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Part 15
Thanksgiving was finally here, the air was cold and crisp, it had snowed last night and Geet didn't feel like getting out the covers. She forced herself to get out of be, she had decided to get up early to check on the turkey and prepared most of the food for the evening. She was looking forward to having everyone gather at her place for dinner. She had never enjoyed cooking the turkey but it was the end result that made it worth all the work. Cooking a 23 pound bird was no easy task but seeing people enjoy it was a sight to behold. She smiled, since coming to America she had started to follow the holidays native to this country too, she wanted to have Geeta feel completely at home in this foreign country.
She put on her robe and walked to Geeta's room, she opened the door and the picture that treated her was one to feast on. Both Geeta and Radha were sleeping on the floor. She was certain that the two of them probably stayed up late talking and eventually fell asleep. She wondered what they talked about, they lived together so what did they still have remaining that they needed to talk about. She closed the door to the room and proceeded to get ready. She put on her comfy sweats. She wanted to be comfortable as she cooked.
She went to the kitchen and looked at the list of things that she needed to do, there was a lot that had to be cooked and she didn't know where to start she decided to make the desserts. For desserts today they were going to have Pumpkin Cheescake and Rich Chocolate Pecan Pie. Just thinking about what she was going to make made Geet's mouth water.
She remembered that she had to call Pinky; she dialed Pinky number in India. On the other end, Pinky picked up the phone, "Hello"
Geet, "Hello, Pinky. Geet bol rahi hu, kaise hai tu?"
Pinky, "Oye, Geet mein to theek huin, tu baata kya chal raha hain?"
Geet, "Everything is good, its Thanksgiving here and Geeta is here with her friend. I am cooking dinner and I thought of you." she paused, "Pinky are you eating?"
Pinky, "No, no, I am not eating. I was eating." she said giggling.
Geet, "You are never going to change, I have the Pumpkin Cheescake recipe you wanted, I am making it right now, so I though that I would give you the recipe as I make it."
Pinky, "Okay, let me get a pen and paper."
Geet and Pinky continue talking for a while and Geet finishes cooking the deserts. They smelled so good, she was tempted to try a little bit, but she stopped herself. She would enjoy them in the evening along with everyone else. Finally she told Pinky that she needed to go and get some more work done; she hung up the phone and concentrated on what had to be done next..
"What's next on the list" Geet thought "side dishes, of course" Geet over the next two hours cooked, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnips with thyme, cranberry-pear relish and green bean casserole for the sides.
After finishing the sides, she prepared the turkey and sliped it into the oven. It should be done by dinner, she thought to herself, looking up to the sky and she prayed "Babaji, please acche sai bana dena."
She then decided to go up stairs to check on Geeta and Radha. They hadn't come down for breakfast and she wanted to make sure they were okay. She got to the stairs and stopped in her tracks. It looked like a tornado had struck her house. The entire stairwell was littered with clothes, shoes, bags, etc. She wasn't sure what was going on and called out to Geeta in an angry tone, "Ms. Khurana, what exactly is going on here?"
Geeta jumped up from the floor, she knew that her mom only called out to her with her last name when she was extremely angry. "Nothing mamma, I was just showing Radha all my stuff, was thinking of taking back to Harvard a few warm clothes, but wasn't sure what to take so we are going through everything."
Geet, "You can do that without making a mess. Come on get all this stuff off the stairs and put it away. Also how did all this stuff get out of your room and on the stairs?"
Geeta, "Sorry, I will get it all right away, don't worry when you come back everything will be in the room."
Geet, "Okay, make sure it is."
Geet went back towards the living room wondering what exactly was going on with the two of them upstairs. She didn't want to hurt her head thinking about crazy young people stuff. She decided she would call Maan, see how he was doing. It had been approximately 3 months since they had seen each other and she had been missing him. She dialed his number, Maan picked up on the other end. And for a few moments neither one of them spoke, they just stayed still listening to each other breath.
Maan, "Geet, are you fine, is Geeta okay?" Geet never called him so he was scared, he hoped that they were fine.
Geet replied, "Yeah! yeah, everything is great. Geeta is home for Thanksgiving and I was missing you so I thought I would call."
"You shouldn't be calling me, when she is home. What if she hears you? What will you do then?" Maan asked in a panicked voice.
Geet, "She is busy. She brought a friend along for Thanksgiving, they are upstairs going through clothes and talking away. I finished cooking most of the stuff for tonight's dinner so I thought I would call, you don't want to talk to me?"
Maan could hear her pouting and said, "That is impossible. I will never get tired of talking to you, so tell me what is going on?"
Geet, "Nothing much, it was really nice when you were here, it got a lonely after you left specially since Geeta isn't here either. Other than that everything is great. Work is good too. And you, how are things in Delhi"
Maan, "If you were lonely, all you had to do was call. Anyways work is fine, actually we have been really busy lately, Adi had been handling most of the Indian clients and I have been focusing on the overseas clients. As for the family, everything is good on that front too. Dadi is well, Vicky is living with her in the main house. She is happy because she gets to play with his kids and now has a daughter who is always there for her to talk to."
