(A/N: Hey guys. Thanks for the appreciation. Sorry for the delay but please understand. This is my third attempt for this part and hopefully it's good. Vaise, happy holi! By the way, this is a 2000 word update because of the delay. Hope you like it. Love you all.)

Status: Edited

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Cabir was more than sweet to let us in without any questions. I was expecting some dejection or disapproval on his part, but he showed nothing of that sort. The club boomed with loud music that was jarring to my ears. I palmed them as I happened to notice the dance floor where Manik was dancing with his fan-girls. They were literally throwing themselves on him and he, being the opportunist he was, clicked pictures with them for his publicity. Some hugged him, some kissed him on the cheek and the others I didn't even want to know where they put their hands on.

It had hardly been five minutes since I'd walked through those doors and I already wasn't liking the vibe. Not my type of music, not my type of clothes and definitely not my type of personality. Was Manik into girls of that sort? If that was the case, he and I would never be a perfect match, not in a million years! 

"Hello girls. Here." Cabir handed out 2 glasses of whatever alcohol that was. I took a step back. Navya looked excited by the offer. "Oh come on. You're at a bar. There's no harm in having just a glass." Nope. I was not gonna sip alcohol, whatsoever. Navya smiled and took the glass from him.

"Navya, no. Don't." She smiled at me, assuring that she'll be alright. After all, she was on her own anyways, I was nobody to control her. In one shot she gulped everything and reached for another one, despite my protests. I gave up on trying to convince her.

Manik was dancing with short-clothed girls and strippers who ground into him and on poles. They tried to seduce him and he encouraged them, though he wasn't an active participant. I stormed towards the bar counter, finding myself a stool to spy on Mr. Manik Malhotra on the dance floor. Mukti was there, with a glass of vodka, doing her thing.

"Hey Nandini, how come you're here?" She propped herself on a stool next to me and I hesitantly turned towards her, glancing at Manik every now and then, whilst smiling faintly. I really had nothing to do with her. 

"Voh... I just..." I didn't know why I had come. I didn't want to miss the opportunity his 'other' fans had a privilege to attend. Perhaps my curiosity pulled me all the way. Not curiosity, Miss. Murthy. It's your jealousy. Yeah whatever. 

"Umm... Actually, I am glad you came. I wanted to apologise to you for my behaviour. We had the wrong impression of you and thought by being nasty, we could scare you off. Now it's too late... Anyways, I am sorry." She held my hands and smiled, while confessing honestly if not in the purest sense. 

"It's okay. It's fine, really." I knew they were bitchy but I couldn't hate them. After all, I didn't hate those who did worse things to me, like actually betray.

"Can we be friends?" I smiled.

"Sure."

"So, let's start our friendship with a shot. What say?" Her face lit up with a huge smile. I didn't want to drink, I never drank before, but I felt somewhat compelled. 

"I am sorry. I... don't drink." I said, looking at Manik again. He seemed to have so much fun with his 'fan-girls'.

"That's alright. We can have juice then." She seemed pretty understanding. She gave me a glass of juice and I took a sip, still looking at him. I got ready for him and he barely even noticed me there. I cursed him under my breath and felt Mukti smile. She spilled her orange juice onto my white dress. I stood up almost immediately and she managed to divert my attention from Manik.

"Uh-oh. I am sorry, Nandini. I am sorry, please? Come I'll help you out." She held my hand and tried to pull me up.

"No, it's fine. I'll manage." I said, making her sit again. She was drunk. She wasn't in a position to walk and the last thing I needed is her toppling over a guy and ruining things for herself. I walked towards the washroom and bumped into a guy, making me drop my clutch and phone.

"Sorry. Umm... Hey." 

"Hi." I gathered whatever I could without looking at the person whose voice it was. 

"Are you by yourself?" He smirked, handing my stuff to me. I looked at Manik, who was having fun and smiled to myself.

"Yeah. For now."

"Would you like to join me for a dance?" He held his hand out and I accepted, but I had to get my dress cleaned before anything else.

