Chapter Six
Before heading to her sister, Geet remembered to call the Restaurant to cancel the reservations. She thought two hours' notice is well enough for the cancellation she hoped and dialed in hurry.
Finally someone answered the phone, "Hi, I'm calling to cancel my reservations please?" she paused and then answered again, "It's Geet Handa, listen I'm in bit hurry right now if you could just confirm if it's done please."
Maan thought the person on the other side is not paying attention. He thought to take over, he could see she was losing patience, he was about to reach for the phone, he heard her,
"No, no nothing is wrong, it's an emergency at home and we can't make it." "Yes, oh thank you very much, have a good evening, thanks bye."
"Geet, do you want me to drive? Maan concerned.
"I'm fine don't worry, I'm use to this." She chuckled.
Worry persistent Geet for the entire drive to her sister's house. They hardly spoke all the way, it was Maan who did the talking most of the time to divert her mind. Geet realized she has to calm down and pay some attention to him as well.
"Sorry Maan for ruining your time, I apologize for the inconvenient that has caused." She looked embarrassed.
"All is well Geet, I have no regrets and I really had a good time."
She pulled the Jeep in the driveway in front of a small decent looking house. She barely remembered to turned off the car and put in parking before jumping out of the car and racing up to the front door.
"Neha Di? Are you all right?" she called as she stepped inside.
She found her sister leaning against the wall by the stairs and panting heavily. Her husband Rajbir soothing her and the twins huddled close beside them.
Neha looked up and waved slightly, even as she winced, then sighed. Geet approached them.
"That one was strong. Look, girls, Geet masi is here."
The twins smiled, but didn't let go of their father. Geet went down to knees to let go off their father. It took the promise of baking cookies, along with two Disney movies to get them to loosen their grip.
"I'll be fine," Neha said as she briefly hugged Geet. "Thanks for coming over. I appreciate it."
Geet clung to her for a second. Her sister might be calm on the inside, but Geet felt her worry as if it were her own.
"Have Jiju call me as soon as you know something."
"I promise." Neha called out as she walked out the door.
Neha waddled toward the door. She paused when she saw Maan. "Okay, I'm sure there's a story here, but it's going to have to wait." She turned to see Geet then back to Maan and smiled painfully.
Maan watched the very pregnant woman being gently escorted out to the car by her husband, then he turned back to look at Geet sitting on the bottom step. She had a child on either side. He walked up to them. The young girls were small, dark-haired with big, brown eyes. Somewhat like Geet's that he came to like more and more by now. They were identical, right down to the brown-and-red stains on the front of their Tinkerbell-covered T-shirts.
"Who are you?" one of the girls asked.
Geet smiled at him. "Sorry. I haven't done introductions. Maan, these are my nieces, Sophia and Shania."
She touched each child's head as she said her name, but he knew there was no way he was going to keep them straight.
The girl on the left eyed him. "You are Geet masi friend?" she asked.
Not sure what to say, he simply stared at Geet instead.
"I'm going to be stuck here for a while," Geet said.
"I'll get in touch with my aunt and uncle, but they won't be able to get home for a couple of days. Until then, the twins only have me."
She tried to smile, but it wobbled a bit at the corners.
"I guess this means you're off the hook. For our date, I mean." Bit apologetic.
She was saying he could go.
"Geet masi, are we really gonna make cookies?" One of the girls asked.
"You bet. We'll make the batter and let it get cold overnight. In the morning we'll cut the cookies into shapes. When they're finished baking, we're going to decorate them. You'll have a good time."
She turned her attention back to him. "I can't fit the girls into the Jeep. It doesn't have a back seat. So I can't drive you home. Would you mind if call you a cab?"
He didn't know much about children. He'd been one once, but he did his best to forget those days. He didn't know much about pregnancy, either, but he could read the worry in Geet's eyes. She'd said Neha had gone into labor a few weeks early. Did that mean something could go wrong?
"You paid for twenty-four hours," he said, pulling his hands from his pockets and rolling up the sleeves. "So you're stuck with me. Besides, I've never made cookies. Maybe you could teach me."
He addressed that last bit to the two girls. They both grinned at him. "Makin' cookies is really fun," one of them told him. "You gonna like it."
"So let's go then what are we waiting for?" Maan declared. He held out a hand for one of the girl to get up and walk inside. Geet with the other, they looked at each other briefly and smiled and head inside the house.
Making cookies wasn't just fun, it was also messy. By the time they'd made the batter and wrapped it in plastic so it could refrigerate overnight, there was enough flour, sugar and butter smeared over the kitchen to qualify it for demolition. Geet's cheeks were streaked with the mixture, as were the twins', and Maan didn't want to know what he looked like.
Finally after some more struggle the kitchen got its looks back and so did they. Geet managed to get Maan her Jiju's cloths luckily they were fit. Geet ordered pizza for dinner; so much of formal dinner to something very fast food'Geet shook her head in sarcasm. Maan seems to be so eased around he does not look like he is a millionaire.
After dinner, they'd settled in to watch two cartoon movies, by the end of which both girls had fallen asleep. Somehow having a small warm child draped across his chest and shoulder did something odd to his heart, he thought as he picked up Shania and followed Geet upstairs.
She carried Sophia and led the way into the twins' bedroom.
Maan put Shania in her bed, while Geet took care of her sister. She'd barely pulled up the blanket when the phone rang.
As Geet raced down the hall, Maan stayed in the girls' room. He checked that the night-light was on and then glanced around at the toys, books and clothes covering every surface. It was little more than controlled chaos, but homey. He could feel the love that filled this house.
He'd never thought of having a family. His goals had all been about business. For the first time, he wondered if he'd been missing something. He always denied to Dadi for settling down.
He heard Geet in the hallway and went out to respond to her.
"That was Jiju," she said as she sagged against the wall. "Di's fine. They had a boy and he's doing really well. His lungs are working; he's okay. They're all okay." She said it all in one breath. With her hands flying up and down. He could see her breaking any moment. Her fight to control her emotions, started.
She looked at him, smiled, covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.
Maan moved toward her. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Is it not what you wanted to hear?"
She nodded. "I'm happy," she said between sobs.
"I l-love my s-sister, and I was so w-worried. It's just everything else is ruined."
He pulled her close, meaning to offer comfort. So he didn't let himself notice the closeness of her body or how good she felt in his arms. "What's ruined?"
"Our day. I wanted to go to d-dinner with you and be beautiful. I wanted you to see me as a w-woman, not just a piece of office equipment. I spent all my savings b-buying you at the auction and on the boat and the dress and, and now it's all ruined." She managed to say in between her sobs.
"What happened to you buying me because I needed a break from work?" Amused with the teary confession she looked so cute he thought when crying. He never thought of this Geet he would ever to see.
She dropped her hands to her sides in defeat and looked at him. Tears dampened her lashes and ran down her cheeks. She sniffed cleaning her nose with the back of her palm.
"I lied." She confessed with the guilt in her tone and head bend.
"Then you will have to be dealt with most severely." He lifted her chin with his 2 fingers.
Her breath caught, but before she could speak, he lowered his head and kissed her.
To be continued...
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