Maneet-Jeet Sirf Humari Hogi-AUTH-NOTE-PG26-3.02 - Page 13

Chapter Seven: Rani Mukerji's Pyjama

Maan strode out of the lift and entered the third floor of the DLF Emporio mall, holding his hand up to stop his entourage of black suited bodyguards. "Stay by the lifts." He ordered hoping he wouldn't have to stay long and checked the SMS on his Blackberry which told him to head to Adarsh Gills.

He entered to find the place empty, a frown creased his forehead. "Kahan hai....?" Maan tightened his navy blue tie and searched for any signs of life above the racks of couture clothing. "Alexandra...?" He cocked his head, listening hard. There... Some muffled noises came from behind the curtains of the changing room; a suspicious look passed his face. "Alexandra is that you?" Taking a few purposeful steps, he threw open the pale yellow curtain to find his nutcase friend pressing a black and white uniformed someone against the full length mirror and...What is she doing!?

"Alexandra! What are you doing!?" He yanked her by the hair, pulling her away.

Reema blinked her black eyes dazedly at Alexandra feeling bereft for a moment until she realised they were no longer alone and turned a startling shade of beetroot. "M-m-meh w-woh, apke liye accessories lathi hoon." She stuttered and fumbled slightly buttoning her black shirt up, not able to meet the furious gaze of whom she now recognised as Maan Singh Khurana.

Maan gaped; the 'someone' was a sales assistant.

Alexandra watched her 'fun' scramble away as if she was in a Scooby Doo cartoon and pulled Maan's hand out of her hair irritably. "What am I doing? What the **** do you think you're doing?!" It wasn't as if it was easy to find women like this in Delhi.

"W-were you just kissing her?!" Maan asked, finding the whole situation just that little too much to handle. It was just his misfortune that of all the people in Delhi Alexandra found a sales assistant to...Main kyun profession keh piche para hoon? Woh ek ladki thi Maan!

"Erm...I was until you interrupted." Alexandra blew a curl out of her eyes and stared at him shamelessly.

"You really worry me sometimes..." Alexandra tsked, moving out of the changing room. "You're such a virgin." She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him in disgust. "Anyways, what took you so long? Had to gel your beard?"

Maan felt his ears burning at this point; shoving his hand into the back pocket of his dress pants he pulled out a black envelope and slapped it against her chest. "Happy twenty-third, I hope you learn the meaning of the word modesty this year." He said dryly eyeing her clothes. Maan had lived in New Delhi for the majority of his life yet still found it hard to deal with her get-ups or the lack of them.

Today she was clad in tight black leather waistcoat, navy tailored mini-shorts, clunky ankle boots and fingerless Italian leather gloves, with her soft curly black hair pushed back under a bright red burlesque hat.

It was the hat that had him cringing inwardly.

Alexandra oblivious to his inner turmoil smiled flirtatiously at Reema who was busy cowering by the counter and arranging various jewellery sets with nervous shaking fingers. "I want this shop closed just for us for the WHOLE day." She ordered and ripped open the envelope, holding a thin black credit card between two red nailed fingers before sticking it in her back pocket. "How much is on this Maan?"

"You'll still be using it thirty years on from now." Maan snapped, "Look Alex. I know that you know I hate shopping. Nevertheless, I came here to give you this gift but now I have to go since I have piles of work to get back to at Khurana Constructions. Understood?"

Alexandra instantly dropped her eyes to the ground, pulling on a sad-disappointed-near tears expression she'd been practicing all night by studying Geet. She knew this would happen; he'd find any excuse to run off and sulk over Geet in that forsaken office of his. Her threats had no effect on him anymore so she'd decided to try something new. "I...how can you do this?" She lifted her head, pushed her curls aside so he had a full view of the forced quiver on her lips. "It's been a whole month I've been here and you've ignored me and sat in that ghastly office but did I complain? Nahi!" She gulped. Oooh Daddy, I should do this more often. Look at his face!

Maan stepped forward in concern. "Alex...you're serious? I didn't real-"He wasn't exactly sure what to say or do since he'd never dealt with a crying Alexandra before. He'd always thought she was the strong independent type. Kya main koi khwab dekh raha hoon? Nahi. Yeh ladki pagal hogai hai...yah meh pagal hogaya hoon. Kuch samajh nahi aah raha!

