A Blue Moon Ago-MG (Epilogue,pg 27) Note pg 28 - Page 4

Chapter 8

'What are you talking about? Arjun didn't tell me anything about this. I'm sure if anything like that would have happened, he would have told me. He wouldn't have hid this. All these years he didn't talk about Maan. I thought that was because he didn't want to hurt me. But the fact was that they weren't talking? How is this possible? They were best friends. Did it happen because of me? I shouldn't have told Arjun anything! Because of me their relationship is spoiled!' said Geet with tears in her eyes.

Annie tried consoling her best friend, 'Geet, please do not be upset. Maybe this is why Arjun didn't tell you because you'd be upset. Geet, we were best friends too right and see what happened to us. Don't worry; such things do happen all the time. Please don't blame yourself. It wasn't because of you. I'm sure it was a mutual decision.' Annie sighed. Maybe it was a bad idea after all to come see her best friend. She was so upset and she didn't know what to do.

Geet finally stopped crying and hugged her friend. 'Annie, maybe you should get going now, it's pretty late and I don't want anything to happen to you. Drive back safely alright?'

'Geet! I can't believe you're trying to get rid of me already! Just joking, honey. Yeah, we'll talk tomorrow OK?' They hugged one another and Annie left wondering how she would tell Maan about her and Arjun. She was planning to do so tonight because she knew Maan was still awake and she wanted to get over it as soon as possible.

She drove back and saw Maan seated on the chair staring into space. This was going to be harder than she had imagined. She cleared her throat and Maan looked at her.

'Maan, I wanted to talk to you about something,' she stopped and took a deep breath. 'I'm going to get married to Arjun as soon as possible.'

Maan looked at her with such fury in his eyes that she unconsciously took a step back. 'You will do nothing of that sort Annie. You're talking to Arjun? YOU'RE ACTUALLY TALKING TO ARJUN? YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED TO THAT *******?'

Annie got furious at him. 'How dare you call him that? How dare you? YOU WERE BEST FRIENDS ONCE! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS? WHY DID YOU PUSH HIM AWAY? WHY DID YOU BOTH FIGHT?' asked Annie her voice raising with every sentence.

'Don't you talk to me like that young lady! I'm your older brother! What happened between him and me is none of your business! All I know is that you stay out of his way! Don't you dare talk to him again OK!' he said this with his voice so quiet that it took a person who knew him to realize how dangerously Maan was close to the brink of breaking all hell lose on Earth.

'If it's none of my business, why should I even stay away from him? We had stopped talking after you guys fought. I met him a few years later and he was still courteous to me. I would have thought that he would have wanted to kill me but no, he was the most polite person I had met. We became friends again and then we fell in love. No matter what you say, I intend to get married to him!'

'Didn't you hear what I said? You will not get even close to him, forget about marriage! I will not have you ruining your life! Do you get that? I will not have you ruining your life!' he shouted.

'It's my damn life OK! If I want to ruin it, I will do so! Do not interrupt. Oh, don't give me that hurt look. It doesn't suit you at all! Do you know how many lives you have ruined? You have no idea bro! No idea whatsoever. And you know what? I'm not even going to tell you about it! You have made so many people suffer! I don't even want to start counting the number now.' Annie said quietly thinking about Geet, Kunal and Arjun. Maan was a moron. The biggest moron she had seen.

'Don't talk about things you do not know about OK! I have not ruined anybody's lives. If I did whatever I did was payback! JUST PAYBACK! You will not get that! And for the last time I'm telling you, you will not get married to that *******!'

Annie said quietly, 'If I don't marry him, I will not marry anyone else.' With that she walked to her room.

Maan swore eloquently under his breath. He smashed his fist on the glass table which broke and had pieces of glass in his hand. It was bleeding profusely. Annie turned and saw what had happened. She screamed and ran down the stairs. She made her brother sit down. She ran towards the bathroom and got the first aid kit. She quickly removed the pieces of glass from his hand and flinched when she saw how deep the wounds were. She quickly bandaged his hand and looked into his eyes. Her eyes were misty as were his.

'Annie, I really do care about you. I just don't want my little sister to be hurt. I really love you and I want you to know that. If he ruins your life, I'll ruin him.' Maan looked at his sister and realized how much she had grown up. She had chosen a man and it was his duty to accept it whether he liked him or not. He wouldn't let his sister down. No, he wouldn't do that. 'If you want to get married to him, that's fine. Just let him know that one tear from your eye and I'll break his neck OK sweety?'

Annie started to cry in earnest now. 'Oh Bhaiya, I love you! I love you and I love you! Thank you so much! He really loves me you know and I love him too! He's the sweetest person I have met and he can do anything for me! He will never hurt me. In fact, he won't even think about it!' She hugged her big brother and smiled through her tears. Maan hugged her back with a fierce brotherly protectiveness.

