I'm making up for the Maneet who went missing the last couple of parts...I hope we haven't crossed boundaries...Let me know...cant wait to hear from you all....
Part 26: Cupcake, candle and starlight…
<Geet's monologue>
It was dark already...I wasn't sure if it was going to snow…On the way back I wanted him to stop by a department store…
Maan:"Geet…what do you want? I think they have extra of everything at the place we are staying…"
Geet:" No Maan…I need something…hmm…its actually personal…"
I lied…I hoped and prayed that he wouldn't question me further and he didn't…he was a gentleman as always…
I got out of the car…I was careful…there was sleet on the floor…I shopped all that I needed and asked them to pack it in a brown bag for me…
We went back to the place we were staying…I acted pretty tired…
I wanted to go to bed early…he was probably hoping for us to stay awake talking for a little while…but I had other plans…
I went into my room…quickly switched off the lights and seemed to be asleep…
I could see the light from his window...it stayed on for a while…and then it turned off…
I crawled out of my room…and walked to the kitchen…
I had no idea why but I had no hopes of succeeding in my mission…one mistake and he would be awake…I was praying that I could finish whatever I was starting…I wanted to surprise him…
I woke the maid and asked her to help me out…
I sieved the flour…added the eggs and sugar…whisked slowly…with just the least noise…stirred in the vanilla and cocoa…
I carefully poured the batter into the moulds and placed it in the oven to bake
I asked the maid to get back to her bed…I could take care of things from here…
I was carefully watching the cupcakes rise in the molds through the oven window… it was soft, warm and tender…I wonder how…but they turned out to be the perfect batch of cupcakes I had ever made…I frosted them and they were ready for the surprise…
I wasn't sure if I wanted to change…I was in my silken pajamas…but it looked decent…
It was 11.55…I walked to his room and knocked on his door…
Geet:" Maan….sogaye.?"
I heard him walk to the door…
Maan:" Geet…sab kuch teek tho hai…"
He appeared to have been sleeping…I felt bad for waking him up…but it was his birthday…there was no way I was going to stay behind and let him sleep through the night…
He must have been sleeping without his shirt on…he was hurrying to wear his vest….
Geet:" Come with me…"
I grabbed him by his wrist and took him to the window sitting…The view was still perfect…the moon wasn't out there….but it was a perfect star lit night…I seated him down there and walked to get the cupcake…I got a single cupcake…lighted the candle and walked back to the window seat…
Geet:" Surprise….Happy Birthday Maan…"
I walked towards him…
He was indeed surprised…
Maan:" When did you get it…?"
Geet:"Common…I made it….I was waiting for you to come out and catch me red handed…"
Maan:" Thank you…."
He was about to blow the candle…
I stopped him and asked him to make a wish…
Maan:" Geet…I'm 29…do you think…I still need wishes…"
Geet:" You never know when you need one…."
He finally gave in and he blew out the flame…I took out the candle and took a piece from the top and fed it to him…
Maan:" Hmmm….thank you…its so good…I can't believe you made it…"
Geet:" I'm going to take it as a compliment and leave it at that…"
He took a large piece from the cupcake and wanted to feed me…
Geet:" Maan…itna bada piece…please…not s…."
He didn't let me finish the sentence…he force fed me…the entire piece…
As I got up to go to the kitchen to wash my hands…he got hold of me by my wrist and pulled me closer…
I was shivering…the chillness must be seeping in through the window glass…
He lifted his hand with his thumb in the open and came close to just beneath my lips…I wasn't sure how I was to react…his eyes seemed to be fixated on my lips…I couldn't face him…
I closed my eyes and my breathing became shallow…It seemed the whole world had stopped around me…
Then I felt his thumb wipe off the frosting that was stuck to my skin…just beneath my lips…
It seemed as if the tip of his thumb was almost tracing my lower lips…
He walked away…I stood there not sure of the moment before…I took me some time to come back to the living world...a second ago…I was twirling away among the constellations…
Maan:" How did you manage it?...I mean…I know I'm a light sleeper…"
Geet:" I just did… guess I know you too well…"
I went to the kitchen to wash off the frosting in my hands…I came back to the window sitting and put my feet up….It was cold there…
He seated himself in the opposite side and put his feet up too…He handed me a throw…and took one for himself…Babaji…I needed that throw more than anything…
At first I didn't know what to say…I couldn't help stare at his shoulders for all he was wearing was a vest…the milky light from the stars…seemed to give it a strange highlight…
A couple of days ago I was fixated on living a life that presented as it is…and now I felt like a teenager drawn to him…wanting to agree with every word he had said that evening…I couldn't help wonder his thoughtfulness to bring me back to the same place where I had started it all…I was thoroughly confused…he was the pied piper…leading me away and I had no will or control to stop anything…
Maan:" So that's it…just a cupcake…no card…no gift…"
Geet:" Acchha…I thought you said you didn't need anything from me…"
Maan:" So I have to ask for my own card and gifts now…."
Geet:" Hmm……ek minute…card…right…"
I got up and walked around the room looking for a pen…all I could find was a felt tip marker…
I came back to the window seat and sat close to him…
Geet:" Ab aapka haat dikahiye…"
Maan:"Kyon…"
He was puzzled…I took his hand by the wrist and turned to have his palm face upwards….I started writing on his arm….
