The Broken Strings : A Manan ff (Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

“I don’t know why I’m like this. But there’s nothing you can do to fix me.” – Nandini.

“I’m not going to fix you. You don’t need me to fix you. But I’m here to love you while you fix yourself.” – Manik.

PROLOGUE

Manik’s P.O.V ~

I still remember the day when I saw her for the first time. How could I forget? It was like the whole world had stopped. It was only me and her.
Everything was happening in slow motion; just like they show in the movies. Well, not exactly like that, but somewhat similar to it.
9th May 2014 , Rock On Concert Hall , Mumbai…
That’s where I met her… Nandini.
It was the Musicana. We had a face off against the One Man Band. With a slendid performance, we had won the round.

Just after giving my winning speech, and collecting the Man Of The Musicana award, I headed towards the backside of the concert hall, where our team bus was.
I wasn’t really surprised to see nobody there. My bandmates were probably celebrating in the green room.
Sipping on the water from the bottle, as I was about to enter the bus, I heard faint cries from behind the bus. I had half-climbed into the bus, so I got down as those cries got louder. Out of curiosity, I walked in the direction of the noise.
I could make out that somebody was crying. Maybe some kid who had got lost here, I thought. But to my surprise, it was no kid.
She was standing there, leaning on the bus, her face buried in her hands. She was wearing a One Man Band Fan shirt, so I assumed she was here to watch the concert. One question that popped in my mind was, what is she doing here? Fans or anybody else except the band members, mentors, judges and hosts were not allowed in this area.
” Excuse me? ” I asked, looking at the girl. Her head snapped up on hearing my voice. I just hoped she wouldn’t start screaming on seeing me there.

What if she’s a fan? I thought. But all of my thoughts suddenly disappeared as she looked at me.
Her eyes… how can I forget them. Those crystal blue eyes. They had tears brimming from them. Tears, that continuously rolled down her cheeks. She had this long bob-cut, which suited her button nose and pink lips. Lips, which had turned into a dark shade of pink. Even with her tear-stained face, she looked beautiful. Just like an angel from the heaven.
The moment I saw her, I froze. I was lost in her eyes. I was lost in admiring every feature of hers.
Stop staring, Manik. A voice said from the back of my mind. I quickly put myself together, not wanting to embarrass myself in front of a beautiful stranger.