"Umm... I need to get this cleaned up." I pointed at my juice stain and he offered to help, despite my protests. He walked into the women's washroom and I shifted uncomfortably. I put some water on the stain, trying to lighten it. I rubbed it and drenched myself in the process. By then, the man who had lured me in was eyeing me in a lecherous manner. God, what have I gotten myself into?

My brain alerted me to get the hell out before I got raped in the cubicle. I quickly turned the tap off, grabbed my clutch from the counter and sprinted without spraining my ankles with those heels. He also followed cautiously making note of our nearest audience. I spotted Navya but clashed into Cabir before that.

"Cabir, do you know where Navya is?" He was quick to note the guy following me and placed himself in such a manner as to block the guy's advances. Somehow, I felt a lot safer by that gesture alone. Navya was kissing Manik's cheek and taking a selfie. My anger reached an uncontrollable level. Did he have to get back with me, with Navya? I grabbed a random man's arm and jerked him along with me to the stage.

"Whoa. Relax senorita." His eyes were probably swooning with lust too. Manik's eyes fell on me the second I braced my presence on the multicoloured tiles. The man I was with, he highly disapproved of. He let go of Navya to judge the guy I pulled along. I mentally patted myself and placed my hands on the man's chest. Mr Moron was by then probably breathing fire. 

"Let's dance." He held my hand. He was very average looking, but I figured that was why me being with him could've been an ego boost. Manik was also a few feet away from me, which gave me some confidence that I lacked in the bathroom cubicle. My partner wrapped around my waist, gripping me close. Manik was displeased beyond limits. Cabir was enjoying the show. 

He turned up some sensual music and we danced to the beats. In less than half a minute, the guy's hold went from my waist, to my hips, and then behind me to my ass. As his hands felt my flesh there, I slithered with discomfort. That ignited a proud feeling within him. But then, a second later, Manik Malhotra pinned the man against the wall. Manik's hand was gripping that guy's jaw so as to break it.

"How dare you touch her? Huh? How dare you!" He punched him in the face and I tried saving that guy from Manik's rage, the keyword being tried. Honestly he deserved it and I was rejoicing at the sight of Manik defending me. I couldn't show that though–that would boost his ego. I pulled Manik's arm but he jerked me away. He tried to strangle that guy's neck with his hand, tight. 

"You were holding her like this na? Kaise lagta hai ab?" (How does it feel now?) The guy tried to fight Manik but couldn't do much. A man with a cap, a guy who seemed familiar, came to Manik and held his arm. Manik looked at him and left the guy. He glared at me and pulled me by my arm.

Already the dozens of bangles that had to slip through my wrist bone did nothing to ease the ache there. I struggled out of his firm grip, that was physically hurting. "Manik, leave me. Manik..." He didn't budge. I was thrown against a door, in the almost not-so-crowded area in the bar.

"Tum yahan kya kar rahi ho?" (What the hell are you doing here?) I took the moment to rub my wrists and comfort myself from the monster's clutches. My silence was triggering. He stepped closer. "I asked you something, Nandini." I had no valid reason to confess to him. I couldn't tell him I made a wildcard entry to a boys-only party to make sure he stays within limits.

My hand palmed his chest, resulting in a repulsive reflex. "Tum kya kar rahe the un ladkiyon ke saath? Bolo?" (What were you doing with those girls? Tell me?) Countering a question with a question wasn't a good idea but challenging him to speak up threw the spotlight on him. He looked around suspiciously, checking if anyone saw his dumbfounded image but thank Ayyappa we had no spectators then. 

"Nandini..." 

"Agar tum kuch karoge, toh no problem. Agar main karun, toh gussa aata hai. Uss bichare ko kyun maara tumne?" (If you do something, there is no problem. If I do, then you get angry. Why did you hit that poor dude?) I pointed at some random people while scolding and pushing Manik and I knew I was gaining a lot of attention which wouldn't be appreciated by the 'rockstar'.

"Nandini, stop it." I was beyond the phase where his glares meant any threat. They only instigated me to nudge further.

