Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Geet was both surprised and impressed by Maan’s choice for the evening out to dinner. He had chosen wisely, the restaurant was upscale and classy.

He’d even gone a further step and brought a dress for her which he’d placed in a gift bag and on the bed. She had been utterly gobsmacked. This was not the Saru she had come to know in the past 8 months.

She dressed in the black knee length dress he’d chosen and slipped into her heels. Dadima and Naintara had praised her beauty and Dev had wolf whistled as she joined them down the steps. Her eyes had locked with Maan’s and he’d let his eyes roam over her body appreciatively. He’d let her know with his eyes how much he appreciated and admired her in the dress.

“Bhai really does choose the best places” Dev remarked as he pulled out the chair for Naintara.

“He does” Dadima agreed patting his cheek as he helped her into the chair then pulled out the chair besides her for Geet. Geet smiled thanking him and sat down and he settled on the chair beside her.

“Mr Khurana, it is a pleasure to have you here” The owner of the multimillionaire chain of restaurant approached and looked appreciative. “It’s such an honour to host dinner for you and your family” he grinned.

Maan nodded slowly and plastered a polite smile.

“Kirti, quick” The owner clicked his fingers gesturing to the table and she nodded swiftly wiping her warm palms on her apron and plastered a smile though she was nervous. This was a VIP table and it was none other than Maan Khurana and his family.

“Would you like anything to drink first?” Kirti asked pulling out the little tablet.

Dev and Naintara ordered alcohol for themselves as weekends tended to the nights they could let go of themselves and have a break from their active lifestyles as lawyers.

Geet opted for a glass of soft drink whilst dadima and Maan chose water. After she’d taken the orders for the drinks, they perused the menu for the food.

Geet’s eyes widened as she took note of the prices of the food.

“What?” Maan nudged her noticing her eyes almost popping out of her eye sockets.

“They’re extorting you, Maan” she mumbled.

“Bhabhi, why would you say that?” Dev laughed happening to hear her comment.

“Have you seen the prices?” she whispered across the table. “Its ten times the amount you can get at one of our dhabas” she added.

“There’s a difference between a dhaba and an upscale restaurant” Naintara chuckled. “Geet, don’t worry about it. Order what you want” she pointed.

“Um…” she looked down uncertainly and mentally started counting how much she had in her card.

“Bete, kya soch rahe ho?” Dadima asked noting her lost in her thoughts.

“I’m counting how much I can pay” she blurted.

“What?” Maan hissed narrowing his eyes.

Dev, dadima and Naintara blinked in surprise as well.

“Well… I want to pay my portion for this” she muttered.

“You’re not paying” Maan stated firmly.

“But…”

“Geet” Dadima touched her forearm shaking her head gently. “Bete, Maan or Dev usually pay for our dinners. It’s their treat to us ladies. Accept karlo, hmm?”

She hummed slowly nodding her head.

Once the food arrived, the tension and awkwardness had dispelled and they’d engaged in friendly banter with one another. Geet had ate to her heart’s content loving each bite and pushed the prices to the back of the mind.

After they finished, Maan settled the bill and thanked the owner for their hospitality and they started making their way out. As before, dadima joined Naintara and Dev in their car whilst Geet followed Maan to his. He climbed inside and didn’t move as she settled in.

“What was that?” he questioned turning his head to her.

“What?”

“Why would you even consider counting and using your money?”

“Maan, we’ve only just given a chance to each other. You’re already providing for me in all the different ways. I wanted to use my own money”.

“Use it for going out, shopping or whatever else you do then” he replied.

“I want to be independent as well like you all. Naintara, Dev, you… You’re all independent and I want that as well. Like dadima said, you and Dev cover the bill. Naintara is going out with friends and she probably does her share as well with friends and with Dev. I want that”.

“So, you do that with your friends. Independent doesn’t mean you need to spend it on your family or friends” he answered. “Geet, financial independence is able to have money and relying on that when needed. So, you don’t have to rely on others especially on hard times. That also doesn’t mean, you don’t accept what we do for you” he reasoned.

“I want to do things for you guys as well” she mumbled pouting her lips adorably.

“I’m sure I can think of a few things” he winked mischievously.

“Maan” she chuckled nudging him with her elbow.

He laughed and started the engine, he leaned across pressing a kiss to her cheek and then started driving her home.

Geet exhaled heavily stretching and trying to wrangle the zip down on her dress but failed miserably. She glanced at the washroom door where Maan had disappeared to change out of his clothes. She considered going to Naintara but upon their arrival Dev and Naintara sure looked cosy and in love. Geet wasn’t going to knock on for Naintara’s help in case she was busy.

She looked down at her stomach. Why did you eat so much? she complained internally.

Maan stepped out and paused, “You’ve not changed yet?”

“Um… I… I can’t get the zip down. It’s really tight” she turned around showing him the back. “I need help”.

He smiled approaching her.

Geet felt the heat of his closeness caressing her back. She hitched a breath as his fingers brushed along the nape, he moved her hair over her shoulder and worked on unzipping the tight dress. The sound of the zip echoed like a heavy gong. Geet sucked in a deep breath as the back of his fingers slid down slowly to the middle of her back. She twisted around nervously as he reached the small of her back and pressed her hand to her chest as she realised the back was fully open and would slide down showing him everything if she didn’t hold it in place.

“Thank you” she muttered brushing past him swiftly and ducked into the washroom. She leaned against the door closing her eyes then snapped them wide open. “Maan…” she called hesitantly.

“Yeah, Geet?”

“Can you give me a change of clothes? I forgot to bring it in” she called out in embarrassment smacking herself internally as well.

He smiled digging into the wardrobe and pulled out one of long t-shirts he’d seen her wearing with a pair of cropped pants.

He knocked and handed them as she opened the door just a smidge to take the clothes then snapped the door closed.

Thank you, thank you for the lovely comments 🤗🤗
SO so happy to see many are still interested. I was slightly worried that I have lost everyone's interest after such breaks. Thank you all. 🤗