The week passed in the birthday preparations. Everyone was busy in their own planning except mukti who had no clue about the happenings. All the plans were discussed among friends. Cabir and navya offered to help abhimanyu. Manik was unaware about this and he had not got time to talk to abhimanyu. It had skipped nandini's mind too , to inform abhimanyu about manik's approval.

Friday night
11: 50 p.m.

"hello mukti" nandini spoke, panic clear in her voice.

"ha nandini , kya hua?? U sound stressed..." mukti replied over the phone

"mukti please jaldi upar ao...manik ki tabiyat theek ni lag rahi...please" nandini pleaded

"nandini relax, main arahi hun...mai mom dad ko v lekar ati hun...just relax...ok...main arahi hu" mukti replied and till now she had reached in front of her mom dad's room.

"nahi, nahi...mukti.." nandini spoke hurriedly and mukti stopped just before knocking on the door ,"mukti, suno..maa-papa ko araam karne do...bas tum ajao for now, agar kuch serious hua toh unhe bulaenge..ok?" nandini spoke calmly

"ok..ok...i am coming" mukti ran to reach to nandini.

Mukti reached and pushed the main door, it was open , she entered inside, it was dark.

"nandini" mukti called out, she could hear shuffling sounds. Just then lights got on.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUKTI!!!"

Maan, neyonika, manik, nandini, cabir, navya, Dhruv, aliya shouted together and mukti was taken aback for a moment. She palmed her mouth in excitement "oh my god!!" she said and looked towards her friends and family before laughing whole heartedly and speaking "thank you".

Everyone hugged and wished her.

"how was the surprise mukti???" aliya asked

"truly speaking i was startled! Thank you , thanks a lot!!" mukti said emotionally

"tu apna birthday bhul gyi thi??" manik asked her patting her head and side hugging her.

"arey ni...i remembered till 15 minutes ago, but jaise nandini ka call aya , i panicked and forgot everything" mukti explained

"i am sorry, but mujhe isse better idea ni mil raha tha tumhe yaha bulane ka without you suspecting my intentions" nandini said and pouted

"arey its ok nandini...i loved the surprise though" mukti spoke cheerfully .

"but tumhe bura ni laga that no one mentioned even a word about your birthday??" navya asked

"no navya, its been 3-4 years , none of us has celebrated a mid night birthday party...so i wasn't expecting it...its quite refreshing" mukti replied with a tinge of regret as because of her, this tradition had stopped.

"then we should thank nandini for restarting this tradition.." cabir spoke and all of them smiled at nandini.

While she acknowledged their thanks with a smile.

"arey mera cake kaha h???" mukti asked excitedly

Nandini smiled and went towards the kitchen while rest of them gathered around the table , laughing, talking , enjoying. Soon nandini came back with a home made cake and placed on the table.

Cake👇

"yeh maine banaya hai...i hope you like it mukti" nandini spoke sceptically making cute faces and manik couldn't control his smile. Why is she so cute!! He thought.

"nandini, i know it will be the best cake!! And thank fully it is not chocolate flavour, so i am loving it already!" mukti said and nandini sighed that she did not make a chocolate flavoured cake.

Manik and Dhruv placed the small candles on the cake and Dhruv lighted them. Cabir gave the knife and all of them sang the happy birthday song while mukti blew the candles and cut the cake. She fed the first bite to her mom dad , then manik-nandini-cabir-aliya-dhruv-navya. Servants cut rest of the cake and served to everyone with soft drinks. Mukti asked the servants to distribute the cake among themselves too. All the servants came and wished mukti, giving her blessings.

Finally everything was done and they were sitting comfortably. Maan and neyonika had already gone to sleep.

Nandini texted abhimanyu

"bhai, mukti is free now, you can wish her"

"ok...thanks a lot behna.." came the reply instantly, which means he was waiting.

Mukti's phone started ringing. She saw it was abhi's call.

"go, go...talk ...tere kisi friend ne kiya hoga to wish you" cabir spoke hiding his smile. Navya and nandini passed each other knowing smiles.

"yeah..i mean..ok ..i will just come back.." mukti fumbled but she quickly got up and went to a corner to talk. Manik didn't notice as he was busy uploading pics on his SNS.

Mukti-Abhimanyu convo----

"hello" mukti spoke softly

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MUKTI...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU..."Abhimanyu sang to wish her. Mukti liked his style and her heart fluttered.

"thank you" she said smiling whole heartedly.

"ok i know i am 1 hour late but i thought you must be celebrating with your family ..so i deliberately delayed" abhimanyu justified and mukti thought how caring and understanding he is!

"its ok abhimanyu...atleast you called, that's enough for me..." mukti said smiling

"acha...this is enough?" abhimanyu started to tease her.

