In Chopra's Villa

Eva walked where Manik and Cabir were standing, who were sweating badly after seeing her smirk..

Cabir: Um, Manik..ye koi private investigator nahi hai, so, we don't need to get scared, right..

Manik ( nervously nodded ): Haa haa..bilkul nahi..

Eva stood in front of them..

Eva ( smirked ): Hello..Mr. Cabir Malhotra..

Cabir ( gulped ): Hello, Mrs. Mukherjee..sorry to ask but do I know you..?

Eva made a " are you serious " look on her face..

Eva: Kuch dher pehle mujhe Mrs. Mukherjee bulaya phir aap hi pooch rahe hai ki kya aap mujhe janthe hai..Ji nahi, aap mujhe bilkul bhi nahi janthe, in fact main bhi aapko nahi janthi, mein tho ai vayi aapko Cabir Malhotra samajke bulaya..

Cabir plastered a stupid grin on his face while Eva turned to Manik..

Eva: Oh, how are you, Manik Malhotra..

Manik ( fake smiled ): I am good..How're you, Mrs. Mukherjee..

Eva ( nodded ): All good, waise, aap yaha kya kar rahe hai..?

Manik ( rubbed his nape ): Yaha..umm yaha, bas roaming..haa roaming around..

Eva ( raised her eyebrow ): You think we just changed our home to a Jurassic World that you thought of roaming to get to see some dinosaurs..??

Manik ( nodded in No immediately ): No..its like..we just wanted to meet you..

Eva: Meet me..?

Manik: Arey nahi, whole Chopras and Mukherjees. This colony belongs to you people and we are staying here, so we should have a meeting with your family..

Eva ( nodded ): Wo bhi tho hai..

Cabir ( fake smiled ): Waise, aap kya karthi hai..

Eva ( straight face ): Fishing karthi hoon..

ManBir made a surprised face..

Eva: What..? Jab aap mujhe aap dono se baath karthe hue dekh rahe ho tho ye sawal poochna zaroori tha kya..?

Manik: Arey, he meant, what's your profession..

Eva: Mein tho already married hoon, then what benefit will you get after knowing my profession..normally aunties and uncles ye sawal poochthe hai..

Cabir ( grinned ): You ask questions like an advocate..

Eva ( shrugged ): Don't you think your guess should be right..

Manik: You are a lawyer, so..

Eva: Oh yeah..In fact, we have 3 lawyers in our family,including me, Elisha Mukherjee and Iksha Chopra..

Cabir ( muttered ): Lagtha hai iss pariwar ke ladkiya pichle janam mein criminals ki beewiyan thi, tabhi tho crimes se ithna pyar aaya hai..

Manik heard it and he stomped Cabir's foot to shut him up while Eva stared at him with suspicious eyes..

Eva: Aapne kuch kaha..?

Manik ( interrupted ): Nahi, kuch bhi tho nahi..waise, aapko koi kaam nahi..

Eva ( annoyed ): Abhi tho aapse bola main ek lawyer hoon..

Manik: Nahi, wo kaam nahi, ghar ka koi kaam..

Eva ( smirked ): Kyu..mujhe yaha se bhagaakar, meri best friend ke saath phir se ladai karna hai kya..?

Cabir: We knew none of your best friends..

Eva ( sarcastically ): Acha..? Tho kya aapka ye Bhai jo coconut tree ke tarah lambha hai, meri honewali bachi ko reject kiya tha kya..?

Cabir and Manik stared at her in shock..

Eva ( innocently ): What..? Nandini Chopra ko jo reject kiya, wo Manik Malhotra nahi tha kya..?

Manik ( fumbled ): Uh..wo..wo actually..wo..

Eva ( frowned ): Bachpan mein Hindi pada nahi kya, ye wo wo karke bath kar rahe ho..

Cabir ( sighed ): Jaise apa humse questioning kar rahe hai, ye dekhke hume samaj mein aaya hai ki bohath ache lawyer hai..

