Maneet FF: Finally Found Ya, Epilogue (p102) Mar19,2015 - Page 47

hey i m new to this ff

awsemm updates love these khurana together

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Chapter 20: Prodigal's Return

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Geet stared sleepily at the clouds covering the sun, and then looked down at her coffee. It was too early in the morning. She shifted on the stone bench, trying to get comfortable but it was impossible. If she hadn't needed to escape the thoughts that were driving her crazy, she would never have come to school this early. Despite all efforts to the contrary, her thoughts veered back to the same truth that had been eating at her for the past few nights.

Have you talked to Pari, Maan ... Sir? Are you already planning your marriage to her?' The questions continued to race through her mind, and she couldn't stop them. Am I going to come home to a wedding invitation from the two of you? Would you be that cruel? Could you be that cruel?'

Her shoulders slumped in despair. Why would Maan...Sir think it cruel to send her a card? When had he said anything to her? I mean, really. He might have tried. But she'd stopped him cold. A feeling of longing shot through her heart, making her wish that she had allowed him to speak that night. If it had been a confession (and that was a big if), at least she would have had those words to hold close to her in the long, interminable nights ahead. Along with the memory of their magical dance together, she would have had those words.

She sighed, finally admitting consciously what her heart already knew. There would never be another such moment ... another such confession. There would never be another love. There would never be . . . another Maan...

Tears welled up in her eyes. Her nails bit into the center of her palms, and a shudder ran through her body. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. When that didn't completely work to remove all the tension or magically make the tears go away, she lightly smacked herself on the head. 'Stop going crazy, Geet,' she ordered herself. Even if he was getting married . . . he would never send her an invitation. 'Why would Rahul's nanny get an invitation? Why would he invite me? Who am I to him? Who am I to any of them? Just an employee. Remember that.'

"Geet Handa?" a male voice called out from behind her, interrupting her torturous thoughts.

Geet turned her head to look at the man standing behind her, happy for any distraction from her unhappy thoughts. Her eyes widened when she realized who it actually was.

"You're Geet Handa, right?" the man asked. "My name is Dev Khurana. I don't know if you remember me, but we had a conversation two days ago." He paused for a moment, waiting for Geet to say something. When there was only silence, he cleared his throat and began once more. "It's a pleasure to officially meet you," he murmured, coming to sit beside her on the bench. He held out a hand, as if to shake hers.

Geet pulled back, sidling to sit on the edge of the bench, shocked to see this man again. "How dare you?" she asked, glaring at him.

"You know, the last time we met, I had no idea of who you were," Dev continued on, dropping his hand self-consciously when she made no move to shake it.

Geet's eyes widened. How dare he ignore the question that she had asked him? Wait... had she even asked that question out loud? Probably not, Geet. You need to get out of the habit of talking to yourself. People will begin to think you have issues.' She shook her head and turned her attention back to what he was saying.

""prise when I realized that you were working in my brother's home. You're his son's nanny, right?"

Geet got up and began to move away. Her steps were quick, because she knew that if she stayed around any longer she would say something really mean. Not that he wouldn't have deserved it.

"Where are you going?" he called out from behind her. He sounded surprised at her abrupt retreat.

Geet ignored the question, not wanting to hear anything this man had to say. Why would he even come up to me? What is wrong with this man?'

"Wait! Please, Ms. Handa," he said, sounding so much closer. And suddenly, he was reaching out to grab her arm.

Geet flinched at the contact and turned to glare at him. Staring at him mutely for a moment, she yanked her arm away. "What do you want?" she asked tersely, her expression anything but inviting.

"Look, I'm sorry if I frightened you?" he asked in a questioning tone, unsure of what the reason could be for her rude behavior.

"I'm not frightened," she bit out through gritted teeth.

"Then what...," he stopped unsure of how to deal with her strange behavior.

"You said I work for your brother?" Geet interrupted, her anger growing at his attitude.

He nodded.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "And who would that brother be?" she finally asked.

