" Talking to that one special person makes my day, no matter what the conversation is about."
~Unknown

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" So....hows your life going on? With all those deadly instruments?", he asked and she looked at him confusedly and raised her eyebrow asking 'What'.

" Arre those surgical tools you use. Whats that called? Ya...scalpel. Take it in front of some common man and he will file an attempt to murder case against you.", he said and she rolled her eyes. This man and his baseless humour!

" Oh please...Its atleast better than yours han. Sitting at one place the whole day and signing files after files and then digging your heads in that computer screen to make presentations.", she said with slight shake of head followed by his poker face which made her chuckle.

" Anyways. Its all going fine. And ab toh my mentor's Pops. So no worries.", she said with a sweet smile and he too smiled back . " Lucky you han.", he said making her pat her own back to which he rolled his eyes.

" Hey! Mukku told me that your brother Rishab's here?", he asked suddenly making her nod.

" Yeah. He's joining SPACE. Same as mine. Medicine.", she said with an expression of pride on her face which didn't go unnoticed by Manik. He smiled knowing how much hardships she had faced to fulfill her dream and now seeing her little brother follow her path, how proud she must be.

They walked around whole campus, talking about their current life and careers, also bantering on some silly things, when they reached the caffeteria. Deciding to have a cup of coffee, they went in and settled on their most favourite table, which was once the adda of the eight people. Manik placed the order and turned to her, only to see her looking around in admiration.

" What happened?", he asked, taking the salt box and playing with it. She looked at him with her ever sweet smile and chirped in, " You remember those moments we spent here? Sitting here with you after like eight years is such a nostalgia." She said dreamily and his lips stretched widely at the corners as he looked around the place where they had uncountable memories hidden.

" Hey you see this. Its still here.", he said suddenly his eyes widened as he spotted the scratch on the centre of the table. There it was scribbled:

" The World of Fab5 and TG3 "

" When all the things were being refurnished and renewed, SSO himself ordered to preserve this table. Even Ruhi told that no one other than TG3 junior and us are allowed to sit here. He wanted to preserved our memories in here.", she said and the smile didn't leave his face.

" You remember how Navya whined all the while when Cabir wrote Fab 5 and then you had to add TG3 to it to make her happy.", he chuckled and she too laugh nodding her head. Navya was all the time a dramaqueen and showed a lot of tantrums when Cabir wrote only Fab 5, saying that they don't have a group name like them. It was only when Nandini went to add TG3 in it and Cabir fed her a free Chicken Cheese Sandwich that she calmed down.

" Waise Cabir se yaad aya. Howz your kitchen? Did I miss the funeral?", he asked teasingly and she laughed out. Last nights memories flashed in front of her and her laugh turned uncontrollable.

" Are are hame bhi to batao apne is khushi ka raaz. Zara ham bhi hasle. ( Tell me too whats the reason behind your laugh. I too want to.)", he asked with an amused expression and she nodded her head trying hard to control her laugh. Just then, Raju the son of the caffeteria owner came and served them their coffee and Nandini asked him about how his graduation was going on and he happily answered her. Manik just sat there admiring her. How easily she mingled with people around and cared about every person who crossed her path. She was surely someone special. Atleast for him.

Finally turning back her attention to Manik, Nandini took a sip of her coffee and started narrating what happened last night.

Flashback

She had just stepped out of her washroom after changing, when she heard a bang that startled her.

" What the..", She ran out of her room only to find pin drop silence in the living room. Everyone was staring towards the kitchen with wide eyes. She walked ahead and followed their gazes only to stand numb.

Her perfect kitchen had just turned completely imperfect. The slab was scattered with all kinds of stains, chocolate, tomato ketchup and vegetable peels to name some. The bang was, she assumed, the pressure cooker that had blasted, throwing away the lid shooting upwards, landing finally on floor with a thud, and the contents scattered around mercilessly. The blast had resulted in someone to topple over the stool he was standing on, making the flour container to upturn and empty all its contents onto him.

Nandini's blank gaze shifted from the blasted cooker and her colourful slab, to the ghostly white man standing there, equally shocked. Her eyes narrowed at him and face turned red, ready to burst and the man shivered.

There stood the great Cabir Dhawan, covered in flour from top to bottom, with the empty flour can in his hand, staring scaredly at the boss lady in front of him. He was literally cowering under her scrutinizing gaze. Silence was all that could be heard.

Suddenly the main door opened with a bang and a cheerful man entered with three big bags in his hands.

" Manyu's here! I'm here with all things to grace your beautiful ki..................tchen...", he said, the last word coming out as a shocked wishper as his eyes layed on the beauty ahead.

He stood there in shock along with the others. Just then everyone flinched at their places when they heard a dangerous growl.

" WHAT THE HELL!"

Nandini marched towards a shivering Cabir, who made desperate attempts to hide himself behind the small flour can but made a crying face when he couldn't.