Eva ( sarcastic grin ): Thanks for your not-so-impressive appraisal but I am not gonna take any of your cases, in case someone murdered you because you have a very bad sense of humor..( turned to Manik ) and you, I have my eyes on you..meri best friend ko reject kiya na, ab bhuktho..

She walked away while Manik and Cabir breathed a sigh of relief..

Cabir ( scowled ): Yar tujhe aur koi ladki hi nahi mila. Khud ek Private Investigator hai aur apne Bhai aur Bhabyian bhi Crime related professionals. Koi doctor ya singer nahi mila tujhe shadi karne keliye..

Manik ( glared ): Ussee profession ke wajah se tho hum dono ek doosre ko pehli baar dekha hai..

Cabir: Pehla Nasha..Pehla humaar..Naya pyar hai..naya intezaar..Beta, aap intezaar karthe rehna, kyunki wo ladki tujhe Nandini Chopra thak pohachne mein dikhath laakar hi rahegi..

Manik glared at him and Cabir was no less in glaring.. They both sighed and parted their ways with " I will see you later " looks on their faces, as they were called by Nyonika..

In Upstairs

Malhotras were having a tour of the villa and each of them were moving individually. Manik reached upstairs and soon collided with someone..

Person: Ouch..

Manik turned back and spoke without seeing the person..

Mnaik: I am so sorry..It was an accident..

The person looked above and got surprised..

Manik: Uh, Mrs. Zaara Mukherjee..

Zaara ( confused ): Tum yaha kya kar rahe ho, Manik, right..

Manik ( nodded ): Ji..we actually came to meet everyone aur Mrs. Chopra asked us to have a look at the villa, so I was just passing..I swear..It was an accident..

Zaara ( raised her eyebrow ): And, why should I believe you..?

Manik knew Zaara was angry at him but he knew that Zaara is a sweet lady, so he thought of being himself..

Manik ( sighed ): Maybe, because I have a face which scream innocence..

That sentence actually made her surprised..

Zaara: Really..? Guys started to look innocent..!!

Manik ( shrugged ): Your husband looks tough but he is also innocent just like how he looks handsome. I am also handsome and Daadi says I have innocent eyes, didn't you drown in them..?

Zaara smiled finally much to Manik's relief and he too smiled..

Zaara: You should know that you were flirting with a married lady who is also a mother and a grand mother..

Manik ( chuckled ): That's why guys like me aren't scared to flirt, aap log bhi humare saath pyar se baath karthe hai na..

Zaara ( smiled ): A thought that you guys have, you wouldn't get beaten up with slippers..

Manik bit his lips and nodded like a kid..

Zaara ( smiled ): Your Daadi was right, you've got innocent eyes, just like my baby's eyes..

Manik ( smiled + frowned ): Your baby..? Um..which one..you have 2 kids, right..

Zaara ( smiled ): No, I have 6 kids. All 6 of Chopra and Mukherjee kids are mine too..

Manik smiled in knowing that they have no partiality when it comes to kids..

Zaara: And the baby is, Nandini Chopra..

Manik ( surprised ): She doesn't look like a baby. She is quiet grown up..

Zaara ( sternly ): That's why you rejected her..

Manik ( apologetic face): I am sorry, we had an argument so I thought we could never pull the married life together..

Zaara ( smiled ): Its okay. She too rejected you. Anyway, why don't you continue your tour. I will guide you..

Manik ( smiled ): Pleasure is all mine..

Zaara too smiled and they started their tour..Zaara even took him to each of the kids' room..

Manik ( hesitatingly ): Bedroom is a private area..How can I enter..?

Zaara ( giggled ): Nothing private would be seen. if they do something private then baby has asked them to lock their room because we have a kid outside..

Manik too smiled and he explored each of the kids' bedroom..

Zaara: And this is baby's bedroom..

