'AASTHA'-Maaneet FF-PART 1 RE-WRITTEN - Page 12

Originally posted by: piyushi

Hi... have read the original but still it feels entirely new with Maneet...

Plzzz... continue

Recap:-

She had to force herself to say his name. ' Maan.'

'Geeet', he said more like a whisper... The world surrounding her faded, it was as if she and Maan were alone in the universe... She couldn't bring herself to look up into the dark eyes she knew she'd recognize. The scenarios she'd so often pictured faded. The reality was she didn't have a word to say to him... Her heart fluttered, memories crowded painfully in her mind... Of the love she'd once felt for him...

PART - 8

She stared into his face, a tanned face now, with the creases around the eyes a little deeper than before. He looked exhausted, still... he looked good. He really did.

And she had been staring too long. She cut her eyes away, not sure what to say next.

She wanted to demand, What are you doing here? To order, Go away, and don't come back. To insist, I have my own life now. I run my own life. It's a good life, and it doesn't include you.

But she knew that if she said those things, she would only sound defensive, would only put herself at a disadvantage right from the start. So the uncomfortable silence continued for several more agonizing seconds.

At last he spoke. "Struck speechless at the sight of me, huh?"

She met his eyes directly, sucked in a breath and forced out a brisk reply. "Well, I have to admit, I don't understand why you're here. Bangalore is a long way from Sham Nath Marg, Delhi.'

Sham Nath Marg. That is where The Khurana Mansion stood in its all proud. It has retained its colonial charm and architecture. Its spacious rooms with high ceilings are unique when compared to the box-sized rooms of modern mansions. Set amidst eight acres of lush gardens, shady trees, it escapes the noise of the main city, but remains within easy access to city.

And she wished he'd quit looking at her with that amused and embarrassingly knowing expression, quit making her feel so... young and awkward. As if she were eighteen again, a lonely college girl far from home, instead of the mature, settled, self-possessed twenty-five she was now.

What was it about him? How did he do it? It had been six years since she'd seen him face-to-face. Still, right now, staring at him, with him staring back at her, she felt exposed. Raw... wounded... breathless and confused... It shouldn't be like this, and she knew it. All the hurt and recriminations were long past, not to mention the yearning, the tenderness, and the love...

'How have you been, Geet? he asked.

'What a question'? Geet thought.

"Just fine," she said, glancing around, wishing desperately someone would rescue her, or that she'd find the strength to walk away. She didn't want to be within a mile of Maan and his intense gaze, mirrored with pain... anticipation... love , his perfect—bow shaped, seductive lips, how his warm lips used to glaze over her skin...used to tease her with a sensual gentleness... his overwhelming sexy magnetic perfection... But her feet felt rooted. Six years had passed. Hadn't she built up any resistance? She did not love him anymore... Did she?... She didn't even like him. But she couldn't walk away. That was his way, not hers.

By now, she should be able to meet his gaze, to fee reasonably at ease, to ask calmly, 'Why, after all this years, he is here?'...

Yes. That was the question.

She cleared her throat. 'Why are you here Maan? Go Back!'

He didn't reply immediately, only kept looking at her. Looking at her so intently, causing that weakness in her knees and a certain disturbing fluttering in her solar plexus.

Now she wanted to shout at him, Answer me! Why are you here?

But then the buzzer sounded again. Geet glanced over her shoulder, pasted on a smile. 'I'll be right with you.'

'No hurry.' The new customer, a well-dressed, fortyish woman, detoured toward a display of Afghan crochets, shawls and scarves hung from quilt stands along the side wall.

Geet looked back at Maan. He glanced toward the woman over by the afghans, then spoke in a low voice. 'I want to talk to you. Alone.'

'No!' The word came out all wrong. It sounded frantic and desperate.

'Yes.' Lower still and very soft. Gentle. Yet utterly unyielding.

'Miss?' The customer was fingering the fringe of a pashmina shawls. 'There's no price tag on this one.'

Geet realized she was scowling. As she glanced toward her customer, she rearranged her face into a bright smile. 'I'll be right there. Just one moment.' She turned to Maan again, the cheerful smile mutating instantly back to a scowl. 'We have nothing to say to each other.'

'I think we do... Geet'

'You can't just...' her voice had raised. She cut herself off, got herself back under control, and then went on in an intense whisper. 'You can't just wander in here after all these years and expect me to...'

'Geet.' He reached out and snared her right hand. Before she could think to jerk away, he tugged her behind a wrought-iron shelving unit stacked with Egyptian-cotton towels and accessories for the bath. Vaguely stunned that he had actually touched her, she looked down at their joined hands.

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Precap:-

Something changed in his eyes... She became certain, in that instant, that he could see inside her mind, that he knew what she had been thinking...

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Hiii Dear all... so that was Part 8. Comparitively, a small one from others... Sorry for that... i hope, you all like it... Letmme know, about ur views and opinions...

" COMMENT AND LIKE" - Dnt forget dear... Plsss

Link to Part 9