Chapter 15: Chapter 15

"Sorry ..... Sorry ..... Sorry Diya ...... But I can't make it for today even tomorrow I am going to be busy " Nandini said immediately after receiving her call .

"Why ? ..... I mean , anything serious?" Diya asked over a call .

"Umm actually I am with Manik ...... I will tell you details at night " Nandini said .

"Obviously" she said disinterestedly . She was all ready to go with Nandini to buy a gift for Swaroop but now it got cancelled because of Manik .

"See now I am at mall ...... So I will buy dress for him ..... U r also ready so why don't you go and by some gift of ur choice ?" She tried to cheer her and eventually she agreed . She was disappointed that she won't get time to spend with Nandini but anyways she can't ignore Swaroop too . He is their best friend since childhood.

"Umm okay ...... At least meet me at night only if ur Manik allows you  " she taunted her and Nandini agreed immediately ignoring her taunt.

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"Which size and colour , ma'am ?" Salesgirl asked her politely when Nandini entered inside the men's wear section. Unaware of the fact that Manik also followed her .

"Ummm show me that maroon shirt " she pointed her finger at one particular shirt.  That girl nodded and went there .

"Don't u think it will be loose for that skinny boyfriend of urs ? " She got startled when he suddenly whispered in her ear from behind.

"Ma'am " that salesgirl gave that shirt to Nandini and flirtious smile to Manik who was standing behind Nandini.  He too smiled back at her .

"Listen give that white shirt too " Nandini said sternly to that girl who instantly moved her gaze away from Manik . She didn't move from her place so Nandini again glared her hard and finally she went to get that shirt .

"Stop flirting " without looking back at Manik's face , she said and he rolled his eyes at her right prediction.

"Umm that white shirt will be too long for that dwarf " again he made remark on her choice but she ignored him .

"Pack them separately " she also went to billing counter with salesgirl .

"Ouch " he bumped with a lady , she stumbled due to many bags in her hands so Manik saved her from falling by holding her shoulders .

She was beautiful lady who might be 6-7 years elder than him , she looked at his handsome face and thanked him wholeheartedly to which he just nodded. Nandini saw this scene and smiled thinking that he did at least a one kind thing though it's very small but still .

That lady was struggling to separate those bags from him and she had constant smile on her face which didn't go unnoticed by her husband who was following her secretly .

"Finally I caught you ..... Bitch " that lady went numb after hearing that scary voice of her cynical husband . She is modern ,  ambitious woman and loyal to her husband but still he always doubts her , he feels inferior and his inferiority complex is almost breaking their marriage of seven years.

"U r taking it wrong ...... This happened accidentally " she tried to explain but he didn't heard.

"Shut up ...... Here I caught u red handed and u r feeding me stories of accident ..... What do u think , I am dumb ?" He roared with anger which scared Nandini too , she looked at Manik with hopeful eyes but he was standing there casually as if he heard nothing.

"Please believe me ...... If you want, ask this person that it was accident ...... I don't know who is he " she pleaded but he didn't believed her .

"Umm I think I should not involve myself into ur matter , sweetheart ..... Pardon me , I am going " saying so Manik moved back and came to Nandini.

"See even ur lover boy too left ..... U r unwanted for everyone " that man said wrathfully.

"No please trust me. ..... Please" she literally cried.

"Aaah" Nandini gasped loudly when that person slapped his wife . He was getting irritated with her cries and she was trying to save her character and her married life.  Manik dragged Nandini out of the mall when he thought she will do something.

"Why the fuck u dragged me here ? " Nandini jerked his hand and asked sternly .

"To stop u from creating a scene " he said casually .

"Seriously ? ...... Don't u feel ashamed of urself? ...... U could have cleared his misunderstanding but no u chose to increase it" she blamed him.

"I am not social worker and It's not my fault that he don't trust his wife " he said in his defence .

"U also didn't do anything when he slapped her ...... He publically humiliated her  ...... U could have done something " she was very disappointed with him .

"I did which was best for me ...... I don't know anything between them neither their relationship ...... Anyone can be at fault the lady or her husband ...... I have been with married ladies who has cheated on their husbands and also I have seen bastards treating their wives as slave ..... So it's not my right to judge or indulge myself into their matter ...... See person comes to life alone and dies alone ...... Whatever happens in between these two steps it's individual's journey which is not at all related to me " he sounded heartless to her ears but his words were true and practical . Finally she accepted whatever he is saying and reluctantly gave up on argument .

"U have been with ladies elder than u who were already married??" She asked surprisingly .

"Obviously ..... They all were very rich which has helped me to make my career with the exchange of couple of sex " she don't know how to react , she is numb from all senses, it's too much for her brain to process that they cheated on their husbands for pleasure and he slept with them for money .

"U sold urself to them ?" She questioned.

"No ..... It was pleasurable from both sides ..... It's just that along with pleasure I got profit ...... And yes don't think I am  victim or anything because I have betrayed some of them .... No one has ever used me " she started feeling awful after hearing him .

"U broke hearts?" She feared to hear his yes but he nodded negatively . She felt relieved for a second.

"I  have broken their trust " he broke her little bit hope of finding goodness inside him .

"U r cold blooded, sex maniac who don't have basic morals" she spat venom on his face.

"U can't blame me for enjoying nd satisfying my body needs ..... I didn't cheated on anyone they did nd they can't think of their husbands in front of their lust then why would I ?" For the first time in his life he was explaining something to someone otherwise no one speaks infront of him . He was restraining himself from doing something bad with her. He never like people questioning him nor he defends himself.

"People can stoop to any level for sex " she made a disgusting face . She was being judgemental here but she was a girl with pride nd morals and this concept didn't fit into comfort zone of her brain.