She opened the bedroom and lead Manik inside..He looked around and smiled..

Manik ( smiled ): Just like her, serene and beautiful..

He spoke it unknowingly but to his bad luck Zaara heard it..She was quiet surprised in hearing a compliment for Nandini from Manik..

Zaara ( thought ): He rejected baby but then why is he speaking in favor of her. He is smiling simply like a fool, just like how Ahaan used to smile whenever he sees me..Hmm..chalo Zaara beta..jaasoosi shuru karna hai..

Before she could continue, they ehard a vocie..

Voice: Zaara..

Zaara ( baby face ): Ahaan bhi na, meri jasoosi ka waqt tha..

Manik ( frowned ): Mrs. Mukherjee, someone just called you..

Zaara ( smiled ): That's Ahaan..He might be in need of some help. You stay here, I will just come back..Aur haan..Mrs. Mukherjee is too formal. Call me Aunt..

Manik nodded with a smile and she walked away. He started checking out her bedroom again when he spotted the portraits on the wall..

( One of my favorite pic of her's...)

He grinned widely after seeing the pic..He kept staring at it with a smile..

Manik: Beautiful...

He looked around and then took his mobile and took the photo in his mobile and kept staring at the photo when he heard a 'click' sound..

He turned back only to get shocked..

Manik: Nandini..

He saw her wiping her hand with a towel in her hand, she started wiping her face when her eyes fell on Manik..Seeing a man in your bedroom won't be a common thing for an unmarried girl..

Nandini ( freaked out ): What the hell are you..

Before she could shout, he pinned her on the wall and palmed her mouth with one hand and the othe rhand was holding her waist..

Manik ( in one breathe ): Shh..If you shout, then people will think I was about to rape you..So, be quiet and your question which you didn't ask but still I will answer you, I am here with my family just to have a casual talk with your family since we are staying in your colony..And, I was here because, your Bua lead me in taking a tour of this villa and she herself asked me to have a look at each and every bedrooms too..

She stared at him with widened eyes..She smiled and nodded at him which was a relief for him too. Slowly, he removed his palm and left her waist too..

Manik ( awkwardly ): I am..SORRY..

Nandini ( looked here and there ): Its fine..

Manik: Uh..Hi..

Nandini: Um..hi..

Manik ( smiled ): Nice room..

She stared at him for a while and nodded..

Nandini ( smiled ): Thanks..If you want, you can remove this awkwardness by starting another fight..

Manik stared at her in surprised..

Manik: I just forgot I was speaking to a Private Investigator..

Nandini ( smiled ): You better not..We investigators, could understand the real you..

Mnaik ( raised his eyebrow ): Really..? Then how come you never noticed the real me..

Nandini ( frowned ): What does it mean..?

Manik ( sighed ): You won't understand..

He was about to move..

Nandini ( smirked ): Why don't you try..?

He turned to see her smirking..

Manik ( smirked ): You never understood the real me..

Nandini ( surprised ): Really..? But how..?

Manik ( coolly ): If you had understood the real me then you would have sorted out your problems with me..

Nanidni ( shrugged ): I never had any problems with you..

Manik: Says the one who rejected the marriage proposal..

Nandini got surprised again with his cool behavior..

Nandini ( smirked ): Blaming me when you yourself rejected me too..

Manik ( hid his smile ): I had reason. I couldn't understand the real person in you but you could have understood. You are a private investigator..

Nandini ( smiled ): Manik Malhotra, a person who is way too impulsive but maybe he might have a different character too but then doesn't know how to give respect to Ladies..

Manik( shocked ): What..?

Nandini ( coolly ): What..? That's what I understood from you..if you knew how to respect ladies then you would have understood my point of view instead you lashed out at me..But, your character might not be rough because I have 5 brothers who are extremely rough for the world and literally act like babies with their family, so it was just a guess..

