The week after the date passed swiftly. FAB 5 were free for the time being from music side of business, so it helped them in preparing for the different events of the marriage ceremony. FAB 5 navya and abhi except manik and nandini were busy in this day and night. There was love blossoming in the barren lives of Abhi and Mukti, though quietly.

No one in the group had any idea about them. This started with stealing glances and then moved forward to small chats , which turned into long conversations. All this happened in the matter of 10 days of knowing each other. Mukti was still sceptical because of her past. She had not opened up to abhi about her insecurities. Abhi on the other hand had developed a soft corner for her. As much as he had talked with her or known her , he felt that he could spend his life with her. But he did not want to rush. He thought ,first , he will have to build a relationship with her, of trust and commitment , because he found that mukti was a little commitment phobic, although he did not know the reason behind it.

All in all the preparations were going on full swing, with thora masti and lots of work. Phone calls were made to close relatives and long time friends. bride's side did not inform about the groom to their relatives and groom's side about the bride. This was done for privacy's sake. Everyone was asked to come and just see for themselves who the bride and groom is. It was decided that designer cards will be sent to rest of the people , a day before the reception ceremony. TANISHQ people were called to malhotra mansion with exquisite collection of wedding rings. Manik selected one , which was liked by malhotra's as well as fab 3. Murthy's too went to the TANISHQ show room and selected a ring for Manik, which was, of course, chosen by Nandini. Security agency which provided security to Malhotra's and fab 3, were asked for extra men , who were deployed in the wedding venue. By Sunday everything was set and done and now everyone was waiting for:

Tuesday : ring ceremony

Wednesday: sangeet at night

Thursday: haldi and mehendi

Friday: wedding in morning and reception at night.

The number of days were changed from 3 to 4 as the wedding planner had requested so that the events could be enjoyed properly. Tamilian wedding starts at 4 in the morning and after that Punjabi wedding . This would be done with till noon and they would have enough time to get ready for reception which would begin from 9 in the night.

MEANWHILE DURING THE WEEK
MONDAY

After the date on Sunday, manik and nandini had opened up to each other and their bond had become stronger. On Monday, nandini applied for leave from next Monday for 15 days. After two days , her leave was accepted. She worked in her own company but she followed the rules of the company, to set an example before the employees. That was the reason why she was respected and looked up to by her employees.
Nandini had just returned from a site visit and was resting in her cabin as she was free for a while. Manik walked in the building and the receptionist smiled at him. By now everyone was habituated to his sudden appearance in the office. He directly walked towards her cabin as she had informed him that she was back and was free. He did not knock the door, but opening it slightly peeped in like thief. Thankfully all the employees around the cabin were off for lunch, so no one saw him peeping in like a thief. He saw she was sitting in her chair , head resting back and eyes closed. He tip-toed towards her, bent down and kissed her on her cheeks. Nandini was frightened, she jumped off her chair and bumped into manik. Manik secured her in his arms. Her eyes widened in shock and "shitt" escaped her mouth. manik was suppressing his smile watching her reaction. Registering that it was manik who kissed her, she regained her composure and said " manik!! Its you ...you scared me." Manik couldn't control his smile more and said smiling " so you are scared of me?? " nandini saw him smirking. She tried to get out of his grip and said " i have discovered, u r a monster sometimes. First u scare the life out of me and then u r smiling, enjoying my state, MONSTER!!" and she hit him on his arms and manik laughed whole heartedly but didn't let go off her.. He said " u will see the real monster, once we get married ms. Murthy" nandini looked down blushing and said "manik" she said very softly and she got a " hmm " in return as he was busy removing the lock of hair from her shoulders and playing with the hair falling on her face. Nandini again said " manik...leave me na, koi ajaega" manik replied " koi ni aega, its lunch time, i know, so stop disturbing me" nandini huffed " tumhra kuch ni ho sakta h" manik replied promptly " arey ho sakta hai, bhut kuch ho sakta hai, bas tum ha toh karo" and he winked and blew air from his mouth so that hair falling on her forehead start dancing. Nandini just blushed and said nothing, letting him do whatever he wants and enjoying his closeness and proximity. She closed her eyes and he saw that, so he said in a husky voice near her ears " nandini, did u have your lunch?" and with that he moved back , releasing her from his grip and smiled. Nandini turned darkest shade of red, realising manik tricked her. She managed to say " no, not yet, lets eat together, amma has sent lunch" with this they sat to have lunch and after that manik left for his office.

