He took a deep breath and walked to the side table of the bed. He picked up a wooden framed photo and looked at it. He smiled as he saw the smile play on her lips in the photo. Her beautiful eyes, her curly hair and her fair spotless skin made him fall in love with her all over again. He wished he could just look at her all day. He sat on the bed, still holding the frame in his hand.
"Daadiji, lassi", said Geet, handing over the glass to Daadiji. She then sat beside Naintara.
All of them were seated in the living room- after dinner. Daadima looked around and asked," Where's Maan?"
"Outhouse", said Dev.
"Okay", she said and did not comment any further. For Maan, outhouse was a place where he spent time with himself. No one disturbed him and no one ever asked him why he liked to be alone in the outhouse- not even Daadima. She knew that after all the stress and tensions he faced while managing an empire that big- he needed some time for himself. she never questioned him- she knew he would share it with her- if really needed- but if he did not- then she shouldn't ask him. Same was the case with Geet- she knew Maan had some attachment with the outhouse- she tried to figure it a couple of times- but only ended up hurting herself physically because of all the renovation and also hurt him mentally- every time he figured out she had gone against his wishes to the outhouse.
The last time she had gone to the outhouse- she hurt her leg- but Maan was hurt beyond her imagination, though he never expressed it. She could feel it, even while sleeping next to him on the same bed. She had decided that day, that she would never again go to the outhouse-unless he wanted her to. She did not wish to hurt him- she had already done that once and he did not like it and she did not like it either. At that point, of time, she had no choice.
"What's in the outhouse Dev?", asked Naintara, while she removed her eye make-up. They had returned to the bedroom after talking to Geet and Daadima for sometime after dinner.
"I dunno honey!", he said, honestly.
"How come?", she asked, turning to look at him.
He smiled and said, "Naintara, that's my veerji. No one understands him and no one questions him".
"But how come Geet and Daadima don't know too?", she asked, confused. "I understand if he doesn't share it with you and me, but atleast they should know right?", she said.
"Naintara, like I said, no one questions him", he said, lying down on the bed. "But I somehow feel the outhouse holds something that is very special to him. But in any case, I do not want to know what it is, unless he wants to tell me".
Naintara smiled, nodded, and turned to walk to the walk in closet.
"You know why?", he asked her.
She stopped, turned back to see him and nodded in a "No".
"Naintara, he's more than an elder brother to me. What I am today is all because of the sacrifices he has done in his early years. Hence, I do not question him or go against him. I just love him and respect him the way he is. He is arrogant, proud, short-tempered but he is also an epitome of strength for this family and business. And somewhere he does have a'" and Naintara completed it for Dev, "a heart of gold".
Dev smiled, "Yep. But doesn't like to show it. He melts when someone cries or when someone is hurt but he will never let his emotion take over. He appears to be hard, but deep within he does have all the emotions and feelings that we all have. The only difference is we express all those feelings and emotions to him and he takes cares of us and our feelings and emotions- and he doesn't express anything to anyone. Time has hardened him Naintara- repeatedly- he has just become sterner and stubborn than before. In addition, in these last two years it has just become very evident. I dunno why, but I just hope Geet can handle him well".
"That she will, Dev. She is the only one who can handle him efficiently, I feel", said Naintara.
"Let's hope", he said.
She smiled and walked to him. She kissed him on his forehead and switched off the lights.
Geet sat on the swing in the garden and looked at the sky. Maan was still in the outhouse. The cool breeze blew her curls on to her face and she just pushed them away. The sky looked unusually dark and clear. She frowned when not even one cloud or star could be spotted.
"In Hoshiarpur, the sky would look so beautiful- twinkling stars and the dazzling moon. Yahan, is mahaan sheher mein pollution ki wajah se kuch nahin dikhti". She took a deep breath and thought, "How much I miss that place?"
She adjusted her curls again while pressing her feet backwards on the grass beneath in an attempt to swing herself. She did it a couple of times and when the swing caught momentum she just lifted her legs and enjoyed the swings. She smiled and remembered her childhood days with her sister. They would play the same way, on swings made of cloth suspended from tree branches.
