~•~

.....it just gets deeper, darker and more mysterious. Anything but not cliché, and that's a promise.

All stories have an end. But the irony is, the most beautiful ones never actually end. One day, the person is your lover, and suddenly they become a stranger and that is considered as an end.
But if being strangers can be an end, then your story ended the day you both met.
The truth is, there is no end. It's just upon us, where we wish to put the end.

M A N I K

"thoda so mein rootha hu,
thoda sa mein toota hu,
tere bina,
tere bina....."

"Manik, tu bethe bethe muskuraa raha hai aur yaha Nandini ka pata nahi chal raha. What is wrong with you yaar?" Cabir shouted, finally frustrated and I left my guitar aside as I smiled at him also.

"She's an adult Cabir, and my girl is strong. She can fight her problems herself, I have full faith on her. And jab tak uska location track nahi hota, I cant knock every house to find her, right?" I snapped back as I caressed our picture on my lock screen.

She looked so cute and bubbly, laughing away with that contagious smile on her lips. Her eyes twinkling like stars and that worry free face as her giggles filled the room like music and I clicked the picture. She had fussed upon it also, of course and she had proudly banned me from clicking such pictures of her without her notice, but as if she could ever win over me in an argument.

"Tu phirse hass raha hai Manik?" Cabir sighed and my smile just got wider.

I so love drowning away in her memories. It's weird how at a time I used to boss around her, and today, she bosses around me. And well, life without her seems so aimless and meaningless. I feel so lost without her, as if she was my reason to breathe, as if I can't even imagine a single second without her anymore, as if my lie starts and ends at her. Well, whom am I kidding, it is that way. She's just not my star, she's proudly the reason why this monster exists.

"Manik, Buddy. You seriously need so mental help. Tu kis sapne mein khoya hua hai? I am talking to you, and you're practically forgetting to answer me? Tu theek hai na?" Cabir shaked me and the bubble of memories around me blasted as the smile on my face vanished.

"Haa sorry voh-....", I suddenly felt so lost as reality crept in, waking me. She was not there with me, not anymore. Someone had taken her away from me. I didn't know where she was, how she was, and what she was doing. And I was helpless. I had no idea whom to ask, whom to go about with this. Police was doing their job but I felt so helpless. I could do nothing except pray that she should be safe. I suddenly felt nothing even after being the strongest person in the world if you talk economically. Without her, even having everything was equivalent to nothing. I felt just so-... lost.

"Manik!" I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and turned behind to see Abhimanyu. "I am sorry about punching you yesterday, I was just hyped about the fact that Nandini was missing. She's my kiddo you know, bachpan se. And now that I think about it, it wasn't your fault!" He smiled and I kept a hand on his.

"I understand your state of mind, Abhi, it's okay!" I smiled and he smiled back. "Anything I can do to help you out? I know you've already hired the best, but I know some really nice detectives and contacts-....", he smiled.

His smile was just like Nandini, and so were his eyes. His were on the blacker side while hers were brown that often shone under the sunlight. And his sugar coated voice reminded me just of her honey sweet voice. "No!" I smiled.

"Or actually yes!" I shouted as reality hit me. "Yesterday, when you and Nandini were together, did you feel someone following you, or keeping an eye on you?" I asked. How can I be so dumb? Such an important thing and I didn't even remember about it! Shit!

"Manik! I guess you're getting it wrong. When were I and Nandini together yesterday?" He asked and my eyebrows cringed. Everyone straightened themselves as the tension suddenly built up.

"Abhi! You and Nandini had your siblings day yesterday. Didn't you?" I asked, loud and clear, taking pauses after each word as my voice echoed in the back rooms before the meeting started.

"You're getting it wrong, Manik. I had gone back to London a week back. Mein kal raat ko hi aaya hu and I got the news of Nandini getting kidnapped," he informed and a cold shiver passed down my spine. There was pin drop silence all over except for the sharp air that brushed against us.

"She lied," Mukti said in a whisper, almost as a conclusion. She lied.

She lied.

"But why?" Aliya asked, more to herself. We were all whispering, yet each word fell upon us like a thunderstorm.

"The question isn't why. It's where? Where was she then?" Cabir reframed and all of this suddenly didn't sound good and pleasant. It was so messed up everywhere, and my head spinned as I tried to connect the dots that roamed around my head.