"I thought you might have guessed from my name," he said sheepishly. "My brother is Maan Singh Khurana. Look, I'm not trying t""

"Maan Singh Khurana?" she murmured questioningly.

"Yes," he replied. "I..."

"I'm sure that I've never met you at his home," she pointed out. "How do I know you're really his brother? I mean what if you're just pretending?"

"I assure you I'm no"," he began in protest.

"But wait ... didn't he have a brother that ran away from his own wedding?" she asked suddenly, scratching her head in pretended befuddlement. "I guess ... you could be that runaway brother?"

Dev blinked at the blunt statement. "I ... am that brother," he finally replied, clearing his throat to dislodge the lump that seemed to have grown in his throat. He pushed up his eyeglasses, a nervous tic he couldn't seem to control in times of anxiety.

"So your brother must be the Maan Singh Khurana that ended up marrying the jilted bride?"

"Ye-es," he finally said in a low voice.

She paused for a moment and then began again. "And wasn't that jilted bride, thereafter the new Mrs. Khurana, notorious for the affairs she was having?"

Dev could only stand there quietly, his shoulders slumping at the diatribe directed his way.

"She dragged the Khurana name through the mud," Geet said. "She made a fool out of your brother. She made Maan Singh Khurana an object of pity."

"She ... did," he finally ground out, anger flaming up in his eyes. "I never mea"."

"So, you just left my employer to deal with your mess because you somehow thought that your actions would be okay? Did you see the mess he was in? Did you ever think to come back and stop him? Help him?" she asked pointedly. She added on another glare for good measure.

Dev fell silent at the accusation. He opened his mouth and then closed it, unsure of how to continue. When he had approached Geet Handa, he had never thought that he would have to defend his actions to this woman. Who was she to ask him all of these questions?

"Well?" she asked, placing her fists on her hips. She began to tap her foot impatiently when no answer was forthcoming.

He swallowed and nudged the eyeglasses up the bridge of his nose once more. "Regardless of what you think you know," he began, "the truth is never what it seems. I'm sure you've heard some gossip."

"I don't listen to gossip," she snapped back.

"Then you don't really know the truth, right?" he said, trying out a conciliatory smile. "You don't really know what happened back then. Not everything."

"Well, I thought...," she paused for a moment. "You mean you didn't agree to marry Naintara?" she asked in a shocked tone. "You were actually forced into it?"

"No, I did agree," he grudgingly replied.

"When you ran away, you didn't just leave a note behind? You probably talked to your brother," Geet said sarcastically.

"I did leave a note," he finally replied. "You seem to know I did."

"I'm sure you thought about telling your brother. It must have been such a hard decision," Geet murmured in false sympathy. "You couldn't have just run away, choosing a path that was least harmful to you, thereby ensuring that it would cause your brother the most harm?"

"I never intended...," he began to protest.

"The path to hell is paved with good intentions, Mr. Khurana!" Geet shouted. "Sorry to sound trite, Mr. Dev Khurana, but it fits. You might not have meant to do anything, but you left your brother vulnerable to Naintara's machinations. You knew the kind of woman she was. You had to have known since you were marrying her!" Geet yelled, incensed by all the pain that this man had caused his own brother. "You had to have known since you decided to jilt her at the last minute! What made it okay for you to choose your peace of mind over your brother's?"

"I..."

"What made it okay to push him into that hell? What made it okay for you to leave him behind to clean up your mess?"

He remained silent, which only made Geet angrier.

"What caused you to think that you had a greater right to be happy?!"

Dev clenched his fingers, stepping back as Geet moved in closely.

"Tell me!" Geet shouted again. Here was the man that had been the cause of years of misery for Maan. Not only had he saddled Maan with a viperous wife, but his cowardice and betrayal had deeply hurt Maan. Because it had been the betrayal of someone he had never imagined could hurt him. "What made your actions okay?"

"Nothing would have made my actions okay," he finally replied soberly.

"Then tell me one thing," she said. "What was your reason for making such a stupid decision?" she demanded.

"I'm afraid I was the reason," a woman's voice said quietly from behind Dev.

