In Dixit's Palace

Relationship has only one literal meaning and that is being committed to someone or having a relation with a particular person. But when it comes to how to maintain a relationship then they follow their heart's wish. Everybody have their own likes and dislikes and a particular character and so they would select a partner who can understand them..

Manik and Nandini too had a different relationship. They can understand each other even after being opposite from each other. But ego separated them. Manik was repenting on listening to his Ego while Nandini believed that they were never meant to be and so got separated..

Nandini was sitting with her Papas and friends and having a chat with them..She just stopped thinking of Manik 6 years back. She knew thinking of past will only lead to her destruction. While Manik was sitting lost in deep thoughts, he didn't know how she is able to smile even after having a chat with him as he was not at all in a mood for the party. That was one difference between them, she never shows her emotions in front of her family or the world while he shows it out in frustration and anger which will lead to his own destruction..

Soon M5 were on the stage for their Album launch..

Sid ( shouted ): So, guys..ready for our Valentines Day Album launch..??

" Yes "

Arya ( excitingly ): What are we waiting for then..let's launch it guys..

The Projector was kept on and the video started..

" Valentines Day Special "

Title: You're still the one

When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after all this time, you're still the one I love.

( Soha was shown on the sea shore singing but the voice was Nandini's and Arya was lying on the sand with a smirk on his face..)

Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come, my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

( Soha and Arya were romancing in the ocean..They were all cozy and Soha was fully on Aryamann..)

They said, "I bet they'll never make it."

But just look at us holding on
We're still together, still going strong

(you're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(you're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

( The song was ended with showing both Arya and Soha under the sheet cover sleeping with a peaceful smile on their faces..)

And the song got ended making the viewers clap in extreme excitement..The whole song wasn't shown..And so once the CD gets out in Paris then every CD's will be sold out the next moment..

Dev ( shouted ): So, how was it..?

" Awesome "

Nandini: So excited..

"Yes "

Soha: CDs will be out by tomorrow..

" Yayy "

Soon the party got over after having a wonderful dinner..Everybody went to beds soon after the dinner as they were dead tired, especially M5 and AbhEsh since they were the main people who hosted the party..

Next Day ( 6 A.M. )

Cabir and Dhruv were awake as they couldn't sleep appropriately since they didn't have dinner last night because of the drinks which they had just before dinner while Manik was sitting on a swing lost in deep thoughts thinking how to win Nandini's heart again, when CabRuv spotted him..

Cabir ( called out ): Manik..

Manik turned back to CabRuv and moved towards them in confusion..

Manik: Tum log yaha kya kar rahe ho..?

Dhruv: Arey, we are hungry that's why we were just going towards the kitchen..but why were you sitting there all alone..?

Manik: Nothing much..I couldn't sleep properly..

Cabir smelled something fishy but then decided to leave it..He could take it out form Manik some other time but now his stomach was growling in hunger..

Cabir: Chal chod..hum kitchen jaa rahe hai, tu bhi aa hamare saath..

Manik nodded and went with them..they reached the kitched to see it empty, there were no workers, they opened the fridge to see only chocolates and breads which were not enough for their hunger..

Cabir ( whined ): Ab kya kare yar..

Dhruv ( glared ): Mene bola tha kal tujhse ki drink math pee par tune suna nahi, oopar se mujhe bhi pila liya..mere pet mein chuhe dhod rahe hai..

Cabir ( annoyed ): Tere pet mein chuhe hai par mere pet mein billi dhod rahe hai..

Manik: Acha teek hai, ab ladna bandh kar..ab kya karna hai wahi soch..

Cabir got an instant idea and he smirked..

Cabir: Chal, mem saab ke kamre mein jayenge hum..

Dhruv and Manik stood confused..

Dhruv: Kon Mem saab..?

Cabir ( sarcastically ): Yar maana ki yaha ek King hai, Virendhar Dixit par unhe bas ek Queen thi..aur wo ab iss duniya mein nahi, sirf ek beti hai tho iss ghar ki maalkin wahi hui na..