They talked for a while and called her mother. Savitri Khanna cried over the phone because she was so happy for her daughter. At least one problem was solved. She wondered if Maan would ever finally find a daughter-in-law for her. She had tried in the past to hook him up with several women but he refused and she eventually had to give up. She didn't want to think about it now and wanted to be totally happy for her daughter.

Annie ran up the stairs full of excitement. Her brother had agreed! Hurray!

Maan collapsed in his chair and closed his eyes. He replayed the scene that did not leave him for over a decade.

*********** Flashback***********

Maan came out of the classroom and saw Geet in Arjun's arms her eyes brimming with love. Arjun then twirled her around and she laughed like she was the happiest person on Earth at that moment. Maan formed his hand in a fist and a muscle twitched in his jaw. Naintara came and stood beside Maan and watched the scene.

'I had told you about this Maan. Only you didn't believe me. Now you have solid proof in front of your eyes. What you choose to do with it is entirely up to you. I don't think you should let go of this now. Maan, if it's payback you want for this, it's payback you'll get.' She was smiling wickedly only Maan did not seem to realize that. All he was thinking about was how Geet was laughing with Arjun. All he could see was Arjun's arms around Geet's waist. That *** ** * *****! He had been his best friend and he backstabbed him! His own girlfriend, his own love had cheated on him wit his best friend! He made a decision.

'You're right Naintara. It's payback I want. I have a plan.'

He had held Naintara close to him, his face turned away from the door. Any moment Geet would come in the room and find him in the compromising situation with Naintara. He wanted to see the look she would give him for that. He wanted to see the hurt that would appear in her eyes. He wanted her to hurt so bad that it hurt him.

After that scene, he had gone out of his way to complete all his assignments, attend all lectures and take part in as many activities as he could. Geet had left the next day and he never saw her again. He was mad about that because he wanted to torment her. He wanted to make her life so miserable she would beg him to stop. Only that he never got that opportunity. Arjun came to him the next day.

They quarreled. Arjun had asked him how he could have cheated on Geet. Maan had replied with a fist on Arjun's face. They then had a full blown fight which was stopped by a few students in school. The best friends then became pure enemies. It was worse, they acted like strangers.

***********End of Flashback***********

Chapter 9

Maan woke up thinking. He had fallen asleep in the chair. He trusted Annie more than anyone else in the world. She trusted Arjun and she thought he was always right. Did that mean Geet and Arjun were right? No, Arjun was just fooling around with Annie's mind. 'Annie is not a kid,' he thought. 'She knows things better; sometimes even better than me. I should trust her judgment.' When he thought again, he was not entirely sure. She was still his kid sister and he could not see anyone playing around with her emotions.

He rose from the uncomfortable chair with a stiff neck. Whatever happened, he would accept their relationship. He would not let his sister down. It must have taken her a great deal of courage to say that to him. He smiled softly. His sister was brave. She was willing to face the wrath of her brother for her love. She was very much in love.

He walked to the room and entered the shower. Water drops fell on his tanned skin as diamonds fell from heaven. He stood there thinking about Geet. Had she really betrayed him or had he just not given her a chance? He should have confronted her instead of staging the drama. He sighed. His pride then was more important to him than any truth.

Geet and Arjun had always been good friends. They almost had sibling affection. Why did he start seeing them otherwise? What made him suspect? He had no idea but he suddenly wasn't so sure about what had happened ten years ago. He thought he was incredibly dumb. He should have talked to her instead of suspecting her. She was so much in love with him. Not anymore. He had ruthlessly broken her heart.

She must have been married by now. Oh God, please don't let that have happened. He couldn't bear the thought of her loving some other man. But who would wait for him? And why would she? 'Maan, snap out of these thoughts OK. She cheated on you,' he thought with uncertainty. The only way he was ever going to find out was by confronting her. She was in Nainital; he had seen her. He would ask Annie tonight. She would know. Yes, she would definitely know about her whereabouts. If she was talking to Arjun, she would be talking to Annie too. With that he relaxed somewhat and thought of his friend Naintara.

Naintara on the other hand was very nervous and sad. She was a tall woman with black eyes and equally dark hair. She had loved him, damn it! He didn't look at her twice. She paced with all these thoughts running in her mind. She only did what she did so that he would look at her twice. Even with Geet out of the way, he didn't look at her. Geet was etched on his mind, body and soul. As far as she knew, and she knew quite a lot about Maan, he had not touched any other woman since Geet.