Geet's eyes widened at the figure stepping out to stand beside Dev Khurana. Her eyes tracked their movements, as Meera reached out and briefly gripped his hand. She then looked at him and signaled with her head before moving toward Geet. Dev moved back and went to sit on the bench behind them.

"My name is Meera Khurana, Miss Handa. I am that man's wife," Meera said softly.

"I kind of guessed that the last time we met," Geet pointed out acerbically.

Meera's eyes widened. "You knew who he was the last time you talked?" she asked.

"Only at the end. I would never have talked to him normally if I had known," Geet replied. She turned away, not wanting to see these people any more. What did they even want from her?

There was a moment of silence. "I am his wife," Meera repeated, "And I have seen him suffer the guilt of eloping with me on that day. I ... am the reason that he can't sleep at night."

Geet turned a startled gaze to the woman behind her.

"Yes. When I said I was the reason, I didn't mean in some greater ideological sense he was looking for something more than Naintara. We were at university together. I was in their circle and in love with him long before Naintara caught his attention. When that happened, I moved on. And we met again one day and ... fell in love. At that time it was days before his wedding. He ... he could not think of any way to get out of his predicament. But he knew that what we had was love. What he had felt for Naintara wasn't. We made a purely selfish decision and took that irrevocable step."

"There were other ways. He could've told Naintara. He could've told his brother. He could've been around to tell his brother that Naintara was not pregnant," Geet replied. Seeing the suffering on the other woman's face had cooled her down a little bit. The fact that she was no longer seeing that man's face had allowed her temper to cool, as well. "And he fell in love with you, but that doesn't make it your fault. You know it's solely on him. Why are you taking part of the burden?"

"Because I love him. What hurts him, hurts me. What hurts him, angers me," she replied. "Just the way you are with Maan Singh Khurana."

Geet paled at that statement. "I am no""

"Why bother lying?" Meera replied. She crossed her arms across her chest, her gaze challenging. "I am one of the few lucky ones who found a true love. And I was lucky enough that he found me, as well. The circumstances weren't the best. He hurt a lot of people by choosing his heart and his love above everyone else. And he has been hurting ever since."

"Not as much as the ones he left behind. Did he ever thin""

"He never thought that Naintara would entrap his brother like that, Miss Handa!" Meera interrupted, her pained gaze going back towards the man sitting on the bench with his shoulders slumped. "He once thought he loved that woman. Do you think that he could ever believe her capable of something that heinous?" Meera pointed out. "He believed that while Naintara was not the one for him, she was still a good woman. He never meant to hurt anyone. That might be a bitter pill to swallow, but it is the truth. Can you blame a man whose only mistake was choosing the wrong woman to marry? Even if it did have harshest consequences on those he loved? And he does love them, Miss Handa. "

Geet turned away, unsure of what to say.

"He's back, and he wants to make amends," Meera stated. She took a deep breath. "I know you want to protect Maan, but he needs to know. Believe me, he will find out. Dev won't give up. Not this time. Don't you want to be the one who tells him this truth? That is why we approached you."

Geet paused for a moment, pursing her lips. "Wait a minute. Does that mean you have a spy in the house?"

Meera stepped back.

"Wait! Just what did he say about me?!"

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"Nakul, I need to speak to Maan sir," Geet said hurriedly, striding past the figure that had opened the door.

Her thoughts turned back to the couple that she had met a few hours ago. Her hands clenched into fists as she tried to grapple with her emotions. She had never been this angry for another person. Or this angry with another person. She resented them for abandoning Maan in his time of need and coming back when they needed absolution. She resented Dev and Meera for putting her in the middle of all this. She resented them. But they had come back. And if there was anything she could do to make this easier for Maan, she would do it. Maybe the bitter truth would taste a little bit sweeter if it came from her.

"Geet Ma'am, you might not want to go in there," Nakul suggested. "See, the thing is..."

