For all those souls who were dying because of the cliffhanger, I love your enthusiasm! Lol! :P This will string up that bit, and hopefully traumatise you less. I have to mention though, this story was written to stir emotions so beware of the last part :( 

Also, I feel like I'm not able to connect with you guys enough these days, so I'll add a discussion forum from now at the end of each chapter, to gather the key points and perhaps mini-Psychology lessons (not very lecture-y though) just to understand what you guys think of the storyline. Does that sound good? 

Thank you for all the support and love. Every vote makes me want to rescript the story and entertain you further. You deserve so much more than this, and I can't wait to hear back from you! Yay! 

---

Nandini

Rumors that there was a celebration at Manik's cabin fled around the campus. As far as I knew, we were working together. There was no way he would be entitled to do something out of the box without my consent. He couldn't be rewarded then, for no reason. Anyways, to see what the fuss was all about, I headed to his cabin.

The entire floor was empty. Free cake ke liye sab bhaag gaye? (Did everyone run for free cake?) I'm not blaming them though, the offer does seem tempting. Torturing myself by imagining the size and flavor of the cake, I found myself walking faster than ever! From a distance, I could see the incessant flashes reflecting through his translucent cabin. Getting through the crowd was almost impossible. My height was no good either. Where was Manik when I needed him? Oh wait, I'm going to see him only!

Holding onto two unknown shoulders, I pushed myself up to see beyond the tall heads. People were never nice with me, so a second later, I was knocked off carelessly. I was resilient but quite offended. "Ow!" I yelped in order to gain some sympathy, but gadhe ne peeche mudkar dekha hi nahi! Gaining balance and helping myself, I spotted Manik's spiked hair being clutched tight. Knowing Manik, that was something he did when he was super tensed. I scanned through the assembly and found Mr. Mehta at a slight distance.

I was worried and to be honest, quite enraged. His presence, especially after that revelation, was going to mean only problems. I thought of yelling through the crowd and making my way in. That would seem like the most immature approach to be with Manik. I tried to act sensible, for once! I pulled out my phone, dialing Manik's number. Within one ring, the call connected.

"Naina... tumne usko kahin dekha hai?" (Naina... have you seen her anywhere?) My name, which would come so naturally to his mouth, wasn't called out. His trembling voice and hesitant actions gave away too much. My body tensed up uneasily. What happened to my baby?

I peeked through the space between a few arms. He was sweating profusely. Seeing Manik like that instantly frightened me. If there was anyone in the world who could protect her, it was only him and if he was that afraid, I couldn't guarantee my baby's safety.

Yet, I had to think before I acted. In normal circumstances, I'd be the one flapping like a bird and running around sweating blood to find her but in those normal circumstances, Manik would be strong and unaffected. Here, Manik was not in a state to comprehend anything. Naina was not in his range of vision, which scared him. If I panicked too, nobody could help him; I needed him to give me the strength to hold myself together. My trembling hands had to be the least of my concerns.

"Manik, yeh sab ho kya raha hai?" (Manik, what is happening?) I wanted details. If I needed to backtrack and find our daughter, I needed to be aware of what the occasion was in the first place. In such a crucial moment, to him, it seemed like a ridiculous thing for me to ask. Anything concerning Naina was all he was interested in. He thought I'd be helping him, or perhaps consoling him but my irrelevant questions bothered him.

He growled, stomping his shoe heel on the ceramic tiles below. "I asked you a question!"

"Relax... Manik, just calm down." I was breathing heavily, trying to count to five each time I spoke a sentence. "Yahi kahin hogi..." (She'll be around here somewhere...) Manik's vicarious agony however couldn't comply with my unconvincing consolations. He let out a deep, strained whine, running his other hand through his hair. He was looking around for signs of her, but nothing gave him the needed peace.

"Naina..."

To confirm my suspicions, my eyes shifted to my useless father. His eyebrows scrunched up, and by the look of it, he seemed equally clueless and worried about the mishap. He wasn't a man who could be trusted, at least with matters concerning me.

"Manik... please tum wahan se niklo." (Manik... please leave from there.)

Since none of my words assured him of her safety, he began grieving again. His waterline glistened. Earlier, if there was anyone who could make him cry, it was me. Naina was his new weakness. An unsettling feeling arose in me.

"Naina kahan hai?" (Where is Naina?) I felt a twist in my heart, seeing him in so much pain. I couldn't express my desperation in any other way. So I yelled at him, or on him.

