~When it happens, it just comes off at the most unexpected moment. It- miseries~

-Affu-

In India

Malhotra Mansion

In the front Garden

"This..is your plan?" Nandini stared at Manik's house, standing in front of the huge Mansion. Her eyes roamed around, before stopping at the figure beside her. "Manik! I expected something huge from you..like, arranging a grand meet between your girlfriend, oh I mean fake girlfriend, and your family, somewhere outside, around people." Nandini exclaimed.

"People? Nandini. We don't need attention from people by taking the entire Malhotras to some restaurant and then have a meet with you." Manik reasoned, and Nandini squinted her eyes at him. "Do you consider yourself as Dwayne Johnson that I, Nandini Murthy, is dying to be your girlfriend and then impress your family to do a real marriage with you? I'm sorry, I don't find you attractive enough." Nandini shrugged her shoulders, and Manik stared back at her, angrily.

"Excuse me? Girls would die to be in your place. You should thank your stars that I decided to help you out, by making you my girlfriend." Manik retorted. "Fake girlfriend, that is." Nandini corrected him. "Yeah, whatever it is. You're still, standing by my side, and that's a place girls crave to have." Manik shot glares at her, who stood unfazed. 

"Kyun? Tum Paris ke Eiffel Tower ho, that every girl would want to be by your side? I mean, dikhne mein, you're too tall, but that doesn't make you Eiffel Tower." Nandini pointed out, displeasure filled in her tone, and Manik groaned out loud.

"Forget it! Now, do you remember everything I said? Or you want me to repeat them?" Manik stared at Nandini, tension visible on his face. "Do you know that I've studied in School and University? Because, as far as I remember, none of my professors have repeated something the way you did, so that I can understand! Tumhe teaching mein interest ho tho, batha dho." Nandini deadpanned, and Manik groaned out loud.

"I'm just making sure that you don't mess it up." said Manik, defending himself, and Nandini faked a smile. "Oh yeah! By repeating the same sentence for 50 times. Oh hello Malhotra kaandaan ke shareef aulad, mere kaan repairing keliye nahi diya hain." Nandini retorted, and Manik hit his head on the nearby tree.

"Why me? Why did she even come to me, in the first place? Why, God?" Manik grumbled under his breath, and Nandini bent to come face to face with Manik, whose face was still pressed onto the tree.

"Aye, Malhotra kid. Wake up." Nandini patted at Manik's hairs, who glared up at her. "I'm not sleeping, and neither am I some dog to pat me with your hands." Manik hissed angrily, and Nandini let out a sigh. "Manik! For once, have faith in my skills. Mene apne Appa se jhoot bolke aayi hun India. The person whom I never lied to. And you think I'm not capable of letting your family believe in our drama?" Manik stared at the way her face twitched when she confessed that she had lied to her father to come to India. For sure, her father means a lot to her.

"My family is..large. Yaani, you have a lot of people to keep an eye on you. Your behavior. Our behavior. They can get suspicious about us." said Manik, and Nandini moved closer towards his face, accelerating his heartbeat.

"And that's exactly why I said that we could have been around people. That would have distracted them from digging my life history, just by staring at me or our behavior towards each other." Nandini spoke, smiling too sweetly at him, and Manik looked at her in guilt. 

"Ow! That would have been a better idea, then." said Manik, and  then winced lightly. "Lekin yaar, I thought of not grabbing any attention from people, especially since we're doing a drama. Murthys ke attention, and then from your father or anyone he knows, shouldn't see you with my family, right!" he looked at Nandini, with his lips twitched, and Nandini stared at Manik, quite amused. 

"Tum ithne honest kyun?" Manik looked at Nandini, who was staring at him, with a smile on her lips. A genuine smile. "I mean, you are too sanskari for this world. I gotta say it Malhotra kid..You impress me so well." she added, and Manik held her gaze for a while. "Lekin jithna ye acha hain na, uthna bura bhi hain. As in, anybody can take advantage of the goodness in you. Take care of it." she patted at his arms, and moved ahead. 

While all Manik did was to stare at her. Today, he saw a glint of gentleness in her eyes. In her voice. It was as if, she was guiding him to a right path like some experienced person, when she's just 2 years younger to him.

