'AASTHA'-Maaneet FF-PART 1 RE-WRITTEN - Page 14

awesome ...

Vey interesting plz update soon n do pm me plzzz awsm

Recap :-

'Let go,' she instructed in a furious whisper.

He did, which stunned her all over again, somehow. One moment his big warm hand surrounded hers — and the next, it was gone. Her skin felt cold in their absence; even though it was the first time he'd touched her in many, many years.

He said, 'I'm not expecting anything. I only want to talk to you... In private.'

She could see it in his eyes, in the set of his jaw. He was not going to just go away. She would have to deal with him, to listen to whatever he'd decided he had to say to her.

Right then, guiltily, she thought of Daksh. The fact, remained undeniable. Maan is her son's father. He has a right to know about his father. Today or tomorrow, he is going to ask her about him... She cannot lie her son...

'Miss?' It was the woman over by the afghans, beginning to sound a bit put out.

'Go ahead,' Maan said. "Take care of her."

The woman bought the pashmina shawl. Maan waited, standing a little to the side of the register counter, as Geet rang up the sale.

Once her customer had left, Geet sighed and conceded, "All right. I close up at seven. After that, we can talk."

'Good,' Maan said. "There are a couple of promising-looking restaurants down the street. I'll drop back by when you close and we'll get something to eat."

Not on your life, she thought. She would not spend the evening sitting across a table from him, fighting the feeling that they were out on a date.

'No,' she said. 'Not today. I will call you... to tell the time and place...' and immediately she added 'I don't want Daksh getting dragged to all these now...'

'Hmm'. That was his only reply.

Without any further intricacies Maan gave her his business card. Their fingers slightly brushed, setting off a trail of sensations through them. Their heads shot up... Gazes met... A tiny shiver slithered down her spine... her skin began to crawl with electrifying sensations when those long, tanned fingers accidentally touched hers... she could feel the heat from his body...

A ripple of something went down her spine at the look in Maan's eyes. When they'd been together, every moment had seemed more intense, the light more blinding, the smells sharper. It had seemed as if he had the ability to turn up the volume on her senses...

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...

Maan could feel the effect he had on her... How he'd wanted to grab her and hold her close and plead with her to forgive him not trusting her...— to swear to protect her, to never hurt her again... Then his gaze dropped to her lips... and his eyes darkened... looking at her lush, beautiful mouth... suddenly, he wanted to kiss her in the worst way...

Tring - Tring...

Their spell was broken with the sudden ringing of her land line.. with two rings,it went dead again...

He looked at her for a long moment before muttering, 'I'm sorry, about your maa, Geet.'

Geet didn't answer immediately. Sometimes she still found it hard to believe that her maa was gone. She died a painful death. More than, the pain from her illness, she was heart broken with her only daughter's shattered life. And Geet couldn't give her much advanced treatments, due to the lack of funds. After, her papa's death, Brij took over the family business and ended up in huge loss... and he only give a small share of Mohinder's savings to Geet and Rano Handa. If only her papa was alive, may be, her mother would have been still alive. Mohinder Handa, was never a step-father for Geet, he loved her like his own daughter, and she in return. She hardly remember her own father... Her papa, was the father figure for her. Brij, was Mohinder's son in his first marriage. Inspite of their never ending efforts to mould him to a good human being. Brij remained, careless and spendthrift. Only thing he loved in his life was money. He hated Geet and her mother to the core.

Geet looked at Maan. He did sound sincere... Geet murmured a reluctant 'Thank you,' then spoke more briskly. 'I will call you'.

He blinked again, and then peered at her narrowly, as if her words weren't getting through to him at all. 'So I should leave now?'

'Yes, Maan. You Should'.

But his gaze still held hers trapped within it. He lifted his hand and she froze as one long finger tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Goosebumps erupted down her arms, shivering against the cool, early summer air. Like a heated torch, his touch imprinted itself against her skin, and Geet gasped... his fingers lingered on to her skin for a while...and his eyes fixed on hers...