" Nanna aḍugemanege nīvu ēnu māḍiddīri?", she yelled in exasperation making everyone except the Murthy's scrunch their eyebrows. Cabir who was scared by her shout, gathered all the courage he had and asked out, " Umm....I...I didn't get it. H...Hindi pl..pl..", his stammering was abruptly halted by Nandini who this time asked in a dangerous tone.

" Would you do the honours of telling me what the hell have you been doing with my kitchen Mr. Cabir Dhawan?", she asked through gritted teeth making him cower more.

Before he could answer anything, her phone rang irritating her more and her blood boiled seeing the caller id. What a great timing this monkey had, she thought as she gazed at her screen which displayed

" 🐒👹Malhotra "

" What is it?", she asked nonchalantly making everyone wondered who was the victim of her anger. The someone on the other side said something which seemed to irritate her more as they saw her face turning red.

" You know what? If you don't have anything to say, I'm cutting the call. I have other important things to do.", she said making Raman and Ishita frown. Who was it, irritating her so much? Even Rishab cringed his eyebrows at the thought while the others seemed to have a slight idea of what was happening.

" Malhotra....what is it?", she said making her friends shake their heads in disbelief knowing it was Manik on the other side who was as usual irritating the shit out of her. While the Murthy's widened their eyes.

" Malhotraaa....I'm in no mood for your nonsense now. My kitchen has already turned into debris.", she yelled and heared a faint shout from the other end knowing that both of them on the call would have shouted in shock at the way she framed it.

" A storm named 'Cabir Dhawan' hit my kitchen. And rest you can know. ", she said glaring at the culprit in front of her who pouted making everyone giggle and soon they sighed in relief as they saw Nandini laughing her heart out at something. They smiled knowing the reason.

The Manik Malhotra has once again managed to bring the smile back on The Nandini Murthy's face.

Keeping the phone down she turned to Cabir with a stern gaze, her hands folded at her chest, while all Cabir did was pass her a sheepish grin.

" Care to explain?", she asked and he gulped. " Wohh ...I was trying to cook for everyone.", he meeked out making everyone try hard to supress their giggles while Nandini stared at him amusedly.

" Cabir. You know na tumhe khana suit karta hai. Khana banana nahin.( Cabir. You know na eating suits you and not cooking.)", she said making everyone finally break into laughs while Cabir pouted and Nandini pursed her lips together to stop the smile that was threatening to spread on her face seeing The Cabir Dhawan in such a condition. You know...it was a rare treat to watch.

Before Cabir could say something, they heard a shout from the main door which was so not locked, startling everyone.

" Hadh hai! Hain! Hadh hai! Matlab maine ek kaam kya aapko sounpa...aap wo bhi na kar paye. Tadi toh badi badi maarte rehte hain. ( Its the limit! I just gave you one work, that too you couldn't do. Attitute toh you show a lot!) ", they heard someone yell making TG3, MukBir and Aarohi facepalm themselves. A new drama on its way.

" Anika its okay. I'll call Khanna. He'll get your stuff here immediately. No need to get hyper.", they heard The Shivay Singh Oberoi trying to calm down his angry wife who was beyond pissed now.

Soon they saw Rudra Singh Oberoi walking inside the living room...ummm...actually jumping into the room followed the whole Oberoi paltan. Omkara was trying hard to supress his laugh while Shivaay was rubbing his temple and Gauri trying to calm her angry sister down.

" Di calm down. Its okay. Khanna Bhaiya will get it na.", she said but Anika was fuming all along.

" No Gauri. Why would Khanna always do Billu ji's jobs? Arre its not even a job. I just handed him the food basket to keep it in the car but nahiiii ....he has to keep it on the sofa and forget. Main bata rahi hun...iss kanji aankh wale ko na apna phone todne ke alawa aur kuch ata hi nahin hai. ( I'm telling you. This blue-eyed man doesn't know anything other than breaking his phone.) ", she yelled making Shivaay scrunch his eyebrows in distaste at her statement.

" I don't always break phones okay. I just break them when I'm ....", he trailed off knowing what he was uttering and Anika gave him a stern look, while the others faceplamed themselves. Yaar ye Billu Billi kahin bhi shuru ho jaate hain.( These Billu Billi start anywhere.)

" When you what? Tell na. Why did you stop. When you get angry na. Then tell me when are you not angry. Gussa toh naak pe rehta hai na aapke.( Your anger is always on the tip of your nose na.) ", she said and everyone giggled seeing the evergreen couple's nok jhok.

" You...", Shivaay tried to retort but was cut off by Nandini who was hell irritated by now. Was this her home or some kind of zoo. First some monkey menace in her kitchen and now this cat fight.

"Okay! Time up!! Time up. Bagad Billa aur Billi! Will anyone tell me whats the matter?", she asked coming out of the kitchen, bringing them out of their own world and Anika smiled widely looking at her. She first went to take blessings from the Murthy couple followed by other Oberois.