Manik ( shocked ): Kya tum Nandini ke bare mein bath kar rahe ho..

Cabir ( grinned ): of course..

Dhruv ( sighed ): Cabir, wo hume kyu help karoon..she hates us..

Cabir ( smiled ): Maybe you think like that, but Fab 5's pillar is someone close to her heart and also she is not a witch but a human being, according to me she won't push us away..

Cabir moved forward while Manik and Dhruv followed him asking him not to go but he shrugged it off..They reached Nandini's room, before Manik could pull him off, he knocked on it, that too a loud one..

Manik ( glared ): What the hell Cabir..? Wo so rahi hai..she was tired..

Cabir ( raised his eyebrow ): Mathlab tujhe patha hai wo hame help karegi..right Manik baba..

Manik looked here and there..

In Nandini's room

Nandini was sleeping when she heard a loud knock on the door jerking her off of her pretty sleep..She didn't hear any knocks later so she again lied on her pillow but the knock was again heard..She groaned in utter annoyance and sat on the bed..

Nandini: Ye Abhi Bhai bhi na..mujhe tang karne ke alawa aur kuch kartha hi nahi..

She woke up in full angry mode but yet sleepy eyes and wore her shrug since she sleep only in nightwear without a shrug, she opened the door and shouted..

While the boys have stopped fighting when they heard the door's ' click ' sound and looked at it when the tigress opened the door..

Nandu ( shouted ): Ab kya hai Bhai..

But then she saw it wasn't her Abhi Bhai but FAB 3 whom she is supposed to hate..

Nandu ( surprised ): Tum log..

Cabir ( awkwardly ): Uh sorry to disturb, we will come some other time..Maybe you are in a bad mood..

Nandu ( interrupted ): No, its fine..what do you need..?

Dhruv ( looked at Manik ): Nothing, right Manik..

But Manik was jut lost in her..She saw him gazing at her in shock..She got confused..She looked at him again when she found him checking her out..She looked at herself and noticed that he has never seen her in such attires..

( Imagine it till her things with the shrug tied on it )

" Damn, does she always sleep like this, I mean, in such clothes..I have seen her chatting with Dad in a short dress but this is something more than I have expected..God, why does she has to make me lose my control..She looks beautiful even in this morning messy avatar" thought Manik..

Cabir ( shook Manik and shouted ): Manik..

Manik ( stared at Cabir ): Huh..kya hua..tum chilla kyu rahe ho..

Cabir ( sarcastically ): Taaki aap apni duniya se bahar aa sakthe..

Manik ( glared ): What non sense..?? Main koi duniya mein nahi khoya hoon..

Before they could continue their fight she interrupted them..

Nandini ( annoyed ): Didn't you get anyone else other than me to show how good you are in fighting..

Dhruv ( apologetically ): We are really sorry to disturb you..Cabir come with us..

Nandini ( irritated ): Will you guys be quiet for some time..Cabir..why were you here..?

Cabir ( scared ): Uh, actually..we were hungry..

Nandini ( pointed at herself from top to bottom ): Do I look like someone who produce food..?

Cabir ( confused ): No..

Nandini ( sarcastically ): Then am I a refrigerator that you thought of knocking at my door and get food from me..?

Cabir ( nodded in No ): No..nothing like that..actually we couldn't find the workers so I told them that you could help us, you can ask the workers to get some food for us as you are the lady of this Home..

Nandini ( narrowed her eyebrows ): Why are you hungry at this hour of morning..?

Cabir ( grinned ): Actually, we didn't have dinner yesterday since we were full with drinks..

Nandini stood there shocked while Manik and Dhruv were still pulling Cabir in not to get help from her..

Nandini ( sighed ): You are so much like Arya..Fine..gimme a minute..

Saying this she went back to her room..

Manik ( glared ): Cabir..what was the need of asking her..

