Strangers:A Maaneet fic. - Page 9

Originally posted by: rushtrip

Ah...greedy me looking for two part update...

wow..i love the emotions expressed by Geet without saying much..she hardly has much to say..does she..
par jab bolti hai..waah...

Thanks Vru, Yes, my Geet is the silent types, unlike the chatterbox girl in the show. My Maan talks more but as you rightly pointed out when she speaks, she drives home her point quite effectively in economical words.

Originally posted by: shalini_s

loved all the parts.. awesome.. do PM me next time..

Thanks Shalini. Although I initially thought I'll post the next part tomorrow, I maybe posting the next part soon.

Part 7

As promised, Maan was home by 5 o'clock to take his wife to the doctor. Geet was ready, waiting for him. Before joining him, she gave Baba his BP medicine and later bent down to receive his blessings as she normally did before every visit to the doctor. Baba blessed her with his whole heart and asked Maan to drive carefully. Maan nodded his head and escorted his wife to the car.

At the doctor's clinic they waited for a few minutes before they were called in.

"Good evening, Mrs. Khurana. How are you feeling?" Dr.Medha asked Geet genially.

"Quite well, doctor," replied Geet.

Dr.Medha examined Geet's file. "So you are eighteen weeks pregnant now. Do you still have morning sickness?"

"No, doctor. I am free from it for the past two weeks."

"That's good. Have you had two litres of water?"

"Yes, doctor."

"Good. Are you excited to catch the first glimpse of your baby?" Dr.Medha's gaze swept both of them.

They nodded their heads in unison. Geet was taken to the examining table where she lay down. Maan felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension as he turned his head to catch the enthusiasm on his wife's face. While he could understand her feelings as the mother of the child, he did not understand his own. Why did he feel so strongly for this unknown, unborn baby? Before he could think further, Dr.Medha asked Geet to loosen her clothes and she lifted her kurta. Seeing Maan turn his head away from the protruding stomach of his wife, Dr.Medha teased him.

"Really, Mr.Khurana. You don't need to act prudish around your own wife! You have surely seen her in far less."

Maan gave her a sheepish grin and felt compelled to look at Geet's stomach only to avoid any suspicions the doctor may have regarding their relationship. He gulped at the sight of the gently rising mound of her fair and smooth stomach with the slightly enlarged navel at the centre of it. The doctor rubbed some gel on Geet's stomach and ran the instrument across it, gently prodding to get the signals.

"There you are! Can you see that?" asked Dr.Medha, pointing to the monitor. Maan was relieved to be able to turn his attention away from Geet's stomach.

Initially he could not make head or tail of what was on the screen. The doctor patiently explained the picture to them.

"See that large oval shaped figure? That is the baby's head. See those elongated thin shapes facing up? They are the hands and the legs of your baby. There now, can you see the baby twitching its toes?"

Maan was excited to see the movement of the baby and went up to the screen, tracing the baby's form on it.

"Wow, that is amazing!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening in wonderment and he looked down at Geet's face which mirrored his expressions. He impulsively held her hand and squeezed it, inviting a smile from her.

After a few minutes, Dr.Medha assured them that everything is normal with the baby. She informed them that although she can figure out the baby's gender, she is forbidden by law from revealing it to them. They reassured her that they themselves preferred to wait till the birth of the baby to know whether it was a boy or a girl. The doctor gave them the pictures and a CD of the sonography. Thanking her, they left the clinic.

After they got into the car, Maan turned the car in the direction opposite to that of their home, much to Geet's surprise.

"Are we not going back home?" she asked him.

"No," he responded but refused to divulge anything further till they reached their destination. He parked the car in front of a mandir and opened the door for her. Taking the hand of a confused Geet, he led her to the entrance of the temple. By way of answering her questioning look he said that he felt like offering prayers there. Although she was surprised by his sudden piety, she nodded her head and walked into the temple with him. After a few minutes of silent prayer they returned to their car.

"Geet, have you visited this city before?" he asked her.

"No." she replied.

"Well, you have lived here in Pune for nearly three months now and have not seen any place of interest, have you?"

She shook her head in the negative.

"I am sorry I did not take you anywhere. I'll try and make up for it today."

He then drove down to the Empress Garden, a large botanical garden in Pune.