Gauri Shergill Oberoi

Anika Shergill Oberoi

Omkara Singh Oberoi

Rudra Singh Oberoi

Shivaay Singh Oberoi

" Nandu, Navu, Mukku, Ruhi! I missed you girls so much yaar!", she yelled and all the six girls huddled for a group hug squealing in excitement, while the boys made faces seeing them.

" O why do these girls always have to behave this girly? I mean just see them. Meeting after what? Hardly a month maybe. Behave aise kar rahe hain jaise chaar janmon se bichhde ho.(Behaving as if separated for four lives.)", Rudra sniggered in distaste and all the boys nodded in agreement while the girls were having excited discussions about God knows what.

" Where's Ansh?", Navya asked and Anika replied saying that he was with his Dadi and she nodded sadly. Soon they greeted everyone, Om briefly enquiring Rishab about his plans, when they suddenly heard Gauri's scream.

" Hey Shankar Ji! Ee chirotta koun hai? Aur ee ka haal bana rakha hai apna?", she screamed palming her mouth and others too turned to look what she was pointing at, only for the Oberois to be left gaping.

" Arre Gauri Bhabi I'm The Great Cabir Dhawan. See.", he said loudly, coming near her, wiping some flour from his face with his already white hands, making Gauri cringe back. Anika came forward to check while the OBros just burst into laughter, which was soon joined by everyone else, leaving the person in question pouting angrily.

" Cabir. Flour is for cooking. Did you find any special beauty effects that you have taken a bath in it?", Anika asked making everyone laugh more and Cabir shook his head in disbelief.

" Anika di! Aap bhi?( You too?)" he said making Anika supress her giggles and went forward to clean his face as Cabir sighed in relief. Anika was always very fond of Cabir and vice versa, given to their same prankster vibes. Gauri too came forward only to stop in her tracks as her gaze fell on the kitchen behind them.

" Yahan bhhuchal aya tha ki bhhukamp? ( Was it a landslide or earthquake here?)", she asked loudly making everyone sigh, and Nandini stared angrily at Cabir who hid himself behind Anika.

" Ask this Atta Man. What he has done to my beautiful kitchen.", she said making a crying face and everyone again had a round of laughs and bickerings. Suddenly the doorbell rang breaking their happy moment and Abhi went to check.

" Khanna Bhaiya. Come in na.", they heard him say and smiled. Soon he entered with Khanna behind him in his all time black suit, with a cute basket in his hand, completely contrasting his personality.

" Ee lo. Khana agaya. Chalo chalo sab harharaike kitchen saaf kardete hain. Then we'll have dinner together.( See. Food's here. Lets go clean the kitchen fast then we'll have dinner together.), Gauri said and all the girls moved to clean the kitchen after convincing Ishita to go sit with others in the living room, while Cabir went to clean himself.

Flashback over

" So this is how a very eventful evening came to an end.", she completed and Manik let out huge roars of laughter that he had been holding till now.

" Oh my God! I so missed this! Our family's really crazy man!", he said, trying hard to supress his chuckled as Nandini too grinned remembering their crazy family.

" I know right. And now that you and Dhruv are back, we're gonna have more fun I'm sure.", she said making him nod excitedly. He was actually very excited to finally get back to the way they were before. " I so wish Aliya too was here.", she said dreamily, remembering their tubelight diva. How much they all missed her. He too smiled longingly.

" Anyways. As you're back here, I'm finally gonna have a proper partner for my mission. Manyu is too dumb you know.", she said and chuckled at the last sentence but soon frowned thinking what mission she was talking about. As if sensing his thoughts, she mouth ' Mission CaVya' to him to which he nodded smilingly but soon zoned out thinking of something. Nandini knew what was bothering him and kept her hand on his, giving him an assuring smile.

" Just talk to him. I'm sure it'll all fall into place. You're our ManBir afterall!", she said dramatically and he chuckled. She and her ship names.

They just sat there talking about random stuff which mostly included Manik telling her about his experience in Delhi and what he planned to do now and Nandini listen to him attentively.

Although they didn't realise it, just a hearty conversation with each other, and all their insides felt rejuvinated. As if a flower had bloomed after years. It was beautiful. Beautiful, how they could talk so effortlessly even after being at each other's neck most of the times. Beautiful how words just flowed out without any hesitation even when they met after a whole eight years. It was beautiful, but they were unaware. Or were they?

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Okayyyy. Another udate done.

Liked it? Loved it?

Manan Conversation. A proper one finally. There are many shades to their relationship which will be shown as the story proceeds. Hope you enjoyed the chapter though.

Few words about Manan.

How was 🐒👹Malhotra?

Cabir's great cooking skills🤭🤭?

Oberois?

Our Khidkitod Anika and Dabbang Gauri are back!

Finally, keep voting and showering me with your comments.

Till the next update then.

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Yours Writer