I think you will really like this part! I know I definitely did love writing it <3

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Navya formed a fist by her side, and deduced that the reason for her friend's tears – and in fact the person responsible for ruining her friend's entire life – was standing cross-armed in the centre of the room. Without a care in the world, blinded by the chandelier above them.

Suddenly, her irritation for him exponentially rose. All the things she wanted to blast off about at Harshad, she found someone else to dump it on.

"Isse hum aise kaise jaane dein, you bloody –" She took one angry step forward, but one of Nandini's palms held her shoulder back.

"Navya!" Nandini commanded, "Just let it go."

The two braided woman remained rooted to her spot, eyeing Soha and communicating wordlessly: ab isse kya hua? One of Soha's palms appeared by her side, and assured Navya to remain patient. They would ask her about that once they pulled her to a corner, away from everyone else.

There was one person, however, who was rolling her eyes so hard they could have disappeared into her skull. The whole scene of Nandini defending Manik and Manik reeling in the joy as if he had been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize repulsed Alia. She had never seen two people more obviously into each other as those two were; how cringe-worthy could they possibly be?

Such tendencies from Nandini were not a shocker, the girl was inexperienced, of course she acted all coy and shy to seem poised and play hard to get, but Manik... Manik could do better.

Above it all, Nandini's friends' sheer oblivion to the undercurrents in their friend's life was proof enough that they were complete idiots. Come on, even Adira could have guessed that!

Nandini's bag was still chucked where she last left it when Manik's nose was bleeding. She moved in that direction, and both the girls had decided it was the perfect opportunity to get some space from the other strangers in the room.

On her knees, her black diary and pen were being stuffed back into her pink tote when Soha intervened, "What was going on?" Nandini's attention was drawn towards her friend. The logically risk-averse older sister had only heard bits and pieces of the whole story from whatever Cabir and Alia told her, but she trusted that if Nandini knew more, she would let her in on the matter.

"Haan, tum hume rok kyoon rahi thi? Warna uss lambu ki na aarti utaar lete hum!" Navya stomped, nailing down on her point, which was that she hated that really handsome lamba khamba!

Aarti? Nandini wore her bag and rose to her feet. Her gaze drifted to the blazered man standing in front of her several metres away, lost in conversation amongst his friends. He was trying to educate Cabir on something, but his steadfast focus and the calm front he posed as he laid out some facts had Nandini tilting her head. Uski aarti kyoon utaarogi Navya, usne kuch kiya hi nahi hai, her mind voice mesmerised.

Soha twitched her lips at the Bollywood fanatic, "Wait, wait, why are you so mad at him? Uski company ke wajah se hi Nandini is safe now. Imagine what would have happened had she been alone and..."

"Buddhu! That's Manik," Navya then pulled Soha closer and muttered between gritted teeth only to the unaffected girl, "Haan, the same Manik who...!"

"Oh shit, really?" Soha looked the culprit up and down, sizing his internal ugliness and equating it to his rather deceptively handsome profile. No wonder the vile creature got girls twisted around his fingers so easily. Frowning, she confessed, "I swear I remember him looking different in his pictures!"

"Tumhe kahan kuch yaad rehta hai!" Navya slapped her own forehead, pulling Nandini out of her trance. She blinked. Was she just admiring him?

On the other hand, Navya was dismissing the forgetful girl she had unfortunately adopted as a replacement for Nandini's physical presence in her life. "Even a goldfish has better memory than you! You toh don't even remember what you had for breakfast this morning!"

Squeezing a grin between her lips at how well Navya had understood Soha in such a short span of time, Nandini gauged the pair of friends that were jealous of each other's friendship with their friend for as long as she had lived with them in Mangalore. Even married couples were not that possessive of each other, as much as her two best friends were of her.

That was the exact moment when Manik passed her a look... when she wasn't eyeing him. It was the first time under proper lighting that he let himself take in the way his red shirt fit on her. It hung over her petite frame, losing structure around the shoulder area, and by the end of his sleeves, her arms were long hidden. A small smile formed on his face as she tucked her hair away, deeply invested in banter between her two best friends.

She seemed to be at peace, like that was where she belonged. He turned away, not wanting to intrude her safe space.

"Hey Nands, you still haven't answered our question."

How could Nandini even begin to explain what had transpired in their absence? If she had to be honest, she didn't exactly understand what was going on either. A lot of emotional stakes had been set up and upended over the course of the evening, and in one such instance, he had told her he could not live with her; it was a conclusive statement that there was no future for either of them.

