Cabir was laughing hard, rolling on Manik's bed as Manik told him what happened the night before.

"Saale...tu kyun nahi tha wahan? I mean, Dhruv ne tujhe bhi invite kiya tha na? I had an excuse....what about you?" Manik asked.

"Arre main aaya tha....but traffic ki vajah se late ho gaya so you had already left." Cabir laughed.

"Haan aur tumhe idea bhi nahi hai kitni mushkil se main aur Nandini wahan se nikal paaye." Manik sighed.

"Aur Nandini....gussa toh nahi hai na?"

"Woh gussa kyun hogi?" Manik asked.

"Dude....tune usse apni mangetar se apni vidhwa bhabhi bana dala.....gussa hona toh banta hai. Are you SURE she isnt angry?" Cabir asked.

"Actually.....paata nahi. I mean kal raat toh I dropped her home and then aaj subha abhi tak baat nahi hui." Manik replied.

"Hmm...and kal ghar jaate time koi baat hui? Like...in the car?" 

"Nahi." 

"Not even a good night?"

"Maine bola tha....she didnt reply." Manik shrugged.

Cabir sighed & smacked his forehead. "Tu na...gadha hai number ka."

"What?" Manik looked offended.

"Woh gussa kyun hogi?" Cabir mocked Manik's voice. "Idiot....CLEARLY gussa hai! Kal raat se usne tujhse baat nahi ki and you didnt even realize????"

"Yaar mujhe sapna ayega kya...ki Abhi aur Dhruv aa jayega? And we had to hid our relationship varna...you know. Woh gussa kyun hai?" Manik asked.

"Unfortunately na main uske dimaag mein rehta hoon na woh MERI mangetar hai. Manik mere bhai....its YOUR job to find out how Nandini feels and why. Aaj humme office bhi nahi jaana hai so go and talk to her. Manna usse." 

"Yeah...you're right." Manik nodded.

****************************

"Oh come one Di...isme bechare Jiju ki kya galati hai?" Navya asked.

"Seriously....Bechara? Navya...tu meri behen hai." Nandini reminded her.

"Toh maine kab kaha nahi hoon....but still, you're being unfair with him."

"Usne mujhe apni vidhwa bhabhi bana diya.....I was wearing a RED saree and we were having a romantic candle light dinner. Paata nahi Abhimanyu aur Dhruv kya soch rahe honge mere baare mein...ke mein kitni characterless hoon."

"Lekin Di, tumne toh chehra chupaya tha na so technically Dhruv aur Abhimanyu Manik ki BHABHI ko characterless samajhe rahe honge."

"It was still me!"

 "Yeah but...." Navya started to protest but then she got surprised seeing something and her mouth slowly fell open.

"Ab tujhe kya hua? Kya dekh rahi hai tu?" Nandini turned around and her mouth also fell open. There behind her, standing on her balcony, drenched in rain..... was Manik. "M...Manik???"

Nandini quickly opened her balcony door & pulled him inside. "Tum yahan? Woh bhi balcony se? Itna barish ho raha hai Manik tum pagal ho gaye ho kya? Fever ho jayega..."

"Nandini I-"

"And tum yahan se aaye kaise? Gate pe koi nahi tha kya? Upar se tum gir vir jaate toh? Chot lag sakti thi Manik."

"Lekin main-"

"Normal logon ki tarah front door se kyun nahi aaye?"

"Main-"

"Bolo na Manik! Chup kyun ho?" Nandini asked.

"SHHH!" Manik clasped one palm over her mouth, leaning over her. "Tum do minute datna band karoge toh main bol sakta hoon na?"

"I'll just go." Navya smirked as she spoke up. Manik & Nandini both looked at her. "Dont worry Jiju...aap continue kijiye, main ghar mein kisiko nahi bataungi!"

After she left, Manik turned to Nandini. "I like her...kaafi supportive saali hai meri nahi?"

Nandini replied by stomping on his foot, making him let go.

"Ow!!" Manik yelled out, quickly stopping himself from being too loud. "Yeh kis liye tha?"

"Mera mann kiya...iss liye." Nandini shrugged.

"Im really sorry about yesterday Nandini...." Manik sighed.

"Oh so you finally noticed?" Nandini taunted.

"Wait...are you angry because of yesterday or are you angry because maine notice nahi kiya that you were angry???" Manik asked.

"Dono!" Nandini said. "Ek toh pehle date tha which we had to cut short because of Abhimanyu & Dhruv...uske upar tumne mera pura character assassination karwa diya....USKE upar I was silent the WHOLE way back and you didnt even notice!"

Nandini pouted angrily and Manik let out a laugh which only made Nandini more angry.

"Sorry sorry....I shouldn't laugh right?" Manik said, noticing Nandini's glare. "Actually tum gusse mein kaafi cute lagte ho."

Hearing him, Nandini forgot all about being angry and started to blush & smile slightly. Then she realized & controlled herself.

"Yeh kaam nahi karega Mr Malhotra...." Nandini told him.

"Ok, I will make it up to you...I promise. Lets redo the date? How about....coffee shop chalte hai abhi? XYZ coffee shop?"

"Ok done....baarish bhi rukh gaya, tum gadi leke toh aaye ho right?" Nandini looked outside.

"Of course."

Manik & Nandini then snuck out from the balcony so that they wouldnt have to explain how Manik got there.

As they climbed down from the balcony, Navya saw them from the window and widened her eyes. Neelam & Rakesh, were sitting on the couch with their backs to the window. Seeing Navya's reaction they turned to see behind them but Nandini quickly ducked behind the bush, pulling Manik down with her.

"Nandini....hum tumhare parents se kyun chup rahe hai? I mean...unko toh paata hai hum dono ki shaadi hone wali hai."

"Haan lekin.....Mumma aur Papa kya sochenge tumhare baare mein if they find out you came through the balcony?? Tumhare image ka toh band baj jayega na?" Nandini replied. Manik felt so happy seeing her worry about what her parents would think of him. Nandini slowly poked her head out and saw that Navya had engaged their parents in a conversation to distract them so she & Manik then ran to Manik's car.

Once inside the car and a bit far from the house, Manik & Nandini started laughing.

"Wow....it's like hum dono teenagers hai....ya phir college students!" Manik laughed.

"I know...bechari meri behen. Humare chakkar mein kitna kuch karna par raha hai usse." Nandini added.

"Aur wahan Cabir bhi mere liye cover kar raha hai." Manik replied.

"Kyun?"

"Actually Mom Dad mujhe apne kisi dost ke ghar leke jaana chah rahe they but I wanted to come here so I told them I was sick....and Cabir abhi mere bed mein hai, covered in my blanket & pretending to be me." Manik explained.

"Oh no....I hope woh pakra na jaaye." Nandini said.

"Dont worry....Cabir expert hai iss sab mein." Manik assured her.

To Be Continued...

Not gonna lie, Im a little stuck on this story plus Im feeling sick & my brain isnt really braining so I dont think this update is my best work but it is what it is.

I will try to finish this story by the next part or two....cause it getting a bit too long.