NEW Maaneet FF~ LOVE-KNOT~ UPDTPart20page 97 09/24 - Page 49

Originally posted by: egrat94

waitng...plz cont soon------------- ITs been 13 days now/ how much longer?

Originally posted by: chupchupsi

hey plz add me to ur pm list.. n i dont no, but is this the same story as it was showm on tv.. geet?

"Now let's see how you get out of this Maan" she mumbled and a short laugh escaped her but she covered it with a cough so that the driver didn't start spreading a rumor that the matriarch was turning senile.

An awkward Geet had no idea how she was going to cross the line from an employee to almost a family member. Just by agreeing with Dadima, the relationship had turned much more intimate with the Khurana's than she was ready for. Why was babaji punishing her so? Every day for her was a new challenge and to be honest she was tired of challenges. All she wanted now was to work in peace, save some money for her future and give birth to a healthy child. She would get to save some money surely now with this new arrangement but peace was definitely going to elude her. She sighed and closed her eyes.

Maan was watching Geet twist her dupatta mercilessly and shake her head on something. She was clearly very awkward about the arrangement and to be honest, he had no idea how to put her out of her misery and at ease. The truth was it wasn't going to be easy for Geet once Naintara got the whiff of this news. When he heard her sigh and close her eyes, his heart skipped a beat. Hopefully this girl wasn't going to faint again.

"Geet….are you ok?" Maan came to her side and gently touched her arm. His slight touch sent shivers up her arm and this sudden new feeling made her open her eyes in alarm but when she saw him standing with concern in those dark depths, she gave him a watery smile.

"No….I mean….I don't know why I agreed to dadima's idea….Maan please could you talk her out of it?" she asked him with hopeful eyes and it did register to him that whenever she was tense and in need of help, she forgot the formality of Sir and resorted to his name with a right. He hid a smile and shook his head. He did like being addressed as Maan by Geet. It broke the severe boss –employee relationship into something more familiar. Why though he liked the familiarity in this relationship was a question he was in no mood to answer right now, so he pushed it to the back of his mind.

"Geet dadima is right……though I do understand why you are worried as it is a very awkward position for you but think about this….the people who did this to you are leading a luxurious life and you" he said pointing to her, "who needs to rest, eat on time, take care of your health, are struggling to make ends meet. How is this fair?" he pointed out to her and she looked at him in amazement.

Maan Singh Khurana was a puzzle for her. The man, who had been so rude and aloof to her in Hoshiarpur and at her start of work here, was actually taking care of her like she meant something to him. He hadn't supported his own blood against her but had actually fought with Brij for her safety. When everyone had scorned at her for being an unwed mother and taunted her that she was using this child for the Khurana inheritance, he had actually handed over Dev's inheritance to her in a platter without even asking. What was he and how did he have such a large heart?

"Maan….how can you think so rationally when Dev is your own blood?" Geet finally asked him the question which was bothering her for so long and saw the concern in his eyes being replaced by rage and his lips tighten.

"Geet….why do you want to get into this? I think you have had enough of a rough day. You should go home, rest and pack for tomorrow. I will send you a car and a driver at 10 am and you can come and get settled" he tried to usher her out of his office but Geet refused to be pushed like this.

"Thank you for taking over….but you forget…I can take care of myself…..now I do want an answer" she turned towards him, her stance adamant.

"I told you this before and how many times do you want me to repeat? I said I believed you that is why I am on your side" Maan gave her the answer he had given her before and saw her eyes narrow. It was clear to Geet that he was uncomfortable giving the answer but she pushed on.

"Why did you believe me over Dev and Naintara?" she countered and Maan rolled his eyes. She wasn't going to give up this easy and Maan was not up to the game for bare your heart.

"Let's just say that I am no fool…ok" he replied back and as soon as Geet opened her mouth to talk he raised his hands and his eyes warned her.

"Enough Geet…..now leave …I don't have the whole day to stand and chat with you…..I do have work to do" he snapped and Geet turned in a huff and left his office, mumbling under her breath how insufferable her boss was.

Instead of leaving and going home as she had been told, Geet went into her office and started on her work. Even though Maan and dadima felt guilty, Geet was going to earn her own way. No way was she going to live on anyone's charity. Though Geet felt queasy the whole day, she clamped down the feeling by diverting her attention to her work. Finally at 8 pm when Maan got out of his office to head home, he still saw the lights on in Geet's office and he went to interrogate.