"Why r u interested in other's sex life ? ..... Is your boyfriend not good on bed ? " his question made her speechless , shocked, numb and what not but she can't say anything . She don't wish to reveal her being single and definitely not after knowing his interests and doings . Swaroop being her boyfriend will keep her safe even if she goes out of control in the flow of emotions just like he saved her first kiss in the morning.

"It's none of your business " she looked at other side.

"Similarly others sex life is none of your business " this time she realised she shouldn't interfere in other's lives .

"Umm u were trying to give me reasons to be good to the others and even u showed me by doing small small good things with others, right?" He asked her after seeing one known figure coming to their way from a distance of 3metre .

"Yeah and I failed " she gave fake smile and really she failed because whole day she kept doing some or other thing and he kept ignoring her but still she had some hope for his goodness.

"So now I will give you a reason that why u shouldn't care for anyone nor do any good thing for anyone?" She frawned .

"What do u mean ?" She asked suspiciously and he smiled innocently. He looked at known approaching figure.

"Driver please open the door " he said louder than usual that people around him easily heard him . She thought he is doing it for showing her place ,unknown to the fact that someone is watching her and also heard Manik's words , she opened the door for Manik but before he could sit inside she heard known voice.

"Diii" she turned to see her brother standing there with astonishment and hurt visible on his face .

"Rishu listen " Nandini went near him and he ran away from there , crying . He couldn't handle the fact his sister is doing job of driver for their family.

"Nandu " she looked at her side and found Diya looking at her with worry written over her face.

"Diya " Nandini said when Diya hugged her.

"I came here with him to buy a gift ..... I didn't knew u will be here too ..... I am sorry" she apologized .

"It's not ur fault " Nandini said after breaking the hug.  Furiously Diya looked at the Manik who was standing there , resting his back on the door and watching the ongoing show without popcorns .

"Can you please try to calm him ...... I will come to home ASAP...... Till then , please keep him away from my parents " she asked hopefully and Diya nodded affirmatively.  Diya went behind Rishab and Nandini stood there cursing Manik . She really felt he don't deserve kindness , he went beyond humanity.

She was lost in her thoughts that she didn't noticed what he is doing and where he is ,  until she heard the voice . She turned her gaze to the source of commotion and then she saw car stopping abruptly at the middle of road and small girl engulfed in Manik's arms .

When she was busy cursing him , he saw a small girl of age 6/7 crossing road without paying any attention to signals or cars . She ran away from her brother and car was coming to her way , her brother was screaming her name but she got scared and stood motionless on the middle of road . Her brother must be 3/4 yrs older than her , so he started crying because he was helpless in those few moments as cars didn't gave him chance to save her . But before car could hit her Manik saved her on time . He picked her up and came near his car .

"U r safe baccha ..... Open ur eyes " for the first time in her life Nandini saw this unknown version of Manik Malhotra , she never thought he could be this soft or protective.  He kneeled down in front of that girl and patted her cheeks .

"I am safe ? " she opened her eyes and gleamed in happiness , he blinked his eyes in assurance .

"Thank you bhai " she hugged him and he became stiff for a second and at the next moment he became vulnerable. He hugged more her tightly as if trying to protect her.

Till then that boy and his parents came to this side of road . Actually they were inside the shop so they didn't saw the whole scene but they saw their daughter and Manik on the other side of road .

"Thank you so much for saving her " Manik broke the hug after hearing her parents voice , he stood up from his place . He straighten his dress and maintained his usual attitude .

"I didn't saved her but she did " he pointed a finger towards Nandini who was perplexed with his actions and words . Without getting their response he sat in his car .

Those people thanked Nandini and she just said take care of children . After exchange of few words they left from there and Nandini sat on her driver seat.

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"Why u hide this side of urs ?" She asked expected question and he sighed. She was very pleased with his genuine act there was no show off but pure generosity , even he risked his life.

"I didn't do anything special " he shrugged off .

"U saved a kid it's a big thing " she said while driving  .

"I saved another brother from getting blamed for killing his own sister for whole lifetime just because of one accident " she sensed uneasiness , guilt , sorrow and disappointment in his tone which he hide from his face .

"I liked this good side of urs ...... U should show it more often, people will glorify it " she spoke softly and looked for his reaction in the front mirror . His eyes were closed .

"If you do good, people will expect good from you and no matter how much good u do to them but ur one mistake can spoil it all ...... Expectations from others suffocates me and it feels like burden ..... I can't live on others expectations " he stated with firmness and opened his eyes to look into her eyes which were fixed on the front mirror.

"U r better the way u r " all over again she couldn't control her heart and she realised her heart loves him for who he is .

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"I have purchased this for you ...... I don't know if you will wear it or not but when I saw it I thought of giving it to you " after coming out from her car , she handed him one shopping bag of her .

"Why ?" He asked surprisingly .

"Idk ...... And u can surely throw it as it doesn't suits ur class but I wanted to gift you  this " she smiled warmly as she couldn't conclude his reaction .

"I will be happy if u will wear it tomorrow .... Now bye " she remembered they will have to go to Karan's house because he literally pleaded in front of her , over the call in the afternoon and she agreed to him , half heartedly.  She moved towards exit but still he gave no reaction . She once again looked at him before going out completely but still he stood there like a statue with that shopping bag in his hand .

Indeed it was his first gift ever in his whole life , literally no one ever gifted him anything , not even his mother . He couldn't digest the fact that he can also deserve gift from someone that too without any selfish motive or deal.

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Let me know if you found any mistake.

How was the chap?

...............Aish ❣️ ...............