Maaneet SS: Coffee Shop Rendez-Vous:Pt.6 Pg.40 - Page 25

Chapter 6:

Day 6

"Bhai, ek cup coffee ho jaye?" Dev asked his brother, the minute the clock turned to 6 pm. "I haven't had my daily fix yet, and wouldn't mind seeing that girl at the coffee store again."

Maan's head shot up quickly as he narrowed his eyes, and spouted questions at his brother, "Which girl Dev?"

Dev laughingly backed away, his arms held in the air in mock surrender, "Woah Bhaisaab, no need to get angry at me! I was just referring to Naintara, not your Geet. Pssht. You think I would be so stupid as to wander into territory that you've clearly marked off as your own?"

"Dev" a low threatening growl escaped Maan as he closed down his laptop and began to stand up. "She's not some sort of property you know"

"Oh but you do consider her yours, clearly" Dev smirked in response, and quickly turned to run downstairs before his brother could follow him and beat him senseless. "Just kidding Bhai! I'll head home now! You can come whenever you want!"

Maan chuckled watching his brother escape from him, his mind wandering to the girl that Dev had been talking about. Geet. She had completely invaded his thoughts, her smile, her cheery personality became something that he looked forward to seeing now. Had it only been a few days? Yes! It had. 5 days in fact, shockingly.

"Maan, you should go home now, no need to unnecessarily go to that coffee store again. Since when did you start thinking about a girl so much?" Maan tried to talk himself out of it, but his heart was already arguing with his brain, and his feelings took over any sense of logic, as he came a decision quickly, before he could be convinced out of it.

***

"I thought Wednesdays weren't supposed to crowded Geet! What the heck is going on today?" Naintara whined, her face scrunched up in disgust as she finished making her order of the coffee.

Geet laughed, before telling her friend to shush, the customers were here and if they heard what would they think? Grumbling at everything she had to do, Naintara set off with her order, ready to deliver it to the customers that were waiting. Geet meanwhile, got busy in her own work, running around finishing making the coffees and taking the orders from the other tables that were waiting, when she heard the bell ringing. She groaned inwardly, Ugh, not another customer.

"Hi Geet!" came a bright voice, and she opened her eyes to see none other than Maan standing right there! A huge grin appeared on her face as she waved him over to the counter, "You here now? This isn't when you usually show up, is it?" Geet questioned him immediately.

Maan crossed his hands over his chest, as he shook his head disapprovingly, "What is this Geet? No Hello, no Hi? Just trying to drive good customers away aren't you?"

Geet rolled her eyes, as she turned away from him, "I don't have time to sit around and chat anyways today. So many customers as you can see, so just place your order and someone will get you what you want soon"

"How about if I help you though?" Maan quirked an eyebrow up as he smiled at her excitedly.

Get paused what she was doing, and slowly turned around, an incredulous look appearing on her face as she questioned him slowly, "You mean help me in serving customers?"

"Of course Geet, what else would it be? Making coffee? I'm sure that would be a sure way to get rid of all your customers" he laughed, cracking up at his own joke, while Geet quickly clapped her hands over her mouth, trying to prevent herself from bursting into laughter. "You've got to be kidding me. Is this the same arrogant a** who showed up at my coffee shop that first night? Are you sure you're ok Maan?" She quickly placed a hand on his forehead, pretending to check his temperature. "Nothing's made you go haywire crazy, has it?"

Maan slapped her hand away, "Gee, just trying to be nice and help out a bit here, Geet, but I see help is clearly unappreciated around here" Maan placed a hand on his chest as he sighed dramatically.

Just as Geet was about to respond, she heard Naintara's voice calling out to her, "Geet! Stop standing around and get moving! There's so much to fill for these orders!"

She turned to Maan with an apologetic look on her face, but he put his hand out to stop her before she could actually say anything, and telling her he would get his coffee, smiled reassuringly and headed to an empty table, promising her that he would wait.

Geet was left standing there, a small smile playing on her face, as she thought about her conversation with Maan, how just his presence seemed to brighten up her day, giving her that necessary burst of energy to get back to work, to finish quickly so she could go talk to him. She stared at his retreating back silently, noticing the tired look on his ruggedly handsome, just wanting to wipe away the lines of tension that were creasing his face, wanting to ask him what was wrong, and wanting to help him out.

However, luck was clearly not on Maan's side at all, as it ended up being another waitress who came and took his order, a new one that he had never met before. And Geet? Well she was flying all over the place. He just sat with that coffee for over an hour, watching as she smiled and greeted the regular customers, as she played with a little baby while her mom was trying to pay the bill, as Geet worked tirelessly, without pausing for a break the entire time. She would occasionally glance back to where he was sitting, and when she noticed that his eyes were on her, would turn away really quickly, a faint red appearing on her cheeks. And Maan's heart would swell up with emotions, something was happening, butterflies fluttering around in his stomach or something more.

Taking another sip from his now cold coffee, Maan turned to look out the window, forcing himself to look elsewhere, anywhere but Geet. Do I really like her? But I..I don't know her! He tried to reason it out with himself, but was utterly stumped. A call from his brother forced him out of his thoughts, as he immediately began yelling at him for calling for no reason whatsoever, but when Dev actually informed him that there was some problem with some clients, Maan forced himself to turn away from Geet and pay attention to his brother's words.

"Bhai, I wouldn't have called you if this wasn't important. The clients insisted upon at least having a video conference with you right now, otherwise threatening to cancel the contract" Dev said urgently.

Maan inwardly groaned, "Fine Dev. Sorry about yelling at you before. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Kya? Am I hearing right? Are you sure there isn't a problem with this phone line? Did my brother just apologize for something?" Dev teased.

"Dev Shut up, and have everything set up by the time I get to the office. I'll be there in fifteen minutes" And with that, Maan hung up the phone, and immediately got up to head to the counter and pay his bill.

Geet, who had been serving the customers, rushed over as soon as she saw Maan get up, tapping him on the shoulder, and asking him grumpily where he was heading. "I thought you said you would wait here until the end, so we could talk Mister" she frowned.

***

Geet watched Maan leave, after quickly explaining why and promising to return the next day. This man, she thought to herself, is so obsessed with his work. I should be more angry right now, but I can't seem to stay mad at him. – What is it about him? Wait Geet, another part of her argued, what right do you even have to be mad that he left? It's not like he means anything to you, does it?

Naintara found her friend minutes later, sitting on a countertop in the back kitchen, completely lost in thought, a contemplative look on her face.

"Oy Geet!" she snapped her fingers in her face, "Are you ok?"

"Huh? Oh yeah Nain, fine fine. Was just taking a short break, but I'm heading back to work right away" Geet mumbled, quickly jumping off the counter, grabbing her apron and heading back outside.

Naintara was left standing there, "Oh Geetji, you're completely gone. One hundred percent."

***

Maan's thoughts at home, meanwhile, seemed to just revolve around Geet. There was just something about her, the way she smiled, that spark in her eye everytime she spoke to someone, the cheerfulness, the way a smile from her seemed to just stun him to silence. There was just something there. Maan folded his hands under his head, as he leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes only to have a laughing Geet appear in his thoughts.

She's perfect, he thought to himself, perfect for me.

"Maan, you have to get to know her, have to talk to her, tell her you like her" he told himself. "You have to tell her how you feel. How you want this to be something more than friendship."