Part 12
The next morning, nandini takes a stroll outside, taking a seat at a bench. Manik joins her there, where he tells her, "You should've come alone." He points out, "I thought you liked me and all that. Don't you know how I feel?"
She starts to say, "I know you wouldn't think of someone like me..."
He stops her by putting a hand on her shoulder, and then - leans down to kiss her.
Only... that's when nandini wakes up from her daydream, having nodded off on the bench.
Nandini realizes the kiss was just in her dreams, and wishes she'd dreamed a little longer.
But something feels a little different, and she touches a finger to her mouth as she muses, "Still, somehow my lips feel..."
And the camera pans away to reveal nyonika, standing at a distance, reacting in shock to something she perhaps didn't expect to see...
afternoon at malhotra mansion
Nyonika asks manik to move back home and stop giving nandini such a hard time. Manik tells her that he left precisely to get away from her attempts to control him. He notes that she never asked him what he wanted when she brought nandini back into the house, bringing nyonika near tears.
After he leaves, she frets that he's left home to discover his own path, but nothing has actually changed in his life. Ashlok tells her to wait it out for him to figure things out on his own.
navya and shahid come by for lunch, telling nandini about a party in space, complete with a school-uniform dress code. Nandini gets weak in the knees thinking about manik back in his school uniform.
She finds him at school to tell him about it, and he brushes her off coldly, saying that he doesn't know who came up with such a childish idea, but he's not interested. Nandini mumbles to herself as he walks off, "How can I possibly know what's in that head of yours?"
He hears her and turns around to give her the stink eye, and walks off.
Nyonika suggests a scheme to get manik to the party.
Nandini gets dressed in her old school uniform, getting nostalgic for the good old days, even taking out her D-minus love letter and remembering it fondly.
At the event, nandini rubbernecks around for manik, finding him sitting alone in his regular clothes, complete with sour look of disdain. She heads over and he coughs up her house keys, completing his mom-assigned task with little desire to humor her further.
Nandini tries to get manik to stay and have some fun since he's here anyway, (grabbing his wrist) but he shakes her off and leaves curtly. But not two feet away, when his classmates greet him, he joins them at a table, smiling and chatting like a person not made of inorganic metal parts.
His friends are none other than fab 5 which also includes alya. They see nandini across the aisle and assume that they're really dating now, making her smile. But manik, still angry, and well, being manik and all, flatly denies it, saying, "I don't keep those sorts of things [girlfriends]."
Nandini glares and pouts, then stalks away, and manik clocks her every move.
At the gathering, there are performances and while those are on nandini notes that manik is brooding in the corner, lost in his thoughts. He's angsting over what to do with his life, now confronted with the fact that his classmates have all chosen majors while he's still undeclared, and they suggest that he simply rest on his laurels and inherit his father's company.
The next time nandini looks up, he's gone. She takes the coat he left behind and heads home, wondering what was on his mind.
Manik heads to his apartment, stopping outside to think over his father's wishes for him to follow in his footsteps, and Nandini's suggestion that he become a doctor.
Nandini shows up behind him with his jacket, (which he totally left there on purpose, subconsciously) asking him to unload on her: "They say that if you share something bad it splits in half, and if you share something good, it doubles." He smiles at that, and as Nandini waits expectantly, he gets up to announce his decision: he will be going pre-med.
Nandini is shocked, though, not knowing of course the extent to which she influences him. He just makes her promise not to say anything to anyone yet. 'Cause that worked so well last time. She watches him walk away curiously, breaking into a smile when she realizes that she's the only one on this planet who knows this about manik.
Other side in tennis club
aryaman is planning a Top Spin ten-year anniversary party, and in order to get alya to attend, the other club officer tells him to just get manik to come. For that, he needs nandini, naturally. She doesn't want to keep using manik as bait for alya, but aryaman pleads with her, and sends her literally into manik's path.
She tells manik that his dad went to the hospital today for a check-up, and manik heads home to see the results. He reads the chart and deduces that Dad needs to watch out for his heart health. Nyonika cuts ashlok off from sweets or fried foods, making him pout like she cancelled Christmas.
Nandini arrives at a restaurant to find harshad hard at work on his first official dish that's going to be served to customers. Everyone praises him for his talent and dedication, making nandini see him in a new light. She stares at him intently, saying that she's only known him to be a slacker, but this is the first time she's ever seen him do anything so diligently.
Harshad's made her a lunch spread fit for kings. He's on pins and needles awaiting her verdict, and she takes one bite..."AWESOME!" harshad pretty much dies of happiness right then and there.
At school, nandini approaches alya with some trepidation, but she asks if she'll be attending the Top Spin party and whether she's picked a major. She's concerned that alya might follow manik all the way to med school. Alya, in a surprising moment of clarity laughs at Nandini's silliness, saying that she'll choose her major based on what SHE wants to do...because it's HER life.
But then to set the world back on its proper axis, alya finishes it off with her trademark condescending bitchiness, petting nandini on the head like a child. Nandini frowns as she watches alya go, admitting to herself that in this one way, alya's pretty impressive.
She runs into manik on campus, and tells him that alya, all of her friends, even harshad, are all figuring out what they want to do with their lives, but she...isn't.
She tells manik that she does have a dream. It's to...be his nurse when he starts a little medical practice somewhere. Or to be a stewardess if he becomes a pilot. Or a caddy if he becomes a golf pro.
Manik smiles and tells her that she's got unrealistic goals, but they're her dreams, and very nandini-esque ones at that. He pats her on the back and tells her that the unreachable dreams are ones fighting for.
He gets called home by ashlok, who pitches a fit at finding out that he's chosen to be a doctor. Dad is heartbroken over manik's flat refusal to inherit the family company, so much so that he actually has a heart attack.
Needless to say, Dad's stress-related heart condition is enough to get manik to go in and help run the company in Dad's absence, and move back into the house. In an amusing bit of meta, the second he walks in, the two women in the office swoon.
Nandini relishes playing the housewife to manik while the parents are in the hospital. Manik doesn't make one complaint about her horrible cooking, and eats it, knowing how hard she worked.
She calls sanjana to ask her how to make a nice meal, and harshad overhears that nandini is packing manik's lunch. Manik reluctantly takes the lunch that nandini made after hearing that she woke up at the crack of dawn to make it, and smiles when he opens it up.
Harshad comes in, having tracked manik down at the office, and hands him a new lunch, one that he made instead. Manik lets harshad run off with nandini's lunch, since well, he saved him from having to actually eat it.
harshad sits in the park with nandini's lunchbox, eager to taste her cooking, despite his mood sagging when he sees the heart-shaped food. He takes a bite...and wonders if nandini actually hates manik.
manik sits up late that night, and tells nandini that Dad isn't doing well, and he'll probably have to undergo surgery. He'll have to stay at the company, and give up his med school dreams.
nandini tells him that he can't-it's the first time he's ever found something he's wanted to do. He can't give that up. But manik is doing the dutiful thing, and even though he doesn't enjoy working for his father, he knows it's the right thing to do. Nandini reminds him of his graduation promise-to have fun. Manik says that he'll have to sacrifice that in order to make others happy.
Nandini sweetly back-hugs him, knowing that it's all she can do.
At school, alya deduces what manik is doing to help his family, and goads nandini about not being able to do anything but follow him around and say empty words. That spurs nandini to get a job at the company, and follow manik to work.
Manik meets with a potential investor, who takes a liking to him instantly, so much so that he asks for manik to meet his granddaughter.
Manik shows up to the blind date, and who should be sitting there? Why alya of course. Who didn't see that coming?