Just then my phone rang. Dad. I couldn't. Everything was so confusing already and I didn't have the power to talk to him, especially without Nandini by my side, holding my hand and asking me to remain calm.

I felt so lost without her that I couldn't do anything. I didn't feel myself anymore. And the fact that she lied yesterday and she was missing today made it even worst.

The knocks on the door distracted us. "It's time.!" The crew member informed. "I think we should call it off.," Cabir said and I nodded negatively. This was very important for us, for Nandini. She was preparing for this with me at home for a month after my accident.

They moved outside leaving me alone as my head spinned. I can't do this alone, I need her with me. I need her to tell me that I'm going to do fine, I need her to smile at me and kiss me an all the best.

But the fact that she lied makes it just worse.

N A N D I N I

FUCK.

splash

splash

I saw his blood filled face right in front of my eyes, his forehead burnt with the fresh bruises as he tried to keep his eyes open.

splash

splash

"Nandini-.....", I could hear is voice right in my ears as I splashed the cold water further on my face to remove his voice playing in loop in my ears.

splash

The cold water couldn't help me remove his blood filled face with bruises and the fading voice which kept appearing in front of me. I looked at my disheveled state in the broken mirror as I took a deep sigh, trying to calm myself down.

Finally mastering the courage, I got out of the shabby bathroom to re enter the dark room, the darkness waiting to enfulge me.

Covering my cold body with the shawl lying aside, I sat in the corner along, hugging my knees by my chest as I blankly stared at the dim broken walls around me.

"Nandini, can you stop acting like you're actually kidnapped? This is all happening with your concern and approval. Kidnap nahi kiya hai meine tumhe....", a cold voice filled my ears and I squeezed my eyes close as I hugged my knees tighter.

"Tumhe mujhe kidnap karna tha, Manik ko maarna was not a part of the plan!" I snapped back as I lifted my head from my knees to face the cruel reality of my life.

"I know hitting Manik was not the plan. Usne taang ladai to save you and this was also not a part of the plan. Our plan was that you run out and get into the van, and we disappear before he comes out. Yeh tumhara drama jo hua tha, that was also not expected.", he mocked back and I let my head fall back to the wall.

"Harshad Saxena, agar Manik ko kuch hua hoga, I swear to god I will not leave you.", I gritted my teeth. I can not afford any scratch on Manik because of me.

"Really Nandini Murthy?" He mocked. "Aur kya jaakar bologi usse tum, that I got myself kidnapped and am sitting here sipping coffee with your rival Harshad Saxena..", he laughed dryly and I realised I still had the coffee to be drunk as I took a small sip of it.

"Either ways babe, the game is mine.!" He smiled, his eyes pouring into mine and I so wished to slap him there, break a few of his bones and send him to hell, because that's exactly what he deserves.

"And I must say Nandini, this is doing a lot of advantage to me!" He laughed and I gave him a bored look.

"I mean, tumhara yeh fake kidnap hona, it's doing a lot of advantage to me as well as my business!" He proudly smiled and I gave him a bored look.

"How in seven hells are you getting benefited?" I smiled back.

"I am getting benefited because dekho na, you are spending time with me!" He smiled, as he took my hair in his hand, playing with it and I pushed him away.

"And my business is getting affected because of you again, because tumhare bina Manik is like so lost. Aaj international meeting thi uski, baat bolte bolte ruk gaya voh, he became so lost. Thank fully Cabir ne cover up kar liya, varna tumhaara Manik toh iss company ko lae doobega", he smirked and I took a deep breath as frustration crept in my veins.

He was lost without me.

He stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence for a meeting we were preparing since a month at Home.

This was not him. Or maybe, this was the him without me.

He missed me so much.

And what was I doing?

Lying to him.

Fake kidnapped.

Making him worried.

In a way, cheating at him.

Betraying him.

I couldn't stay this way anymore. I wanted to see him, I wanted to make sure he was okay. I wanted to see that interview, I wanted to see him feel lost without me, I wanted to see he was okay, his head was fine, he wasn't hurt. Bad or good, the desperation inside me just wanted to see him.

"Give me my phone.", I demanded. My voice was cold, numb, and not like what I usually am. I didn't feel myself anymore because I am not this. I didn't feel a single emotion inside me, not even the guilt anymore. I felt dead, my heart felt dead without him.

