10:00 am, Srivastav house, Karwar.

I woke up when I felt sunlight streaming in on my face. I scrunched up my nose in annoyance. I still felt exhausted! I turned to the other side, in order to avoid the sunlight, only to find the other side of the bed empty. It felt odd...the warm presence I had felt all night was missing.

When I realized what this meant, I sat up with a start.

Manik...where was he?

I immediately got off the bed, and scanned the room to find that he wasn't in it. I checked the washroom as well, but it was empty. I was overcome by a sudden feeling of paranoia, as I searched for him.

Had he left? No! He couldn't have done that! Not after what he shared with me last night!

I went to the living room, but he wasn't there either. My panic began to increase.

I started walking towards aunty's room frantically, in order to ask her if she had seen Manik, when I banged into something hard.

I was dizzy for a few seconds and rubbed my head, before finally opening my eyes.

The sight I beheld was enough to soothe my nerves. The wall I thought I had banged into-turned out to be Manik!

"Good Morning!" He greeted me with a smile.

A sense of relief washed over me as I saw him, and I instinctively crashed on his chest, hugging him.

"Nandini, what happened? Are you okay?" He asked in a concerned voice.

"I thought ki tum chale gaye the..." I whispered into his chest, still in the same position.

He slowly, made me stand up straight, took a loose strand of my hair, and tucked it behind my ears.

"Nandini, I'm not going to leave you until I drop you off at the Singhania home, and your family picks you up from there. I promise! After all, we made a deal, right?" He smirked as he spoke.

I was happy to see that he was back to his earlier snarky self. Seeing him broken last night, had made my insides churn, in the most horrible way possible.

I just smiled in return. However, I still wanted to know why he was up so early in the morning.

"Manik, where were you? How did you manage to wake up so early? And why didn't you call me as well?" I asked.

"Nandini, I didn't wake up early. I woke up at 9 am. That's just one hour ago..." He chuckled slightly, at my confusion.

"What? You mean I've been sleeping for nearly twelve hours?!" I exclaimed.

"Yes...you were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't have the heart to wake you up..." He said in a tender voice.

"But, Manik, what were you doing?" I asked.

"Actually, I managed to go into town, and get a mechanic to fix our car. Since I already knew what the problem was-thanks to you-it didn't take much time for him to get the car working again." He answered.

I slapped my own forehead in annoyance. Aiyappa, why do I always mess up? I should have been helping him instead of snoozing!

"Nandini, it's okay...waking up late is not a crime. Anyway, I need you to freshen up and get dressed as quickly as possible. We need to leave soon. Here! I got some clothes for you from a local shop. After all, I can't have you gallivanting in Goa wearing a sari." He said, with a slight chuckle, handing me a packet.

I removed the garments from the packet, to find a white short kurti and a long red ethnic skirt, akin to the one I was wearing earlier.

"I didn't know what to buy- so, I just played it safe by buying something similar to what you wearing earlier..." He said, in an uncertain voice, adjusting his hair in nervousness.

He was so sweet! I'm sure it hadn't been easy to find these clothes in such a small town.

"Manik, they're perfect! Thank you!" I said, as I hugged him yet again.

I slowly withdrew after a few seconds, and looked up to see him smiling at me.

"I'll get ready soon..." I said, as I left for the room to get changed.

It took me nearly half an hour to shower and get dressed. However, all the while, flashes of yesterday's events kept coming back to haunt me. Manik had been through so much! I had to help him prove his innocence! If the Singhania's didn't hold up their end of the deal, I wasn't going to sit quiet! And when it came to Chacha-Chachi, I was sure that they'd drop any kidnapping charges against Manik, if I requested it. They trusted me enough to make the right decision, and every cell of my body was telling me that Manik was truly the victim in all this!

As soon as I was ready, I made my way out of the room to see Manik and aunty talking animatedly.

"Aunty, please don't say 'no'! You have to accept this small gift from Nandini and me! You've helped us out a great deal!" Manik said, as he handed her a beautiful cream coloured kanjivaram silk saree as well as a bouquet of freshly plucked white lilies.

"No! Manik, I can't possibly accept this! I've done nothing to deserve such a reward!" Aunty said, waving her hands in refusal.

I didn't realize Manik could be so caring and thoughtful, until now! I couldn't believe that this was the same monster I had met just two days ago!

