We reached home. Mukti and alia reached a few minutes later.

"nandini , you rest in one of the rooms here" i said

"but manik, i can't, i need to go to my room, what will other staff think?" she tried to present her point.

"i said you will rest here ,then you will rest here, no further arguments" i completed

"my clothes.." she tried to give another reason.

God! She is so stubborn!

"celia, celia.." i shouted

"yes sir" she came running

"get a set of nandini's clothes here." I ordered

"sure sir" she left after taking room key from nandini.

Nandini gave me a look of disbelief.

Celia came back with a set of clothes and gave to nandini.

"just freshen up and sleep. If i will need anything , i will ask other servants" i ordered her in a strict tone before she could give any further excuses. She got up and followed my instructions to reach the room i had asked her to go. Mukti and alia followed her to the room to observe her mental state.

She is a strong girl. Had there been someone else, she would have just shattered after the incident, but nandini did not let herself fall apart. Yes she was still sad but she was not hopeless.

......

Mukti and alia informed me that she is in perfect state of mind and i need not worry. After spending some more time, my friends left. I made phone call to mom-dad and informed them about the incidence. They offered to return ASAP but i stopped them assuring that there was nothing to worry. They ordered me to take care of nandini. I guess , its a role reversal!!. I hung up and after freshening myself , i decided to check on her.

Presently , i was standing at her door and wondering whether to knock or enter just like that? What if she is sleeping? The knock would disturb her. I had one more concern. After this incidence, may be she will keep me in the same category of perverts as those boys...i need to maintain distance and assure her that my intentions are not wrong.

What to do? What to do? I rubbed my palms and my foot started tapping automatically. I will knock once, if she opens then ok, otherwise i will leave. With this thought, i raised my hand to knock , but before that the door opened and nandini stood in front of me. I was shocked, but recovered quickly and pulled my hand down. She looked at me like she was waiting for an explanation , so i began "i just thought to check , if you are okay, so i came here and was about to knock but before that you opened the door" i finished . "i heard footsteps, so i opened to check" she said plainly without any emotions and walked inside leaving the door open , for me.

I entered and found her sitting on the bed. "i thought , you would be sleeping" i asked standing at a distance from her. "manik, you don't need to worry for me, i will not commit suicide, if that's what you are worrying about, i have seen worst days in my life...i know how to rise from ashes and make new beginnings" she spoke and i thought she read my mind!

"ok..then...if that is so...then get something for me..i m hungry" i ordered her. I realised the best way to keep her happy was to keep her busy, as she doesn't like sitting idly . i had learnt this much about her.

Her pale face , suddenly started glowing and she got up from bed "ok i will just come back with something for you to eat" she spoke. "for us to eat" i corrected her and she knew that it was no use arguing , so she left from there.

....

After dinner, all the servants left. It was just me and nandini.

"i think i should leave too" she suggested.

"no you are sleeping here itself, atleast for today" i ordered her

"but i told you i am fine" she argued

"you argue too much yaar!! I said sleep here , then sleep here na...what is the problem?? Are you afraid of me?? You don't trust me!" why am i even asking when i know she doesn't trust me , and its right, because my behaviour is also like that.

"no its not like that...ok sorry, i will obey you ...don't get angry now" she spoke sitting close to me on the sofa. My heart fluttered but i controlled as i was angry!

When i didn't reply or look at her, she held my chin and made me look at her. "i am sorry" she pleaded holding both her ears.

"ok" i gave a monosyllabic answer. I liked the way she was manofying me.

"ok ? just ok?.." she mumbled to herself "hmmmm, so what do you intend to do, now?" she asked in order to move the conversation forward.

"sleep" i gave a one word answer , deliberately.

"sleep? Why should i sleep so early?" she misunderstood my word so she asked

"i mean to say , i want to sleep" i corrected her misconception.