"Ab bolo na? Chup kyun ho? Bolo kuch?" (Tell na? Why are you quiet? Say something?) That was his breaking point. His eyes shut and he forced both my hands behind my back with one of his arms while the other palmed my mouth.

"Shut up, okay? Just keep your mouth shut." He scolded and I cringed my eyebrows. He looked around again and some people were looking at us. "Dekha nahi tumne? Kaise behave kar raha tha tumhare saath..." (Didn't you see? How he was behaving with you...) This time when he grabbed me to scream some sense into my dumb brains, my dress got stuck to a nail on the door behind me and the intensity of the pull ripped the back of my dress.

My hand jerked from his grip and both of them tried covering the hollow space on my back. There was a long cut at the back, I could feel it, but I couldn't see how long or wide it was. Manik was alerted by the sound, me sticking to the door like a nervous lizard confirmed his doubts.  People in the club were giggling at how the rebellious Nandini Murthy shut up in one second, that too by Manik Malhotra. I hung my head. Cabir and Alya were pressing their smile. Manik looked a little worried, seeing me on the verge of crying. 

I wasn't crying because I was in pain, because I wasn't yet. I only felt a throbbing sensation on the hollow of my back. I was teary because I felt defeated, that too so unfortunately. Manik took the cue of my timid eye contact to disperse the gathering and he managed to do so for the most part. Especially once the music started playing again. He came closer and asked me to turn over, but I refused.

By then, I had rehearsed my lines in my head. "Why do you care? Go na? Go click pictures with your fans." He rolled his eyes as if I was being dramatic for no reason.

"Nandini, stop being ridiculous. Turn over." I shook my head, standing my stance with more confidence than anything else.

"I won't." He attempted to grab at me yet again, but when I winced he gave up. He put one arm around my neck gently and leaned over, almost hugging me but not quite. He managed to make out the size of the opening while I was still confused with his new plan. Him being gentle with me was also something I was finding hard to believe. "Cabir!"

Cabir adjusted his smirk to sympathetic expressions, one of a man in the dark about the recent events. "Whoa! Bro, what are you both doing here?"

"Cabir, don't ask questions. Just get my jacket from the car." Cabir snapped his lips but left anyways. Manik was looking at me and I was looking down. In fact, tears had already started running down my cheeks. I didn't even know why I was crying. Nothing went in my way that night. I knew soon I was going to be shooed out of that club for creating so much drama. How could it be that I couldn't be triggered when Manik Malhotra was the crux of all my problems? 

Cabir brought in Manik's jacket, Manik broke the 'hug-sort-of-hold' and wrapped the jacket around me while I looked into his eyes, which were fixed on mine since the start. Please don't send me off, Manik. Manik tried focusing his gaze elsewhere but eventually settled on me. Maybe I made him weak, maybe looking into my eyes was a herculean task for him. Something in his eyes said he didn't want to part ways with me either. 

"One of you, drop her home." He suggested to his friends, without looking at any of them. I couldn't believe he actually said that. Perhaps he was also one of those people I shouldn't trust. 

Feeling his jacket on me provided a conflicting set of opinions. The dilemma itself provoked some anger within. "No. I can go myself. I don't need anyone's help." I snapped and walked away, wandering off in search of Navya who was not responsible enough to go home by herself. I couldn't trust her with Fab 5, none of them. 

"Why the hell is she so difficult all the time?" Manik ran his fingers through his hair, exasperated and Cabir faked a cough. The entire evening was wholly directed by Cabir Dhawan, and oh-so-flawlessly! He had to be proud. Manik grabbed a bottle of vodka off the counter and shoved it into Cabir's mouth. "Ab ruk gayi khaansi? Saale." (Did that stop your coughs? Idiot.)

"Chal na Manik, we still have this place booked for three hours! Let's have some fun." Mukti's suggestion went unheard as Manik looked in my direction for the last time and was then pulled away with his friends, to attend his 'very-private' party.

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(Thanks a lot for all your support. Do you all think Manik already has a thing for Nandini? What will happen next? Vote. Comment. Share. Sorry again. Loads of love.)