"Aunty, aapne mujhe apna beta maana hai, na? Toh phir aap bete se gift nahi lengi?" He asked, emotionally blackmailing her.

I immediately tensed as he mentioned this, knowing fully well that it hurt him to speak about his family-or even family in general. But, I noticed that there was no pain in his eyes anymore. I realized that he had been bottling up his emotions for a long time, and last night had been cathartic for him. He finally seemed ready to face his demons, which filled me with relief.

"Achcha! Fine! I'll take it! " Aunty, finally conceded. I wasn't surprised. I knew how persuasive Manik could be.

I finally joined in the conversation, as I stood next to Manik.

"Aunty, thank you so much for all the help!" I said. She had done us a solid favour by taking us in!

"Beta, it was my pleasure..." She, answered caressing my cheek in affection.

"Aunty, we're getting late. We have to leave now since it'll be better if we reach Goa before sundown." Manik said.

"Of course! You both should get going. Here's some food for the road. And yes...feel free to visit anytime." She said to us, smiling and handing over a packet to Manik.

"We will!" I said assuring her. Well I surely would! I didn't know about Manik, but he didn't seem to object.

"Always stay together and stay blessed!" she said, as a final farewell to both of us.

"Bye aunty!" Manik said, as he moved towards the door. I followed him, and waved to her as I was exiting.

Both Manik and I entered the car. Right when he was about to start, I realized that I needed to discuss something with Manik- a matter which had been bothering me for a while now.

"Manik, you need the recording from the Singhanias to prove your innocence, right?" I asked.

"Yes, but why are you asking about this again?" He answered in a flustered tone, clearly wishing to avoid speaking about this topic.

"It's just that it'll be very hard to use it as evidence! Manik, you are aware that any proof acquired by blackmail is not permissible in court, right?" I asked in a worried tone. His entire plea of innocence was hinging on this flimsy bit of evidence! I had to make sure he understood what he was getting into.

Manik sighed and said. "It did cross my mind once, but I figured that I could hire good enough lawyers to find a loophole in the rules. But if that doesn't work out, I did think of a backup plan..."

"What is it, Manik?" I asked, my curiosity increasing by the second.

"I decided that I would leak the recording to the press...that's the only way to show the world what a monster Nyonika Malhotra is!" He said in a determined voice.

"But Manik, are you sure you want to reveal such private details to the media?" I asked, alarmed at his plan.

"Nandini...I just want to see Nyonika pay for her crimes! If I leak the recording, she'll finally lose the public's favour! The police won't be able to ignore it for long, they'll have to lodge an investigation against her! I just need her and that Harshad behind bars...and I'll do it at any cost, even if it means going to prison myself..." He said in anger, clenching his fists.

"Manik, don't say that! We will prove your innocence...you won't go to jail!" I said immediately, cupping his face and looking into his eyes.

We stayed like that for a few moments before breaking apart. Looking into his eyes gave me so much peace...I vowed to myself to never let any anguish surface in those beautiful brown orbs ever again.

"Manik, I know that you have a close-knit circle of friends, who mean the world to you, but would you let another into that circle? Will you accept me as your friend?" I asked, in the most innocent voice possible.

He looked alarmed at my proposition, for a few seconds. I understood his confusion, because I knew what I felt for him ran deeper than just friendship. And he probably felt the same...but right now all he needed was someone to support him and help him carry out his plan. He couldn't have any distractions if he had to succeed in his endeavor. This was my small way of assuring him that he could count on me because I had realized how sacred the bond of friendship was to him. As this realization dawned on him, his eyes softened.

He stretched out his hand and said in a sing-song voice. "Hello! I'm Manik Malhotra-heir to the Malhotra empire and lead singer of Fab Five. But currently, I'm a wanted criminal, who has been wrongly accused of murder! So basically- jhand hai meri life! Who am I to reject you as a friend?"

I chuckled at his teasing behaviour and shook his hand as I replied. "Hi! I'm Nandini Murthy!"

"Well it's an honour to have you as my 'friend', Miss Murthy!" He said, with a smile using air quotes as he pronounced the word-friend.

"Tum ek single piece ho, tumhe pata hain, na?" He said after a moment, chuckling. "But I guess tum single piece hi kaafi ho mere life mein..."

I laughed at his statement as well. Well, I guess my tactics were unconventional!

He finally started the car, and all I could do was smile in happiness. This would be the first step in the start of a beautiful friendship-and hopefully something more...