"Shit shit shit shit SHIT!" Manik shouted as he walked back and forth in the lobby of the hotel. Nandini just stared at the photos in disbelief. "This is bad..this is so so bad..."

"Manik!" A voice called out. Nandini * Manik turned to see Yuvraaj running up to them. "Dude...tune shaadi kar li? Kab? Kaise?"

"What? How...tujhe kaise paata chala?" Manik asked.

"Its all over the news Manik, gharwalon ke baar baar calls aa rahe hai....what do I tell them?" Yuvraaj asked.

"Crap...Im screwed...Dad is gonna kill me. What do I do?" Manik started panicking.

"Tumhe jo karna hai karo...Im leaving. Main nahi manti iss shaadi ko." Nandini said, she grabbed her things and left.

"Arre...wait-" Yuvraaj tried stopping her but Manik held him back.

"Rehne de Yuvi...let her leave." Manik said. "I dont care."

"You should Manik. Puri duniya ke liye woh lakdi ab teri biwi hai...we need to do some damage control and I think thhe way to do that is just accept the marriage." Yuvi said.

"Kya? Pagal ho gaya kya tu?" Manik glared at his friend. 

"Manik...pehle meri puri baat toh sun le." Yuvi replied. "Look...I know tu iss shaadi ko nahi manta hai, infact woh ladki bhi nahi manti as she just now said. Lekin ghar wale? Media? Tere fans? Woh sab iss shaadi ko manenge....especially gharwale. You know how they are...unke liye shaadi ek pavitra rishta hota hai....humesha wala rishta."

"Humesha wala? Seriously? I dont even know that girl!" Manik said. "Aur vaise bhi...mere life mein pyar shaadi...iss sab bakwas ke liye jagah nahi hai."

"Tabhi toh keh raha hoon...accepting this marriage is the best option for you." Yuvi said. "Look...by accepting this marriage, haan thodi der ke liye gharwale naraz ho sakte hai...lekin at least woh log tujhe shaadi karne ke liye pressurize toh nahi karenge na? Because in their eyes teri shaadi ho gayi hai...ghar ke bahar you can live your best bachelor life aur koi tujhe kuch nahi kahenge."

"....Idea toh burra nahi hai...lekin why would the girl agree to this? Aur woh toh chali bhi gayi hai." Manik said.

"Haan toh chal na...dhundte hai usse. I mean...how far can she have gone?" Yuvi & Manik then left the hotel to go look for Nandini.

Meanwhile, Nandini was walking down a road when suddenly she heard shouting.

"Woh rahi! Pakro usse!" Nandini turned around and saw her father's men along with her brother Karan. Nandini turned in the opposite direction and started running.

"Catch her!"

She ran past two alleys before taking a sharp turn in the third and immediately hid behind two large dumster bins. The men followed her into the alley but didnt see where she hid.

"Nandini....come out. Dekho...abhi bahar aao varna tumhare liye bilkul acha nahi hoga. Dad pehle hi bohot naraz hai.....dont make things worse." Karan called out as he looked around. Nandini held her breath, as she pushed herself more into the shadows. After looking for a few more seconds, Karan got annoyed. "LOOK YOU B*TCH...YOU BETTER COME OUT AT THE COUNT OF 3 OR ELSE NOBODY WILL EVEN RECOGNIZE YOUR FACE ONCE IM DONE WITH YOU!"

Nandini peaked out and saw Karan standing in the alley holding one finger up.

"1!"

She slowly picked up a rock and aimed at a spot behind the men.

"2!"

When nobody was looking, Nandini threw the rock which made a sound and everyone turned towards it.

"Shit...woh piche se bhaag gayi! Catch her!" Karan shouted and he along with all the men ran off in the direction they thought Nandini had run.

"Thank god my brother is an idiot!" Nandini sighed in relief. She then came out of her hiding spot and ran in the opposite direction, looking back every two seconds to make sure they werent following her.

As she was looking back, Nandini ran into a hard chest and almost fell backwards. A strong arm wrapped around her waist and caught her in time, thisarm belonged to none other than Manik Malhotra. Nandini was panting and exhausted from running. The last thing she saw before she fainted was Manik's black eyes.

"Yeh toh behosh ho gayi." Yuvi commented.

"Haan, she looked scared...yeh bhaag kyun rahi thi?" Manik wondered. 

"Kya paata...anyways tu chal, iss hotel leke jaate hai." Yuvi replied. Manik scooped Nandini up in his arms and then looked at her in surprise. "Kya hua Manik?"

"She weighs like....nothing. Aisa lagta hai agar maine thoda sa phook maar diya toh uddh jayegi. Koi itna halka kaise ho sakta hai yaar?"

Yuvi just shrugged. Then the boys took Nandini back to the hotel and upto Manik's room where he placed Nandini down and tucked her in. Manik turned to leave when he felt a tug on his shirt and realized that Nandini had grabbed onto it just before fainting. He leaned in closer to remove her hands and got lost in her beauty. Even in that unconcious state, Nandini had a sort of innocence that attracted Manik. As he stared at her he noticed a lock of hair fell onto her face so he gently moved it away with his fingers. Thats when Nandini woke up and...

PUNCH!

"Manik!" Yuvi yelled out in concern as Manik fell to the floor from the force of Nandini's punch.

"AAH!" Manik grabbed his nose which he was certain is now broken. "WHAT THE HELL!!"

"Tum kar kya rahe they huh?" Nandini asked.

"Nothing to deserve a fricking PUNCH!" Manik yelled. "Tum na....behosh hi ache they."

"How rude!" Nandini glared at him.

"Manik!...you...bas karo." Yuvi intervened.

"Excuse me....yeh YOU Kya hota hai? Mera naam nahi puch sakte kya?" Nandini scolded Yuvi.

"Sorry...naam kya hai tumhara?"

"Nandini."

"Ok, Nandini...tum bhaag kyun rahi thi? Kya hua tha?"

Nandini then remembered her brother and his men but she decided not to tell them as she didnt  want to get them in danger. "Main? Nahi toh...aisa kuch nahi hai."

"Jhoot mat bolo...tum bhaag rahi thi and you fainted. Kuch toh pakka hua tha." Manik said.

"Tumhe usse kya? Sach much ka mera paati samajhne laage ho kya?" Nandini replied.

"Ok Ok..mat batao." Yuvi said. "Lekin...we have a proposition for you."

"Kya?"

Yuvi then told Nandini the plan. At first Nandini was about to refuse but then everything around her froze....everything means everything. Manik, Yuvi....even the wind had stopped blowing.

"Soch kya rahi hai Nandu." Nandini was startled to see herself sitting on top of the closet in the room. "Yeh idea tere liye bhi acha hai...Tujhe teri family se door jaana hai na? Yeh Rocktstar India mein rehta hai...tu agar iski biwi banke Dubai se bahar jayegi toh Viren Singhania ko kuch paata nahi chalega. Tum unn logon se...uss past se bohot bohot door jaa sakti hai. You will be safe. Haan bol Nandu...Haan bol."

"Nandini...kuch toh bolo. What do you think of this deal? Tum dono duniya ke liye and Manik ki family ke liye shaadi shuda lekin you can live your own lives...you will live in Malhotra Mansion, sab milega tumhe, just play along okay?"

"Thik hai....I agree to the deal." Nandini agreed and held out her hand to shake. 

"Great...toh apna saman pack karo. Hum aaj shaam ko India vapas jaa rahe hai...get ready to meet the Malhotras." Yuvi told her.

--------------------------------------

Note: Thoughts? Pls comment and let me know what you thought of this chapter.