Cabir ( angrily ): Yaar, maana ki wo teri kuch lagthi hai par iska mathlab ye nahi ki main usse kuch maang nahi saktha, bass wo servants ko bulayegi aur kaam khatham..

Manik scratched at the back of his neck and nodded while Cabir and Dhruv were noticing all his expressions, there was some difference in him but they just couldn't find it out..

Nandini ( interrupted ): Come with me..

They turned to find Nandini is the same nightwear but her hair was tied in a messy bun but the boys were confused seeing her moving downstairs, though they followed her..They reached the kitchen..

Nandini ( expressionless ): You guys can occupy seats on the dining chairs..

Dhruv ( confused ): Um Nandini..why are you here..? I mean..you didn't call the workers..?

Nandini ( turned to boys ): The workers won't come in the kitchen until its 10 a.m..Wait for 15 minutes..I ll get the food..

The boys stood there amazed..She was never treated good by them in India, even after coming to Paris, especially their gang's girls knew only to insult her and here she is offering to make food for them..

Manik ( awkwardly ): No, its fine..we will manage to make the food..

Nandini ( raised her eyebrow ): I want my kitchen clean and clear, it shouldn't look like a place which just witnessed a world war..Which is why I am not gonna allow you to work in the kitchen..

Saying this she started working, while the boys looked at her in amazement..They smiled after knowing that she is still the same old Nandini, the only difference was they believed her to be a middle class girl but in actual she wasn't..They occupied their seats while she was indulged in preparing food..

Cabir: Um Nandini..if you don't mind can I ask you something..( She stared at him and nodded) Why 10 a.m..I mean its too late for breakfast, Dad used to say that business people should be early..

Nandini: Its Holiday today, Paris is the city of Love and so they give a lot of importance to Valentines Day..business world gives 3 days holidays for Valentines Day..And during Holidays, we will wake up only after 9..

Cabir ( sincerely ): Sorry..You had to break your sleep..I just got to know that you are a sleep lover the moment you lashed out when we came to get help from you..

Nandini ( sighed ): You don't need to cabir..you are my guest and Dixits never ignore their guests, we are ready to do anything for the betterment of our guests..And regarding my anger, it wasn't for you..I thought its Bhai, he is ready to pull my hair even in the middle of the night..

Dhruv ( smiled ): The only difference between Nandini Murthy and Nandini Dixit is the attitude right..Nandini Murthy was shy but Nandini Dixit is straightforward, or else they are same..

Nandini ( nodded in No ): Nope, there was no difference between Nandini Murthy and Nandini Dixit, cause Nandini Murthy was just a character, she was fake..Whatever you have seen in her was nothing but wrong..Cause she had Nandini Dixit in her, who is very arrogant and a born fighter..She had to act shy because of her Dad's and Papa's orders..

Manik was just listening to her, he knew that she was right but not fully because whatever she had for him was no fake, he has understood it the previous day itself..

By now, Nandini was done with preparing the food. She kept the food on the table and poured juice for them..

Manik: Its fine, we will do it..

Nandini ( still pouring juice ): Its kinda my duty...no matter if the person whom I am helping is my friend or enemy..

Manik kept his mouth shut but still stared at her, while she finished pouring the juice..

Nandini: Here you go..

They looked at the food only to get impressed..cabir could just smell them in excitement..

( one person's food )

Nandini ( apologetically ): Um, I had only 15 minutes so I couldn't make more..abhi keliye bas iss adjust kar lena..Don't worry..by 10 a.m. you will get a proper breakfast..

Cabir ( disbelievingly ): Are you serious..this is more than enough for us..

Nandini ( smiled ): Okay, then you may proceed..

She went to complete the after work of cooking while the boys started to eat..They kept a morsel in their mouth and moaned..

Cabir: Delicious..I am telling you Nandini, your husband is gonna be lucky..

Hearing this, Manik spat his juice while Nandini looked at Cabir in disbelief but then chuckled after looking at Manik..He was literally glaring at Cabir like he would eat him alive..

Dhruv ( chuckled ): Buddy, are you all right..?