"yeah of course...tumne aajtak mere lye bahut kuch kiya hai...so i don't want anything else" mukti spoke

"kya yaar maine itni mehnat se itna acha surprise plan kiya hai...aur tum bol rahi ho ki you don't want it"

abhimanyu spoke faking sadness and annoyance

"arey arey why are you getting annoyed...you would be the last person that i would want to annoy on my birthday...so ok i am ready for your surprise" mukti spoke hurriedly because she didn't like if abhimanyu got angry with her. Somehow her words made abhimanyu's heart flutter.

"that's like a good girl! So tomorrow 11 in the morning be ready, ok?" abhimanyu informed her.

"we are going out or what??" mukti asked confused

"of course"

"but where?"mukti questioned

"its a surprise, mukti!!" abhi answered sarcastically

"but what will i tell at home??"

"don't worry , i will manage that for you" abhi assured her.

"through nandini, right??" mukti replied laughing

"you are so intelligent!!" abhi mocked her

"abhi..i mean abhimanyu!!" mukti started to chide him but fumbled
"you can call me abhi..i will like it that way" abhi spoke lovingly

Mukti smiled " no...abhimanyu is good" mukti replied hesitantly
"ok as you wish, ma'm!"

"good night!"

"good night sweetheart!" abhi addressed her this way for the first time...he waited for her reaction...if she gets angry means she considers him just a friend. But to his satisfaction, she just wished him bye' and cut the call. Being on phone, abhi missed the prominent blush on her face, which signified that he affects her in more than a friend' way.

ON THE OTHER SIDE

"is mukti talking to abhi??" manik asked nandini as he noticed the never ending smile and the slight blush on mukti's face while she is talking.

"yes" nandini replied smiling herself.

"you seem to be enjoying this too much" manik asked nandini noticing her smile.

Nandini turned to manik on the couch " i enjoy watching the romance of others as my own world of romance has died down, my husband has grown too old to romance you know.." nandini spoke sarcastically.

Manik couldn't control the chuckle that escaped his lips hearing her comment "you really think so??" he asked again laughing hysterically.

That caught the attention of others.

"what's so funny, manik??" aliya asked
Nandini showed her eyes to manik to stop him from laughing. But it only increased his bouts of laughter.

"nothing aliya, he has just lost his mind" nandini tried to shrug off, but they waited for manik's response.

Manik by now was in control of himself. They saw mukti coming back.

"what happened , why is everyone so serious??" mukti asked as she approached.

"serious?? U missed the hysterically laughing manik..we are just waiting for an explanation" cabir replied
"acha?? I want to know too...bhai laughing like that , is a rare occasion...otherwise his sense of humour is so high that all jokes come out as PJ for him..." mukti said the last part by rolling her eyes.

"right on point mukti!!" Dhruv seconded her

"guys , guys, relax..its nothing like that...there was not any joke...actually nandini reminded me of some important work that i have to do...but her tone of reminding me...was funny and that cracked me up.." manik replied and nandini rolled her eyes.

"acha and what's that work , may we have the privilege to know manik??"

Cabir who could smell something fishy in here..tried to pry in the matter.

"no, you don't have that privilege caaabbiirrr...its a surprise.." manik spoke suggestively to cabir.

"oh like that.." cabir got the hint.

"acha ok, we will leave now...and yeah mukti be ready at 11 tomorrow, i will drop you to your destination" cabir spoke to mukti and her eyes widened that how did cabir know? But she chose to remain quiet.

"where will you drop her??" manik poked his nose into the matter

"manik, don't try to be a detective, ok...its her life, she is free to go wherever she wants" nandini chided him.

"hmmm, yeah, ok, sorry" manik apologised but to whom wasn't clear...as he spoke looking down. He realised that he was again interfering in mukti's life, which he had decided he won't, so he apologised.

There was awkward silence as everyone was busy observing and analysing the situation. Cabir, Dhruv , alia, mukti were amazed at how easily nandini shut him up. Mukti was also contemplating whether to tell manik about her plans with abhimanyu and so on.

"guys listen , why don't you stay here itself, already its quite late and tomorrow again you have to come early morning.." nandini trailed off as they were busy pondering.

Nandini knew manik's word matters so she poked him to speak but manik was clueless so he asked her what' through his eyes, so she gestured him towards his friends who were busy in their thoughts. Manik gave an oh' look and spoke "guys, itna kya soch rahe ho??? Meri wife ne bola hai...so you can't say no to her, just like you don't say no to me...so com'on grab your rooms...com'on get going!!!" manik spoke getting up and pushing them all together to their already reserved rooms , without giving them a chance to object. Finally they laughed together.