Geet was silent, she missed Dadi, Dadi had showed her so much love, she had accepted her into her family when her own family had betrayed her, Dadi had dreams of Maan and Geet getting married. However the entire dream had shattered like a house of cards when Geet had realized that Dev was Maan's brother. She never doubted Maan's love for her, he had even told her that he would support her in getting justice but she didn't have the heart to bring everything in the open because of Dadi's health. Even today she could feel Dadi's hand on her head.
Maan, "Geet you there?"
Geet coming back to reality, "Yeah, I am still here. Was just thinking of Dadi, did she ever mention me after I left?"
Maan, "Yes, Geet she called for you for so many years, she blamed me, she was sure I said or did something to drive you away. She still talks about you. I think she accepted that I am never going to get married, and I am sure she knows it is because I still love you. But she knows better than to ask me. Once in a while, she asks, if I have heard from you, or if I was successful in tracking you down. I don't know how to answer her, so I usually change the subject."
Maan, "Lets not talk about the sad things in life. What is new with Geeta, how is Harvard treating her, has she settled in?"
Geet, "Your daughter is like me, she fits in anywhere unlike someone I know. She is doing great at Harvard. She made a really good friend, Radha. You won't believe it when I saw her, I was like who is this girl, she had all these piercings and tattoos, and then she opened her mouth and I almost fell on the floor. She looks white, but words coming out her mouth were in Hindi. Geeta I guess went through the same thing as I, she was on the floor laughing seeing my state."
Maan, "Didn't I always tell you that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover." he chuckled.
Geet, "No, you didn't. You are getting confused. I was the one who used to tell you that. I guess I should remember my own advise."
Geet and Maan continued to talk, it seemed that not talking for all those years had had no effect on them. Those years didn't exist at all.
Upstairs, Radha nudged Geeta and told her, "We should snoop around your mom's room to see if we find anything."
Geeta, "What if she comes up?"
Radha, "Well, I think your plan worked pretty well the last time, we will know when she is coming because she is going to yell again about the mess on the stairs."
Geeta, "Let me go and check, what she is doing and if the coast is clear."
Radha, "Okay"
Geeta quietly made her way down the stairs and crept up towards the sound of her mother's voice. She was talking to someone on the phone, she was laughing, a smiled crept onto Geeta's face. Her mom looked so nice when she laughed. "It must be Kate Masi or Devi Masi that mom is talking to."
She turned back to go upstairs and she heard her mom say, "tell Adi when you see him.." oh okay she was talking to Pinky Masi. "tomorrow at the office to give you a big hug from Geeta and I" Geeta stopped in her tracks and thought "why would Pinky Masi tell Adi Mausa to give her a hug that too tomorrow in the office. She doesn't work anymore. What was going on? With whom was her mom on the phone?"
Geeta quickly made her way up the stairs.
Radha, "what took you so long?"
Geeta, "I was coming back and I heard my mom on the phone, initially didn't make much of it, but she said something, that was odd."
Radha, "What did she say?"
Geeta, "She told the person on the other side to have my Adi Mausa give the person a hug"
Radha, "So what is odd about that?"
Geeta, "I thought it was Pinky Masi at first on the phone but she said that when the person sees my Adi Mausa in the office, that is when it got weird. My Pinky Masi is at home and she doesn't work anymore. So my mom couldn't have been talking to my Pinky Masi."
Radha, "Who do you think she was talking to?"
Geeta, "I don't know, but we are going to find out. But first while she is on the phone lets go through her room. I feel bad doing this but I need to see if my mom is hiding anything from me."
Radha went to the guestroom and pulled out her notepad and added
8. Mother speaking to mystery person on the phone
Geeta laughs at Radha's actions and they proceed to Geet's room. The room is neatly arranged. Everything had a home, nothing seemed out of place. Finally just when they were about to give up, Geeta saw a tiny blue box. She opened it and sees the most beautiful diamond earrings. She ruan downstairs to her mom and said "Mamma, these are beautiful, did you buy them for me? I know you did because I have been such a good baccha, studying hard and everything"
Geet was speechless, those were a gift from Maan, what is she supposed to tell Geeta, she and replied, "No, my pyara baccha, these are for me. I was walking past Tiffany's and saw them in the window, I really liked them so I bought them. If you want a pair, we will buy you one tomorrow. How about that? Is that okay?"
Geeta, "Yeah, that would be great. Can we also go to Bergdorf's?"
Geet, "Sure, its a shopping date."
Geeta returns upstairs and told Radha, "pull out your notepad once again, you have something else to add to your list."
Radha did as she was told and waited for Geeta to tell her what exactly happened.
Geeta, "My mother, my mother, who never agrees to go shopping because she hates it so much, just agreed to take me to Tiffany's and Bergdorf's without any arguments. My mother, who never says no to me if I want any of her stuff, just told me these earrings (pointing to the little blue box) were hers and that she would buy me new ones. Something is not right here."