Inside the garden was a large lotus pond with the statue of Queen Victoria at the centre. They circled the pond and strolled up the sprawling lawns and finally sat on one of the benches on the side of the path way. Geet closed her eyes and threw back her head, enjoying the gentle evening breeze which caressed her skin. Taking this opportunity, Maan studied her face more closely in the fading evening light.

While he was always aware of her beauty he did not pay much attention to it before. That day though, sitting amidst the tranquil natural surroundings, he felt a magnetic pull towards her and realised just how breathtakingly beautiful she was. His eyes scanned the angelic and innocent face, the sharp nose, the neatly arched brows, the large lids which covered beautiful, lustrous almond shaped eyes and which were rimmed by long curly lashes, the soft pink lips, the blemish free chubby cheeks and the delicate chin. He suddenly had an urge to caress the smooth silky skin of her face. As if to answer his wish a tree ant fell on her face just then. He immediately flitted it away and in the process his fingers grazed her soft cheek. Startled by his sudden touch, she opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise. He explained that he had just got rid of an ant on her face. She smiled a thank you, revealing deep dimples which made his heart skip a beat. He hurriedly looked away, wondering about the new sensations she seemed to be evoking in him.

As it was getting dark, he led her back to the car and called home to inform Baba that they will be eating out that day. Geet looked at him in amazement, wondering what had come over her husband, why was he so extra caring that day. If he was aware of her wonderment, he did not show it. He took her next to a garment shop and asked her to select some loose fitting clothes as she was growing big for her dresses. As she could not make up her mind about what to buy, he himself chose a dozen dresses for her. He asked her if she needed anything more. She nodded and looked towards the lingerie counter, turning red with embarrassment. Understanding her wish to be left in private, he asked her to buy whatever she wants and said that he will wait for her at the billing counter.

After a few minutes they headed towards the most posh restaurant in the city. He asked her to place her order and was pleased to note her healthy appetite. Over dinner, Maan haltingly broached the subject of her mysterious past.

"Geet, where are you from?" he asked.

Geet was shocked by his sudden interest in her past. She remained silent for a couple of minutes.

"You needn't tell me anything if you don't want to," he assured her.

"Hoshiarpur," she said after some hesitation.

"Do you have parents?"

She shook her head in the negative.

"Brothers? Sisters?"

She did not answer him indicating that she did not want to discuss this topic further. Although he wanted to know more about her, he decided not to press on. Instead he changed the topic and asked her what she did that day. She seemed relieved that he did not pursue the earlier line of questioning and gave him a detailed account of her day. He smiled at her exuberance. She asked him about his day. He shrugged and said it was pretty much the same - boring. She smiled at that. She finally asked him what was plaguing her mind the whole evening.

"Maan, why have you taken me on this elaborate outing?" she asked curiously.

"To make up for last night," he replied and looking deeply into her eyes he said a simple yet heartfelt sorry.

"I'm sorry too," she said solemnly.

"What for?" he asked puzzled as he settled the bill.

"For not waking you up this morning," she smiled as they came out of the restaurant.

Shaking his head, he flashed her his most charming smile, gladdening her heart.

By the time they reached home, it was 10 o'clock. Feeling exhausted, Geet promptly went to sleep but Maan remained awake for a long time after that. He wondered about the new feelings he seemed to be developing for the woman who lay across him in bed. Were they always there or have they suddenly cropped up? What is it that made him want to protect her and her unborn baby? Why did he take the huge step of getting married to a complete stranger, willingly giving up on the bachelorhood he so cherished? Granted that he tried to cover up for a lie he had uttered to his father about a non-existent wife in order to avoid acquiring a real one. But has he not done exactly what he set out to avoid? Has he not acquired a real wife and that too one who is carrying another man's child? He apparently married her to give her baby an identity apart from trying to cover up his lie. But what does he know about this woman? He knew nothing about her, save her name. Today he tried finding more about her past but she clamped up. Still he did not seem to mind. It did not bother him that he knew next to nothing about her. She could well be a gold digger and the entire suicide attempt could be part of an elaborate plan to trap him. Yet, he knew in his heart that she could not do such a thing, she could not dupe him. What made him trust her so unconditionally? Was it her eyes and the sincerity he saw in them?