"You going to stare at me for the entire day?" Nandini frowned at Manik, who got out of his trance. "I don't mind, but my fists would love to taste your lips." She raised her eyebrows, defensively at Manik, who shook his head, before jogging up to reach her.

"Okay." Manik breathed out, and Nandini looked at him and shook her head, before grabbing his hand in hers. "What the..!" Manik yelped, and Nandini rolled her eyes. "Relax! I'm not here to do anything sexual with you." she stared at him, making him to glare at her. "Haven't you watched movies? People in love hold each other's hands. I mean, that doesn't make sense. Like..hath nahi pakda tho bhagne keliye bache hai kya!" Nandini deadpanned, and Manik looked at their hands, before looking up at her.

"You really don't mind holding a stranger guy's hands?" Manik asked, frowning and Nandini stared at Manik. "No!" she replied. "But why?" he asked, surprised with her answer. "I'm not even your friend." he added. "Friends don't hold hands, but heads, so that they could pull each other's hairs out of their scalp." Nandini replied, and Manik let out a chuckle.

"Besides, I don't mind holding a guy's hand unless he doesn't try to do anything intimate with me. I don't hold any random guy's hand for no reason, but with a sensible reason." she looked at him, while smirking. "And you would never try to do anything intimate with me, because you're a sanskari-shy-guy. Mujhe tho aise lagtha hai ki ladkiyan tumhara faida utathe hain." Nandini giggled, and Manik glared at her.

"Oh hello! I'm not any sanskari. I just want to be reserved for my girl." Manik replied, and Nandini smiled. "And that's exactly why you're a sanskari, because you cannot find someone like you in this era. It's like, finding a red fish among yellow fishes." she pointed out, and Manik huffed, before looking back at her smiling face.

There was something special about her smile, and he wondered if the reason is because she smiles rarely and smirks more.

"Ahem!" Manik and Nandini looked up at the voice, only to come to a realization that they were standing at the entrance of the Mansion, with Cabir and Rohit at the door.

"Well! Hello there, lost-smiling-teenagers." Rohit teased, and Nandini bit onto her lips hard, so that she doesn't open her mouth to give a counter attack to Rohit's comment.

But then, she kept staring at Rohit. He was one person, whom her father loved so dearly. If Raj was his best friend, then Rishi was his younger brother whom he supports in everything, while Rohit was his spoiled youngest brother.

Shekhar was always so fond of Rohit, and she wondered why!

"Er..Hi Papa." Manik smiled nervously at Rohit, and then at Cabir, whose gaze was fixed at Nandini. "So you are the dho-din-girlfriend?" Cabir questioned Nandini, whose gaze shifted from Rohit to Cabir.

"What?" Nandini looked at Cabir, questioningly. "No, actually Bhai just got a girlfriend in two days. Dho din pehle thak koi girlfriend hi nahi thi." Cabir gave a sarcastic smile to Nandini, who realized the meaning behind his comment. "Cabir! Bola tha na mene. I wanted to tell about her when everyone was present, which was yesterday. Besides, we just started dating 2 months ago." Manik reasoned, while grinning, and Cabir was still staring at Nandini.

"Oh! So that's the thing! Arey, apko samajna chahiye ki ye koi online ke pimple-free mask nahi hai, to have a girlfriend in two days. Its more like an acne treatment for 2 months, to get rid of pimples." Nandini replied, and Cabir stared at her wide-eyed, and so did Rohit.

"Yaani, we are in a relationship for 2 months, and here we are to meet all of you. Bas dho din mein meeting realistic nahi lagtha na? I mean, who introduces his 2-days-girlfriend to one's family?!" Nandini pointed out, and Cabir felt tongue-tied.

Manik palmed his face, in exasperation.

"Wow! That was a first time. You just shut my son's mouth." Rohit stared at Nandini, in amusement. "I cannot shut your son's mouth, for it's not my computer. Unko khud karna hai muh bandh karna." Nandini replied, being too honest, frowning at Rohit's humor sense. "Your humor sense isn't that good, like Manik said." she added, while remembering how her father always said Rohit can make anybody laugh out loud.

"Whoa!" Cabir looked at Nandini, and then pressed his lips together to stifle a laugh which would have escaped his mouth, after staring at his father's stunned face.

"Nandini!" Manik pulled her to his chest, and she looked up at him, wondering when did Manik throw out the sanskari in him. "Ye Papa hain. You know, he's not aware of your speaking skills." Manik smiled down at Nandini, too sweetly and she saw the plea in his eyes.