Heat sizzled through him like a brushfire and he saw a similar reply in her eyes. Those hazel eyes, shared the awareness... He lingered over her and it reminded him of the great passion and pleasures they have shared...

Her eyes filmed with unshed tears... he realized, again he has hurt her... that was it.. Maan's spell broke. 'Oh.. God! What am I doing? How can I hurt her again and again..'

Then he stood back, tucking his hands into his jeans pockets... For what seemed to Geet about half a lifetime, he said nothing. And then, at last, he nodded. All Right. I will wait for your call'.

He looked at her long and hard. Then, muttered, 'All right,' again. And then he just stood there, as if he had no idea what to do with himself next.

'Maan... Please...'

He seemed to shake himself. 'Yes. I know. I'm going.'

He turned stiffly, like a man in a trance, pushed the storm door open again and went through it. Geet shut the inner door and then sagged against it, pressing her forehead to the beveled glass, watching as Maan went down the walk to his car.

Precap :-

A last check in the door mirror of her bedroom showed she had eaten off some of her lipgloss, probably from nervously chewing at her lips. Her hand was shaking as she quickly replenished it. She was wearing a white cotton slacks and T-Shirt... Stupid to worry about her appearance, she thought. It didn't make any difference to what would happen...

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So, Guys.. that was about Part 9. I knw its a small update... but dont worry.. i am goin to give another update as well...

Link to Part 10

hey i'm the first one to comment...can't believe my luck

too good yaar...u sizzled ...the remembered passion nd the obvious chemistry👏...left me craving for more... plz update soon

continue soon looking forward to next part

Thanks for the lovely update hope Maneet r united ..

Recap:-

'Maan... Please...'

He seemed to shake himself. 'Yes. I know. I'm going.'

He turned stiffly, like a man in a trance, pushed the storm door open again and went through it. Geet shut the inner door and then sagged against it, pressing her forehead to the beveled glass, watching as Maan went down the walk to his car.

PART 10

NOTHING felt safe anymore.

Geet told herself that was another reason why she had to meet Maan Khurana this morning. Ever since the solicitor had come, showing her all the legal documents and the private investigator's report on Brij, she had been feeling the power of the Khurana family closing around her, squeezing for a claim on Daksh. She had to find out what their aim was— the end goal.

Right from her first encounter with Maan two weeks ago, she'd been afraid he wouldn't just walk away. Now she knew he'd confronted his father and moved relentlessly to demonstrate how terribly deceived she'd been by her stepbrother.

But that didn't make the Khurana family right in what they'd done, she argued to herself.

Her pulse kicked in shock as she glanced at the clock and saw it was already nine-thirty.

She had to get moving.

A last check in the door mirror of her bedroom showed she had eaten off some of her lipgloss, probably from nervously chewing at her lips. Her hand was shaking as she quickly replenished it. She was wearing a white cotton slacks and T-Shirt... Stupid to worry about her appearance, she thought. It didn't make any difference to what would happen...

The summer just started in Bangalore... Its mid-March— the weather still has its chillness still..., she was feeling hot... and was sweating all over...She had a half-an-hour walk ahead of her and the cotton dress should keep her from feeling overheated and sticky at the meeting with Maan...

She'd pulled her long hair into a clip at the back of her neck and grabbed her umbrella, sunglasses and hand bag, slid her feet into comfortable sandals, and left the house, her heart fluttering uncontrollably over having to deal with the man who knew he was Daksh's father.

At least, he hadn't asked for Daksh to accompany her... Not, that she will agree to it... still, he didn't. In fact, there had been no threatening pressure attached to his request for a meeting, as relayed by the solicitor. The choice of time and place had been hers and it was to be just the two of them.

The request had seemed reasonable, the meeting necessary, given the dreadful fraud her stepbrother, Brij, had perpetrated, including forging her signature on some papers, using her pregnancy to extort the huge sum of money from the Khurana family.

One hundred thousand!

Her mind still boggled over it.

