s e v e n
"If you have two friends in your lifetime, you're lucky.
If you have one good friend, you're more than lucky."
― S.E. Hinton
M A N I K
Ranting about your life story to a stranger, they say, is sometimes the best option one makes in case family and friends are somewhat; unreachable, if that even makes sense.
But the best of best would come just to the luckiest and that being the presence of that one friend, one who makes you realize you matter.
Cabir Dhawan is just one famous standup comedian whose humorless humor too hit the perfect humorous aspect. As quoted by Cabir himself, "Sarcastic Humor or Humorous Sarcasm, it's all about terms. On the whole, it's all about comedy and comedian."
Whereas Cabir was, is, and will always be my Knight in shining armor if I can say that.
"So," Cabir finally broke the long silence, "Found someone?"
His straightforwardness always manages to make me bewildered. Having known him since childhood too, his to-the-point talk hits me in the head like a bouncer before I get to dodge it.
"What do you think? " he glared at me for my regular question for question instead of an answer.
"What if I say you did? " it's confirmed he knows me like the back of his hand.
"Maybe I will say yes," I replied casually remembering her.
"What did I expect? Wait...what?" Now, the booze was forgotten and his whole attention was on me while mine was on her.
A few minutes passed by with me staring at nothing in particular in my music room while he, staring at me as if analyzing me.
I expected him to cross-question me regarding everything and nothing related to her but he didn't even utter a single word rather turned his gaze away from me and started to drink his drink again as if I just didn't say I like someone.
"I didn't expect this reaction," he smirked at my honest reply.
"I am anything but predictable. You should know that by now Malhotra." his cocky self replied making me roll my eyes.
"Sounds to me like one of your PJs." It was his turn to roll his eyes.
"But seriously, you don't have anything to ask. " my gaze was fixed on him while he shrugged.
"I have. " he replied, "But I know you won't have the answer to it."
"Try me."
At my answer, he turned completely towards me and sat crossed-legged while rubbing his hands getting all excited and making me think,
"Did I just dig my own grave?"
"The answer to your question is yes." He replied making me frown.
"Did I say it loud?"
"The answer is no." he again replied making me look at him with narrowed eyes.
"You are being too predictable lately," he answered my unasked question.
"Is it bad? " he shook his head with a slight chuckle, " In your case, it's not bad rather it's best. At least The Monster Manik is asleep."
"Cabirrr..." I whined making him laugh heartily and the laughter was so contagious that I found myself laughing with him.
During our laughing session, he spoke, " You remember in school, there was this one girl who was famous for her laugh."
"Damn, what was her name? Something from U I think. Her name was unique." my brain decided to ditch me at that point.
"I don't know about the name but damn, that laughter. So soft and contagious, just hearing the sound whole class used to be filled with laughter." He continued, " she even managed to make the grumpy monster Manik smile."
" I know right? Those days were so special. I miss school days." nostalgia hits hard when with your childhood friends and when you have someone like Cabir it all feels surreal.
"Coming back, who managed to make Monster Manik fall for her?" His eyes were full of curiosity.
A smile instantly crept on my lips, "Nandini. Nandini Murthy."
He seemed to process the name but I replied myself, "Yes, it's the same Mukti's Nandini who is titled as a mini-monster."
He opened his mouth to speak but again closes it. After repeating the same for few times, he cleared his throat before speaking, " How? I mean when? I mean...I know you got it, just give me the details."
"Aren't we behaving like girls in novels where one wants details of even how their first kiss felt?"
For a few seconds, it was all silent but it was filled with a high-pitched scream, "You freaking had your first kiss? Tell me .tell me. How was it? Oh my god, my Manik finally grew up. He kissed."
"Shut up Cabir. And no, I have not kissed her. And what the first kiss, I had that when I was in college." he had the audacity to roll his eyes at my statement.
" Manik Malhotra, let me remind your that was no kiss. That was a peck, a peck on the lips. " he glared at me while continuing to speak without letting me interrupt, " Also, it might have turned into a kiss if you haven't pushed the poor girl so hard that she landed on the floor. "
He continued, " Not to forget the look you gave her. Trust me on this but that was the only time in my life when I truly was scared of your anger. I thought you will rip her head off. Thank god, one beer bottle was the only victim. "
"Yeah yeah whatever. " but I still feel like killing that girl. So what it was a dare.
