Thank you all for your votes and comments! It always motivates me to continue writing. Hope you continue to enjoy the story!

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It was the day of the charity event and Manik had reached the venue earlier than Nandini. He was eager to know if his attempt had worked. Nandini arrived a little later and she had worn an attire which was much better than usual since she didn't want to disappoint Manik.

One of the staff who was supposed to sing in the background for a dance program had come up with a sore throat, so she couldn't sing anymore.

Staff : "We will have to cancel the dance program. I won't be able to sing and no one else is ready to try since they can't learn the song that quickly."

Nandini heard the staff talking to another staff, and she felt Manik might be able to help. She explained the issue to Manik.

Nandini : "The participants have been putting lot of efforts and they will be disappointed if the program gets cancelled. Can you please sing in the background for them?"

Manik : "I don't perform for charity events that too as a background singer. Moreover, that song needs a female voice."

Nandini was in deep thoughts.

Nandini : "The participants will be disappointed if the program is cancelled. .. I will be able to pick up the song quickly and sing, but I had made up my mind to stay away from music."

Nandini remembered Manik's words about music too. Also, she had performed earlier to save herself from joining the music club. Now, she decided to sing for the sake of the participants of the dance program. Nandini managed to pick up the song quickly and the program went fine. The joy on the faces of the participants gave her a sense of satisfaction and claps from the audience reminded her of her days with the band.

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When Nandini met Manik after the program,

Manik : "How are you feeling after performing?"

Nandini : "I am glad that I could stop the program from getting canceled."

Manik : "You had made up your mind to stay away from music and waste your talent. I hope this would have made you realize that you not only used your music to bring joy to others, but also to bring satisfaction to yourself."

Manik showed her picture which he had clicked at the end of the dance program. The picture showed a slightly better version of Nandini.

Manik : "See for yourself, incorporating small changes can make a difference. I am assuming it wasn't as difficult as you thought."

Manik had made a small attempt from his side, and then an opportunity came his way on it's own that he made use of hoping to change Nandini's mindset. Since Manik was present at the venue before Nandini, he came to know about the staff's problem. The staff was planning to use the recorded version but wasn't sure how it would turn out.

Manik decided to use Nandini's concept on herself one more time. Earlier she had played music to get out of the situation he had put her in. So she would perform if she was in a similar situation but this time she had to do so voluntarily. He approached the staff with his plan and the staff cooperated. She pretended to discuss the problem with another staff so that Nandini would hear it and she volunteered as Manik had expected.

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It was the last day at the orphanage and they had taken off the decorations and almost finished cleaning up. Now that they were done with it, Nandini was thinking of what she had to do next. She was sad because she couldn't figure out how to proceed further.

Manik : "The event went well as planned, then why do you still look worried?"

Nandini : "It isn't about the event, I was thinking of something else."

Manik : "What were you thinking of?"

Nandini was thinking whether to tell about it to him or not.

Manik : "Got it .. it's that thing you don't want to talk about. I thought you will work on improving yourself, but you seem to be more sad than usual. I don't put in so much effort for anyone, but I did so for you, and looks like it all went waste."

Nandini : "It isn't about that. I won't let your efforts go waste, I will try to improve. But why did you take so much effort for me?"

Manik : "You saved me and I wanted to return your favor."

Nandini : "You wouldn't have to take so much effort if you would have told me earlier. You saved me earlier and I saved you in return."

Nandini still didn't know that she landed in that situation because of their plan, and Manik didn't want to tell her about it.

Manik : "If it isn't that, then what were you thinking of?"

Nandini : "I came to this city and joined our college for a reason, but I haven't been able to do much about it yet and I have no idea as to how to proceed further."

Manik : ".. and you don't want to tell me the reason."

Nandini : "It isn't like that. I came here looking for two girls. I found the one who I thought would be difficult to find, but she is so mad at me that she doesn't want to even see my face, let alone talk to me. I don't know how to approach her."

Nandini : "I know the other girl is in this college, but I don't know her full name. I don't even know how she looks. I know only her surname and I won't be able to contact her without knowing her name."

Manik : "You can find out from the office. There won't be too many of them with the same surname."

Nandini : "I tried but the staff isn't willing to give me any details."

Manik : "I will leave a word at the office, so next time you go there you will be able to get the information you are looking for. .. Even in the future if you want to get something done at the college, you can go ahead and use my name."

Nandini : "Thank you so much! .. Based on my experience, let me tell you that it isn't good to trust anyone so much, what if I misuse your name without your knowledge."

Manik : "I won't trust someone without knowing about them. I know you enough to say that you wouldn't misuse it and incase you do, probably you would have a good reason behind it."

Manik figured out that the other girl Nandini was talking about is Mukti. He had dropped the idea of talking to Nandini about Mukti, but now she had brought it up on her own.

Manik : "You were saying about the other girl. Why did you come looking for her?"

Nandini : "She is a friend. She left our college as well as the city without telling me or anyone else about it."

Manik : "Isn't this your first year of college? .. and how did you know she is here then?"

Nandini : "I joined college last year, but I had to drop out in between. I managed to find out that she is in Mumbai from her friend's friend."

Manik : "Why is she mad at you?"

Nandini : "I don't know."

Manik : "If a friend has to be mad at you, then there must be a very big reason for it."

Nandini : "That's what even she is saying, but I have no clue as to what it could be, and she isn't willing to talk about it. When I last met her there, she was fine. Then I couldn't go to college because of personal issues. By the time it was resolved, I came to know that she had left. I am not able to figure out what happened then or how to approach her now."

Manik knew the reason but he couldn't say it directly.

Manik : "The possible reasons for conflicts between friends could be jealousy, competing for the same friend - boyfriend/girlfriend, betrayal .."

Nandini : "It isn't any of them .. what else could the reason be?"

Manik : "Are you sure?"

Nandini : "Yes. I wasn't jealous of her and I didn't have anything that she could be jealous of. I interacted with her friends very rarely. .. Back then her boyfriend hated me, so I used to stay as far away as possible from him. .. I didn't do anything to betray her."

Nandini was still trying to figure out the reason.

Manik : "Don't stress yourself. It could also be possible that she misunderstood you."

Nandini : "In that case, I will have to clear her misunderstanding. .. and I won't be able to do so until I get her to talk to me."

Manik : "Give it sometime and things will fall in place."

Manik didn't want Nandini to stress herself. Moreover, he was already thinking of how to talk to Mukti and convince her to talk to Nandini.