And the cheque Maan had written to cover the loss of it, was burning a hole in her handbag. It had been attached to all the other papers the solicitor had left with her, but she couldn't keep it. Tainted Money! Firstly, the money had been stolen by her stepbrother, not by Maan. Just because it was irrecoverable didn't make it right for her to accept this money... What he think about himself.. that, he can just buy me with his money... or I will just forget, how I was treated...nothing more than a two time s**t— NO! Maan Singh Khurana, then you are wrong...

Besides, if she was to stick to her independent stance, she had to return the cheque, and meeting Maan was the most direct, most telling way to accomplish it. She had to make it clear to him that she hadn't asked for money and didn't want it now... or never going to accept anything from him, or his family... None of it. She have to make it clear to him, doing all this, is not going to change anything... Even, if she wants to bend a little, for Daksh's sake, it would tie Daksh to the Khurana Family, and she didn't believe that was a good connection for him at all...

She had managed to carve out a successful business, even though it's small, and despite the difficulties of being a single mother, she has managed to bring up Daksh, very well...and she could manage to bring him up, all by herself... If Maan, wanted to do anything.. he should have done it five years ago...

Geet bolstered this determination with every step she took, towards the meeting place — the cubbon park park, near the Hudson Circle. The park is a grassy expanse over a few hundred acres in the center of Bangalore City. Lawns with vibrant flower beds... shady bowers.. and flowering trees... It has many elegant classical buildings like, the Karnataka High Court, VI&T Museum, Govt. Museum, Aquarium, Art Gallery, Bal Bhavan— an amusement park for children.. One of Daksh's favourite place. Geet use to take him there, every weekend. They, have decided to meet near the Central Library.

She walk along the Caribbean Trumpet Trees and canna beds on either sides of the road leading to the central library...It was just ten o'clock— her stipulated time— when she reached the entrance of the central library and hurried up to the first floor to take the overhead walkway spanning the busy coast road to the park. From there the whole area could be scanned.

She spotted Maan instantly, seated on a park bench under the shade of one of the Gulmohar Trees that skirted the side walk.

His head was turned towards the children's park... a bunch of screaming and whining toddlers and kids, scattered all over the park.. along with their parents.. Seems to be like, tourists...

He was looking relaxed... One arm was casually hooked over the back rest of the bench..., making him look even more handome...

'Geet' she scolded herself.. Geet certainly wasn't... 'relax' was the last word, come to her mind now. The tension gripping her nerves was so bad, she paused to take several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. It was important to appear cool and confident, not get rattled. It was totally irrelevant that he was still the most attractive man she'd ever met, still able to tug at her physically. But, it was so much more than physical, so much more than anything. The one thing, that hadn't changed at all was, how she felt about him still... the gut churning... heart grabbing reaction...— an ache, so familiar... that it had become a part of her... But, she should never allow herself, to be taken over by this whirlwind... that will be like, marching towards destruction — Maan Singh Khurana and everything related to him had to be ejected from her life. With this resolution firmly fixed in her mind, she forced herself to walk on.

His gaze swung to her as she descended the steps on the park side of the walkway. Although her thighs started quivering, her legs kept carrying her down, driven by sheer willpower. He stood up, waiting by the park bench, watching her approach, his dark brilliant eyes keenly observing everything about her.

She was glad she'd armoured herself with sunglasses. Not only did they hide her thoughts and feelings, but they allowed her to return his scrutiny without being obvious about it. Again he was wearing casual clothes; beige cotton slacks, a loose cotton knit top in white and beige, V-necked, short sleeves— very smart!

Looking at him, Geet surmised he hadn't come to throw his weight around. Or is this just another deception, meant to put her off-guard while he set up the big guns to attack her position?

His mouth twitched into a sensual little smile,... making her acutely conscious. She felt the heat of a blush creep up her neck straight up to her ears... Worse, her pulse-rate zoomed into overdrive as his smile widened and his eyes warmed with pleasure.

'Geet..Good to see you again.' he said with what seemed genuine sincerity.

His voice startled her... as did the pained expression in his eyes... His smile is not reaching his eyes...

