ManeetFF Dancing Frm The Ashes link on pg146 - Page 27

Oooh, what a turn of events! It made the story suddenly so much more interesting. Dear Amru you are a lovely writer.

Sorry guys.really swamped at wrk. Will be going outta town on wed but will def update before dat.sorry.:-)

I'll be out of town for a week so will update after I get back. Hope u like this - i know I haven't described the person with names so u match the description to the names of the main troupe. Sorry am in a super duper hurry.

Also, I purposely haven't given pictures for the new characters cuz i couldn't find pics suitable for anyone...so if they remind you of somebody - plz feel free to post their pics and tag their names.sorry for spelling mistakes et al - no time to edit.

Comments please - i really really wanna know what you think!!

SHALL PM LATER!!

Chapter 26: The Eyes have it...!!

It was only after Annie left that they realized how ridiculous a proposition they had agreed upon. But , it was a mutual decision to be lenient with the other and to take important steps only after the other's consent.

Maan entered the studio early in the morning. Vicky had filled in the group with the details , not mentioning the details, but letting them know that Maan was taking his place, with his consent. They were annoyed, understandably, but they didn't say much. Maan's reputation had preceded him.

He found the main leading troupe sitting on the floor awaiting his arrival. They were the dancers who assisted Vicky when it came to choreography, and teaching. His trusted gang.The expressions that he saw ranged from hostile to curious to plain indifferent.

''Hi,', he said in general. ''I'm assuming Vicky has informed you about our 2 month arrangement''.

There was no response in any form. It was time to take up his 'Maan Singh Khurana' demeanour.

He started with a speech that was general in nature, about all the things related to the studio, one that touched all areas of administration, performance and work...he had delivered speeches like this scores of times. He had purposely indulged in such babble, so as to ensure their attention on his high flung words , while he minutely observed them.

His eyes flicked over their faces, turn by turn.

The first to be seated was a dainty looking girl. Her hair was done up in a short pony tail and expressive eyes adorned her face. She sat with one arm resting over a the knee of the boy who sat behind her. She seemed to be curious, cause she listened intelligently to every word Maan uttered.

The boy behind her looked happily at Maan, He was tall and wiry looking, with a happy expression on his face. Maan wondered if any of his speech was reaching him...his face however showed open friendliness and amiability. His eyes twinkled at times and seemed to drift away at others, while he unconsciously played with the girl's ponytail. He sat up straighter and in the process pushed the boy sitting next to him a little...the boy however didn't react. His face displayed a brooding expression, but his eyes seemed to be piercing and sharp. His attire and outward appearance struck Maan. Long silky straight hair reached his muscular but lean shoulders. His face was peppered with acne but, his eyes blew all the attention away. The word that sprang to Maan's mind on seeing him was ,'Focus'. His demeanour exuded complete discipline.

A small movement to his left made him turn to the last girl in the corner. She sat half turned from him, her curly hair falling like a curtain on her face. She wasn't looking at him, evidently lost in thought. Unconsciously , her eyes flicked to meet his. He felt like he was looking at a light-less tunnel devoid of life. They looked back at him, showing no sign of existence. Yet they struck a chord somewhere...a sense of dj vu. Maan was captivated!

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Vicky parked the car in the garage and sat in it a while longer. It was just 8:30am...way before the office time. He sat in and absorbed the enormity of the situation he found himself in. What on earth was he thinking to have agreed to this bet? The mere thought of spending his day amongst staidly dressed people depressed him. It sounded like a death wish.

He was the boss of Khurana Constructions, for two blessed months. He wondered how Maan must be faring at Studio 77. A wave of homesickness passed over him as he thought of his baby. It was a home he had built...each and every member was a friend ' a kindred spirit! Zaakhir, the sunshine man, Nida the lovable kitten, Farhan the idealistic, Geet '

Geet!!!!!

Nick sighed. He still worried about her. True, he wasn't as close a friend of hers as Sid and Mayank were. He had been closer to Nik. It was amazing how a person's life could be snapped away in the blink of an eye. He missed Nik, he was his partner in crime. He knew how much worse this was for her, then. That first one month after she had accepted his death had been horrifying. Her emotional graph had steadily descended. The first few days had been the worst, when she had not spoken to anyone...the few times they had tried forcing their company on her, she had ended up isolating herself from them, even more.

He recounted the nights he and Sid used to spend outside the graveyard. She would sit quietly for hours, not knowing they were keeping a watch, following her back home in the wee hours of the morning. Sid had waited impatiently for Mayank to get done with his passport hassles and return to India. His impatience had been justified.

The day Mayank had returned, he had spent hours locked up with Geet in her room. They didn't know what went on in there, but the change in her was there for all to see.

