“I need to go the college and wrap a few things up. I don’t think I can get back here until a week. What are you guys going to do until then? Our flight is in the evening at 6 PM” Appa said.

“Nandini can you take me around?
I have never been to chennai” Manik asked her.

“Sure. that’s a great idea. I am
sure you’ll love my city” she said excited.

“Okay. Manik there’s a room
upstairs. You can use that” Appa said.

“Sure Appa thanks.. Achha appa
what was the shock you were talking about?” Manik asked.

“What shock?” Nandini asked as
she didn’t know about their conversation.

“Give your mother the chance to
let you know about that. She hasn’t granted me the permission” Appa said and
went to his room with a naughty smile.

“What are they planning?” Manik
asked looking at Nandini.

“That only they know. Achha the
room on the upstairs, this is the key. Fresh ho ke neeche aa jao and then we
can go” she said giving him the key. He took his bags and went upstairs.

----------

Manik

I thought it would be a difficult
task to convince him. But it was easy weezy. But what was the shock slash
surprise he was talking about? What could they have planned? My mom is a
killer, now wonder she would have told him something.

Keeping all these things aside i
need to think about Alya and Shivam. What could Shivam’s reason be behind
kidnapping Nandini? As Vikas said it wasn’t just the relationship.

Knock knock! There was someone at
the door.

I opened and it was Appa.

“All well? You need anything?” he
asked.

“Nai Appa, I was just going to take
a shower. Are you leaving for work?”

“Yeah, socha tum se mil ke jaoon”

Nandini got her smile from her
dad. He smiles the same was as she does.

“Appa you’re fine right?” I asked
him. The next moment, he hugged me tight and started crying.

“Appa, appa why are you crying?”
I asked.

The intensity was only
increasing.

“Appa please calm down, kya hua
hain? Did i do something wrong?” I asked.

“I was so scared Manik. She is
the only person i have, I was scared to death when I couldn’t find her. No such
thing is going to repeat right? I can’t imagine a life without her” he said
pulling off.

“Appa, aisa kuch nai hoga. Our
love for her is so strong, nothing can separate us from her. Please stop
worrying” I tried to convince him.

“I can’t see her suffer Manik. You
know why i was so adamant about talking to you when she told me that she likes
you...like before you guys started talking. I was scared. Unknowingly she
started to attach every happiness of hers with you. Her hopes of getting you
were increasing with every passing day. I don’t know about others, but we sure
share a special relationship, and she was always frank and open with me. I gave
her that freedom. And that is why she used to tell me every single thing about
you”

That moment when he was talking i
was feeling so emotional and lucky to have found a girl like her, to find a
father like him.

“I didn’t want to see her sad. What if you never had such strong feelings for her like she had? She would be heartbroken. And that is the last thing I would want to see”

“I never knew she loved me so much, I mean I could see it in her eyes. But every single time appa, we avoided eye contact. Trust me when I say this, every single word you said, was true with me too. Appa she could atleast share it with you, but mere liye koi nai tha, i couldn’t even talk to mom about it. Imagine my condition” I said.

“You both are stupids. Totally” he said hitting on my head.

“Appa, please never shed tears again. Jab tak Manik hain, Nandini ko kuch nai ho sakta. Take my word” I said holding his hand.

“I know that. I trust you completely with her. And Manik I am sorry once again. I hope you understand” he said.

“Of course I do. So you don’t have to be sorry. You did your job as a father and I did mine as a boyfriend. See pataa liya na aap ko” I said.

“Haan haan” he said with that smile.

“I like you better this way” I said.

“Okay then, I hope you will like the city. Enjoy your mini outing” he said and left.

Baap beti ek dam same to same hain.

Sweetness ki dukaan.

I took a shower, changed and went downstairs.

She was talking to the maid, in tamil. Her lips were moving so fast.

Unakku ungalku blab la bla... I couldn’t understand a word.

All I could notice was her beauty. In a new avatar, a white chudidar. I have never seen her wearing that.

I was standing there smiling at her like a fool.

The maid was looking at me and asking something.

Are they talking about me?

“What is she saying?” I asked Nandini.

“She is saying that you look handsome” she said.

“Really? Thankyouuu” I said doing the Namaste.

“Welcome” the maid replied.

“Bye” she said and closed the door.

“Was she really saying that?” i asked as she walked up to me.

“Do you think i lied?” she asked.

“Nai, aise hi pooch raha tha. Anyway, you look beautiful. White looks great on you” I said.

“Thankyou.  And i think we match” she said looking at her dress and only then i realise, we were wearing same colours.

“Acha where are you taking me to?” I asked.

“Zyaada kuch nai. I’ll take you to my college, my favourite hangout spots and then we’ll have lunch and go to the beach. What say?” she asked.

Beach was the most interesting part.

“Cool. Let’s go. Do we need to call for a cab?” I asked. I know there’s just one car and Appa drove it.

“Not needed. I am going to drive you on my scooty” she said showing me the keys.

“Are you kidding me?” I asked her.

“Definitely not. Chalo ab” she said holding my hand.

“Nandini, you want me to sit behind you on a two-wheeler? You think I would be okay with that?” I asked.

“Why wouldn’t you? That’s the best way to go around the city. Don’t worry, I have a scarf for you in case you want to protect yourself from fans” she said.

“How thoughtful. But Nandini i never sat on a two wheeler, not on the back seat at least”

“There is a first time for everything Manik” she said and locked the door and brought her grey red colour activa.

“Tum mujhe giraa toh nai dogi na? I need to be physically fit to make a living” I said before getting on it.

“Chup chap baitho Manik. Bohot bolte ho tum” she said and started the bike. I got a mini heart-attack when it screeched.