TUESDAY
Murthy mansion
In the morning nandini came down and sat on the dining tableasking "bhai, amma, where is appa?" as he was missing. Abhi replied " nandu, appa has gone to pick amms and chitappa and chitti, they are coming today from mangalore, bhul gayi tu??"

nandini "oh god i totally forgot, when are they reaching?" nandini's amma replied " wo log ate hi honge, par nandu tu aajkal dusri hi duniya mein rehti hai" and amma and abhi hi-fived each other, laughing.

Nandini blushed and then they heard car honk and went outside to welome amms and others. Everyone was really happy meetingeach other after a long time. Alok murthy had informed amms and his brother- ashok and his Punjabi wife - shanno about manik and had asked them to not disclose the news to anyone. Amms had been really happy after hearing the news. She knew manik and his singing talent as she is also in the field of music. She has a gurukul in mangalore where she teaches music and dance. Nandini had learned music from her.chacha chachi were equally happy. Rishab is their 17 year old son, but they had not informed him about manik as he would have disclosed this news to his friends in order to boast.

Rishab: offo koi mujhe btaega, kaun banne wale hain mere jiju??

Chacha: rishu tujhe koi ni btaega abhi...engagement k din dekh lena

Rishu stomped his foot in annoyance " mai status update karta agar aap mujhe btate"

Chachi: isilye toh ni bta rahe hai

Rishu: par problem kya h? Aap log ase chipa rahe ho jaise di ki shadi manik malhotra se ho rahi hai!!

Everyone looked perplexed!!

Nandini: uuh?

Rishu: arey manik malhotra, the only heir of the number one company in asia, there is a news which is doing rounds in media that manik is getting secretly married...u know in a hush hush manner..

Abhi: really?? But how can they say that?? Any proof??

Everyone hid their amusement on the discovery and acted normal. While n
Nandini looked down and blushed and thought how Rishabh will react when he gets to know the truth.

Rishu: its said that he has been spotted with someone on Sunday, but pics could not be clicked, as they left in a hurry. They are saying that manik has never been secretive about his earlier flings. It's first time that he seems to be avoiding the media.

Abhi: but tujhe itna sab kuch kese pta?

Rishu: i want to become a scientist iska matlab ye nai hai ki mai baki chizo ki khabar ni rakhta,
He made a puppy face and continued

Rishu: actually meri girlfriend, manik ar uske songs ki fan hai..usine btaya

Nandini: tujh jse nerd ki v girlfriend h??

Chachi : nandu relax kar permanent ni h..sab chor k bhagti hai...

Rishu: isme meri koi galti ni h...i m not like other boys jo gf clothes k tarah change karte hain. I m loyal but handling girls is out of my hands.

Nandini: but i think nerds are a new trend for bf material...u know after that movie..2 states

Rishu: ho gya!! Ab mujhe yaha apni family se love topic discuss ni karni...aaplog btao jiju kaun hain??

Sheetal: rishu dekh beta, kuch baatein chupani parti hain hame, tu bas next week tak wait kar le fir jitney pics dalne hoge SNS pe daal dena...but abhi rehne de, plzzz

Rishu: ok chikamma aap bol rahe ho toh main rehne deta hun.

After spending some good family moment, nandini, alok and abhi left for office and rest of the ladies indulged in gossiping and discussing about their attires for different events of the wedding.