Geet was sitting on her chair, one hand massaging her head and the other clutching her stomach and she was taking deep breaths.

"What the….Geet….what is wrong with you?" Maan strode towards her angrily. Looking at him approaching, Geet rolled her eyes. She knew he was going to give her a piece of his mind.

"I am puckish" Geet managed to reply and then pushed him away and rushed to the restroom leaving Maan gaping at her. When she came back, she looked pale but managed to throw a weak smile at him. He on the other hand was trying to clamp down his anger.

"I did tell you to leave didn't I?" he asked her a little irritated and she looked at him with exasperation.

"Yes you did…..but if I had left, you would have screamed at me for the project file being incomplete….also I don't have much to pack" she replied back and then ran back to the restroom.

Maan stood there shaking his head. He was actually seeing the daily struggles of a pregnant woman for the first time and the way Geet was giving her all at work and dealing with the hand life had dealt her, he had started admiring the spitfire.

She came back even paler and when she saw a small smile curving the handsome face of the man before her, a sliver of happiness passed through her. From the first day she had laid eyes on him, he had a haunted look in his eyes. She had never seen a smile reach his eyes but recently it was changing. He was changing. He still didn't smile at everything but rarely when he did, it did reach his dark eyes.

She gathered her stuff while he waited impatiently and followed her downstairs. When she moved to stop and auto, Maan offered her a ride home and her tired body agreed to it without putting up much resistance.

There was pin drop silence in the car which was getting to Geet.

"Aurangzeb" she muttered under her breath and then moved to switch on the radio. Maan saw her twiddling with the switches on the dashboard and slapped her hand away gently.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Trying to switch on some music" she replied.

"Why? I like the silence…it relaxes me" he shot back and Geet's eyes widened.

"You like silence over music?" she asked shocked and he nodded.

"Oh god….but I am bored" she pouted.

"Fine then…..what kind of music do you want to listen to then?" he gave her a collection of his CDs and saw a smile brighten her beautiful face. She eagerly went through the collection and slowly the smile disappeared from her face.

"Ghazals…..all of them or instrumental…..no bhangra?" she complained and put the CD case away.

"No …that is noise" he argued and her hazel eyes loooked at him as if he belonged to another planet.

"Devdas" she muttered.

"Aurangzeb and then Devdas….one was a lover and the other a hater…..two ends of a rainbow Geet" he commented and she went pink in embarrassment.

"Well you behave like Aurangzeb but your music collection is surely like Devdas……did someone break your heart that bad?" she replied and immediately realized that she had stepped out of bounds.

"Am sorry" she quickly apologized and he gave her a look she didn't understand before snapping his eyes back to the road. Silence prevailed in the car.

After a few moments Geet was tempted to talk so she looked at him and he let out an exasperated sigh.

"What?" he asked shortly.

"I…..just wanted to know something…..do you like children?" she asked gently and his hands gripped the steering wheel harder till his knuckles became white.

"Why?" he snapped.

"I ….you are so nice to me" she began when he gave her a look that quelled the sentence in her throat.

"Geet……I am simply doing a duty…..so what I like or don't has nothing to do with it…..as I told you before, I like silence ….so at least let me enjoy that in peace" he said and Geet nodded slowly, hurt apparent in her face and then looked out of the window to avoid further conversation.

After dropping Geet home, Maan headed to the hospital. He went and all the nurses greeted him affectionately. They had all become used to his stoic demeanor but loved having him around. He was very kind to all the kids in this ward and the kids called him "chachu" affectionately and he never missed a day when he did not come to visit.

He went straight to the room where a young girl was sitting up in bed and throwing a tantrum.

"He said he will be here….I will not eat" she was adamant while the nurse was trying to knock some sense into her.

He loved watching her. She had brown eyes and light brown hair and was delicately pretty.

" Amrita….how many times have I told you to not give her hell" he asked her softly and her eyes lit with pure joy as they took Maan in.

"Daddy" she smiled happily and spread out her young arms for him and went into his strong arms for a hug.

"I have been waiting for you Daddy" the five year old told him and he kissed her on her forehead.

"Am sorry love" he apologized and Amrita's happy laughter sent joy to his heart.

"You are forgiven Daddy….now let's eat" she said and the worry and tiredness slipped from his shoulders and he lost himself in the innocence of childhood.

When it was time to leave, the twinkle faded from his eyes and he kissed a sleeping Amrita and walked back into his dark world once again.