Radha wrote,
9. Mother behaving unusually. (agrees to shopping without an argument.)
Radha, "We will figure out what is going on, don't worry. I am sure it isn't anything horrible."
Geeta nodds in agreement, after returning the earring back where Geeta had found them and they returned to Geeta's room. Radha turned on the lava lamp on Geeta's nightstand and was mesmerized. She followed the bubbles with her fingers and was totally lost, when Geeta came and sat next to her startling her. The lamp fell on the floor. Radha picked it up and noticed a note on the bottom.
Radha, "What is this?"
Geeta, "OMG, I completely forgot about that, I think this may be of some assistance in our investigation."
Radha was now confused.
Geeta continued, "This is the number that my mom sends text messages to, giving updates about me. I wrote it down once when she wasn't looking. It is a number for someone in India"
Radha once again turned to her notepad and jotted down.
10. 9685550338 (number for mystery text receiver)
Radha, "Geeta there seem to be a lot of mysteries on this list. I wonder if they are connected."
Geeta, "I don't know, but we will go over the list when we go back to Harvard, I don't want my mom getting suspicious. Lets just enjoy Thanksgiving. Lets go see if my mom needs any help."
Radha and Geeta went to the kitchen, Geet had been off the phone for a while now and was making appetizers. The guests were expected in 2 hours and she wanted to make sure that everything was done so that she could enjoy their company instead of working in the kitchen.
Geeta, "wow, mamma, it smells so good. What are you making?"
Geet, "Thank you my baccha, I am just finishing the appetizers so that when Kate Masi and Devi Masi and their families get here, I can have fun with them. Aren't you girls hungry?"
Geeta, "No we came down earlier and helped ourselves to some of that wonderful Pumpkin Cheesecake in the refrigerator." smirked Geeta.
Geet ran to the refrigerator and looked inside. The Pumpkin Cheesecake was safe. She turned to Geeta with an annoyed look and then smiled. Geeta played this trick on her every year, if it wasn't desert then it was a side or an appetizer. But it was the same every year and she fell for the trick every year promising herself that it wouldn't happen the next year.
Geeta, "Really mamma, you fall for this every year. We had sandwiches, we are good for now, making space in our stomachs for the huge dinner tonight."
Radha and Geeta helped Geet clear up the mess that had been created while she made the food. They did the dishes and set the table. Once done they went and cleaned up the mess they had created all along the stairs and in Geeta's room.
At 7:05pm the guests started to arrive. Kate Masi was the first to come along with Tim, Devi Masi came just a few minutes after with Neil and little Misha. Geeta ran up to her Masis and hugged them. See then picked up Misha like a little doll and took her to her room and gave her a little present she had gotten for her from Harvard. A tiny Harvard sweat shirt. She brought her down and everyone started to pick on Neil telling him that he better start saving from now for Misha's college education since it seemed that she was ready to go to Harvard.
No one needed to be told what to do or how to help out, this was a yearly celebration. The women went into the kitchen while the men, poured the drinks and made sure that no one was left thirsty. While Kate and Devi took care of the food, Geet quickly went and got ready. She wore a beautiful red sari, she wore red every Thanksgiving to mark the beginning of the Christmas season. She decided to wear the earrings Maan had gotten for her. When she came down, everyone's eyes were stuck on her. She looked beautiful, she didn't look like she had a grown daughter.
Kate and Devi right away asked her about the earrings. She whispered, "He gave them to me" and smiled. Kate and Devi both winked at her.
Geet wasn't aware that Geeta was not very far away from her. Geeta had heard her mom say, "he gave them to me" and right away knew that there had been a man in the house all those months ago.
She was a little disappointed though, she wished that her mom would have said the mystery man's name. She was happy that her mom was happy, now she just wanted to thank the person who made her mom happy, if only she knew.
No one noticed Geeta run upstairs, everyone was now busy talking amongst themselves. They had welcomed Radha into the group and were asking her questions trying to get to know her better.
Geeta went to the notepad and was the one who wrote in it this time, she scratched out number 9 on the list and rewrote
9. Earring gifted by mystery man, mother too secretive about identity, behaving unusual and agreed to a shopping date, no arguments.
She closed the notepad and went downstairs to enjoy the rest of the night with her family. There was good food that needed to be consumed and she was looking forward to it.
Spoiler
Maleria
Dear lovely greedy reader in Maneetland,😉
I am back, a little late but as normal with my post for the day. So no need to get restless, I have written a nice long update for you to enjoy.😃
Was a little depressed after watching today's episode. I was sure yesterday that Pari was helping Maan win Geet, but today I feel like I am wrong and I want to kick myself. I am sad😭 The CVs better make it up to us in a big way.
Well enough about being sad, how about getting more people interested in this FF. Spread the word, come on people I know you all have friends who would enjoy this FF.
I hope you all like this update, it is not very descriptive. Since it was so long, I decided not to describe the environment, food, etc as I usually do. But I am sure you all will understand.
Well that is all from me today.
Keep reading and commenting.
Polki
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Aami Daakini