” Uh, may I help you? ” I asked. She kept looking at me with teary eyes, and honestly, my heart melted right at that moment. I wanted to go ahead, and wipe those tears. She looked broken, and I wanted to make her feel better. But then again, she was a stranger.
” Are you okay? ” I asked. I hoped she wouldn’t start fangirling or anything like that. But something about her just told me that she’d gone through something very bad.
” Y-yes. Yes, I… I’m fine. I’m sorry. ” She said wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.
” You don’t seem fine. Here, have some water. ” I said, handing over the water bottle to her. She took took it, and drank some of it. She thanked, and handed the bottle back to me.
” Uh, by the way, what are you doing here? I hope you know that not
everyone is allowed in here. ” I said, trying to not look into her eyes.
” I-I know. It’s just that, I came here before the concert ended, and I got lost. I don’t know the way to go back. ” She said.
” Is that why you were crying? ” I asked as I couldn’t help but smile. She let out a small chuckle.
” No, no, its something else. ” She said.
” What is it? ” I accidentaly blurted out. Can’t you keep your mouth shut? I thought immediately as I asked her. But then again, I was also curious to know. I felt like sharing her pain. I wanted to help her. If it was any other girl in her place, I would’ve showed her the exit. But this girl… there was something different inside her which made me want to know her more.
For a moment, she didn’t say anything. She gave me a blank look, and I realized I shouldn’t have asked a personal question.
” I’m sorry. It’s okay if you don’t want to share it. ” I said.
” No! Its not that… ” She trailed off.
” You can tell me. I’m good at keeping secrets, ” I said, as we both leaned back on the bus.
She hesitated for a bit, fiddling with her fingers.
” I just broke up. ” She said. My mouth formed an ‘O’ shape as she said that.
” He invited me here for the conecrt. He said he wanted to say something important, but he would do it after the concert ends. Then he suddenly left in between. I went out looking for him, and I even found him… making out with some other girl. ” More tears came out. I hesitantly took a step forward and handed her the water bottle again. This time, she drank all of it.
” He said, that he didn’t want me anymore, and that, he loved someone else. ” She said.
We stood there in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. I had to say something, since all she did was to sob.
” Well, what can I say? He is a jerk. ” I said. She looked at me again.
” I’m sorry, but yeah! I mean look at you. You’re beautiful. Whoever leaves you will regret it later on. ” I said. Yes, I just called a stranger beautiful on her face. It was weird, since I didn’t even know her name!
” Thanks. It means a lot coming from you, and I’m sorry too. ” She said.
” For what? ”
” For making you listen to a stupid love struck girl’s breakup story. ” She said. ” I know you’re always busy and all, but you took out time to at least comfort me, it feels good. ” She added. I gave her a warm smile in return.
She knew who I was…
” So you know who I am? ” I asked quite amused. Usually people start asking for autographs and pictures, but she didn’t. Now you know, why I called her different?
” Ofcourse, I do. Manik Malhotra, who doesn’t know you? ” She said smiling.
” You didn’t really ask for autograph or anything, so I assumed you didn’t recognize me. ” I said.
” That would be funny, because I’ve seen your posters outside. ” She said.
Stupid Manik… I thought.
” Yeah, ” I said rubbing the back of my head.
” Oh, um, who won? I didn’t get to see the whole conecrt. ” She said.
” We won. ” I said.
” Oh! Congratulations! I was rooting for you guys anyway. ” She said and extended her hand for a handshake. I gladly took it.
” Thank you. But aren’t you a One Man Band fan? ” I asked looking at her jersey. She laughed a little.
” Not really. My boyfriend, I mean ex
boyfriend is. ” She said.
” So you are an Fab five Fan? ” I asked.
” N-no. I’m more of a Manik fan, ” She replied nervously.
A smile automatically formed on my lips as she said that. She was my fan, and I don’t know why, but that made me really happy.
” Oh! So Miss Manik fan, what’s your name? ” I asked as she seemed to ease down a bit.
” Nandini, ” She said flashing a smile. ” And I’m a big fan of yours… ” She added.
” Hi Nisha, nice to meet you. Honestly, I haven’t seen any fan on mine so calm and normal after meeting me. You’re different, ” I said.
She laughed. ” Should I take that as a compliment? ”
” Uh-huh. So do you know the way out of this area? ” I asked.
” Uh, no. ” She said nervously. ” Oh my God, this is trespassing. I’m probably going to jail now. They’ll think I’m a kidnapper, or maybe a terrorist! ” She added, looking at the blank space in front of her and suddenly gasped.
” Oh God, what if they put me in jail? I’ll be in the newspapers tomorrow! My mom and dad will abandon me! ” She went on thinking about the consequences of what will happen if she goes to jail, while I stared at her amusingly.
What is this girl? I thought. She wasn’t even in jail, and most importantly, you are not put in the jail if you accidentally trespass an area. The way she kept on blabbering about the horrible consequences, I found it really cute.
” Hey, Nandini, its okay. Calm down. ” I said grabbing her shoulders and looking at her. ” Nobody will put you in jail, and nobody will abandon you. ” I said and smiled. I couldn’t help but laugh at her cuteness.
” I’m sorry. Sometimes I overreact. ” She said flushing pink. ” Happens. ” I said.
” I gotta go now. You guys, you must be planning to celebrate and all. It was really nice meeting you. ” She said.
No, don’t leave. I said to myself. I didn’t want her to go. I wanted to spend some more time with her. But I knew that was not possible. She was a stranger and I barely knew her.
” Yeah, nice to meet you too. And uh, go straight and then take a left. The door there is the exit. ” I said giving her the directions.
” Thank you so much, and congrats, once again. I hope you guys win the next one as well. ” She said.
” Thank you. ” I smiled. But from the inside, I felt bad. I wanted to stop her, talk to her more, get to know her.
Stop it, Manik. She’s just a fan. I scolded myself again and again. Finally, she waved one last time, and turned around walking away in the direction of the exit.
Maybe I won’t meet her again… but maybe I will. Who knows?

A/N

This story was started by Nikita, she’s my wattpad sister. She had to discontinue writing it owing to some health issues. So I thought of continuing it on her behalf. So here is my version if the story! I hope you like reading it. I will update the chapter 2 which wasn’t posted by Nikita soon. ??