Her mind jammed for a moment, then spun with wild speculation. Was this manner aimed at winning her compliance with whatever he wanted? Did he think she could forget how he'd spurned her? Casting her out of his life on the very night she'd meant to tell him she was pregnant with his child!

A surge of anger spilled into a bitter outpouring. 'I can't say it's good to see you, Maan. I only came to return your cheque. To place it in your hands personally so it can't get mislaid or misappropriated or mis... anything else.'

She started fumbling with her handbag, desperately eager to get the zippered compartment open, extract the cheque, get rid of the burden of Khurana money.

'Geet, that's just for you and Daksh...' he didn't know, what to say... He know, she will never take anything from him... Still, how can he let, her and his son, live like this...

'I don't want it. I didn't ask for it,' she gabbled. The wretched zipper had stuck. 'I didn't know my stepbrother had gone to your family for money until he handed me the thousand rupees for...for...'

'Yes, that was very clever of him, handing over enough money to convince you it was meant for an abortion. Which, of course, neatly tied off the scam for him. No child. No more interest from the Khurana family. No comeback for him to worry about.'

Maan rolled off his interpretation of the situation so fast, Geet was distracted by how closely it matched her own anguished reasoning. She stopped struggling with the zipper to stare at him. 'You believe me?'

'Without a doubt,' he assured her.

Which instantly played havoc with her heart. If only he had believed her against his brother and those terrible photos...

'It's abundantly clear that Brij, saw the opportunity to milk the situation for all he could get, intending to feather his own nest,' Maan went on, reminding Geet he was working off evidence this time, as well.

His belief in her word meant nothing!

Easy enough to deduce the truth from the investigator's report, which had supplied the date when, Brij had left Sydney, flitting off to the Gold Coast in Queensland. It had also stated the money had been gambled away and Brij's current credit rating was not only nil, but criminal charges were pending over embezzlement at the used car yard where he'd worked as a salesman.

Her stepbrother!

Geet burned over the rotten deception he'd played.

'At least he isn't my real brother,' she flashed at Maan. 'I don't have to live with him like you do yours.'

Vikrant Singh Khurana had also played a rotten deception, keeping the news of her pregnancy from Maan, intent on feathering his nest with the right kind of woman for his precious son.

Geet resumed tugging at the zipper, telling herself it was stupid to be affected by anything Maan said. He had probably moved on to relationships with women who were far more compatible with his family. Which would make his father's judgement ultimately right.

'My father has been made very aware of my feelings about his past actions on my behalf,' Maan answered grimly. 'He knows not to interfere between us again.'

'I just don't want him or you or anybody employed by your family to interfere with me,' Geet said fiercely, finally getting the zipper open, removing the cheque and thrusting it at Maan. 'Take back your blood money. It won't buy me or Daksh.'

He shook his head, leaving the cheque hanging from her hand. 'It wasn't meant to buy you, Geet. It was meant to contribute what a father should, at least in financial support, towards his child's upbringing.' He could not believe, how much she has changed in past years... His Geet can never speak to anyone like this... especially, not to him! Standing front of her, he felt like, he hardly know this new, matured women... Gone are those cute animated gestures... Or just pout, and sit next to him, and tell him anything and everything, which mostly doesn't make any sense... Maan felt fear grip him... In all those years of separation, he had never felt, away from her... he knew, every inch of her face intimately..., had committed it to memory..., holding as if he'd never let go. Now, being with her also, he felt, she is too... far away from him...

'I've managed without it all these years and I much prefer to keep it that way.'

Geet's words broke his chain of thoughts... or more fears... 'It wasn't right that you had to manage alone,' he strongly demurred. He did not know how he is going to convince her...

'Do you think this makes anything right, Maan?' she mocked savagely.

'It can help.'

'No. We occupy different worlds and Daksh belongs in mine. It won't be good for him to have that line blurred by your money. I won't have it. Please,take it back.'

Again he shook his head.