Mnaik ( sarcastically ): Do I look like I am not fine..?

Dhruv ( coolly ): Absolutely yes..

Manik glared at him and started eating again, while Nandini too started her work..

Cabir ( awkwardly ): Between Nandini, I came to get your help in the morning but I never expected you to make food for us..

Nandini ( stared at him ): Why is it so..?

Cabir ( sighed ): After whatever happened back in India...I thought you were still mad at us..

Nandini ( chuckled ): Maybe, you failed to notice the real ME..

Dhruv ( sighed ): Nandini, even I didn't expect you to prepare food for us by yourself, I mean..we were never good to you..I am serious..

Nandini ( ever jolly ): Even I am serious Dhruv..Its true that I don't want to have any kind of relationship with you, especially after having lots of tiffs with you guys back in India, but it doesn't mean I will forget that who I am..I am Virendhar Dixit's and Chhavi Virendhar Dixit's daughter..And they taught me to respect elders and be kind to people younger to me or same as my age, even if the person is my enemy..And you aren't any enemy of mine cause I know the meaning of that word and by God I really have lots of enemies..

She was saying all these things with her ever jolly look, she wasn't complaining, she wasn't showing hatred, she wasn't crying or in tears. She is known for her smile, the smile which will never leave her face even if she is in sorrow and so now also her smile didn't leave her face..

Cabir ( changed the topic ): Between, don't you want to know about your ' best friend '..

Nandini ( smiled at him ): I never thought you guys will get married..

Dhruv ( shocked ): You knew..

Cabir ( shocked ): Don't tell me that she was in contact with you all these years..

Nandini ( giggled ): No Cabir, she wasn't..I am getting details about her from Papa..especially Akash Papa and Pops..they love her a lot..

Cabir ( smiled ): You seem to be very close with them..You know, sometimes I feel jealous..

Nandini ( stared at him ): And why do you get jealous when you, yourself are the reason for the distance between you and your father..?

The boys looked at her in surprise..

Dhruv: What..? We are the reason..? What are you talking about Nandini..?

Nandini ( sighed ): You guys really take a lot of time in understanding someone's point of view..ain't you..?

Manik snapped his head at Nandini, he knew she was talking about him and now his friends are also following his path, interesting..!!

Cabir ( sighed ): Nandini, please elaborate..how can we be the reason behind our parental and children relationship..? I mean..we never did any mistakes..it was them who never cared about us..

Nandini ( stared at him ): Like really, my papas are the reason behind your relationship issues..Didn't they tell you to stay with them in Paris..? Didn't they ask you to follow what they teach you..? Didn't they ask you to leave India and continue your studies in Paris..? Why do you think they wanted you to be with them..? Well, you really thought that they wanted to intrude into your happiness..But, will you name your happiness..Partying for the whole night and bullying students in college..if that's what called happiness then its the new definition for that word..

The boys gaped at her in amusement..This Nandini was furious. Of course she will be, according to her all her Papas are just like Viren for her..And she wouldn't hear anyone accusing them, no matter if they are their own children..

Dhruv ( sighed ): Nandini, they knew we wanted to live in India..

Cabir: Exactly, we wanted to stay in India..That was where we lived..

Nandini ( sighed ): So, living in India was much important than being with your fathers..right..?(They went silent )..You have no answer right..You never wanted to be with them, you always thought your fathers are responsible for your broken childhood..I have no idea what made you think like that, but surely they were not the reason..I have seen them craving for your love, and it had one more reason..reason of not having a wife..All of them were left with children, alone..but they were abandoned by their own children..

They couldn't meet her eyes..It was truth too..they always thought that their fathers are the reason for their childhood..No mother, no father and so no family but they just forgot that they were invited to stay with their fathers but it was them who said 'no' to it..

Nandini ( smiled ): Love has a deep meaning..There is no life without love..aur bohath kismathwale hona chahiye pyar milne keliye..I have seen many people who roams around telling they don't have a father, neither mother or sibling nor friends..they are just alone..if they had at least a friend they would have made that person as their family and here you guys have your fathers with you but you don't want them to be with you and blaming them for your broken relationship with them..