"no please, not so soon, let's watch a movie" she suggested

"which movie?" i asked faking disinterestedness but from inside my heart was doing salsa!

"conjuring" she spoke enthusiastically. I was surprised. What kind of a girl she is!! After the afternoon incidence , she wants to see a horror movie!!

"i have heard a lot about it, but never got the opportunity to watch it...do you have that movie?" she spoke as i didn't reply.

I nodded "come to my room , i have it in my hard drive, i will show you on my laptop"

I thought she would hesitate in accompanying me and would ask me to bring my laptop here in the living room itself. But she didn't . she got up and followed me.

.....

We were watching the movie sitting side by side on my bed. Nandini was jumping every now and then during the suspense scenes of the movie. In the middle of the movie, there was a scene where the little girl feels a tug on her leg in her sleep and she gets up startled. Then the girl slowly and slowly bends down to check below her bed. The scene was steeped in suspense and nandini all of a sudden held my hand which i had kept beside her and started murmuring "manik waha kuch hai...kuch hai.." and she waited anxiously and her grip on my hand became tighter with every passing second. Suddenly the music changed and nandini almost jumped on me shouting "aaah!" but then there was nothing below the bed and nandini put both her hands on her heart "god! It was so scary!" she spoke and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She was sitting on my lap now but i made no move to touch her or hold her. This is so unlike me! What am i doing? And why? What do i want? All these questions flooded my mind. I so wanted to hold her and kiss her madly but somehow my hands were not moving. My chain of thought was broken when she shook me "manik kya hua? Tum thk ho? Did you get a heart attack or what!! I knew it ye scene itna scary tha hi.." she was blabbering. She had moved back to sit on the bed and i was just looking at her face. I was trying to see the future, our future. does it even exist?

Rest of the movie was same. Nandini held my hand almost reflexively everytime a scary scene was on display. I felt she has begun to trust me so much that she is not afraid to be close to me. Do i deserve this trust? As these questions played in my mind, my mood was turned off. for the first time , in my life, i thought i needed to take my life seriously and should know what i want in my life.

"manik what happened? Is there any problem? Tell me ..may be i can help you?" she asked after the movie was over. May be it had been too obvious that i was disturbed and distracted all through the movie.

"its nothing..i m just feeling sleepy" i lied

"oh ok then...i will go..gd nt" she wished me and left from there. Before closing the door , she turned to look at me, i quickly gave her a fake smile. She shut the door behind. I lay on the bed, thinking what i feel for her? Is it mere lust? Then why am i so hesitant? If only i try to touch her , hold her, only then i will know na..what she thinks? If she refuses then i won't proceed but i am afraid to even do that...why?

Because you are afraid that she might feel hurt and stop talking to you...my mind answered.

How does that matter? If she decides to even quit the job..it shouldn't effect me. I can get many more girls...another part of my brain put the point forward.

You can get many more girls, but you won't get nandini..dude...first part of the brain shut the second part.

What does all this mean?? Second part asked the obvious question.

You are in love with her..idiot...my heart jumped into the discussion and stated

Don't talk rubbish! ...second part of the brain shouted

Yeah..its just infatuation..may be ..if he gets her body..he will lose interest in her....first part of the brain stated.

My heart chose to remain quiet.

I GOT UP from the bed frustrated, i need to clear my head, i should get some fresh air. I was passing through the corridor to go downstairs but i found the door of nandini's room open. Did she go to sleep in the staff quarters? I thought of checking and entered inside. I found her sleeping peacefully on the bed. A smile crept up on my face thinking that she kept the door open for me. I found a copy and pen beside her sleeping figure, probably she was writing something. I picked it up to put on the table but as i turned the copy i found the page had my name written all over it in different styles. I don't know why...but i was smiling. Getting curious i turned pages to see if there are more such pages and yes...i counted..1 2 3 ...10 pages!! She had written my name on 10 pages at a stretch!! She is crazy...after observing the pages i closed the copy and placed it on the table but the pen fell from my hand and made a sound. I quickly looked at nandini , if i had disturbed her but she was still sleeping. After that i turned to go back, but she held my hand "manik" she called and i turned to face her. I was shocked+ embarrassed+confused.

