FF ||Renewed Ties|| Updated Last Part Page 20 - Page 4

Chapter 3

"Would you like something to drink, Maan?" "Maybe some tea or some juice?"

"A cup of tea would be nice, thank you," Maan said, shrugging out of his coat.

Geet went into the kitchen and started making tea. That's when she realised how badly her hands were trembling. She closed her eyes for a moment and steadied her nerves. Then she poured two cups of tea - one for Maan and one for herself. She needed it.

She picked up a cup in each hand, sucked in her breath and turned to face him. And her resolved crumpled instantly.

He was watching her so intently she almost forgot how to walk. She tried to force her legs to move smoothly across the wooden floor, tried not to trip over the rug. She held out a cup to him. He took it, his fingers brushing slowly over hers as he did, his eyes never leaving hers. He lifted the rim to his lips, slowly sipped, eyes still locked with hers.

"Who's tailing you Geet?"

She choked on her sip. "What?" Her eyes watered as the tea burned down the wrong way.

"Who's following you?"

"No one's following me."

"Take a look," he said, walking across to the window. "Under that tree, right across the park"

"Don't be ridiculous. That car's not tailing me. No one's tailing me."

He remained silent, watching her, trying to read something. It made her nervous.

"Maybe its someone looking for you." Geet said.

He ignored the taunt. "That car came in right behind you after Dev dropped you off tonight, Geet." His eyes searched hers for reaction.

She looked sharply away. She didn't want to show him how seeing Dev had affected her.

When she saw Dev again that evening, she had a sudden, sickening feeling that things were about to come to a head, that Dev was going to force her to get married to him. She'd been dreading that moment. When Dev proposed to her tonight, she felt dizzy. Claustrophobic. She knew Dev had been obsessed with her since he first time he saw her, but her heart belonged exclusively to Maan. When Maan left about a year back, he'd managed to take a part of her with him - her soul. He'd rendered her incapable of feeling again. She'd gone through the daily motions, but not for a moment was she really alive. When she was with Maan, she felt plugged into the very rhythms of the universe, in tune with the resonance of life. After Maan was gone, she was sort of numb.

"Did Dev ask you to marry him?" he said darkly, his eyes still fixed on hers.

"Yes,"she said.

"So he proposed, and you accepted?" "Do you love him, Geet?" he whispered. "Do you really know this man? Do you love him like you used to love me?"

Emotion welled up so sharp and hot it hurt, filling her eyes, choking her words in her throat. She began to shake inside. "Damn you, Maan," she said quietly. "You left me, about a year ago, and you come back and ask me this, tonight?". Her voice caught. "It's not your business who I love, not anymore."

Geet took a step back. "Look, Maan, if you don't tell me what you want from me and why you're here, I'm going to ask you to leave."

Maan took a step towards her and grasped her wrist. "Dev is involved in a plot to overthrow the government. Dev is a part of the covert organisation that has joined hands with the terrorists. This organisation plans to attack the major cities in the country and then make your fiance the leader of the 'free world' six days from now. That's all the time I have to stop them. That's what I have been hired to do. That's what I intend to do. And you are going to help me do it."

Geet tried to jerk free, but his grip tightened. She yanked frantically against his hold. "Let me go, Maan. I have no knowledge about any of this. And he's not my fiance. I did not agree to marry him."

Something - hope? - flared hot and sharp in his eyes. "That helps," he said. "We have six days. If we fail, a set of biological bombs will be released over all the major cities. Repercussions will be felt everywhere."

Geet was shocked. She couldn't believe what Maan was saying. She couldn't breathe. Her face was pale.

Maan hated this. His mouth felt like ash. His chest hurt. He couldn't see Geet suffering like this. But the job had to be done. He looked at Geet. She still wore the pendant, and that told him something. The locket had been a symbol of what they both shared - a dream for the future. It made a fierce kind of pride burn inside him. And the fact that she rejected Dev fed him with a flare of hope.

"How do you know all this Maan? Why should I believe you?"

"Because it's the truth."

"I want to know, Maan," Geet said suddenly. "Everything. I want to know who you're working for, where you've been. What happened all these months... everything."

He nodded his head slowly, then seated himself on the sofa opposite her.

"When I woke up in Delhi after the blast I tried calling you and my family. But I couldn't reach you. I talked to Dev. He ensured me that he would tell you that I was alive. Then I came across a copy of a newspaper and I saw my obituary in it. I confronted Dev and he said that I had a hole in my heart and I had only six months to live. He said that the family was coping well without me and that you and the family couldn't see me die again. He assured me that he would take care of all of you. I used that incident to disappear. I travelled to Delhi and got myself enrolled in a army of men who devoted their lives to the country. I wanted to live the rest of my life doing something for my country."

Geet remained silent. He could practically see her heart beating under the white salwar.

"What army of men?"

"It is a private military company. We are all military advisors. Whenever there is an issue of national security, we're ready to step in for a fee. It's a legitimate business."

A haunted look sifted through her features. Geet dropped her face into her hands and sat like that for what seemed like ages. Then a silent sob racked her frame and Maan saw that her hands were wet.

"Geet?"

"All this time you were alive and I didn't even know. And all I thought was you were dead... and I... you never... How could you do that to me, Maan? How could you not let me know you were all right?" She started to shake.

Maan studied her, his heart twisting, aching to comfort her. But he held his distance. He wanted Geet to accept the truth that Dev was involved in something criminal. He wanted her to ask the right questions and take the first steps to acceptance.

"I'm so sorry, Geet,"Maan said softly. "I know this can't be easy." Geet's eyes flashed to his. Well, if that wasn't the understatement of the night. Geet sank back to the sofa as she stared at Maan. This was her Maan alright.

to be continued...

Finally caught up with all three parts, Ash! Lucky me reading them all one shot 😆 ANDDD .. I LOVED IT!