CHAPTER-13
So this was it. The place where Maan Singh Khurana lived. No, the Mansion where Maan Singh Khurana lived. She stepped out of the car, clutching the papers in her hands, and started walking towards the pearl white Mansion. It was so beautiful, surrounded by lush greenery, pristinely groomed trees and shrubs. The whole place had an aura of tranquility.
She stepped gingerly on the threshold, and even before knocking a uniformed guard opened the door. " Ma'am, this way, please. Maan Sir is expecting you."
She nodded her head slightly, with a smile, and started following the guard. They passed through endless corridors, before reaching an open area. Geet was too busy to look around her, before she noticed that the guard had disappeared. The next thing she registered were some violent sounds. Before she could stop herself, and before her mind could warn her, that it is not safe to roam around stranger peeple's strange big homes alone, she found her feet walking towards the source of the sounds. As she neared the opening of a door, the sounds became more vivid, and she realized that they were the sounds of punching and kicking. Something hard. She tiptoed quietly, trying to peek into the room, when what she saw froze her on her tracks completely.
An eager bead of sweat trickled down his broad blade of shoulder, as he pushed his sweaty hair back. The bulging muscles on his arms were screaming out sheer sexiness and muscularity, and at the same time, restricting Geet's breath. Yes, she had worked out in gyms her whole life. She had seen tones of guys working out, having the same type of body as the man in front of her, but never before, had she felt this sensation within her. It was as if the woman in her was screaming out to her in inaudible voices. She tried to stop staring, tried to stop memorizing every perfect plain in his body, but, she had no control over her senses. Something was going wrong with her mechanisms these days, and the name of the disease was Maan Singh Khurana.
He started flexing his already perfect muscles, causing Geet to gasp out inaudibly. He is,, Oh My God. So DAMN HOT!! Geet…control…focus…He is so hot…GEET STOP IT! My god! He is awesome… Dev was not anything like him… GEET!! Why are you comparing the two of them? STOP JUST STOP IT!!!
" GEET!"
The look froze on her face. She stared at him, as he stared back at her from across the room. Her heartbeat started picking up, as he walked towards her, slowly. She clutched the files tightly in her hands, almost crumbling them in the process. Geet turned around immediately, closing her eyes, and whispered, " I'm sorry… I shouldn't have. Actually, I heard sounds. I will wait outside… you… well..you… put on some clothes. I will leave."
She almost scrambled out of the room, breathing heavily. A few minutes later, Maan came out, dressed in a black shirt and jeans. Geet scanned her eyes all over him, taking in his appearance all over again. I have never seen him wear casuals in Delhi. That was in Mumbai.
" Where are the papers?" Maan said, looking deep into her eyes.
" Huh?" she said blankly, and then pulled herself together almost at once, " Oh! Oh! Here they are."
She almost threw them towards him. He stared at her, taking the papers to a nearby table, and started reading it. He sighed, and signed the papers, and outstretched his hands. Geet was about to grab the papers, and run for her life, when he said," No. Not so fast.. Ms. Handa! I need some answers, first."
Geet stared at him, with confusion lining her hazels, when he walked close to her, so that their faces were level with each other, and whispered, " But, before that, your answers. No, I am not sick. No, last night was not too hectic for me. I almost didn't have to do anything, you did a greater part. And yes, I had my lunch. And, the speech which you said in one breath on the phone, there was probably a question about the deal. The answer is, YES, I got it."
Geet was still busy gaping at Maan, when he threw the papers on the table, seated himself down on the enormous sofa, crossed his hands over his chest, motioned with his hands for her to sit down, and when she did so hesitantly, he stared right into her eyes, and said, " Now, you're gonna tell me why exactly you were in my office at 10pm last night. What brought you there?'
" YOU GOT THE DEAL? The clients were happy with the design? When are you starting construction?" Geet said gleefully, trying to change the subject. She was not surprised that the deal was Maan's. She never doubted his business abilities. The most important thing for her right now, was to keep him busy talking about something else, so that the question he was asking escaped the clutches of his brilliant mind completely.
Maan leaned forward, fixing his sharp eyes on her hesitant hazels carefully. He held her gaze, till she lowered her eyes, and started fiddling with her cell phone. Geet racked her brains looking for an answer, and then, finally, just when her tired and surrendered mind was about to give up, she remembered something, and looked up confidently.