In the evening, nandini's maternal uncle and his family also arrived. Aryaman was their only son. Murthys were enjoying a lot. After dinner nandini was in her room, chachi came with a girl, whom she had brought from mangalore. Actually chachi is a beautician and the girl is her helper.

Chachi: nandu beta chal aaj iss milk and rose water me feet daal, ye massage kar degi, feet clean ho jaenge ar glow v ajaega aur teri thakaan bhi dur ho jaegi.

Nandini: thank you chachi !! u r the best!!

Chachi smiled and kissed her forehead and then went away. The girl was doing her work and nandini was relaxing. Her phone beeped. It was a message from manik.

Manik: can i call you?

Nandini: manik i am not sure. Actually chachi is a beautician in mangalore and she has brought her helper who is now doing my pedicure. Should i talk in front of her?

Manik: ok..how much time will it take?

Nandini: approx 30 mins?

Manik: acha ok..tell me ..all of your family have arrived?

Nandini: not all but important ones have arrived, chacha and his family, amms and mama, his family. And about your family?

Manik: my bua is coming tomorrow and mama on Thursday.
He could not control more so he called her up. She picked it.

Nandini: hello

Manik: ha hello
(after a pause) Wse nandini, i think u r already so beautiful, what is the need for all this pedicure and whatever?? (flirtatious mode on)

Nandini (blush mode on): manik!

Manik: yeah i m listening..tell me baby (deliberately said in order to make her blush more)

Nandini (helpless as the girl is present there): u know i could have easily shut u up ...but u r taking advantage of the situation.

Manik: oh u can?? Then do na..i m waiting

Nandini: hold on

Manik: ok

Nandini asked the girl to leave as the pedicure was almost done. The girl left and nandini locked the door and went back to bed.

Nandini: ha so now tell me what were you saying??

Manik: is the girl gone?

Nandini: yup mr malhotra!! Bahut bol rahe the na..ab bolo ..main deti hun jawab

Manik: (faking) ooh i m scared!!
And they both laughed.

Nandini: ok ok now stop it...i wanted to ask you something

Manik: hmmm bolo na

Nandini: today my cousin rishab told me that there is a news in media that you are getting married in a hush hush manner. Do you know about it?

Manik: (sighed) yeah my PR manager informed me yesterday about it and said that many magazines are asking for interview dates. I have asked him to keep mum. That's it.

Nandini: do you think someone spotted us outside the hotel on Sunday

Manik: most probably, by the way why r u talking about useless things, u know i m missing u a lot...ab wait ni hota mujhse...kab tum mere paas hogi...(sigh)

Nandini: manik please don't be sad na plzz

Manik: tell me r u feeling the same??

Nandini: (blushing and hesitating) manik...

Manik: hmmm!

Nandini: i miss you too, the feelings are mutual...

Manik(elated): so!! Give me a virtual kiss

Nandini: (blushing) why me?? U can give a kiss too(baby tone)

Manik (smiling): mmmuuuaaah

Nandini , all red, as if he kissed in real, not over the phone.

Nandini: manik..

Manik: hmm!

Nandini: tum aaj milne q ni aye??(sad tone)

Manik: are wo fab 5 , wedding events me perform karne ko bol rahe the, and i was stuck with them, tum wait kar rahi thi mera?? Par maine toh msg kar k btaya tha.

Nandini: maine msg late se dekha tha when i picked the phone to call u and ask u(sad tone continues)

Manik: tum abhi mujhe bol rahi thi sad ni hone ko and now u r sad...cheer up ..ok i will do one thing mai kal compensate karunga by spending double the usual time, with u. Ok?? Plzz now smile and send a pic

Nandini : (happy) ok then Good night

Manik: ok Good night and wait for me tomorrow, i miss you , muaaah!

And then they hung up and nandini clicked her pic all happy and cheerful and sent it to manik.

One more day ended . and now the countdown to marriage begins. 6 days to go...
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Credits to the writer- Manini Mehra