"How will I have your phone?" Harshad cringed his eyebrows. "Wait I'll just call up on it!" He offered and I seemed lost as I replayed yesterday- the conversation, the fight, me throwing my phone on the bed and running outside the house before acting to get kidnapped and Manik getting beaten up, beaten up to save me.

SHIT. I threw my phone on the bed, which means my phone is still there. And if it comes into someone's hands, I'm gone. My lies will be out, id be exposed.

"My phone is back at home!" I screamed at him as I got up and he laughed dryly, calmly sipping his coffee as I covered my face at the deep shit I was stuck in.

"I told you babe, either ways, I am going to win the game!" He smirked and I felt disgusted enough to vomit on his face but I had no come back. I knew I was losing everything that I had built over the years.

Everything around me was so lost that I couldn't even save myself from the mess I had just created.

M A N I K

NANDINI.

She suddenly seemed so aloof. I had held her so close last night, and today she seemed so far. I was so lost in her, so lost in the fact that I wasn't getting any grip on myself that I screwed it up miserably.

In the middle of the meeting, I could see Nandini instead of the reporter and I stopped talking. This was never me. I was never so under confident about myself to stop talking and screw it up for everyone. And I hated that. I didn't know if it was because of the fact that I was so dependent on Nandini, or the fact that I was missing her presence. But either ways, I miserably hated what I was making out of myself suddenly.

And then, she lied. This was not my Nandini. I was the one who used to lie and screw up things, not her. She has never lied to me about anything in all the time we were together and now that she has, it all feels so broken. I trust her completely, but I can't stop myself from thinking what got her to lie from me when she used to tell me every single detail of her life.

I threw myself back on my bed, wanting to sleep before I lose my calm thinking about the things that have no solution. I hadn't slept last night thinking about her. Had she slept at all? Had she eaten? Was she even in a safe place? But now if I don't sleep, I wouldn't be able to think straight at all.

But something hard pricked my back and I pulled it out from beneath me. A phone. Her phone?

Taking a sigh, I kept it away. Just when I was going to turn aside, it vibrated. Harshad calling.... the phone displayed. Harshad? Why was this jerk calling her?

I trust her.

Just when I was about to pick up and roast him for calling my girl after all the scene he created in the office the other day, the phone cut. Irritated, i opened it.

I knew this was wrong, checking her phone in her absence. But I was too tempted to block that Harshad away.

Just as I opened his contact, I felt something unusual. He had called her up a more than five times yesterday, and out of that, she had picked up only twice and then called him back once. 

Why was Nandini talking to Harshad after everything he did to her? I mean, there was something wrong. I instantly opened her messages, and just as I expected, it was his messages on the top. Not many, but a few.

Yesterday, 9:00 AM

Harshad: Why aren't you picking up my calls?

Nandini: Manik was near me, I will call you back soon.

10:30 AM

Harshad: I am standing outside.

Nandini: coming in ten minutes, just saying bye to Manik.

Harshad: what have you told him?

Nandini: that I am on a siblings day. Abhi will be in flight, so he wouldn't answer Manik's calls anyway if Manik tried calling on Abhi's phone

Harshad: smart move, babe. Don't kiss him. x

9:30 PM

Nandini: now.

Harshad: black van standing outside. Number 6963.

She was not kidnapped. She never was. She was with him, all this while. She lied to me, she was playing all this while. I suddenly felt defeated, I felt nothing around. Everything around me seemed to have ceased as no voices reached me.

The trust I had always had on her seemed to be fading as every second passed and I felt a hollow hole forming in my heart. I had been hurt a lot in my life earlier, I know what it is to be sad, to feel depressed. But this time, it was a hundred times more worst. I wanted to get over my darkness for her, I loved again, just for her.

And even if this is what she did to me, our love and our beautiful memories were all worth the way my heart was breaking. Her smile itself was worth me dying across. Ever since I knew I had fallen in love with her, I knew this would end, I knew there would be a time I will be with my darkness again.

But I always thought it would be me who will screw things up, never her. Because I trusted her love more then I ever trusted myself.

And suddenly, everything felt like a nightmare. It felt like a silly revenge she tried taking, everything seemed to collapse in me. The heart was buried once again as the monster rised.

And somewhere deep down, I knew, this was the end of the most beautiful love story.

~•~

Thinking of you is like drinking poison,
Yet I seem to do it quite often,
I still ask myself if our love was a sin,
Because you just left me broken.

~•~