"Tum?" Nandini heard. She slowly opened her eyes to face him and saw the shock on his face.

"Aap?" The words jumped right out of her mouth as she saw him. Her fears came true!

"Aap?" He said once again trying to take in the shock! He was surely confused.

To say Nandini was shocked would be an understatement! In front of her stood the man himself, the Manik Malhotra! Yes the very same Manik Malhotra who is the vice captain of the Indian cricket team. The very same Manik who was treated in the hospital by Nandini a couple of months back. She did not know how to react upon seeing him. She stood numb in her place. There are very little things that can make Nandini Murthy numb, and this was one such thing.

"Nandini beta, aap jaantay ho Manik ko?" Nandini heard Amms say.

"No Amms, I mean yes, no...  I mean yes... I!" Nandini didn't know what she was saying. She was too shocked to even react.

"Yes or no nandini?" Amms asked Nandini sternly. She was confused with this weird behaviour of her granddaughter.

"Yes Nandini, please do reply!" Manik said with a smirk to which he received glares from Nandini! He was teasing her and she was not happy.

"Yes Amms! I do know Mr Malhotra." Nandini replied quietly.

"May I ask how?" Amms asked.

"That's a silly question. She must've seen him on the tv or saw his pictures in the newspaper or their social networking sites. After all Manik is one of the best cricketers India has." Nandini's dadu explained to his dear wife.

"No dadu! That's not how I know him!" Nandini exclaimed.

"Then how do you know him?" He questioned.

"I'll tell you. Actually Nandini and I, we had a very adventurous meeting. You remember I got hurt two months back, Nandini had treated me then! At first I refused to be treated by her, but then eventually gave in." Manik explained to everyone. What was so adventurous about the meeting thought Nandini.

"What a small world we live in? Choti already knows Manik! Amazing!" Cabir said with a smirk. He was finding an opportunity to tease his 'saali', and to this he received a lot of glares from Nandini. However, Nandini still was not sure whether it was Manik or the other boy who had come to see her.

Manik then sat down and Nandini was asked to sit opposite him. The grandparents of both Manik and Nandini took turns to introduce their respective families.

"This is Arjun, my son and Shreya, our daughter-in-law. She is a family lawyer whilst Arjun handles the family business. That is Navya, our eldest granddaughter. She is a teacher and that is her husband Cabir. He is a dentist and this is their little son Abeer. This is Rishab, our youngest grandson. He is still studying and aspires to be an engineer. That's Alya, Nandini's best friend. She lives a few houses away from us. They have both grown up together. Alya is a model and a fashion designer." Amms introduced her entire family other than Nandini. Was she saving the best till last?

"So this is my son Karan and his wife Nyonika. Karan handles the family business and Nyonika has her own fashion boutique. She also runs an NGO for vulnerable women. This is Aditya, our eldest grandson who is a pilot by profession and that is his wife Zoya. She also works as Manik's manager too. In fact, it is through Manik that both Zoya and Aditya met. She has been his manager ever since his career started. This is their little daughter and our princess Amayra. And that is Dhruv, Manik's best friend since childhood. He is a dancer by profession." It was Manik's dadi's turn to do the introduction now and she beautifully introduced all her family memebers too. Once again, apart from the dulhe raja himself.

"I guess me and Alya will get along well. After all I own a fashion boutique and she too is a fashion designer and model!" Nyonika aunty said to which she received a big smile from Alya.

"And I know for sure I'm going to get along with Shreya aunty. After all she is a successful lawyer and I want to be one too. I have read a few articles on you and studied some of the cases you have solved at law school and honestly aunty, I'm a fan! My friends are going to be so jealous when I tell them I met you. In fact we should take a picture later too for evidence because they might not believe me." Mukti was fangirling over Shreya and Shreya simply smiled at her cuteness.

"Mukti bua even I want to get along with somebody else!" Amayra said feeling left out.

"Beta Abeer hai naa! Abeer will be your friend!" Navya said with a smile.

"Really Abeer?" Amayra said with hopeful eyes. She feared Abeer might be like some boys who don't like to play with girls. So she didn't ask him to be her friend before.

"Yes I would love to be your friend! You're so cute and I love your doll!" Abeer said cutely with a big smile.

"Thank you Abeer and I love your toy turtle!" She said as she hugged him.

Everybody went awhhh at their friendship. Children are so pure and innocent. It was time for Nandini to be introduced to her potential future in laws and same went for Manik.

"And last but not the least, this is Nandini! Our granddaughter! As you all already know, she's a doctor! A very good one if I say so myself. Nandini is a little different compared to other girls. Growing up she hardly played with dolls and fairy wands unlike her sister Navya. She was more interested in her mother's big books of law, in her fathers business files, in her grandfathers stethoscopes, in her little brother's building blocks and cars, and in my Ayurvedic treatments. She was always a curious child and wanted to know every single detail of whatever object she came across. She was inspired by everything around her and it is her dadu's profession of being a doctor which really motivated her further. I won't lie, Nandini's beliefs are very modern and sometimes our views clash. But I know that she isn't wrong, her views and beliefs of society are simply different to mine. She is a very caring person. She doesn't show it often but once she loves someone, she puts her 100% into all that she does!" Amms described Nandini so beautifully and this made everyone in the room smile. Nandini forgot about her worries of getting married for a while and started to admire her Amms. Woh dil ki buri nahi thi!