Frustrated by his refusal and hating even the feel of the paper representing an obscene amount of money, she ripped it into pieces, marched over to a nearby litter bin and dropped the fragments into it, determined on making the point that he couldn't buy into his son's life.

'Money corrupts,' she flung at him as she wiped her hands of its touch. 'We both have firsthand knowledge of that, don't we, Maan?'

'It can, but it doesn't have to,' he argued. 'It can be used to good effect. Which was what it was meant for.'

Maybe...maybe not!. Geet knew she wasn't prepared to risk finding out how good the intentions were behind so much money. She walked back from the litter bin, feeling lighter and more self-assured. 'I can manage without it,' she said with confidence. 'I've proved that already. Daksh is a happy, well-adjusted little boy. He doesn't need...'

'You're not thinking of him,' Maan sliced in, an aggressive note of accusation warning her he was going on the attack now that she had destroyed the money link he'd tried to forge. No more soothing. 'You've made this choice because it's what you want,' he threw at her.

'I'm his mother,' she retorted, ramming home the close relationship he'd never had with their child. 'I know what's best for him.'

'Like my father knew what was best for me?' he shot back, bleak mockery in his eyes...

The challenge and the expression behind it gave Geet pause for thought. It was true she was reacting to her previous experience with the Khurana family, not wanting anything to do with them, not wanting Daksh to have anything to do with them, either. But was she doing right by,their son?

Her gut feeling was yes.

Or was that fear talking— fear of becoming involved in something she might not be able to control.

Controlling the path of his son's life was what Vikrant Singh Khurana had been about in breaking up her relationship with Maan. Was she heading the same way herself with Daksh, making decisions for him she had no right to make?

'Can you honestly say, six years down the track, that your father didn't know what was best for you?' she asked.

'Yes, I can,' Maan replied without hesitation. His eyes bored into hers with searing intensity as he softly added, 'I lost you. And I lost five years of my son's life.'

The different tone, and the mountain of feeling behind it, shook Geet into protesting, 'But you must have met other women who were more...more compatible with your family.'

'Oh, yes.' His mouth curled cynically. 'I've had many suitable women paraded in front of me. Not one did I want to take as my wife.'

'Why not?'

'Because, they are not you... I couldn't feel with them what I'd felt with you, Geet.'

'That's gone,' she said defensively, frightened of him sensing her vulnerability to the love and strong attraction that should have died...,but hadn't.

He didn't reply. He simply looked at her, making her skin crawl over the lie she had spoken. But she would not take it back, couldn't afford to take it back. How could she ever trust him again with her heart?

'Yes, what we once had is gone,' he finally agreed, the regret in his voice hitting her hard as he added, 'And the fault was mine in not believing your word against Dev's. It's true we've occupied different worlds and that, too, was part of it. You might have come after me to pursue the truth if I'd been more accessible to you.'

No. She'd been too crushed to attempt a fighting pursuit. The memory of how he'd looked at her, how he'd spoken to her, how he'd rejected her so utterly...even now, everything within her cringed from it. And knowing his family was behind the deception had added immeasurably to her sense of absolute defeat. Maan was right about that.

He cocked his head considering. 'I wonder how you would have reacted, shown photos of your sister— ,if you had one— ,on top of a man who looked like me, a man who was wearing a distinctive watch which you'd given me, and had a very personal identification mark...,a man your sister swore was me. Would you have believed my denial, Geet?'

It was difficult to think herself into the turn-around scenario but in fairness to him, she tried to focus on it. Would she have believed a denial, knowing how attractive he was.— rich, handsome, any woman's dream? Would she have believed he was hers and hers alone, given a sister's sworn word...and photographic evidence...that he'd been intimate with her, too? Wouldn't her insecurities about his family background have whispered to her that he was arrogantly having fun with both sisters?

'The difference is...I would have fought the accusation, far beyond what you did,' Maan said quietly, a wry sadness in his eyes. 'Though I certainly don't blame you for not trying. The simple truth is I had the resources to fight and you didn't. Which was what my family counted on. You didn't have the power or the money to find the photographer or the woman who looked like you, to prove your innocence. So my family won. And we lost something very special. I lost most of all. What we had together...and my child.'