" I was there to discuss the blueprints of the project we are working on together." She said coolly, leaning back on the sofa, the stiff posture giving way to an assured and poise manner.
Maan felt the first lines of a scowl forming on his face. He tried to maintain his calm as he bit out, " What blueprints?"
" The same ones I had in hand when I came into the conference room. But, I saw you disturbed, so I didn't bring it up. Instead, I worked with you. And, today, in the morning, when I left, I just took my purse and keys with me. So, I am pretty sure, that you will find the rolled up blueprints there- the reason why I dropped by the office so late that night." Geet finished, with a triumphant smirk on her face.
Maan glared at her, and reached for his phone. Holding her gaze with a smoldering one, he pushed a few buttons, and held the phone to his ears.
" Adi. Go to the conference room right now. Tell me, are there any rolled up blueprints there?" Maan said, his voice stern and rigid.
He waited for some time, while Geet shifted uncomfortably in her sofa. She hadn't realized that Maan would take this so much seriously, and call up Adi immediately to find out. She felt a little pang of guilt, lying that she had been to the office for her own selfish reasons, whereas, deep down, she knew, that she was worried about him. She had wanted to make sure whether he was alright or not.
" There are?" He hung up, clutching the phone tightly in a fist. His face was dangerously serious, and the next minute, he stood up on his feet, and said," Well, Ms. Handa, as it happens you were with me last night, just due to sheer coincidence and your own reasons. Thank you for an honest reply. Now, you may leave."
He started walking away, when Geet rose up to her feet, and said, " No, I..I didn't mean that. I would have helped you anyway. I didn't do it, because I was at that place at that time. Mk..you're getting it wrong..believe…"
" I signed your papers. Our work here is done. We can talk about your precious blueprints tomorrow in the office. Now, if you would please leave, I have to get back to something important, Geet Handa." Maan said in an icy tone, and left a shocked and despondent Geet behind.
She picked up the papers slowly, and walked out of the huge living room. As she sat in her car, driving, she shook her head vigorously, trying to sink in everything happening around her. So much progress, and then back to square one.Progress to WHAT, Geet?
She is nothing out of the box. She is just like one of your paid employees. You were wrong when you thought she helped you because she wanted to. Because she cared, or because it mattered to her. To her, it was probably just another project, and maybe she did it just out of pity. She saw you like that, all messed up, and confused, and unhappy, and decided to grant a favour to you. She saw you in weakness, you thought she respected it, whereas, all she did was secretly laugh and smirk about it. Hell, maybe she made fun of you when she got back home! And you fell for it… all over again, Maan Singh Khurana…
*****
" We have 2 hours to complete it. Do you think MK sir will be able to do it?" Adi said, looking doubtfully at the whole layout in front of him.
" Adi, tum Mk ko nahin jaante ho kya? I have worked with him for almost 7 years now, and never once did I see him panicked or stressed out, or discouraged. I mean, he is always so confident about everything. Haina, Geet?" Sasha asked, looking at Geet.
Geet's eyes froze on the layout, as her mind drifted back to the night two nights earlier. Inspite of working with Maan for 7 years, Sasha still didn't know, that the great Maan Singh Khurana also strained about his projects. But she knew, and she had even witnessed it.
Maan stood outside his cabin, witnessing the whole conversation. It has been 2 whole days since that night, and since the day they had been in front of each other at Maan's Mansion, and neither of them was behaving normal. They hardly talked, and whenever they did, it was rude, to the point, and strictly about business. Though Geet had tried to knock sense into Maan a couple of times, he had still been stubborn and extremely insensitive about the whole matter, and so, Geet, being the independent woman she was, had also given up.
As he stood there, Maan stiffened with the question Sasha threw at Geet. He noticed her silence, but mistook it for mockery. He felt a white hot ball of rage explode in him, as he realized, that just to pay him back, Geet would describe the whole account of his weakness and panic attack in front of the whole staff, who thought that he was the strongest in mind and emotions, and could do nothing wrong. He clenched his fists in anger, and slammed the door of his cabin behind him, fuming inside. And that's when Geet gave her answer.
" Yes, I have never see him getting weak. He is just too good in his work. He doesn't need to panic, or seek help." She said, with a genuine smile.