When you play, your games should be limited to your circle. Taking it beyond that in name of dare and doing it to show off was not something he favored cause it might cost not just a few laughs and hoots. Someone's emotions are too in line.
" Where are you lost? "Cabir's voice brought me back from my thoughts.
" Nowhere. So, what were you asking?"
"Tell me about Nandini. "
" If you want to know about her life then I don't know. If you want to know about her hobbies, likes, dislikes, favorite color, favorite food, and other general life questions then, I don't know that too."
"Manik, do you by chance know anything about her except her name and not to forget surname " his tone was sarcastic which I ignored royally.
" Courtesy of Mukti, I know at least that she is a doctor by profession and that she loves to dance though that is something I have seen and experienced myself."
"Now I am confused whether to call you innocent or the idiotic fool." Like always he royally ignored my glare before asking, " You sure she is your girlfriend? "
"Who told you she is my girlfriend? We have known each other for just a few weeks, " I swallowed the lump forming in my throat before adding, "And after what happened in the office, and how she looked at me..." I couldn't complete the sentence as her eyes flashed in front of my vision.
Cabir kept his hand on my shoulder urging me to speak it out and I did.
"You know Cabir, her doe-shaped eyes that used to be full of innocence, mischievous spark and shine in the dark too, was so cold and full of hate, unlike the usual love that they carried. It still gives me chills. The intensity with how she stared at me, there were complaints about my behavior, tears for her best friends, remorse for the time we spent together, disappointment, and most of all hurt. She was hurt and that too all just because of me and my jealousy. "
Cabir kept the silence even if he had questions but it was like my mind was stuck in her eyes, my heart and voice had a different tale to tell.
"You know Cabir when Mukti showed me Nandini's photo for the first time, I just noticed her eyes. Even in a picture, her eyes expressed volumes. Her eyes were her pure heart's reflection. But when I met her for the first time, they were guarded, and to say I was not disappointed will be a lie. "
I still remember how professionally she introduced herself but just a few minutes and there was that twinkle in her eyes.
"I was not sure if it was just me who could read her eyes or anybody else too could but I was getting lost in the vibrancy of her beautiful orbs. And when she hugged me for the first time after sliding down the zipline, I felt at peace. " The memory of that adventurous day is still fresh in my mind. "And when she held my hand in the Ferris wheel, it felt so...touching. I don't know what I felt. It was too euphoric to be true."
And finally, the final moments of the wonderful day spent on the beach and our talks just kept repeating in my head all night. That day I barely slept cause all I could remember was her, her eyes, her smile, and the sound of her laughs. So magical. I kept it to myself though.
"I didn't know what it was but a few days later I found myself writing songs with just one thing in mind- her. And that was the time, I realized it was not just about having a crush or liking. It was more."
"Someone fell in love at first sight," Cabir added, teasingly.
"Nope. That was not love at first sight. And I am hundred percent sure of that. " my voice laced with surety slowly turned to a mere whisper as I added, "I am not sure if it's love either."
"What is it if not love ?" He asked and turned to gaze at me in the eyes, " Cause the way you describe her and the way your eyes shine with just a mere mention of her, I will say, it's the purest form of undying love."
"I will still say it's not a love story and never going to be one," I stated.
He kept looking at me as if to find the answer to his unasked questions before sighing in defeat. "Is this the end then? " he asked, still not convinced that it was over before it started.
"No Cabir, it's not." I continued, " It's just a chapter, an incomplete chapter of a story written by Hate, where there is a thin line between the shades of red."
An incomplete chapter of a hate story is not the same as that of love. Love is like a blooming rose, though red, it withers and fades. But hate, it's like blood in veins, it boils from inside but remains till the last breath.
~˜"*°•.˜"*°• And he wanted the form of love that lasts forever and he could not ask for something better than HATE itself. ~˜"*°•.˜"*°-
ᴅᴀᴛᴇ: 19 Sᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 2020