Alexandra threw her hands up. "Exactly! You and Daadima think I'm some stiff upper lipped British who d-doesn't feel..." She shook her head as if she was having a hard time getting the words out. "S-six years and n-no birthdays or diwali's...and I just wanted today but s-stil you j-just wanna go?" Alexandra wiped her crocodile tears. "Phir tum chale jhao. Achi dosti nabai hai." She turned away, wrapping her arms around herself and bowing her head for full effect.

Maan put a hand over his forehead regretting his words. There were three things he simply couldn't handle in his life right now: Daadima's bad health, Alexandra unhappy or distressed and the memory of Geet.

These three women were the blight of his life.

Maan found the saleswoman glaring at him now as if to say 'now look what you've done!' He grimaced at her and placed his hands over Alexandra's shoulders comfortingly. "Alexandra, I didn't realise it was that important. I'll stay. Why don't I choose a dress for you first?"

Alexandra turned around suddenly looking very normal. "Excellent. Now you choose and I'll just pop to the ladies."

Maan watched her saunter away. Why do I feel like I've just been duped? He rested his hands on his hips and surveyed the large collections around him. "What's the most expensive thing you have?" He asked Reema, going for the easy way out.

***

Geet shuffled her feet along the marble flooring like a penguin, one hand placed on her seven month old bulging stomach and the other holding three bags crammed with black lace lingerie.

This morning Alexandra had dragged her to this maddening mall with a long list of items she simply had to have. After two hours of feet killing shopping, Alex and her had split up in order to move things along faster.

Geet was headed to the third floor to meet Alexandra as instructed to do so by the latest SMS even though she wanted to run shrieking out the nearest exit. "Geet wahan jao, udhar jao, woh lao, abhi soh jao, abhi tak thum soh rahi ho?! Mujhe candyfloss chahiye, harem pants doond kar mujhe dho! Chup kar Geet! Bolthi kyun nahi ho Geet? Kabhie sar peh haath aur phir kabhie zor seh chata! Hai Babaji!" She whined as she moved slowly. "Subha seh EK cup chai nahi naseeb huwi aur upar seh mujhe kethi hai, UGG boots chahiye! Woh KYA hothe hai?! Abh nahi mile toh main kya karoon? Phir seh gussa karegi. Abh upar jaathe hi kahegi, Geet! Rani Mukerji kah pyjama chahiye!"

It wasn't as if Geet hated her for it. She got paid very well and Alexandra took her pregnancy seriously for the majority of the time...feeding her, buying baby clothes and necessary items and even taking her to her OBGYN for check-ups. Then there were days Alex slammed doors, growled moodily at her, slapped the back of her head and generally made the universe seem like hell. Sometimes she would say nothing, simply sit in silence lost in her own thoughts. Nevertheless, Geet had grown to respect and love the woman but she wasn't half insane. Oh and the clothes she wore! The other day Alexandra had burst into her apartment wearing Calvin Klein boxers, a bright yellow poncho above a gold sports bra with fire-red heels. Babaji, kya larki hai? Salwaar-kameez pehen lethi tho qayamat aajayegi?

Out of curiosity she'd researched Alexandra Veer Singh to find the reason for this bizarre behaviour. Geet wanted peace of mind that she wasn't working for an escaped mental patient. Or worse, an escaped insane criminal mastermind from an underground prison facility manned by the Unified Intelligence Task Force.

(Alexandra had also forced her to watch Charlie's Angels and Doctor Who.)

Fortunately Alexandra had turned out legit.

Mostly.

Unfortunately what she found explained nothing about her behaviour.

A renowned model from England who was highly popular in numerous countries after rising to fame by supposedly 'accidently' knocking Kate Moss off the catwalk in Milan.

From shampoo commercials to promoting grape-smelling condoms, to bungee jumping and dirt bike racing and even down to eerie naked photo shoots with pythons, she did it all.

Alexandra Veer Singh lived her life to the full.

The only thing that disturbed Geet was the fact there was piles of information from the last three years but nothing before that other than she was born twenty three two ago to a business tycoon who went by the name Veer Singh and was the sole heir to his vast fortune when he died six years ago.

Any publicity gained was through her work and she always refused interviews.

No one knew what her hobbies were, who her friends are or even what she liked to eat for tea.

Such a celebrity would garner at least that much interest surely? Yet it seemed it was her enigmatic but wild personality that drove people crazy.

