PART 7
Maan walked into the Khurana mansion for dinner which his dadi had insisted that he come for however late he was at work. He marched in, in a foul mood as the day in the office had been crazy and the deadline for the London project was fast approaching. One more thing which was irritating him was the fact that Geet was not doing too well. He knew she needed to visit the doctor but he didn't think he had the right to fix that for her. That food poisoning of hers was refusing to go away.
The moment he entered the dining room, the frown on his face lifted and a very small smile paused on his lips as he saw his younger brother Dev sitting near Dadi and chatting animatedly. His eyes then shifted to the figure next to him and focused on his wife Naintara and that smile vanished.
She was coldly beautiful, an ice maiden. There was no innocence or warmth in her beauty like he had seen in Geet's face. He gave himself a mental shake. Where had the thought of Geet come from? Anyways, for the first time in two years, Maan didn't feel the anger he did for Naintara…..finally she was of no consequence. The feeling she evoked was of mild irritation as an object which has no use in your space but hangs around anyways invokes.
"Maan Virji" Dev catches sight of his elder brother and rushes to greet him. He goes and gives him a hug which Maan returns.
"When did you come?" Maan asks and gives dadi a look which Dadi interpreted as "I will talk later to you about this" but ignores him.
"Virji….just a few hours ago……it is so good to be back" Dev proclaims.
"I am sure…….this means you have got everybody off your back…..seems like you cleared your debts" Maan asks and he sees a shadow pass on Dev's face but he gains control over himself fast and smiles.
"Yes I did bro…..chill" he slaps him on the back and watches Maan's eyes go glacial.
"Chill? Really……more than that I am curious to know how you got the money." Maan questions.
Naintara, who had been keenly hearing the conversation between the brothers decides that this was the time to interrupt. She gets up and walks near Maan and places her hand on Maan's arm and watches him cringe. She interprets his reaction as her having a hold on him instead of the fact that her touch was revolting to him. Just for dadi's sake he contains his displeasure but shrugs her arm off.
"Maan" she starts in her deliberately sweet voice, which grinded in his ear, "you haven't even welcomed us but started a rapid fire set of questions……but to answer those Dev did a successful business deal" she purrs.
"Really now? What business?" Maan asks unpretubed.
"Maan beta….please" Dadi interrupts, "question him at leisure ….right now its dinner time….let's eat" she says lovingly but strictly and Maan obeys.
They have dinner during which Dev chatters about Canada and how beautiful it is and instead of business Maan should travel sometimes and so forth which Maan doesn't pay heed to much. His thoughts shift to the impromptu dinner he had had with Geet just a couple of nights ago and a warm feeling engulfs him at the reminiscence of that evening.
"Maan what are you thinking?" dadi gently lays a hand on his hand and he snaps out of his musings.
"Nothing" he retorts.
"Beta….you haven't even eaten a bite" Dadi points and Maan looks to see his untouched plate and he shakes his head.
"Oh…..I was ….dadi how long does food poisoning lasts?" Maan asks suddenly and everyone is taken aback.
"What? Who has it? Are you feeling well Maan?" Dadi asks worriedly and Maan rolls his eyes. Again that chit of a girl had gotten him into trouble and for god's sake why could no one answer a simple question without asking zillion questions in return.
"I am fine Dadi…..it's just a question……but forget I asked…..can I eat" he snaps and dadi seeing his swaying mood figures it best not to irritate him and the dinner somehow passed.
Geet was worried about her pregnancy now…..she was trying to hide the fact as she did not want to be judged all over again and be asked piercing questions. She was desperately trying to hide it but the fainting spells and her morning sickness weren't helping either. She decided to take an appointment with a gynecologist and finally have someone knowledgable help her with it.
As soon as she reached office the next day, Maan called her in.
"Geet…..I think you should visit a doctor" he comes to the point without mincing any words and Geet gapes at him.
"Excuse me?" she asks taken aback.
"Look…..nothing personal….but I have noticed that this food poisoning thing isn't going away" he tries to explain but Geet interrupts.
"Sir really….it isn't hampering your work and I don't really think it is any of your business" she snaps and sees those chocolate eyes turn steely in under a second.
"I know what my business is or is not Miss Handa" Maan snaps, "I was just trying to help you but I guess there is no need…..do what you feel like" he says in a cold tone and Geet shifts uncomfortably. He was right and only advising her on what she had resolved to do anyways but god knows why he drove her to an edge and she always fought back.
"Stop staring at me and get to work" he yells and Geet snaps out of her thoughts. As soon as she moves she feels her blood drain and her head spin. She tries to hold a chair but her hand crashes the glass of water on his table and it crashes on the ground. Maan looks up with a jolt to see Geet trying to stand on her feet but failing miserably.
"Geet" he takes her name and rushes to her side and catches her before she hits the floor.
"Come on Geet…get up" he makes her sit on the chair and she comes around immediately.
"I am sorry" she whispers trying to get up but his soft touch holds her back.
"Sit" he orders and she falls back in the chair relishing it underneath her.
He picks up the phone and orders water and looks at Geet keenly who tries to avoid his gaze. She sips the water and gets up to leave but then stops to thank him.
"Thank you sir" she whispers and he looks at her irritated.
"No need…..if not me….am sure you would have managed just fine too" he replied sarcastically and she rolled her eyes and left, hearing she thought a muttered curse on how dense women were and they were put on this earth to make every man's life miserable due to their stupid reasoning.
Geet walks away shaking her head, confused about this paradox of a man who was sweet and kind one minute and rude, snappy, arrogant and cold as steel the next. She calls up the doctor and fixes an appointment for her lunch time. She goes for her visit and finds out that everything is going the way it should apart from the fact that the first trimester is the most delicate and she really needs to keep an eye on what she eats, eat on time, take her vitamins and rest too.
She tells the doctor that rest is not a luxury and the doctor smilingly tells her that she didn't mean complete rest but having a fixed sleeping pattern and taking care of small things was important. She asks about her husband to which Geet mumbles a half baked truth that he travelled a lot, not having the strength to give explanations.
She reaches the office to find Maan fuming.
"Where did you disappear for fun and frolic leaving the work midway?" he yells and Geet's mouth forms a tight line trying to control her anger.
"To the doctor" she replies and sees relief glint in his eyes.
"Oh you listened? To sense?" he taunts and Geet makes a face.
"I will get this ready" she snatches the file from him and turns to walk back when she finds that her wrist is in his grip.
"What did she say?" he asks her.
"That I am fine….nothing a little care can't cure" she replies trying to get her wrist out of his grip.
"Ok" he says satisfied and lets her go.
Geet completes the work and is sitting in her office taking a break when she sees Pinky walk into Maan's office and then Maan leave his office while Pinky waits. Geet takes this opportunity to sneak into his office and Pinky looks at her surprised.
"Geet….what?" she asks confused, when Geet takes her hand and marched to the picture in which she had spotted Dev. Pointing to him she asks Pinky, "Who is he?"
"Oh him…..isn't he cute….but not as much as DD….isn't it?" Pinky gushes and Geet rolls her eyes.
"Pinky please……answer me" Geet asks, desperation lacing her voice as she sees Maan walking back into his cabin.
"Well this is Maan sir's brother….Dev…Dev Khurana" Pinky answers her and Geet's mouth falls open in shock and she looks at Pinky as if she had lost her mind.
"Brother?" she manages to ask as all the air leaves her lungs.
"Yeah….younger" Pinky smiles and Geet's head starts to buzz. This couldn't be happening to her. Her world was coming crashing down the second time in a month.
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