And what about her baby? Why did he feel so strongly about it? What was the connection between this baby and him? Yesterday he blasted Geet for not eating her dinner on time and depriving her baby of nourishment. Today when he saw the ultrasound picture of her baby he felt elated as though he was seeing his own baby. He even went to the mandir to offer prayers for its well being. Why was he so interested in the welfare of that baby, a baby that wasn't even his? Was it only the baby he was interested in or was he also interested in its mother? If he was interested in both, was he interested in the mother because of the baby or in the baby because of the mother?

In the past he was against the whole institution of marriage not only because he saw many unhappy and broken marriages around him but also because he did not want a woman in his life. Not that he was against women. After all his mother was also a woman. He respected them, even felt attracted to them. But he felt that women spelt trouble, trouble he can well do without. Has he not lived 20 years out of his 28 years of existence on this earth without a woman in his life? He has turned out pretty well. So what was the need for a woman in it now? He had despised marriages because they created a dependency on woman.

Does he still feel the same way about marriages now? What about his marriage, in particular? What was he expecting from it? He kept saying that this marriage was a farce, that they can break it up anytime they want. But does he really want to break it up? When the time comes for her to leave, can he really give her up? Can he give up the baby? Does he even want to? He had no choice here. He had after all promised to let her go. So unless she wants to stay, he is really helpless. Does she want to stay?

She did show a lot of concern for him. All the little things she kept doing for him had not gone unnoticed. He noticed that she made sure that his things were in place although she never made it obvious she was doing these things for him. He knew that she slept after he did. He never covered himself up while sleeping but still every morning he found the comforter pulled over him. So he knew she was the one who covered him up in his sleep. Today she stepped in to defend him against his father's tirade. She was always careful not to hurt his feelings. But she could be doing all these things out of a sense of gratitude. So how can he be sure she had any feelings for him beyond gratitude? Strangely, the dependency that he feared earlier is what he now seems to be willingly accepting, even needing. So has he changed? All these chaotic questions, the answers to which he did not have, kept swimming in his head, giving him a severe headache.

He got up and rummaged through his medicine cabinet to locate an aspirin. Having found one, he popped it in, sloshing it down with a glass of water and drifted into a disturbed sleep.

Part 8: =>Here

Awesum FF

wow.. waiting for the start of this track... finally, it did...

awesome update yaa 👏 👏 ... loved it.. ❤️

awesome update.loved it.
maan feeling something for geet.
continue soon.

Thank you so much Opti...

i like the progress they are making in their lives...i love the way you described the session at doctors...it was heart warming..

now where is this empress garden in Pune? am asking cos...i lived there...sorry if i am trampling on toes..if it is fictitous, but if it is real i want to go visit...and then remember your..description...

bravo..you bring emotions out...in us with your intensity....

Originally posted by: rushtrip

Thank you so much Opti...

i like the progress they are making in their lives...i love the way you described the session at doctors...it was heart warming..

now where is this empress garden in Pune? am asking cos...i lived there...sorry if i am trampling on toes..if it is fictitous, but if it is real i want to go visit...and then remember your..description...

bravo..you bring emotions out...in us with your intensity....

I myself have not been there although I have visited Pune a couple of times. I found this place in the net. Here is what I found:


The Empress Garden, also known as 'Soldiers Garden' lies adjacent to the Pune Solapur Road. This is a rather large garden, covering an area of about 59 acres. Empress Garden of Pune is basically a botanical park, which is located near the Pune Race course. Here there are several varieties of fruit and flower bearing trees. People often turn up here in large numbers for a picnic.


Thanks Vru for all your encouragement. Have to warn you that there are more intense emotions coming up, some very painful. In fact this fic is close to my heart because of its emotional content.

Originally posted by: -afsha-

Awesum FF

jus loved all parts

Maan jus takes decision than feel sorry for taking so hastily

But loved the way he cared for Geet or unborn child

Geet toh dosent speak only yaar

I hardly see her speak to Maan or Baba

Liked Maan n Baba's relation a lot

Update soon plz add me to ur pm list

Thanks Afsha. Yes Maan takes decisions in haste and regrets at leisure but right now he is not just regreting his decision. In fact he does not know what he is feeling. He is thoroughly confused. He feels a definite attraction towards Geet but does not know why. My Geet is the quieter kinds. Says very less but has her thoughts mostly locked up. You'll get to know more about her in the coming parts. She has been through a lot in her short life which is why she is who she is. Yes, Maan and Baba share a very special relationship.