Manik ( smiled ): I apologize for my behavior, then..Because, I thought, you were nothing but a queen of attitude..

Nandini ( shocked ): Whatt...?? When did I even show attitude..?

Manik: You shouted at me and not even a single woman I have met have doe such a thing. If something they have done ever in their life then its throwing themselves on me but you were just pissing me off..

Nandini ( smirked ): You mean, I should have threw myself on you..

Manik ( smiled ): Nope..you aren't a girl of such a type. I don't respect such girls too. And honestly, about what you said, I respect girls but I don't show it to the world. I do shout at girls when they cross their limits. And my anger, its something I can't control. I will just lose it. I prefer to sit alone when I get mad at someone or else I might do something which I will regret later on, and so I am regretting for whatever I did with you..

Nandini smiled genuinely after hearing him out..

Nandini: Its okay. I understand. Met my brother, Gaurish Chopra ? He is exactly like you..So, I can understand your anger issues..

Manik smiled with a relieved sigh..

Nandini: So, shall we leave..?

Manik nodded and they both got out of her bedroom and they started walking. He was stealing glances from her while she was showing him some paintings which were done by Zaara. They reached Zaara and Ahaan's bedroom and Manik widened his eyes after seeing the scene..

Nandini saw him shocked and followed his gaze to see Zaara and Ahaan romancing . She hit her forehead and dragged Manik behind a pillar when she saw Ahaan's gaze moving from Zaara to where they were standing..

Manik got startled with her move. She has pinned him to the pillar and to balance himself his hands were already on her waist..

Nandini ( glared ): Like really..? Why didn't you close your eyes..?

Manik ( confused ): Huh..?

Nandini ( sighed ): God..didn't you see them romancing..? You should have closed your eyes..They are of your parents' age..

Manik ( puppy face ): Sorry, I was just too shocked to do something..

Nnaidni ( chuckled ): I know, its your fist time in seeing them romancing..

Manik ( surprised ): Do they always romance in front of you people..

Nandini: Oh no..Actually, whenever Pa gets a chance, he doesn't leave Bua and he actually forgets to close the door which is a luck for us, We get a chance to tease them..

He chuckled hearing it..

Manik: Well, they are like my Mom and Dad. Dad is way too romantic..

Nandini giggled hearing it..

Manik: But, why did you drag me here..we could have closed their door for them.

She smiled seeing his concern..

Nandini ( smiled ): Pa was looking at out direction. If it was only me, then he wouldn't have had any problem. Its a usual scene for me but then you were with me, so he would have got embarrassed and I didn't want it..

Manik smiled..

Manik: You love him a lot..I have heard form Daadu that Ahaan uncle loves you like his own daughter..

Nandini ( grinned ): He does..That's why i call him Pa, he is just like Dad for me..

Manik just smiled at her..they saw Ahaan walking towards the pillar..

Manik ( tensed ): He might be able to see you..

Nandini ( equally worried ): Shit, he will know we were the ones watching them..

She got so worried that she dipped herself in Manik's chest and his heartbeat raced in a high speed.

Ahaan couldn't see anyone, so he just went away and Nandini breathed a sigh of relief..

Nnadini: Thank God, Pa chala gaya..

Soon, she realized their position. Manik's hands were still on her waist and her hands were on his shirt's collar. She stared at him and for the first time, she came across his eyes which were so warm. She felt some kind of attraction towards him, this was a first for her..She kept looking in his eyes without moving away from his hold..

He stared in her eyes to find whether does he hold a place in those hazel eyes or not..This was the first time he got her this close after the bedroom incident where he palmed her mouth but he couldn't stare in those eyes. He felt like he could drown in them easily..

" Bells "

They heard a voice and it broke their trance. Nandini moved away quickly and rushed from there. While Manik composed himself..

Manik ( smiled ): Maybe, I still have a chance to make you mine..!!

He ruffled his hair and smiled in happiness..

To be continued..