"Naa jaan ya pechaan kisi seh bhi, Kaise rehti hai yeh Babaji?" Geet muttered, "Koi baat nahi, mujhe kya lena dena? Apne kaam seh kaam rakungi aur apne bache koh palungi." She pressed an affectionate hand to her kicking child and entered the lift pressing the button to the third floor.

***

Alexandra stepped out of the loos, sliding her phone into her shorts back-pocket and came up behind Maan who was holding up a shimmering black lengha and a pale yellow mini-dress as if he was mentally debating which to go with. "Maan?"

"Hmm?" He turned to her with a raised brow.

"Do us a favour and get some coffee would you? Go to Cafe E though on the third floor, I don't like the others." Alexandra took the clothes from him, trying not to barf at his choice. I swear that looks like the Qawali dress Neetu and Shabu wore in Parvarish and blimey, a puke coloured sixties abomination...what is wrong with him Daddy? "I'll erm, try these on...!"

Maan scoffed at her. "Me? Get coffee?!" At her suddenly dejected expression he quickly raised his hand. "Please don't start again; I'll go get your coffee." He marched off fully intending to ask his bodyguards to do this job. He wasn't her secretary!

Geet hurtled out of the lift, bumping into two familiar looking bodyguards. "Akal khi dushman! Dekh nahi sakte?!" She snapped and then cringed, her mood swings were getting worse lately. She was starting to sound like Alexandra. "Sorr-"She stood dumbstruck as Maan Singh Khurana suddenly appeared before her and the ground under her became unstable. Automatically his hands closed around her arms protectively. Hai Babaji, yeh kahan seh aagaye? It didn't help that he was looking into her eyes and making her feel as if she was about to combust into a thousand flames any second now.

Maan couldn't believe it, she was truly in front of him... there was no way she could be a figment of his tortured imagination. He was holding her! He tightened his grip on the warm and soft skin under his fingers.

She was as always... perfection personified.

A whole month had passed and each day she'd been there in his head, laughing, drowning, screaming, crying, mocking, rejecting and sometimes he would see her duppatta flying past or the hairs on the back of his neck would stand up but by the time he would turn to look she would be gone. Not today though.

Maan's hooded eyes fell slowly from her head to her toes. She had added weight, it was subtle but definitely there...mostly in her cheeks. Nevertheless he found himself admiring her open wavy brown hair that framed her heart shaped face, the sparkling globe earrings on her small ears, the light brown eyes that were beckoning him forwards and those pink quivering lips which were causing his right hand to lift on its own accord presumably to cover them and stop their tremble. Maan stilled when his gaze lowered to her stomach. "Geet?" He said under his breath, the truth of her pregnancy finally hitting him with full force. It had only been a month, how could she possibly have gotten this big?

Geet saw him looking at her bump and pulled her duppatta down as coverage. She backed away from him not liking the way he was fixated on her child and ignored the aching temptation to fling herself in his arms. A cold thought entered her mind...He wasn't happy to see her...all he could see was her pregnancy.

Maan frowned at the protective gesture and opened his mouth hesitating. What should he say? He needed answers but to what question first? She was backing away from him like always and he couldn't handle that, not after weeks of separation. He'd even sent an investigator to Hoshiapur, but so far had received no information. All his anger was gone, he was tired and now he simply wanted to know.

"Chodiye mujhe." Geet protested, using her other hand to push his off. He simply grabbed her again, his eyes glinting at her in determination. "Chodiye mujhe varna-"

"Varna kya? Nahi chodunga." Maan murmured quietly and started pulling her closer slowly.

Geet yanked herself away hard and before he could utter another word backed into the still open lift and desperately pressed the close button, blocking him out. She then placed both hands over her mouth and shut her eyes tight as the lift hurtled down and allowed two single hot tears to fall to the ground before composing herself as Alexandra had trained her. Mera inn ansoo seh kuch nahi hoga Babaji. Kuch nahi.

Maan growled, stunned that she had left. Again. He slammed his hand on the shut doors even as the lift started moving down but just as he was about to run towards the escalators his phone vibrated. If it was anyone else he'd ignore it, but it was the agency whose investigator had still not bothered to get back to him even though he'd paid a hefty sum. "Maan Singh Khurana." He answered in a low voice.

***

Alexandra leaned against the doorway of the boutique watching the two lovers quarrel in amusement. These four weeks had been a challenge.

Every few days she would check with Maan asking where he'd be through the afternoon and then she'd send an oblivious Geet off on various tasks in the same area as him. Sometimes he'd see Geet from the corner of his eyes on the busy streets of Delhi if Alexandra was lucky.