They were sitting with thoughtful faces..

Nandini: Chalo, ab jaakar so jaa..its going to be only 7..You still have 3 more hours for breakfast but before that pooja will be there, if you want you can attend it..

All 3 guys got up and they washed their hands and she was about to move out when his voice stopped her..

Manik ( stared at her ): Tumne kaha ki bohath kismathwale hotha hai jiske paas pyar karne keliye koi hai, par jisse hum chahthe hai wahi agar hamare sath nahi rehna chahthe tho..iska jawab hai kya tumhare paas..?

She stared at him for a minute and got to know that he was talking about her decision to stay away from each other..While Cabir and Dhruv stood there confused..

Nandini ( stared back at him ): Hai mere paas jawaab..jab koi tumse door rehna chahthe hai tho iska mathlab, ya tho wo tumhe chahthe nahi ya tho wo sabke bhalai keliye kar rahe hai..Aur tumhe uske peeche jaana chodna chahiye..

Mnaik looked at her with pain in his eyes while she avoided eye contact with him..Cabir understood the situation and nudged Dhruv to move out..

Cabir: Thanks Nandini, we will leave..Dhruv..chalo..

Dhruv ( nodded ): Yeah, thanks Nandini..

They both left while Nandini was also about to leave when he stopped her again..

Manik ( smiled ): Aur main uske peeche jaana chodoonga bhi nahi..

She stopped in her tracks but didn't turn back to him while he washed his mouth and moved forward and passed by her when she stopped him this time..

Nandini ( sighed ): Kyu kar rahe ho ye sab..maine bola tha Manik, ki mujhe meri zindagi jeene do..

Manik ( turned towards her ): Aur main apne aapse bola tha ki meri zindagi mein koi ladki hai tho wo tum hi hogi..

Nandini ( glared ): Jis rishthe mein trust nahi, uss rishthe main koi achayi nahi rehegi..aage badne nahi dega..beech mein toot jayega jaise pehle hua tha..

Manik ( sighed ): Pichle baar mere wajah se toota hai, I asked you to leave from my life but this time I won't let you go..I wouldn't do such a mistake..I have trust in this relationship, ab teri baari hai..tumhe trust karna hai iss relationship pe..

Nandini ( disbelievingly ): Bakwas..sirf bakwas keh rahe ho tum..tum ek kaam karo..yehi rehkar iss relationship pe trust karo jo aage kabhi nahi badega..I am leaving..

She was leaving when he held her hand making her eyes go wide, she looked at his hold and then her surroundings..

Nandini ( glared ): What the hell Manik, leave my hand..koi dekh lega tho kya sochega..

Mnaik ( coolly ): Yahi ki Nandini Dixit ki zindagi mein koi ladka tha par wo sabse chupa rahi thi..

She looked at him with horrifying eyes while he was smirking at her..

Nandini ( glared ): Manik, just stop all these things okay..I don't want anyone to know about our past..Especially Dad and Pops..

Manik ( glared ): You listen Nandini Dixit..You need to stop running away from me and if you don't then I won't stop coming back of you..And your Dad's and Pops' friendship won't be broken..but I won't stay away from you..

Nandini ( held her head ): Aiyappa..Look Manik..Why don't you understand..

Manik ( looked at front in shock ): Oh shit Viren uncle...

Nandini stopped her rants and looked at him in shock and then turned to front with scary eyes but then saw no one there..She made a confused face, before she could voice it out, she was shocked again because....

he kissed her on cheek........

She stood still and looked at her right slightly to see him standing behind her near her ears..

Manik ( smiled ): Thank you for the ever sweet breakfast Miss Dixit..

Saying this he went away while she stood there shocked without reacting, slowly her hand went up to her right cheek and touched where he kissed..

Nandini ( pouted ): Did he just kiss me..!!!

To be continued..