"But I was just being honest. He has to improve his humor skills." she replied, and Manik wanted to scream at someone. "Oh don't worry, Uncle. I'll teach you how to be the best at it. My Appa and I are the best at irritating others, and we believe that irritating one will lead the viewers to laugh out." Nandini stared at Rohit, and spoke enthusiastically, but he was lost in her words.

"You believe that?" he asked, and Nandini bobbed her head unaware of the fact that whatever Shekhar has taught her, was taught to Rohit too.

"Well, that's a cool thing. That's something Dad taught me as well." Cabir wondered out loud, and Nandini's head snapped towards him. "Your Dad taught you the same?" she asked, widening her eyes a little bit, and then looked back at Rohit, whose gaze was now softened, and fixed at Nandini.

"Marr gayi, Manik. Marr gayi." Nandini whispered to Manik, who bent to her face and then smiled too sweetly at her. "Nandini! Don't tell anything about your Appa's lessons in here. Yaha ke log unke students the." Manik replied, and Nandini gulped while staring in his eyes. "Mein tho bhool hi gayi thi." she replied, and he chuckled while staring at her scared face.

"Rohit? Cabir? What are you guys doing at---" all four turned to the voice to see a shocked Anjali, staring at the entwined hands of Manik and Nandini, whose position was quite intimate.

"Oh my God!" Anjali looked up, at Manik and Nandini's faces, which now depicted horror, on seeing the stunned expression on her face. "She is she?" Anjali stared at Nandini and then at Manik. 

"Well, she can always be a She, Mamma. She can' become a He, just because we say it otherwise." Cabir replied, and Nandini stared at Cabir. "Not bad!" she commented, and he looked back at her, who smirked at him, and Manik pulled her more closer to stop her from opening her mouth again.

"Anju Ma! This is Nandini." Manik walked inside his home, and stood before Anjali. "My girlfriend." he announced, and Anjali stood dazed, leaving Manik and Nandini to worry about the outcome of this meeting.

***

"Nandini is her name?" Harshvardhan asked, and stared at Manik and Nandini, who were seated on a two-seat couch, with the family sitting opposite to them.

"Yes!" Nandini replied, and then stared at the family members. She couldn't help but feel emotional on seeing those people whom her father adored so much and took as his family. Her roaming eyes were stopped on the right, where the youngsters were seated, which includes some unknown faces as well. But what caught her attention was the smiling face of Mukti, who was ready to pounce on Nandini, any second, as she was busy grinning at her.

Nandini smiled at her, whose grin got wider! Surely, Mukti approves of her, even if the family didn't.

"Why is your name Nandini? Do you know who kept that name for you?" Nandini turned to face a lady, whom her mother called her best friend. Nyonika Malhotra. "It was my Appa who kept that name for me. I never asked him why. I don't ask him the reason for anything that he does for me." Nandini replied, and she felt Nyonika's eyes boring into her. The lady was fierce and observing, with gentle eyes.

Just like her mother described Nyonika to be!

"Appa? You're a South Indian?" Arpita asked, and Nandini looked at the woman, whom her father talked little about, as he left India, when Arpita just entered Malhotras' lives. "Yes." she replied, although she was just part South Indian and part Bengali.

"Oh! We are friends with Murthys, a south Indian family. You would fit with us, quite well." Anjali stated, and Nandini stared at her. "Oh, I've met him. Mr. Yashjeet Murthy." Nandini replied, and they stared at her wide-eyed, before looking back at Manik.

"Uh..Yash Daadu was at their hospital, when I went to meet Nandini. I mean, she works there." Manik said, and Mukti and Shravan squeaked. "She's working in a hospital?" they cried out, and Manik jumped in his place, before glaring up at them.

"Yes! I'm a Gynecologist, and that's why I work in a hospital." Nandini replied, frowning, and the duo squealed like kids. "Oh my God! She's a doctor." Mukti beamed. "We are pursuing our career in medicine, as well." Shravan said, and Nandini's frown deepened.

"And I thought you guys don't approve doctors in your family, when you squealed like kids." Nandini commented, and Manik shook his head. "They get excited when they see a doctor." Manik said, and Nandini nodded.