Maan;" Geet…I can tolerate anything…but not the tickling …."
He couldn't take it as I was writing…he was sighing all along…
I took his hand back and took it close for him to read it…
Maan:" Happy Birthday Maan…Card kal doongi…bas ab issi se kaam chala le na…Geet…"
<Maan's monologue>
She had written in tiny letters…I couldn't believe my eyes…that was the sweetest birthday message I had ever received…
The cupcake…her holding my hands to scribble on it…and the star light…everything was driving me crazy…for a moment I thought I would even slip and regret later…but she was too precious to make any mistakes…
Geet:" Maan…aapko kya chaiye?"
I was taken back…what did she mean…I raised my eyebrows in question…
Maan:" You mean gift…"
Geet:" Ji Haan…"
Maan:" Jo bhi tum chahte ho…I will have no complaints…"
Geet:" Main kaise decide karoongi…how I can ever give you anything that will be good enough for you…"
I was about to cut her off…when she raced me to it…
Geet:" Aah Aah! …I want to talk now…please…"
Geet please…mujse…please mat bolo…I was ready to melt at her words…
Geet:"You are always there for me Maan…Whenever I'm lost…you are just there…"
I didn't like the way it was going…I didn't want her to get serious…not now…I wanted her to smile and be herself now…her silly self…I decided to lighten the topic…
Maan:" You should look up…and look to Polaris…you will never be lost…"
Geet:" Ji….I don't understand…"
Maan:"Do you know how to look for Polaris in the night sky….actually….it so fits…now that I think of…its my zodiac constellation too…"
Geet:" Ji…I don't understand what you are saying…"
Maan:" Have you ever watched the night sky?"
Geet:" Yeah…"
Maan:" Do you know that every zodiac month has its own constellation…"
Geet:" Hmm…not really…"
Maan:" Chalo…I will show you…"
<Geet's monologue>
He went close to the window…and tried to spot some stars and asked me to look for a particular pattern…
Geet:" Ji…I don't think I see it…."
He grabbed the pen from my hand….He started drawing just like I had written on his hand…and placed four dots each in one corner of a square…He got up and walked around to sit behind me…I could feel his breath on my nape…he was so close…did he know how close he was? But he was all too lost in showing me the night sky…
Maan:"Now look to the left of the great dipper….Do you see three stars…now follow that and see if you can look at this arrangement" He pointed to the square group that he had drawn on my hand…He continued to hold my hand…
I was struggling to spot the pattern…I had to trace the line of stars all the way up and my head kept tilting backwards…when I realized that my head was resting on his shoulders…I wasn't sure if I wanted to move…his breath was warm on my cheeks…I looked down instantly…but I continued to rest on his shoulder…But he seemed determined in helping me spot Polaris…
I was even more taken back…when his right hand came all around me…as if he was about to hug me…but it was a relief when he once again started placing dots on my left hand…which he was already holding with his other…His chin was almost touching my shoulder…I wondered what would happen if I turned to my right for about three quarters of an inch…
Maan:" Alright…now look…trace through this pattern and you will find Polaris…"
As he was mouthing the word trace…his index finger was tracing the same path on my hands…I didn't know if I had it in me to go any longer…one more moment and I was going to snap…
With great difficulty I managed to spot the brightest star in the star grouping that he helped me to trace…not because I was bad at following his instructions…but more because..I couldn't take the closeness between us…I was able to feel him all over me....I wanted to trace my body along his…rather than anything else…
Geet:" Ji…ab dik raha hain…"
Maan:" That shows you the way to the true north..."
As he was explaining…he got up and walked back to the other corner where was as seated earlier…
Maan:" They say it's the most important star in the night sky…it gives lost travelers the direction to true north…the interesting thing is that…it is also my zodiac constellation…"
Geet:" Teek to hai…You keep showing up whenever I seem lost…and Polaris does for others…"
We laughed…at my silly joke…but it was a personal one…
I didn't know…but he was back once again…he was back in the same speed he disappeared…it seemed like months since that Sunday…but it had only been a week though…
I wondered what had changed…He had become Maan…from being Maan Singh Khurana…
Our evening conversation ran through my mind once again…"Just try….I will walk with you…"His voice brought back the other promise I had made to him in central park…it was strange that the fogginess in my mind now wanted to clear a little…at least it seemed so…He went away and I wanted to distance myself from the world…and now when he is back…my world turned upside down once again…how can one person control my life so much?
<Maan's monologue>
I had not expected any of this…It was a perfect birthday and I had no complaints…I fought within myself every time I came within inches of her…when I was bending to draw on her hand…and when I was sitting so close to her nape…On the cold wintery night…I could feel a bead of sweat on my forehead...I was bewitched by her beauty...her skin so smooth when I traced the dots on her hand…I succeeded to get up and walk to the other side without disrupting the evening…that to me was my biggest achievement ever…
We talked for some more time…I was just not ready to get back to bed…it was an impeccable night that nature had planned for me and I wanted to take in every moment of it…
With her by my side and her hands in mine…I just wasn't ready to call it a night…
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