"i knew you will come, that's why i kept the door open, so that you don't tap your foot standing on the door outside" she said with a smile.

I didn't know what to do? What to say? So i just stood there. She had not left my hand. And i felt my whole body was on fire, because of that touch. She read my face for a while and then left my hand. She understands me so well? I asked myself. May be she does.

"manik, you are not that bad as you think yourself to be" she stated and i looked at her with confusion written all over my face.

"come lets go to the terrace" she pulled me along with her.

...

On the terrace she sat down folding her knees in her front while i sat beside her stretching my leg and slightly bending backwards taking the help of my hands. I was looking at the stars above.

"why this silent treatment?" she asked after a while without turning to look at me.

I didn't have the answer, so i kept quiet, and gazed at the stars.

"i didn't do anything to invite the trouble that happened today" she said and i wondered what brought this topic up all of a sudden. " please don't consider me responsible for it. I didn't tell you yesterday because i thought the matter would be shut, and the boy who got arrested today, won't trouble more, but i was wrong.." her voice choked at the end and it is then that i realised , she was sad that i am not speaking to her and she contemplated the reasons for my silence and she came up with this, that i am angry on her for afternoon incident. She still had not turned to look at me. I quickly hugged her pulling her to my chest. This time i didn't hesitate in touching her.

"shhhh nandini, what rubbish are you thinking? I am not angry, rather i am proud of you, how you didn't let the incidence break you! You are a strong girl yaar..and here you are crying like a baby..shhh stop crying" i tried to calm her and rubbed her arm. She was soaking my vest with her tears.

"then why are you not talking to me?" she asked while hiccupping. I sighed. What should i tell to you nandini..? but then i decided to be honest with her.

"nandini first stop crying, then only i will talk.." i suggested and she broke the hug, quickly wiping her tears "tell me now, see i am not crying" she said cutely.

"ok , i will be very honest with you...nandini i am not a good guy..you shouldn't trust me" i studied her expression but there was no sign of fear or regret.

"i know that" she stated.

"i am not able to control myself, so i want you to stay away from me" i warned

"what if i say, i won't?" she asked like an unabashed soul.

"you will get hurt" i informed.

"i am ready for that" she amazed me.

" nandini you are not understanding , i am not serious about relationships, i just can't stick to one thing"

"you are stuck to your parents and the same set of friends, then why not me???you can try, atleast, i will help you..if you still can't be loyal to me, i won't be a burden on you" she spoke with a lot of confidence "although i know that will not be needed" she finished and looked intently at me. She is right, one fine day i have to settle down in life, and i have a strong feeling that nandini is the girl who will bring stability to my life. So why not give it a try. There is more to gain in this than to lose.

A smile formed on my lips as i felt light. As if a heavy burden was pulled off me. From last 5-6 hours , i was banging my head on this topic and she solved it in just half an hour!!

She smiled back.

What to do now? God its so awkward!

I looked at her and she looked back at me . we just passed each other smiles.

"congratulations , we are now boyfriend –girlfriend" i said and forwarded my hand. She looked at my hand and then at me, as if i was an alien "manik we have not cracked a deal that you are congratulating me" she replied and i felt like a fool. Cow has eaten away all the 'bhusa' of my head!! I am behaving like a nerd. " yeah..right sorry!" i mumbled and she smiled as if she is sympathising with my situation.

Manik what is this yaar! A girl is making fun of you ! shame on you...

She was looking at the stars. With great courage i managed to put my arms round her shoulders, when she didn't protest, i moved closer erasing any gap between our bodies.

"this feels like a girlfriend-boyfriend thing" she said smiling and put her head on my chest. It felt so good!

........

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