"Nakul, this is important!" Geet insisted, her feet taking her toward the living room. She wasn't going to let Nakul or anyone else stop her. She had fought with herself, but now that the decision was made, she needed to do this immediately. "It's about his brother."

"But, Geet Ma'am," Nakul insisted. "How did you know? You don't have to worry. He already knows!"

"What? No, he doesn't. What are you talking about, Nakul? I just came from talking to them! They promised that they wouldn't approach him until I talked to him," Geet said, turning to look at the man. "Until I had the chance to prepare him."

"Well, you said about his brother..." he finally said. "Wait. What do you mean they?"

Geet's forehead wrinkled in confusion. Shaking her head, she turned towards the living room.

"Who is it, Nakul?" a male voice asked from the archway leading into the living room.

Geet gasped softly trying to stop herself from careening into the figure suddenly standing in front of her. Her body slammed into the intoxicatingly male figure, her arms coming up to wrap around his neck, saving herself from the fall she knew that would have come next.

"Maan . . . sir," she finally got out past the knot in her throat. "What are you ...?"

She fell silent, caught by the warmth of his beautiful eyes. The words just fell away. She couldn't even bother to form thoughts when he was so close. She bit her own lip, as her gaze landed on his lips, intriguingly uplifted at the corners. Her eyes wandered up to meet his gaze, scrunching in confusion at the devilish glint she saw in his eyes.

"You're here," he murmured, so close that she felt the breath leave his lips and touch hers.

She leaned closer, wanting to give in for just a moment. For just an instance, she wanted to let go and touch a little bit of heaven.

"What is it, Maan bhai?" a voice called out from behind her.

Geet jerked at the intrusion of a strange voice.

She looked up at Maan questioningly, her fingers tightening around his neck.

Maan gazed back at her, and his arms tightening around her, almost squeezing the breath out of her body. His lips moved towards her.

Geet moaned silently, wondering if he was about to do what she hoped he was about to do. Would she feel his lips against her cheek? Her hair? Her ear? She reddened suddenly. Her ... lips? She felt his breath at her right ear. She paused for a moment, wondering if he had an ear fetish. What was he doing in front of Nakul?!

"I wanted to tell you something," he whispered into her ear.

She leaned in, almost nuzzling his cheek with her own, but he pulled away and gently set her on her feet. Darn it.' "I ... I needed to tell you something, too," she whispered back to him, pulling herself together. "It's really important."

"Who is it, bhai?" the voice asked impatiently. As Geet turned her head, she was able to match the voice to the man.

"Who is that? Why is he calling you bhai?" Geet asked suddenly, almost sure of what the answer would be. And he couldn't have come at a worst time.

"Because I am his brother," the younger man answered cockily.

Maan crossed his arms across his chest and glanced admonishingly at the stranger before turning back to look at Geet. "It's my brother, Vicky," Maan replied.

Geet's eyes widened in surprise.

"The prodigal son has returned home," he finished.

She tugged at Maan's arm, her eyes widening when her fingers landed against warm, naked skin.

He turned to look at her enquiringly, one of his eyebrows rising in that sexy manner he had.

She shook her head, pushing that thought aside. This was not the time for such thoughts. It would never be that time again. Her face fell at that reminder. It didn't matter if this man was back, Maan still had responsibilities.

His fingers gripping at her wrist interrupted her increasingly morose thoughts. She turned to look at him.

He tugged at her wrist gently and smiled. "What is it?" he prompted gently.

"He's not the only one who's returned."

A/N: Chapter 20 for your reading pleasure. As always, don't forget to leave lots of comments. The more I see, the faster I will update. 😉

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Chapter 21: Reason for Leaving

wow is that really you updating?!

Wow just what I expected from Geet. Loved this update and the way geet admonished Dev. Fo cont asap.

i love this story
it never ceases to surprise and shock me
some lovely revelations and i see a maneet union soon😳

Your update just keeps us craving for more...which unfortunately you dont...

So both his brothers are back !

apt title for this update... and it feel good to get an update... i am glad atleast one writer is here who is still continuing her work no matter what... in this case all the wait is justified...