Even a few months ago, she had been optimistic that with just a bit more time, he would come to her. Now, she regretted what she had done. She had separated two people who had loved each other very much. Maan considered her as his friend. If only he knew. She wanted to tell him what she had done but she was afraid. She was afraid of losing him. 'But he never was mine,' she thought. She would rectify her mistake. And that idiot hadn't called her yet. She didn't know what part of the world he was in now. She called Savitri Aunty.

'Hello, Aunty. How are you? Do you know where Maan is?' she asked.

Savitri spoke with a smile. 'Seems like this time he didn't tell you where he went. He's in Nainital. I wanted to go there so he went and hired a cottage. I'm leaving in a few hours.' She really liked Naintara. She was wary about her in the beginning but had realized that this girl loved her son very much. She never thought about fixing them up because she knew Maan was somebody else's. She had still waited. She had waited for a decade now. Savitri knew she would wait for her whole life if she had to. But she noticed a change in her from a few months, she was filled with regret. Savitri didn't understand why but she knew that Naintara was genuinely regretful. She thought it had to do with Maan's condition but didn't quite reach it.

On the other side Naintara's breathing was very uneven. He was in Nainital; so was she. This was the right time to tell them both the truth. She would do it even if it killed her. She would do it. She wouldn't be responsible for their separation anymore. Oh God, it hurt. But she had caused much more hurt to many more lives than she realized. 'I deserve it,' she thought. She couldn't sleep at night anymore, her regret was that deep.

They chitchatted for a while and hung up. Savitri finally went to the prayer room and sat down with hands joined. She looked at the deities of all the Gods. She whispered, 'Oh Lord, please give Maan a new life. You know how he's been for a decade now. I can't see him like this anymore. Please do something. I'm depending on You. If there is anybody or anything, there's only You.'

What Savitri didn't know was that somewhere far away, her blood was wishing something similar. For his mother. Kunal stood in the temple with his hands joined to Lord Krishna. There was eye contact between Kunal and the Lord. He moved forward. 'Oh Lord Krishna. Please give my mother happiness. All you've seen is her sadness. Please do something about it. You need to do something about it. You know I've been a good boy. I have never asked Mom about my dad. I have never even asked you. Don't you owe me something? I know Mom still loves dad; I can feel it. She needs him back in her life. I don't know what's going on but I know she loves him. Please let him love her too. Please bring them together. I never even asked you for my tenth birthday gift, I'm asking now, please bring my dad home. Not only for her, for me too.' He looked at the Lord and bowed down. He trusted Lord Krishna. Miracles would happen now. He smiled, everything would be alright now. There would be nobody and nothing to stop this now.

The four friends couldn't stop thinking about their beloved friend either. She looked distracted as she often did. That didn't mean that she neglected any duties or performed bad in any surgery. She had this crease on her brow that clearly told her friends that she was deep in thought. They had never questioned her. They would never need to because she was very expressive. Her expressions told them everything they needed to know. She still missed Kunal's father. She would tell them when she was ready but there was no denying. They quickly prayed that some miracle would happen and there would be happiness in their friend's life.

Geet was really distracted today. All she could think about was Maan. Annie had told her that he had accepted the relationship. They would come for dinner tonight. Of course not Maan. How she wished he would come there too. 'Oh well, he's in Mumbai. Why would he ever come here?' she thought.

She went home in the evening and got a quick delicious dinner ready. Kunal was jumping up and down all excited because he really had missed Arjun and couldn't wait for him to come here. They all had a wonderful dinner filled with laughter and Geet was really happy for her friend. Finally, she thought. 'In university, I always thought that they looked perfect together. It took them a decade to realize that. Why am I feeling so hollow though? I am very happy for them. I will not think about her brother.' Geet was then called in the hospital for an emergency and took their leave.

Annie went home with Arjun all excited. She saw Maan and tensed a little bit. She reminded herself that everything would be fine between Arjun and her brother now. There was no reason to panic. They entered the house and Arjun and Maan saw each other. They forgot all the animosity that existed between them and just went into each others arms. Annie sighed. 'This is just like what happened with me and Geet. They still love each other so much. I wonder why such things happen.' She thought.

They talked for a long time and Arjun left. Maan turned to Annie and saw her happy face. She looked so happy. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he would have broken their relationship. He was happy for his little sister. Now was the time to ask his sister about Geet.

He cleared his throat. 'Annie, I wanted to ask you something. Do you know where Geet stays here?'

He looked at his sister's panicked face and heard his phone ring. Cursing under his breath, he picked it up. After a few seconds, he managed to bite out a what! Annie looked at him and saw that color had led his face and he was listening attentively.

'Annie. Hurry up. We need to go to Sanjivani Hospital. Mom just had an accident!'

Nisha

P.S. I'll post more chapters and then send PMs.