“Woh kya haina, it’s been a while since someone used it, Isii liye aise ajeeb sounds nikal rahe hain” she said.

“You’re scaring me now”

“Hold on tight, here we go” she said pulling the bike out of the gate. Using her right leg, she oushed the gate for closing. She is a stunt master.

“Oh my god Nandini. Slow down please” I was scared to death.

She is a terrible driver itni speed chala rahi hain.

“Manik, jab tum care chalaate ho, mein kuch bolti hoon kya? Tum kyu itna over react kar rahe ho” she asked.

Over react? I held her waist with one hand, super tight and the other hand was on that rod behind. My fists were wrapped around it.

She pulled the bike aside, and removed her helmet.

“Manik, tumhe sach mein darr lag raha hain ya aise hi mazaak akr rahe ho?” she asked turning back.

“Nandini promise yaar sachh mein darr lag raha hain, mein kabhi two wheeler pe baitha nai” i said.

She laughed hysterically, may be i was looking funny.

“Okay fine, I will drive slow. Tum aaram se baitho aur enjoy karo” she said and put her helmet back.

We reached her college.

She parked the bike in the parking stand and we both walked inside.

“That’s my block. My class was on the third floor, acha chalo i will show you something” she said and we walked toward the block. There was a big black board with names printed on it in tamil.

“The name on the last but one, is mine, i was the topper of my batch, so this is the board that has the names of all the toppers” she said proudly.

I took a picture of that board.

“Your dad must be really proud of you” I said.

“He is” she said.

We walked around the college and she took me to the principal’s office.

“Can i come in Mam?” she asked and the principal could recognise her voice.

“Nandini. Such a pleasant surprise” she said welcoming us.

“Hello mam. I was here for a couple days, so I thought may be I will pay you a visit” she said.

“That’s great. And this is?” she asked pointing toward me

I took out the cap and glasses and introduced myself.

“Manik” I said.

“Hello Manik. It’s a pleasure meeting you” she said shaking hands with me.

“So the not-so friendly nandini finally managed to get a handsome boyfriend” she said and all nandini did was blush at her comment

“Well i must say you did a good thing by rejecting all the proposals you received here in the college” she said.

“So you approve him?” Nandini asked.

“That depends on what he does for a living” she said.

“I am an artist. Specifically into music” i said.

“Musician and an engineer. Good combination. Well nandini where did you meet him” she asked her.

“He lives across my apartment and mam, we don't want to hurt his ego. You know he's a big name in the movies. Everyone in Mumbai recognises him and here even in Chennai he has fans, it's your bad that you're not interested in movies” nandini warned her.

“Oh hello. I don't have any ego” I clarified.

“Manik i am really sorry. I don't watch movies much and that is why I hadn't recognised you. I'm sure my daughter knows you. She loves music too” she said.

“That's okay mam. It feels good to be normal sometimes” i said

“Okay mam we'll take a leave” nandini said

Mam gave us pens that had the name of the College written on it.

“It's like a small souvenir. Sorry i don't have anything else” she said.

We clicked a picture and made our way out.

“She's such a sweet lady” I said

“That's because i already graduated. When i was studying she was so strict”

“Where to next?”

“Why do i feel tired?” She asked.

“You're tired? Let's go home. Chuck chennai outing” i said.

“Nai nai. It's okay. We'll have lunch somewhere. There's no food at home and I can't cook now” she said.

“Toh I'll cook na”

“That's so sweet of you,but i wanted you to have proper tamil food”

“Miss Murty, this is not going to be the last time I come here. Ab se toh aana jaana rahega hi” i said.

“Okay let's go home. I'm sorry” she said with a sad face.

“I'm glad we can go home and spend some time together” i said.

“Together? What do you want to do?” She asked.

“What do you think i want to do?”

“How would I know?”

“Guess karo. Hum tum ek kamre mein band ho, toh kya kya ho sakta hain”

“Manikkk” she said glaring at me.

“What manikk? Bolo na” i said hitting her shoulder with mine.

“Road hain ye” she said looking around.

“Acha toh isii liye you wanted to go home. I understand now. Chalo chalo phir” i said.

“Kitna twisted hain tumhaara mind” she said hitting on my head.

“Heart bhi twisted tha. Par tum ne aake sahi kar diya” i said

“Shuru ho gaya flirting session” she said starting the bike.

“Can you drive?” I asked

“Mein neend mein bhi drive kar sakti hoon” she said.

It took us almost 30 minutes and we reached home.

"Acha nandini i wanted to tell you something" i said. We were in the room upstairs lazing on the bed.

"Bolo na"

"Shock mat ho jaana sunn ke, aur agar kuch galat kaha to maaf kar dena okay?" I said before hand.

"Theek hain baba now tell me"

"Nan unna kaatalikkiren" i said. Never in my life i struggled for words as i did now.

"Hahahhaha... Aww manik. Where did you learn that?" She asked.

I love you. That's what i said in tamil. It took me 20 minutes to learn those three words.

"Google bhai zindabad" i said.

"Can you say it again?" She asked

"Naan unna kaatalikkiren" i said again. I by hearted it now.

"I love you too... You're such a sweetheart Manik" she said kissing my cheek

"It's a reward" she said

"Okay then I'll learn something more difficult, iss se achha waala reward milega nai?" I asked. Greedy much!

"Iss se achha kya reward ho sakta hain?" She asked.

"The one i got for my special breakfast. Waise lunch time almost ho gaya hai" I said going closer.

"One track mind hain tumhaara, nai?" She asked

"Ya... nandini track. It never gets diverted" i said giving a quick peck on her lips.

"Manik" she said and accidentally slapped me.

She slapped me?

For kissing her?

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