"This is Manik. Our second grandson. He is different to his older brother Aditya. Aditya is very calm and composed whereas Manik is a totally crazy boy. If you watch Manik on the cricket field, then you will know about it. What we all love about him is the optimistic nature of his. No matter what happens, he remains calm and handles situations well. He is always smiling and his always positive. He wants to find a girl who will support him in all that he does and someone who will accept his support too. For Manik, it's all about 'if you give respect, you will get respect!' And the respect he has gained in these years has majorly being due to the fact that he always respected those around him. His perspective on life is very positive and we love him for that. Nandini I am sure once you get to know him then you will love his character." It was Manik's dadi who spoke this time, and everyone smiled at this even Nandini. By now Nandini knew it was Manik who had come to see her and the other guy was actually called Dhruv and he was Manik's best friend.

Amongst a lot of awkward stares, weird conversations amongst the elders, and fun between the two children, Amayra and Abeer, it was now time for Manik and Nandini to talk. Of course, in private! And Nandini hated the thought of this. How could she possibly tell the Manik Malhotra that she doesn't want to marry him! What would he think? But then again, he knew about Nandini's thoughts on marriage, so surely he would understand, right? Rejecting a stranger seemed more easier to Nandini then rejecting someone she knew. But Manik was also a stranger, I mean she had only known him for the matter of a couple of days. She decided to brush away her thoughts and walked outside in the garden with Navya. They were followed by Zoya, Manik, Abeer, and Amayra.

"Doctor Murthy, or shall I say Nandini! It is a pleasure to meet you again! What a coincidence, right? I knew you guys were meant to be together the day I saw the interaction between you two!" Zoya said with a big smile to which Manik smirked and Nandini looked around awkwardly. Zoya has way too many ideas in her mind.

"Zoya, Manik is a vey handsome man! But our Nandini is no less either. They'd make a rocking pair!" Navya stated! Nandini looked at her with wide eyes. Navya knew how Nandini felt about all this then why was she behaving like this?

"Is doctor aunty going to be my new chachi?" Amayra said cutely and this time Manik let out a giggle which did not go unnoticed by Nandini.

"Amayra who told you that?" Nandini asked curiously.

"My Papa told me!" She said with a big smile. Aditya looked like a calm and composed person, but he was super cheeky.

"Even my papa told me that Manik uncle is going to be my masa! But I don't want to call him masa, it sounds so old! I want to call him rockstar!" It was Abeer who spoke this time and Nandini slightly smiled at his innocence. The two mummies laughed at their kids and their husbands antics and decided to head inside the house and leave the duo to chat amongst themselves.

"Kids we can decided what to call them later, let's leave them to spend some quality time together now!" Zoya said to the two children.

"Yup Zoya aunty is right! Let's go! Enjoy guys!" She said with a giggle and they all went back inside the house.

"Why did you laugh when she called me chachi?" Nandini said as soon as they left.

"Woah! We've met after 2 months and you're not even saying hi! Or asking me how I am!" And to answer your question, no particular reason! And even you laughed when Abeer called me masa! So why did you laugh?" Manik questioned.

"I asked the question first!" Nandini stated.

"I don't care!" He said as he rolled his eyes slightly which irritated Nandini.

"Neither do I!" She exclaimed.

"And why are you here? Who told you to come to my house?" She asked with slight anger visible in her voice.

"Excuse me! Mujhe koi shok nahi hai tumhe stalk karnay kaa! I mean yeah you're pretty and all but why would I want to stalk my doctor? I'm not crazy!" He said in his defence.

"Can you give anyone a straight answer? Did you know you were coming to see me? Like did your grandparents show you my picture or told you my name or anything?" She questioned.

"No, no, and no! Just as you did not know about me, I didn't either! They wanted to keep it a surprise and let me tell you it sure was a surprise!"  He replied honestly.

"But I remember you telling me that you're waiting for your dream girl. If I remember correctly then you said one shouldn't rush into marriage, it's a beautiful relation and you should not commit to it until you've found the right one! So why did you agree to meet a girl who you've not met before?" Nandini further asked. She was confused and wanted some answers.

"Haan toh ghar pai beth kai thori milnai waali thi! I can't stay at home, have dates with my tv and bed, and expect the girl of my dreams to just come and find me! I have to make some effort too!" Manik replied and it may sound like he was being sarcastic and trying to be funny but it was the truth. He knew he had to make an effort if he wanted to find that girl.

"Mr Malhotra you make your life seem so boring! Dates with your TV and bed! Aur kuch kaam nahi hai? I thought you're one of the top cricketers of India!" Nandini said in a mocking tone to tease him.

"Excuse me doctor! You're not the only busy one here okay! Even I am also quite busy! But when we don't have any games, leagues, or any practice sessions planned, then me time is totally called for!" He said.

"I was joking! No need to get so worked up! But Mr Malhotra, you're a cricketer and you travel to a lot of countries to play, so haven't you found any girl that's caught your attention at all?" Nandini genuinely wanted to know the answer to this.

"I hadn't until now!" He said with a genuine smile as he looked at Nandini. The Manik Malhotra was mesmerised by this beautiful girl that was standing in front of him.

"Excuse me! What do you mean?" She asked with a stern look. What would Manik Malhotra reply to this now?

"No matter how hard one may try to run away from love, if it's meant to happen, it will! Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in a month, or maybe not in a year, but if it's meant to happen then it eventually will!"

~Me 💕

A/N: Chapter 6 updated! Hope you all liked it! What was your favourite part? Do let me know! 🙈 I loved writing this chapter. What did you guys think of Manan's meeting once again? Do you think Nandini will agree to this marriage? Also, Thank you for the immense love you guys showed on the previous chapter with your comments and votes. It really made me smile, honestly! 💕 It means a lot to me! I love and appreciate you all for your continuous support. 😊 Thank youuu ❤️ Lots of love xxx

And a BIG thank you to mehaklovely for this beautiful cover for my story! I ABSOLUTELY love it! ❤️❤️