That was completely fine by her, because hadn't she also completely lost trust in him? It was fine. Really, she was fine.

But...

Alternating between their confused and skeptical faces, she realised she too was a mix of the same, only somewhat more in the loop about her own life events.

She had not gotten the clear-cut answers she was expecting, but he had also taken to confessing something – he could not live without her. And he didn't want to lie to her and say he could.

For the time being, indulging in what that meant, rehashing the sensation of the butterflies his statement set off in her belly, or passing the same vague tidbit of information to her best friends was encouraging her descent into a territory laced with false hopes. Empty reassurances of that sort were no longer entertained. She had had enough of imagining and backtracking all the things she could and could not do.

He possibly would have told her more had everyone not barged in. The urge to snatch back that moment and be locked away with only him again came back to her. For the first time that night, she was not the happiest on seeing her friends, whom under any other circumstances she could do anything for. That thought stoked her guilt.

Navya tagged in on Soha's complaint, "Kuch bolo? Last, I remember we were supposed to hate that idiot's guts!"

As she passed a shy glance back, he rubbed an index finger at the bruised corner of his lip while engrossed in Cabir's monologue, unaware that he was showcasing the mark she left behind on him. She softly mumbled at the sight, "We do."

Before she got dragged into another long chain of explanations of the hows, the whens, and the whys, Nandini hopped out of their holds and addressed the group as a whole, "How did you guys know where to find us?"

"Haan woh..." The goofball Soha was pointing towards earlier started off, stepped ahead, and then passed a sideways glance at Manik, who looked down and scratched his temple uneasily, "...arrey isse bataane mein kya hai? I basically stalk Manik, like 24/7." He shamelessly confessed, and it took Nandini less than a second to realise that was who Cabir was – Manik's friend.

Finally, she could put a name to his face.

He, on the other hand, did not like that Nandini had narrowed her eyebrows at him. It was as if she had known a different truth surrounding their knowledge of the house... like their underlying motives to protect it from law enforcement.

Unwilling to entertain those fantastic ideas of hers, he kept playing it cool. "What?! You girls don't spy on each other or what?" Soha popped a lip out and lifted her shoulders because she was not guilty of such actions, while Navya had grown sick and tired of how much bullshit the man spewed that she had actually begun to tune him out every now and then. "Ajeeb dosti hai bhai tum ladkiyon ki..."

While Cabir turned back to his friends, he caught a glimpse of a fluffy pink bracket at the edge of Manik's blazer sleeve. On the same hand that was rubbing his temple. A handcuff? He perked his gaze to the girl he was associated with.

Modifying his expressions to present himself as an incredible innocent and harmless firefly in pursuit of a clue, he offered a hand politely to the missus. Only to be blocked by a nonchalant Navya who crossed her arms and tapped her feet.

He cleared his throat, and put forth his sincerely joined palms. "Agar aapne ijazat di, Madhubala ji," It seemed too respectful, too sweet to be real, and Nandini mused whether he was trying to play a joke on Navya. "...toh kya main aapki dost ko do second ke liye borrow... yaani udhaar... le sakta hoon? Hmm... kripya karke?"

Navya registered that she was being mocked by the jackass, but instead of defending her like a good friend, Soha was pressing a smile behind her lips! A surge of disappointment kicked Navya in the butt, and she hopefully turned to Nandini. Nandini was always on her side.

To her biggest displeasure, Nandini seemed so curious about the imbecile that she had sidestepped Navya and stood before him.

He smiled wide, excited to meet the girl he only saw in photographs until then. "Hello ji, I'm Cabir, Mr. Chauffeur." Chauffeur? Chauffeur for whom, the girls he had just brought, or was that one of their fake professional titles just to distract from their dark backgrounds?

Like Manik's lie about being a celebrity chauffeur.

Manik's friend had extended his right hand towards her. Nandini looked up and beyond the person in her immediate sight, wondering how he felt about her finally meeting someone he was connected to. She wiggled her right wrist and took in the open hand for a handshake.

"Nandini Murthy."

Cabir – who was at first smirking at his suspicion – nearly chuckled out loud on witnessing certain evidences, but maintained his composure. "It's a pleasure to meet you. By the way, nice bangle, haan? Main soch raha hoon Diwali ke liye apne liye bhi iss type ka kada banwau, you know?"