"Manik, main andhar nahi aa sakti! Please just come out of there, please. We'll search for her, you just come out." (Manik, I can't come inside!) My dire pleas somehow signaled that I was equally terrified. He grabbed his jacket and bumped into the crowd, trying to find a way out. I stepped back, to help him identify me easily. As soon as he escaped them, I clung onto his bicep, giving him all the physical support I possibly could. There was an audience, but neither of us could care about it when matters concerned our little one.

"Nandini... Naina ko kuch nahi hona chahiye! I swear..." I cut him off while shaking my head negatively. I grazed his cheek, feeling his prickly stubble against my thumb while staring into his sullen eyes. The little physical gesture calmed him down a tad.

"She's your daughter, Manik. Kuch nahi hoga usko. Come..." Dragging him by his arm, I led him out of the vicious monster's vicinity. For some reason, I was convinced that Mr. Mehta had something to do with the entire situation. That man could never change.

***

Navya, as Manik believed, was in an important meeting with her teammate's people manager. He'd just come to visit HyLyte with a project in mind, and before he made his mind, he wanted to have a look at what happened in the campus. She was presenting a slideshow to him, about our web design project.

Her phone pinged, and generally she wouldn't look into it. Generally, she'd focus on giving her best at work and then attending to personal commitments only during breaks. That day, she was the only one presenting on behalf of the entire team. There was a lot of pressure on her to hold onto that one new potential client. In situations like those, both she and I were similar. Her talking stopped awkwardly, for one entire moment.

She did what she normally would never do, and that was checking her phone in between the meeting.

The man was admonished. To him, or to anyone, it was highly unprofessional to do that. He felt deeply undermined. To her good luck, it was actually a productive message that could entice him. "This week we achieved massive appreciation from our clients. There is a party going on right now, if you'd like to visit our manager." He shot a formal smile, nodding.

Considering she singlehandedly had to corroborate the team's past projects and its success, she did a brilliant job. She did everything on her part to entertain him and give him a copious amount of information to help him make his decision better. She led the way to Manik's cabin.

The eerie silence in the party floor made her suspicious. Yet, she scanned her ID on the 'entry' touchscreen reader of the floor. Through the crowd, Manik was still easily detectable, with me clinging to the side. She was blown at the public display. She didn't know what to tell him. He looked at her for answers. He wasn't pleased.

"Who is the party for?" His tone was condescending. For the first time, Navya's efforts had been questioned and judged upon. None of what she said about the company mattered to him. That man couldn't stand the sight of two people distressing about something that put off the rest of the people in the room. Moreover, our proximity could be questioned and misinterpreted, or probably just correctly judged. Personal relationships shouldn't grow in the workplace.

Navya's heart broke as she saw the two of us dramatically exit the vicinity, dismissing all her effort. To be honest, we'd let her down and I, more than just once.

***

At the same time, just as we exited, Mr. Mehta's mobile phone rang.

"Dad! How was the surprise?" He helplessly sighed. Naina going mysteriously missing bothered him just as much as it bothered us. Naina was almost like a part of the HyLyte family but nobody noticed how she went missing all of a sudden.

He didn't want to disappoint his daughter though. "He liked it, beta!" Sonali was hyped. She cheered to herself a couple of times and then played with her hair like a little girl.

"Okay listen, I'm coming in!" She was interrupted.

"Sonali, woh Naina ko dhoondne gaya hai!" (Sonali, he's out there looking for Naina!)

"What?"

***

Our footsteps echoed around the room. Manik and I were speeding across the empty hallways, checking every floor and informing the handful of staff of the only missing baby in the campus. The building was almost empty as such, after my command to evacuate it. It couldn't be that hard to find, if only I hadn't broken one of my heels in the whole running mission. Springing to the floor, I clutched my ankle and yelped. "OW!"

Manik paused too, taking a short break to calm his raging breaths. We'd gone over 20 minutes, sprinting for our lives because our daughter mysteriously went missing. It was the first time in 20 minutes he even realized he was away from his baby for that long, and she wasn't entirely safe. He wasn't sure. It freaked him out. His hands tensed on his knees as he bent to catch some air. A sharp cut in his voice was distinctly audible. "Kahan ho sakti hai woh?!"

I closed my eyes, to let his soft voice reverberate through. "My shirt is still wet, but not because of her!" My heart felt a prick when I could understand the depth of his analysis. My eyelids formed folds as I stressed them together. When I opened them, I could see no hope. He was on the floor, wailing like a little child. The Manik I loved, the Manik who was always strong, was foreign to me then. Sweat puddles were embedded on his shirt, along the collarbones and below the nape of his neck. To see him that helpless pained me so much.