"We're also doctors." Rohit said, while pointing at himself and his wife. "Oh yeah! Manik told me about it. I also know Mr. Sooraj Murthy and his wife, your friends, since I work in their hospital." Nandini said, and Rohit nodded.

"And Sooraj Bhai never said anything about a certain Gynecologist who's interested in my nephew." Rohit said. "Because Sooraj sir doesn't know about any certain Gynecologist who's interested in your nephew, but only about a certain Manik Malhotra, who comes often to meet the new Gynecologist of his hospital." Nandini replied, with her tone so casual, and Manik stared at her.

Rohit sat gaping at her.

"He never told me in that way, either." Rohit said, and Nandini patted herself mentally, for she knew Sooraj is going to be trapped once again. "I don't know the reason." she replied, smiling sweetly at him.

"Um..It's been only a few days since Nandini has started to work at Manjeet Lifecare, and I wanted to make sure she was getting adjusted with the new environment and all. You know, she's new to India." Manik answered to his family's unasked questions.

"So where exactly is she from, if she's new in India?" asked Arijit, and Nandini squinted her eyes at the unknown face. "London!" she replied. "I'm from London. I was born and brought up in there. Isiliye mujhe India ke barein mein zyada patha nahi hain." she added, and Arijit stared at the couple, blankly.

"You met her in London?" Abhimanyu raised his eyebrows at Manik, who breathed out a tired sigh. "Yes! Remember I had a business meet in Canada, 2 months ago? I'd gone to London from Canada, due to certain circumstances." Manik lied, and Arijit tried hard to remember if Manik has ever told him anything about his visit to London, not that Manik shares his routines with him, but being a perfectionist, he never changed his schedules for any damn circumstances.

"Waise aap log aise questions kyu pooch rahe hain? I mean, we haven't done anything wrong, by hiding it from you, right? Or..did we?" Manik asked, exasperatedly and Nandini squeezed at his hands, faking a smile. "Actually, he was very tensed about introducing me to all of you. I can understand, it's his first time doing something like that, but he's also going hysteric thinking about all the negative possibilities with this meeting." Nandini tried to calm Manik down, through her eyes, but it seemed like he wanted to get away from this fake-meeting.

"Nahi bete! You haven't done anything wrong. Baath aise hai ki..humara Manik bohath naazuk dil ke hain, isiliye hum nahi chahthe wo koi galath ladki ko choose kare. Aise nahi ki hume aap pasand nahi hain. Aap achi bachi hi hain.(The thing is..Our Manik is soft hearted, hence we don't want him to choose a wrong girl for himself. It's not like we don't like you. You're a good girl.)" Harshvardhan stated smilingly, and Nandini, for the first time after entering in Malhotra Mansion, felt loved.

"Ji, jaanthi hun. Manik doosron ke help karne keliye kuch bhi kartha hain.(Yes, I know. Manik can do anything to help others.) Even if that meant, hurting his morale. Jab koi apna, unke zyada doosron ke barein mein sochthe hain tho, hum unke liye zyada worried hothe hain.( When our loved ones think more about others than themselves, we tend to worry more about them.) So it's quite natural of you to be worried of his choices, and I don't mind getting interrogated like how it's happening now. Yaani, ye two way bhi tho hain. Just like how I'm answering to all your questions, he's bound to answer to my family's questions, as well. I really don't mind." Nandini spoke, with a smile playing on her lips.

Harshvardhan stared at Nandini, with a kind of different glint in his eyes. Although he believes in his principle, of not trusting people so easily, he wanted to put trust in her. She seemed to be worthy of it!

While the situation for others was also similar. They were starting to approve Nandini for Manik, except for Nyonika, who's still busy staring at Nandini.

"Phir teek. Kyun bachon?(Then its fine. What about you, kids?)" Harshvardhan looked back at his kids, to see them staring back at him. Nyonika and Arpita looked at Anjali, who smiled mischievously at them, before looking back at Manik and Nandini.

"If Manu has chosen her, then there should be something in her. Hum unn parents mein se nahi hai, jo shadi jaldhi karne walon se hothe hain.(We don't belong to those parents group, who do early marriages.) We would like to see you dating her for a while, Manu. After all, pyar ke bagair koi relationship bhi nahi. And it's been just 2 months since you've started to date. Thoda aur date kar.." Anjali said, before walking towards Nandini and then pulling her up, to her feet. "Every love story has to go past the hurdles, to be strong. Isn't it, Nandini?" Anjali patted at Nandini's hands, who stared at Anjali, and then at Manik, who was still seated on the couch.