Bangle? What bangle was he talking, both of Nandini's friends wondered, since both her hands were basically disappearing under the sleeves. Nandini pulled her eyebrows together suspiciously, equally confused, until his thumb brushed the pink fluffy strands that were exposed beneath her sleeve.

She flushed to a shade of pink matching the bracket, realising that he must have seen the cuff in Manik's possession in the past. Aiyappa, what would he be thinking of her, that she was his friend's possession? Her cheeks heated at the thought as it formed.

On the other side of the hall, a man wearing a similar bangle was infuriated at the ugly comment, which was clearly a jab at the handcuff. He could even imagine Cabir's mind voice going: dekha? Dekha, I told you! Sex is the solution to all problems! I so knew it; I knew you guys would not be able to resist one another, issliye toh I booked you guys a soundproof safehouse. Tabhi toh she is wearing your shirt, you must have ripped it while –

"Haath chod uska!" Manik ordered, shutting that monologue within his brain, to do some damage control before the sex-obsessed scoundrel said anything more inappropriate to her. That same protective instinct which stemmed within Soha felt mild appreciation for the man for seemingly sheltering Nandini from Cabir, before she reprimanded herself for it. Had she forgotten, that guy had used her best friend and broken her heart?

Manik's possessiveness wedged a pin through Alia's chest. The more it stung, the more she realised it was not out of admiration or longing for his affection but because of a lack of it in her own life... from any man. Her brother had lied to her, the man she presently liked was playing push-and-pull with her and her ex was... well, happy.

Despite Manik not being as deeply invested in Alia, he managed to find a companion – a partner who was an equal to him – in someone else sooner than Alia could completely move on and seek her own happiness. That felt unfair, and watching it happen before her eyes was beyond cruel.

On the other hand, Nandini noticed Cabir clasping her hand tighter, merely in an attempt to irritate his friend at the strict command to let go of her. "Don't be alarmed," he hollered animatedly, "...with me, girls are always safe. Kyoon Alia?" He turned backwards, to be met with Manik's glower and Alia's confused countenance.

Was Cabir imagining it, or was Manik actually stomping forwards... towards him, with a vengeful expression on his face?

Panicked, Cabir left Nandini's hand and flung towards Alia's side, "Oh I'm sorry I forgot to introduce you two, meet Miss..."

"I know her." Nandini and Alia snapped in unison, both of them not at all pleased to be in each other's vicinity.

Cabir sucked a breath between his teeth. So Manik loves Nandini, but Alia, who is Manik's ex, hates Nandini even though she now has feelings for Dhruv, who once upon a time thought Nandini was cute. Nandini, who knows nothing about Manik's equation with Alia, dislikes her anyways, just like Soha does because Alia flirted with Soha's crush, and Navya... Navya seemed to unanimously hate anyone and everyone so her opinion was anyway irrelevant.

After assessing every possible relationship and source of friction or affection, Cabir proclaimed under his breath, "This is going to be interesting!"

"Waise Miss. Murthy," he sung, "Have you ever been to Mumbai?" Nandini bobbed her head in denial, her lips twisting at the mention of his city though. "You should definitely make a visit. There's an important guest wanting to meet you very eagerly."

"To meet me?"

Who would want to meet her so badly?

She snuck a glance at Manik to see if he knew what his friend was talking about, but by the firm glare and Manik's immediate pull on Cabir, she figured he was trying to shut his friend up. That fascinated her further and made her more curious. Was it his mother; hadn't he said she was ill or something when they were dating?

Had he told his mother about her?

Navya butted in beside her psychologist friend, who had met their obnoxious driver and was under the false impression that the joker had any good intentions. "Uski baaton mein mat aao. That guy is very dangerous, haan, I'm telling you."

Dangerous? She didn't think so. If anything, in the last five odd minutes Nandini had observed him, he seemed like he annoyed people just for the sake of attention – like pressing on their pain points gave him some sort of upper hand in inciting a reaction – and her woman intuition was suggesting he meant no harm at all even though his mannerisms were indeed strange.

There was no discomfort or awkwardness for it having been their first meet. He had so naturally taken her under his wing and even extended her an invite to his city, like he had known of her from a very long time ago rather than someone he had just met, and she... she too had quickly picked up certain characteristics of his, like she had known him for a while.

"He seems nice," Nandini muttered warmly, and Soha nodded, though Navya had quite the opposite opinion of him.

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I got such hardcore S1 flashes in my mind while writing this part, ah my heart is so fluttery right now! <3

Tell me what you think! Lots of love! <3