Chapter 43

A/N: I apologise sincerely for the delay. I had to take some personal time away from being online due to personal, family crisises which have not yet ended on my end hence the delays. I am ok, but I would appreciate the understanding from you all. Thank you for your time and patience.

Chapter 43

Geet was settled on the sofa playing games on her phone when dadima and Naintara joined. She smiled placing her phone down and gave them her attention. She thanked Naintara as she handed her a cup of hot chocolate and smiled as they settled with their hot cups of tea.

“Geet bete, hume tumse kuch puchna hai” Dadima said slowly.

Geet brows furrowed as she looked up concerned. “What is it dadima? You know you can just ask me” she said.

“Janti hoon bete” dadima responded with a gentle smile.

“We’ve noticed you and veerji getting along ok for the last couple of days” Naintara started. “What dadima and I wanted to know was… are you both together or are you still going ahead with the divorce?”

Geet was surprised with their question and wondered how to explain it to them. She had agreed to give Maan a final chance, but it was his final chance to make it work. He has said he couldn’t and wouldn’t give her a divorce. But she will not step back from the decision of divorcing him if he messes up his final chance.

“We’re… trying to figure things out. The divorce is put on the back burner for now” she explained. “Maan promised he wants to give another chance to us”.

Dadima smiled in relief, she placed her cup down and pulled Geet in for a quick hug. Then pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “Bete, you don’t realise the burden you’ve taken off my heart and the stress from my shoulders” she sighed. “I was stressed and burdened with the fact that I ruined your lives” she murmured.

“Dadima, no…” Geet shook her head. “Whatever happens between Maan and I, our marriage, we will only have ourselves to blame, well technically Maan will be more at fault in this case” she added making dadima and Naintara laugh.

Maan returned home a little unburdened. Speaking to Sameera had helped him tonight. Now, how does he tell his wife?

He knows deep down; she would be upset but he also trusted there’s a chance of her understanding him and the reasoning of why he had kept quiet about his past.

He entered and smiled hearing her laughter in the hall. She was sat surrounded by Naintara, Dev and Dadima.

“Ah, Maan. You’ve come” dadima grinned warmly.

He hummed in response and his eyes were drawn to his wife.

Geet wiggled her brows questioningly seeing his curious eyes.

He silently shook his head and joined them on the sofa.

“Bhabhi was telling us how popular you are with Sasha” Dev teased. “Is she your side piece?” he winked.

Maan rolled his eyes and turned to Geet. “Now it seems you’re being obsessed with her” he joked.

“Excuse me, I am not obsessed with her” she countered frowning at him. “I’m simply stating facts” she added and turned to Dev. “You’re correct about the side piece, she’s like those chipku side dishes that comes with the main meal”.

“Why don’t you also tell them that I’m taking you to the fundraiser instead of her?” he suggested. “Also, when I have a main dish, I don’t need any side dishes” he remarked.

Geet’s cheeks heated as the others laughed. She mockingly scowled and chewed on her bottom lip when he smirked in return.

“Is it Prateek Sinha’s fundraiser?” Naintara inquired.

“Yeah, it is. You’ve received your invite, right? He told me about it on the phone” Maan responded.

“Yeah, we did” Dev replied. “It’s a Casino theme party isn’t it?”

“Yeah” Maan answered and looked between Geet and Naintara. “You ladies might need to go shopping for some dresses or gowns” he suggested reaching into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He held out the card for Geet. “Choose whatever you like”.

Geet raised her brows.

“Take it, Geet” he held her hand and placed it into her palm. “Naintara, I’ll pay for yours as well” he told his sister-in-law.

“Oh, Veerji, you don’t have to”.

“Consider it a gift from me” he replied.

“Thank you” she smiled gratefully.

After dinner, everyone had dispersed to their respective rooms to get ready for bed. Geet joined Maan in bed once she had freshened up and changed into her pyjamas. Maan was sat leaning against the headboard scrolling through his phone, he placed it on the nightstand when Geet settled in beside him. She stretched out and placed her head on the pillow watching him. He shifted and stretched besides her and faced her on his left side.

“What?” she asked feeling flustered as he stared at her silently for a moment.

“Nothing much…” he murmured and lifted his hand tracing her cheek with his finger. Geet smiled faintly closing her eyes and bit her lip when she felt his lips press against her forehead. He brushed his nose against her cheek and inhaled.

She peeked through her lashes slowly and closed them against blushing when he noticed. He pressed a kiss to her cheek then another to her forehead, to her eyes then the corner of her lips. Geet’s breathing had deepened, and she opened her eyes feeling the sensation of Maan’s stare. She swallowed hard, inched closer, Maan understood and cradled her cheek lowering his lips on hers.

He started off slowly, his kisses were light and gentle before he pressed further. She parted her lips allowing him to deepen their kiss and her hands found their way to his shoulder before curling around his nape. Geet whimpered softly as he pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers breathing heavily.

“You… are going to be the death of me” he whispered.

Geet smiled faintly and chuckled. “Oh, and what a sweet death” she teased.

Maan closed his eyes feeling at peace in her arms. He enveloped her in his arms needing to just hold her. The thought of telling Geet his past plagued him and he wondered whether he would be able to hold her like this. Would she allow him to touch or be near her when she finds out the truth? Just a few more days and he will tell her. He’ll wait until the night after the fundraiser he decided.