"mukti , you too are going to sleep here in your old room" manik spoke over his back

"ok bhai!!" mukti spoke excitedly

"guys listen..." nandini called out as an evil plan struck her, boys stopped and turned around to face her.

"we girls will stay together in a room...what say navya like old days???" nandini dropped the bombshell on manik.

Before the girls could express their opinion, manik came striding forward and caught hold of nandini's arms and dragged her a little away saying "guys just a minute"

"isey kya hua?? " Dhruv the innocent guy asked

"tu alia se puch kya hua...wo better samjha paegi" cabir joked

"cabir" alia chided him.

"guys , lets just sit and relax...bhai , nandini ko lekar gaye hain, and i don't think they are going to return sooner" mukti informed and all of them nodded and sat down

ON THE OTHER SIDE

"manik!! Tum kya kar rahe ho??" nandini spoke irritatedly as manik pulled her away

"tum batao...tum kya kar rahi ho...why this girls-sleeping-in-one-room' drama, haan??" manik spoke annoyedly

"what drama...its mukti's birthday..i am just trying to make it memorable for her!" nandini lied

"acha...cut the crap ok...i can read your face...and its screaming that you did this on purpose!!" manik spoke angrily

"ok fine ! i am doing on purpose...because i will take revenge...from last two weeks , tumne mujhe bahut sataya hai...ab meri baari hai!!!" nandini spoke proudly

"ab meri baari hai..." manik mocked at her "ye koi ration ki line hai kya ki baari aegi??? Just make some bahana and go back on your words, that's it!!" manik spoke authoritatively.

"i won't!!" nandini announced

"you won't???" manik asked baffled

"yes i won't" nandini replied and started walking and manik realised that this is not gonna work, so he changed his stance and held nandini's wrist to stop her from going away. But nandini didn't turn , so he pulled her with a jerk and her back collided with his chest. Manik encircled his arms over her arms on her tummy and nuzzled his nose in the crook of her neck. He pulled her more as she tried half heartedly to move away.

"ma..nik" nandini managed to speak amidst the havoc that was wrecked on her senses due to his sensual tortures. How much she was craving for this from last two weeks!!

"nandini" manik breathed in her hair "please, stay with me"

"i am always with you manik" nandini assured him, hearing the edge in his voice.

"then sleep with me tonight"

"manik, NO"

"nandini, maine khud ko last two weeks kese roka hai...tum ni janti...it was possible only because i atleast had you beside me...but please don't keep me away from yourself...tum chaho toh koi aur punishment de do , but please, not this" manik almost pleaded

Nandini turned around still in his embrace and cupped his cheeks and pulled him down and placed a long kiss on his forehead. Manik's eyes instantly shut themselves as he let the touch of her lips, the feel of her lips on his forehead sink in his system, relaxing and assuring him that she is not going away. Nandini pulled back and looked in his eyes , her palm still caressing his cheeks and spoke "

manik, i don't want to become your weakness, but your strength, i realised now how accustomed you have become to my presence, even my speaking about being away, makes you vulnerable. This shouldn't be like this manik...there will be times in future, when we might have to stay away over various reasons, you can't be so weak then...you understand na...what i am trying to say??"

"i understand...you are right...but i will follow that from tomorrow...tonight , be with me plzz" manik acted stubborn

"manik" nandini chided him as he was acting stubborn like a baby , now, " you should spend sometime with your friends too na...this is such a good opportunity...after all i am not just the one person in your life...tell me after our marriage have you spent a good time with your friends??"

"yeah, during holi..." manik answered and nandini rolled her eyes.

"only once??? Bas??" she asked sarcastically and manik pouted

"ok...fi..ne" manik finally agreed and nandini smiled

"chalo, then lets go back..." she again started to walk and again manik stopped her and pulled her for a sudden kiss.

Nandini was startled for a moment but soon her lips curved up in a smile in between the kiss. Manik kissed her desperately, taking whole of her lips in his mouth as if he couldn't get enough of the kiss. Nandini waited for him to calm down so that she could participate in the kiss. But just after a few seconds , they heard cabir calling out for them "manik wapas aja yaar...ya phir hume bta de...should we go to sleep??" and then they heard giggles.

Even after hearing the shout , manik was not ready to leave her lips, he kept on sucking them. Nandini would have again forgotten the world around her, so she quickly pulled back and manik groaned

"nandini...plzzz"

"manik..plz.." nandini imitated and he knew, she is not going to give in...so they walked back to their friends and ignoring the teasing session, nandini pulled mukti, navya, alia with her to her room leaving behind manik to handle cabir's double entendre.
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Credits to the writer- Manini Mehra