUKH, the Inspector. We can take her help to find Nandini.” 

Abhimanyu looks at her with doubt and asks, “Will he help us?” While she replies, “Why not? Nandini told me about him. He is an honest officer who will help us, I know.” Abhimanyu nods in affirmation and permits to go ahead. 

Palak asks, “Do you have Naira’s phone number? We will fix a meeting with her father as soon as possible.” Abhimanyu nods while Palak talks to Naira and fixes a meeting with her dad. She didn’t tell her about Nandini’s kidnapping. She thought it would be better if she told them everything face to face and also made them aware of their situation of not going to the police station to report it. 

While in the cottage, Aditya is trying to get close to Nandini to make her comfortable around them as she has to live here for at least 3 months until they get their next command. “Acha dinner mai kya khayogi mai le aata hoo…”

Nandini looks at Adi with an amused face while the reply comes from her back. Manik said, sarcastically, “Yeah koi restaurant nahi hai jo tu usse order le raha hai. Chup-chap ja aur jo mile woh le aa.” ( Why are you taking an order from her? This is not a restaurant. Just go and bring anything you get to eat. ) 

Nandini makes a bad face, hearing him. Not able to control her tongue anymore, the words automatically come out in a whisper which was heard by Aditya, “Kuch bhi le aayo par inke liye ek sleeping pill bhi le aana yeah bhut bolte hai…” ( Bring anything but don’t forget to buy a sleeping pill for him. ) 

Aditya widens his eyes hearing her daring comment. Not a single person till now attempted to say anything on his face but this little girl is crossing that line. The respect which he had for her increased ten times. He comes out from his shock and warns her, “Shh… yeah bahut door ka bhi sunlete hai.” ( Shh… He can listen  from far away. ) 

“Kya!” Nandini yelled in shock while she heard another comment from her back which dried her throat and made her cry. ( What! )

“Haa… aur maine sun liya hai. Tum mujhe sleeping pill dena chahti ho?” Manik said with his devilish smile snatching Nandini’s breath who is on the verge of crying. How much will this little soul cry on her Birthday? ( Yes!.. And I heard you. Did you want to give me a sleeping pill? ) 

To be continued…