What if I had already lost him? What if he actually wasn't mine anymore? What if his daughter possessed his heart, and treated him right? What if he was never going to commit again? What if he was happy without me? What if... Manik wasn't mine anymore?

"Nandini, main marr jaaunga!" (Nandini, I'll die!) It was as if he was answering my questions.

Instantly, I let go of everything holding me back. Everything. "Tum pagal ho, Manik?" I wasn't just agitated. My world almost revolved around Manik entirely. It terrified me to think he wouldn't be there with me. What would I do without him? I clasped his hand in mine tightly, unwilling to let go. Maybe I could never let go. I stared into his weeping eyes, which were shut closed. "She'll be okay. She trusts you. She knows you'll never leave her side."

At that moment, I knew I wasn't speaking about Naina. Whatever I told Manik was a reflection of myself. Assurance, I was trying to fight my wounds and believe in something I never did before. I was trying to conquer my fears. Rebuilding myself couldn't be possible without his help. Without my knowledge, though I never wanted to, I had become so dependent on Manik.

"She's an infant, Nandini. Usko kuch samajh nahi aata hai, she doesn't know anything. Why do you think I tell her age in weeks? She's younger than you think she is." (She doesn't understand anything, she doesn't know anything.) She was a little over four months and could hold her little head up for short periods of time.

"But she's our baby, Manik. She understood my reasons..."

"No, she didn't!" He slapped his thighs before another sentence left his lips. "She... blindly loves you... Nandini."

"And you don't think she loves you the same way?" His grievous eyes met mine. Suddenly, my vulnerability did not matter. Somewhere deep down, something told me not to give up because of my fears. Something told me every struggle was worth it. What if my struggle with Manik was also worth something? What if, just maybe, I could get him to fight his inner fears and look for our baby the same way I was fighting with myself to conquer my insecurities? It was too deep a thought to pay heed to in a distressed moment like that.

There were so many unspoken statements. I needed warmth. Comfort was what I longed for. I was scared to request for his consent. Actions spoke louder than words did. His shirt was half undone with the running, giving me a discreet view of his sinewy torso. Forget it Manik, I want you now. Nervously, I grabbed his button strip, fisting it and tugged forcefully, when he was least expecting it, making me drop to the floor. Before he could respond, his hands already touched the floor. He used them to support his body weight, without pressing onto me.

To be precise, his chin was over my collarbone. It gave me so much peace to smell the air his scent flew in. I withdrew my hands and using the insides of them, I touched the sides of his neck. Affectionately. His ears fit in the gaps between my index and thumb fingers, while the rest of the gaps were cushioned with his messy, but smooth hair. Manik was almost dazed with the caresses. It was almost just the two of us again. He was almost giving in, almost.

He was an inch away from my lips. In that heat of the moment, nobody would've thought either of us would say something but impulsively, he whispered something over my face. "Love is never enough."

"MANIK!" The shriek pulled me back into reality, where it wasn't just us. We were at work. We weren't at Premiera, where everything between us was accepted. We were in Manik's office and if anyone spotted us...

Thankfully, it was just Navya. Manik still got up, sitting on his knees and breathing heavily. He had given up looking at me. It was as if he was ashamed of being caught with me. I looked up at Navya, to find her bubbling with anger.

Flipping her dupatta over her shoulder, she sprinted towards us, and pulled Manik's arm violently. "What the hell is wrong with you, Manik?" She was literally yelling. I never saw her that mad before. Even then, I was a little jealous at how she was behaving with him. "Do you even realize you're at work?"

The way she was screaming bothered me. Even I never scolded him that much before. I felt a little sorry for initiating the trouble. He was held accountable for our gestures in the end, which I thought was quite unfair. "It's..."

"I'm talking to my best friend, please." Manik held her wrist to stop her from saying anything more. She withdrew her hand aggressively. "Tumhari wajah se we lost a project! Be happy now, party!" (Because of you, we lost a project!) Manik was listening without any protests. To be honest, he couldn't say anything in defense. He thought he was responsible for everything, and I felt guilty because he was taking the whole blame upon himself when I was responsible for it. "Ab sabko pata chal jaayega about you two, then you can party even more! Daaru chahiye, bolo?" (Now everyone will get to know about you two, then you can party even more! Maybe with some booze too, huh?) Navya huffed loudly twice, and then stated the obvious.