The result was a haunted look Maan who believed he was completely bonkers and a tired harassed Geet who was sick to death of her peculiar demands. Alexandra smirked; asking her to find orange candyfloss was genius.

Today was different though, this was a full on view of each other and the first step to reconciling but on Alexandra's terms. Even Alexandra had given up on the investigator. Ooo, look! Whaddaya know Daddy? She did exactly as I thought she would! She ran! She does it well! I bet it's all the practice with her barmy brother. And now he's going to go after her and- oh wai... he's stopped. Why's he stopped? Why's he coming back here? She jumped and raced back to the changing room, grabbing the yellow mini from Reema's hands on the way and started unbuttoning her waistcoat.

Maan shoved his blackberry back into his pocket and barrelled past a confused looking Reema and stood by the yellow curtain which separated him and Alex. "We have a problem."

"You mean you have a problem that I'm gonna end up fixing?" Alexandra's face peeped out of the curtain.

Maan exhaled, turning his red frustrated eyes on her. "No one can fix this." He replied hoarsely.

"The suspense is killing me, a problem Alexandra can't fix?" She drawled back, arched eyebrows raised high.

"The investigator we sent to Hoshiapur is dead." Maan bit out, loosening his tie around his collar. "We sent a man to his death."

"Oh." Alexandra was truly surprised and jumped out of the changing room a worried look in her blue eyes, the facade of trying on his chosen dress forgotten. She hadn't wanted that to happen...why was her plan spiralling out of control?

"Oh?" Maan didn't know why he was shouting at her but he needed to vent. "Oh doesn't quite cover it Alex! On top of that Geet was here...all...all...pregnant!"

"Chilli wedges aren't the only thing you have trouble digesting is it?" Alexandra muttered sarcastically, at his livid glance she held up a calming hand. "Alright alright, why would someone kill our investigator?"

"I don't know why but I know who!" Maan noticed Reema staring dreamily at Alex and realised her waistcoat was exposing that which should be hidden. He shoved Alexandra back into the changing room in disgust. "Button up. Now as I was saying I think I know who did this."

"Who?" Alexandra rolled her eyes and tidied herself up, leaving the dress on the floor for Reema to pick up.

"The investigator was found in the jungle....where I saved Geet from her pagal bhai." Maan waited for her to step out, grabbed her hand and started walking out briskly ignoring the protesting Reema. She'd get over Alexandra in a few days...weeks...well, maybe a few months. "Somehow Brij Handa is behind this, I'm sure of it. They're hiding something and if I have to go and find out myself then I will."

"Wai-what? NO!" Alexandra stopped as they reached the lifts. "Stop Maan. Tum wahan jao geh tho phir woh tumara bhi wohi haal karenge."

"Then what can I do?!" Maan asked angrily. "I saw Geet! S-she...I NEED to know. This is your entire fault! You put that rape idea in my head!"

"If it's my fault then I'll go." Alexandra replied coldly. "I'll find out the truth for you. I'll bring you proof of Geet's past. Whatever nineteen-twenty silent horror movie it is."

"Are you insane? What goes for me goes for you. They'll kill you too." Maan shook her by the shoulders, mentally cursing his five year old self for befriending such a maddening woman.

"Hello brainless! You're speaking to me, Alexandra Veer Singh. I'll decide when I die not the Punjabi Cult of Charles Brons!" Alexandra looked around at the busy mall. "The investigator died doing your work, he probably has some family. Your responsibility is ensuring they're compensated...mine is finding the truth. Plus, Daadima isn't in any condition these days for you to be out of reach. Now quit twisting out your thong, I'll leave for Hoshiapur right now."

Maan sighed as she reminded him of Daadima. He needed the truth desperately, only then could he do something about Geet otherwise for the rest of his life he'll be tied in her thoughts yet he couldn't risk Alexandra either. "This is my problem Alex...thanks but no thanks. I'm going and that is enough on this subject!"He rushed past her.

"Josh seh pehle hosh Maan." Alexandra said matter-of-factly, stopping him once more in his tracks.

Maan closed his eyes tightly and relented; he spun on his heels and stared back into the determined blue eyes of his friend. "Josh seh pehle hosh." He agreed.

Alexandra smiled victoriously. So what if her original plan had gone awry? She'd make it work nonetheless.

_ _ _

So, no precap this time.

Until next time babes.