"Yeah, you are right." said Nandini, and Anjai's smile widened. "But I also believe in something else. If a Love story is meant to be, whatever the couple face is not called hurdles, but living their lives together. Yaani, pyar jithne bhi strong ho, zindagi tho jee rahi hai, aur zindagi hamesha khushiyan aur gham ko balance karke tho hai. (It means, no matter however strong love is, you're living a life, and life is all about balancing happiness with sorrows.) That happens to be applicable for married couples as well. Warna divorces nahi hothe na." Nandini explained, whatever was taught to her, by her mother, and Anjali seemed impressed.

"Kaafi janthi ho tum zindagi ke barein mein. (You know enough about life.) I'm looking forward to know more about you, Nandini." said Anjali, smirking, and Nandini smiled at her. "Kyu nahi..Anju Mom!" she said, and Anjali's eyes widened in surprise. "Hope I can call you that." Nandini added, and Anjali smiled at her. "Sure! After all, you're Manik's girlfriend." Anjali replied, and Nandini smiled back at her, while Manik stared at the drama, anxiously.

"Women never give you a chance to understand them, dude!" Manik muttered to himself.

"So, it's time." Harshvardhan moved forward to stand beside Nandini, and Anjali stepped back. Manik too stood up, and then stared at the box in his grandfather's hands, before looking back at Nandini, who had her gaze fixed at the very same box.

"Time..for what?" she gulped down, before looking up at Harshavardhan. "It's a..ritual in Malhotra family." said Manik, and Nandini looked up at him to see him giving an apologetic smile to her. "Whenever a Malhotra brings their partner at home, for the first time, they get to..exchange..rings." Manik added, and Nandini's eyes widened at him.

"What? Engagement kyu karoge tum?" Nandini cried out, and Manik didn't know how to calm her down. "And you're not ready for a..marriage?" asked Nyonika. "No. I mean, my parents are not here." Nandini replied, gulping down. 

"Oh don't worry bete. It's not engagement. It's like an engagement. It's just a Malhotra ritual. We don't bring a partner to introduce to our family, unless we're sure about the relationship. Since Manik is sure about you, its like he's claiming you as his, forever." Harshvardhan said, and Nandini gulped down again. "After all, girls do get proposed with rings, nowadays. Don't they?" Harshavardhan smiled gently at Nandini, before forwarding the box to Manik.

"Manik! Go on!" Hardhavardhan opened the box for Manik, who stared at the ring in anticipation, before grabbing it from the box. He looked down at Nandini, who wore a similar expression on her face. "I'll apologize to Appa and your Bhayyus, for this." Manik muttered to her, before holding her hand in his. She looked up at him, who stared right through her eyes.

He mouthed a 'sorry', before slipping the ring in her left hand's ring finger, and she shut her eyes tight. It wasn't any engagement. It wasn't any proposal. Yet, this was the first time a guy was making her wear any jewellery, especially a ring, and that meant a lot to her.

"Now, your turn." Harshavrdhan forwarded the ring to Nandini, who took it with a shivering hand. She stared at the ring, and then though of her parents. 

She couldn't do it.

But when Manik forwarded his hand to her, she remembered the promise she made to her mother, for bringing back happiness in her father's family.

And that was enough for her to slid the ring in Manik's ring finger.

"And there it is." the family clapped their hands, but with different expressions on their faces.

"What you waiting for, Malhotra? You forgot the ritual or what?" Rishi asked, and Manik smiled at Rishi nervously, before looking down at Nandini, who was staring at the duo, in worry. "What..else?" she asked, with her voice cracking. "Manik!" Arpita encouraged, and Manik mouthed another 'sorry' to Nandini, before bending to kiss her forehead.

And that stopped the time for them. 

The moment his lips touched her skin, she knew her life was changing. The moment his lips touched the tingling skin of hers, he knew she was going to be someone important to him.

And they wondered what really they are!

***

How was the chapter?

I would like to know if you're finding any difference in my writing skills for this chapter, compared to the previous 7 chapters. Dunno why, but I felt rejuvenated after writing this chapter.

Love,

Affu.