Regardless of the heat in the air around them, her skin broke out in goose-bumps...as though ghosts of what might have been were wafting over the graveyard of their love. The poignant sense of loss squeezed her heart unbearably. She wrenched her gaze from his and stared out at the library building, fiercely telling herself this was all water under the bridge. They couldn't go back. They couldn't change anything. And what they once had was gone. They were different people now. Time and experience had moved them even further apart.

'Is it fair for you to insist I keep losing, Geet?' he appealed.

'You made a choice,' she cried inside, fighting not to be drawn into making emotional concessions. Steeling herself to maintain a shield around the vulnerability he could still touch, she swung her gaze back to his. 'Do you think I'm ever going to forget your choice, Maan?'

'No.' He heaved a rueful sigh. 'I was hoping you might understand it.'

'I do. I always did.'

'And possibly...forgive it?'

'That, too.'

'Then— ?'

'It's an issue of trust. I don't want you or your family anywhere near my son. I don't trust you Maan! I don't trust any of you to be fair. If you'd been fair to me, Maan, if you meant, when you' you said' you love me, you would have investigated Dev's claims. You admit, you had the resources to do so.'

'Yes, in hindsight, I wish I'd done that. It makes me even more conscious and guilty of the need to amend all those had gone wrong, then, between us . What good purpose would it serve to alienate you Geet'the only parent my son has known? And clearly loves.'

Her chin lifted in pride. 'Daksh and I do have a very special closeness. Why can't you just leave us alone, Maan? You walked away from me. Walk away from him, too. Go and forget we even exist. We'll all be happier that way.' Her heart wrenched in pain, at her own choice of words.. and wished she could take back the words..

'No!.' His chin lifted in hard aggression and the sudden gleam of ruthlessness in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine. 'I will not remain the loser where he is concerned. If I have to... I'll do anything, to see my son Geet. I'll drag this whole business through the lawcourts if I have to, and I will spare no one along the way. I don't care what it takes. I will be part of my son's life.' Maan could not think of cutting himself off from his son's life again... He needs him... He needs Geet...

The waves of relentless purpose coming from him were warning enough that her worst fears could come true. Her chest felt so tight, it was as though Maan had just wrapped steel bands around it. No room to breathe. Nowhere to move... She felt suffocated...

'You can choose to make this a hostile battleground and put us all through hell,' he went on, making a flippant gesture towards the park bench. 'Or you can choose to sit down with me and discuss how Daksh could benefit by having his father in his life.'

There was no choice and he knew it. He can clearly see the fear in her eyes, he felt her growing tension... and he was afraid, he moved too fast. He hated himself to the core, to put her in this situation.But, now or never!. For Geet, for our son, and to build a family, he has to do it. The kind of fight he was threatening would be terribly damaging to Daksh. He do not have any intention to bring his baby, to all this. But, for now, to make Geet agree, he doesn't has any other weapon with him. Only this way, he can win back her trust... her love... and thus, his life... So, he have to be Maan Singh Khurana!

'What will it be, Geet?'

He was demanding a trust she couldn't give, but maybe he would earn it if he truly had Daksh's best interests at heart.

'Of one thing you can be absolutely certain,' he said, mocking the turmoil of doubts in her mind. 'This time...this time...nothing on earth will make me walk away!'

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No Precap Dears...

So that, was Part - 10... how was it... Did you all liked it??? tell me how you felt, whole about it... Did, you guys checked, the FF " The Twice Born". I have updated the Character Sketch...

"COMMENT AND LIKE"

Link to Part 11

awesome update...can understand maan's pain but geet too has her own reasons, her doubts...she is unable to trust once more

flawless i love de way u write...hooked to a story on IF after a long long time

loved it ... the special part was how Maan put his conditon across to GEet by reversing the situation with himself and Geet's sister... atleast Geet will now think on those lines ...