They talked for a few more seconds, and then, Romeo, who was busy supervising the site work the whole day, barged into Khurana Constructions.
" Geet, You're here? I thought you would be at our office. I was looking for you." He said urgently.
" Why? Is there any problem?" Geet inquired, lowering the file down on the table.
"Well, no, not exactly. But, you remember we had some beef with the Patel deal?" Romeo said.
" Uh-huh."
" Well, they.. they..actually…they..well, sued us." He said sheepishly.
" They WHAT?" Geet gritted her teeth, and spat out.
" Maybe, we should get to the office, and well, sort out the mess." Romeo said, nodding his head slightly.
Geet looked around her, her eyes darting fast, and her mind working continuously. She bit her lips, and took her decision.
" Romeo, you go. I will be right behind you. I need to inform Mk first. Okay?" She said, and without waiting for a reply, she barged into Maan's cabin.
" Mk, I…" She began, but, was cut short.
" Toh, Ms. Handa, mazaa aaya?"Maan said with a smirk, still working on his laptop.
" Huh? Listen, I don't have time…I need to.."
" You don't have time?" He sneered, and continued nonchalantly, " When you were out there, having fun about blurting out my weaknesses to my staff, tab waqt tha tumhare paas?"
" What are you talking about?" she stared at him, genuinely confused, and worried.
" Stop pretending!" He said, rising up majestically, and walked towards her in a menacing way. He caught hold of her wrist, and squeezed it tightly, staring into her eyes and said," You are worthless. That night, I thought, that there might be something good about you, something useful. But, I was wrong. You were enjoying it, haina? Seeing me in that helpless state? Tumne socha, ke kyun na usska faida uthaya jaye. That's why you acted all concerned and ready to help. Jab ki, all you were doing was making fun of me in your mind. And, you did it in front of my staff, as well. Haina?"
Geet gasped out audibly, and her shoulders shivered in a new kind of fear. She stared back at Maan, the menace and hatred evident on his face. Geet felt sick with the feeling, that Maan hated her so much. He was disgusted by her. Her eyes threatened to fill up, but her strong mind intervened yet again. She was so engrossed in controlling her tears, that it took a while for her to realize, that there was a source of excruciating pain on her wrist. She tried to free herself, but that made him tighten his grip all the more.
" I need to leave Mk. Please let me go. Please." She said, trying to shake herself free, and maintain her calm at the same time.
" I would just LOVE to do that, Ms. Handa. But before you do that, I want to tell you something. Never ever sneak up and check me out again in my own home, without my knowledge. Now, GO!" he snarled, leaving her hand, and walking back towards his chair.
Geet held her wrist, and saw the blue swellings. She ignored it, and started to walk out, but before doing so, she couldn't resist her self to do one most important thing. She walked back near Maan's huge work table, and slowly said in a cool tone," I didn't tell your staff anything about that night. But, now I think I should have. They deserve to know, that they work for a human, not a robot. They also deserve to know, that they work for an insensitive, stubborn, and sick man. I regret working so hard for you that night. I wish I hadn't. I wish I had left you alone to solve your problems."
Having said this, she nodded her head as politely as she could and left the cabin, as fast as her legs could carry her. She felt tears sting the corner of her eyes again, but she knew that they would have to wait till later tonight, when she was alone at her apartment, with no one around to make fun of her vulnerability. For now, she had work to do. For now, she had money to earn. Geet nodded briefly to the others outside, who, as usual, didn't suspect anything, and quickly left Khurana Constructions to solve her own troubles.
PRECAP: I can't do it without you. Do you want to help me, Geet?"
No, I don't.
I know, my quota of likes are still not completed. There are 7 more likes to go. But, I was done with this chapter, and I was getting seriously bored. But, above that, the main reason I updated is because, we are all upset about Geet ending, and if my update cheers you up even a little bit, then my efforts are worth it!😃
Please guys, be patient. I am going to reveal Geet's past very soon. I will give you a hint. Her past will be revealed when the contract with Maan ends. And as you know, thats after four months. Well, not literally, 😃just figuratively.😆 That's when the story will get its twist.😉
I love you all, and I love Geet for bringing me to this awesome Forum and close to you people.
Please like and comment on this chapter, and do so genuinely, so that I know you're really liking my FF. So, for this chapter, I am not setting any quota!😃
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