"Naina kahan hai?"

***

Manik

"I just hope she's okay." Nandini chattered non-stop, hopping with her broken heel in one hand. It was because of her that our speed went down from 12 floors in 30 minutes to 1 floor in 10 minutes! At one point, Navya and I decided to let her sit down somewhere while we continued searching but Nandini began crying and complaining about us ditching her, and not including her in our plans. Stupid girl!

"The whole building is empty, why are we even searching here?"

"She isn't outside!" I answered Navya's query, supposedly ignoring Nandini's statement. So, she had to comment.

"Yeah, she might be crawling inside somewhere."

I stopped for a moment in disbelief. "She's four months old! 19 weeks! She can hardly sit up on her own!" I spat, rolling my eyes at her stupidity. What have I married myself into?!

She snapped her fingers as she pondered upon an idea. "But she can do pushups! I think she's in the gym."

"OH MY GOD!"

Navya was pressing her giggles but not for long. A moment later, she was patting my back and laughing very loudly, holding her stomach. Nandini was just so stupid, what to do? "Sacchme, you both are perfect for each other!" Nandini craned her neck to look at me innocently. If perfection meant flawed, we were perfect. "Don't worry, Naina ko kuch nahi hoga... jab tak aise parents hai uske, I know for sure."

We were back on the floor where my cabin was. We'd already gone over all the floors once, and I was starting to panic. Naina, please come back to Daddy. I promise I will never ever leave you alone again.

No, actually... if you come back to Daddy, Daddy will stay away from Mommy. Yes. Please, Naina...

And then at a distant room, I heard a soft baby coo. It was as if destiny wanted Nandini and I to split again. We never patched up, but somehow I made peace with that. I didn't expect an apology from Nandini. I honestly didn't want a confrontation either. I didn't know what I wanted, but I didn't expect. I wanted her, maybe, just maybe... but I didn't want to put myself there again.

I could feel goosebumps underneath my sleeves at the irony. My baby girl... If that is what you want... "NAINA!" My feet skipped off the floor without any reluctance. The AC breeze pulled against my cheeks as I darted against it, but I didn't give up. I just went on and on, only hoping my daughter would be just the way I'd seen her an hour ago. When I couldn't feel my feet anymore, I was there, in a foreign cabin smelling like paint, with a back facing me.

I wanted to grab my baby and hold her close to me, feel her heartbeat, check for any wounds or feel her wet lips, and find solace in her existence, but I didn't. I wanted to see her drooled smile, kiss her madly and assure her that no evil could come close to her, but I didn't. My body heated up like a furnace with guilt. I couldn't make those promises when I couldn't keep them up.

The sound of a few bangles jiggling reached my ears. I shut a mouth closed by gesturing with my stretched arm. I could see Naina lying quietly in a pair of arms, gaping at a new face. Her baby tongue licked her lower lips, which already were amply moistened and then gurgled, emanating a deep tone of acceptance.

My eyes filled up with tears. The last hour had been the most stressful hour of my life. I was away from my little girl and not sure where she even was. I still didn't know if she was safe but something told me she was. Something told me to give another chance. All he managed to say was... "Nandini..." in a delighted, reminiscent tone.

Nandini, who just ran in while doing all she possibly could to keep her cool, was blown. She never expected him there, forget holding our baby. Naina gave him one brief look, and then giggled to herself, with her fist shyly covering most of her mouth as her eyes intensified. She always did that to familiar faces. At that moment, in my eyes and in my baby's, he was raised to a noble soul. 

---

DISCUSSION TIME! 

Lately, I've been in a place where I'm counselling myself to feel more positive and happy, and I think it all begins with you. People say time heals everything, but I think the mind is a stronger weapon. The second you accept that what you're feeling is normal, and that you don't deserve it, you try to defeat what's holding you back. I wrote the ending on those lines. Was the ending good enough? :P What are your thoughts about this?

I'd like to just say thank you for being there with me, throughout the ups and downs. This story is a reflection of what most of us (including us) might feel on a regular basis (perhaps a tad more exaggerated) and I want people to relate to this story as much as possible, just to tell ourselves that we aren't alone. Every character here has something that aligns us with reality, ourselves and provokes self introspection.

On that note, I highly encourage you to write anything and everything that makes you feel that a particular line is so relatable, or a particular sequence describes exactly how you'd react if you were that character :P Are you more like Nandini or more like Manik? Please let me know! ;)