Geet had returned to the dance studio. He and Sid never asked Mayank what went down in her room, but they understood from a passing comment that it was something to do with Nik's last conversation with her.

But Vicky had been scared that returning to the studio will only remind her of Nik more...His fear had led him to give her more responsibilities. He'd made her the second in charge. It had worked to some extent, but his fears had been unnecessary. She had never missed work after that. She had trained the students and worked well with the others. She never smiled, but stayed to herself. She looked after the other dancers too, but Vicky hardly ever saw her interact.

He wondered how she'd fare under Maan's lead. He knew she's never bow under Maan's dictatorial regime.

Maan sat in the cabin that had belonged to Vicky all these days. It had CDs and cassettes and videos in them. The challenge was finally beginning to show.

He went through all the files in his 1^st hour in the cabin. All the rents and accounts, the different classes for each type of dance, the kind of performance Studio 77 put up, and the different expenses and accounts were all recorded. According to Zaakhir, the girl named Geet looked after the running of the studio and the long haired boy Farhan did the accounts.

Maan asked for Geet to be sent to him.

She entered after knocking, ''Did you want to see me?'' she asked quietly.

''Yes, '' he replied curtly. He kept her waiting, as he looked through a file. Once he was done, he looked up. Again he was hit by her face. Where had he seen this girl? He knew he had never met her, but why did she look so familiar?

He realized he was staring at her, while she was looking at him eyebrows raised, her expression cold.

Maan collected himself, and cleared his throat. ''Yes, I needed to know who had the charge of the spare keys and who looked after the running of the studio.''

''I do, ''she replied, in a monotone. She didn't look him in the eye, just spoke quietly.

''Yes, '' said Maan. He found her responses rude, and he was beginning to get annoyed with her.

He opened his mouth to say something of his annoyance to her, when music began thumping outside the door.

He stood up surprised and moved to investigate the source, completely forgetting he was the head of a dance studio now. He stood beside Geet and looked outside the cabin.

The entire group outside was warming up and stretching. The music seemed to be just the thing to get them into the mood of dancing. It seemed like routine.

Geet, left his side wordlessly and took her jacket off. She was dressed the same way the others were. Black vest and long tights. Each person seemed to be dressed and ready to dance, though the clothes didn't seem like a uniform.

Zaakhir began dancing randomly, doing steps out of habit, trying each one to see which fit his mood.

''Come one guys,'' he said cheerfully. ''Let's get started.'' He started on with a few more steps, while the other took places behind me, following his lead. He didn't seem to be doing anything out of routine. The others observed his steps in the mirror and followed them.

Maan stood at the door and observed them silently. They seemed to be aware that he was watching them. All of them danced the tempo building, up as their steps became more complicated. He observed each of them dancing. Farhaan had his eyes glued to his image in the mirror opposite them. His eyes piercing, as he seemed to be in perfect control of his movements. His arms and legs tensed and relaxed on command. Geet seemed to be following the steps. She seemed lost in thought. But, as opposed to her expression, she did all the steps to the T ' they were perfect. Every bend every spin was graceful and swan like. Unwillingly, his eyes moved to Nida - she had the inbuilt performance in her. The dance movements only heightened her eyes and the open expression in them. And lastly there was Zaakhir. He seemed to be the unofficial leader. He was cheering them on, dancing happily, playfully.

Maan could feel the atmosphere heavy and pregnant. He wondered why. He slowly observed each of them again. Slowly her realized that they seemed to be judging him too...out of the corner of their eyes when they thought he didn't notice.

It struck him suddenly out of the blue...they were testing him...trying to gauge his ability of being their head. He knew they trusted Vicky implicitly, but his reputation undoubtedly must have preceded him and they wanted proof if he was capable of leading them.

They wanted him to dance!

He looked back at them again... with a new point of view...Yes...they were waiting for him to prove himself. Their body language betrayed them. The only person who didn't seem to care, was Geet. She was lost in her own thoughts...her face closed and empty, while her body moved involuntarily.

He wanted to disappoint them, but his ego got the better of him. He stripped down to his vest and walked languidly towards the group, falling in with them. They moved to give him ample space... expectation glinting off their faces.

Sorry for the wait and sorry for the abrupt end.

Precap - Maan dancing - Geet gets a challenge.

Chapter 27 - And That's How It's Done! - Page 45

awesome...super...uuudfff ab kithna wait karna padega next update keliye...sorry kya karu yaar...it's really amazing...maan se proov maangne ka ishara super tha...nik ke marne ke baad geet ki baare me jo bi likha hai vo painful thi...

Beautiful update...mmm precap is interesting...waiting for the next updt...enjoy yourself

Thnks for the pm.