While she swung, she got a message. She read it and deleted it- it was one of those usual advertising messages that her network provider would send. At times, she wouldn't even read it. Her eyes fell on the date while returning her phone to her side- on the swing. She opened her eyes wide in surprise and shock.
She put her phone on stand-by and left it to her side. She adjusted herself on the swing and looked at the phone again- hoping that the date would change in a couple of seconds. It was the same date.
"Gosh!", she sighed and looked at the outhouse again. "It is 2nd April, 2013", she told herself. She left her phone to her side and stopped swinging while her mind swung two years back.
Geet within one year of becoming a full time employee worked closely with Maan and Sasha. At times, she would also have to go to Dev to get some fund approvals since he was the CFO. She had no idea, what the Khuranas thought of her. In fact she never bothered too. She always maintained her professionalism with the Khuranas, unlike Sasha, who took the extra pains to impress Maan at every step.
Geet, otherwise, was a very jovial person. She loved to talk and make the environment lively and energetic. She had made many friends in the first few months of joining KC itself. People loved her for being so sporty and yet hardworking and intelligent. She was not just beautiful but equally brainy too. Dev, had understood this side of Geet very soon and Geet too, had that freedom with Dev. After a point of time, she knew she had that privilege to discuss anything she wanted with Dev and at times, even crib about certain things. The best thing about him was, he never took anything to heart. He advised her when required and corrected her both in her professional and personal life as well- when he felt she was wrong. Especially after Dev had rescued Geet in the mall when he had lost her wallet, she had some kind of gratitude and fondness for him, which just grew with time. So, in a short span of time- Dev was Geet's favorite Khurana. She addressed him as "Sir-D" and he smiled and called her "Miss-Express"- as she never stopped talking once she would start until someone reminded her that she should take a break and keep her mouth shut for sometime.
Lot of times, Geet would speak very frankly and openly to Dev in front of Maan as well. Something that Sasha never could do. She always thought of Maan but never bothered to talk to Dev and Dev did not bother either. He knew he just had to keep a watch on her so that she would not mess with his brother's life. However, he very well knew- his brother was not so easy to break or convince.
Maan wondered how this girl managed to speak so openly to Dev and he responded with the same frequency as well. Maan never spoke to Geet except for work related stuff, though he had a fair idea of what kind of a girl she was, from his brother's talk.
Dev, lot of times, at the dining table would talk about Geet and her naughty pranks in office. Maan would listen but never react. At the end of the day, what mattered the most to him was getting his work done. He never bothered about it because in the first few days of Geet reporting to him itself, he noticed that she was very efficient and meticulous.
Over a period, Maan realized that Geet was much smarter than he had thought and was impressed at some of her ideas that Sasha after so many years of experience couldn't think of. That impression helped her get a chance to design one of Khurana's biggest construction ventures.
Maan had called for a meeting with some of the architects of KC ' who worked in various regions in India. Geet was invited too. Sasha, was obviously present- as she was the chief architect of the company. All the other architects simply reported to her and Maan when required. Dev and Naintara were also present for this meeting as this venture was somehow related to the Khurana's family as such.
After long discussions of business related work, Maan finally spoke, "Thank you for your patience. I have something more to discuss- but not to worry, I wont be taking more than ten minutes of your time".
Everyone nodded. Well why wouldn't they and they weren't left with a choice either. When The company's MD and CEO wanted to speak, who had the guts to go against him and say they weren't interested? So, they sat quietly and waited for him to speak.
Maan continued, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the lady to my left- is Naintara Khurana- my sister-in-law", and paused. Everyone in the meeting room, turned to look at her and she smiled back politely. Geet looked at Dev and smiled gesturing with her eyes, "If she was his wife". He smiled and nodded back. Geet took out her phone and messaged him, "Wah wah, she's looks stunning and both of you look great together. Kisi k nazar na lage".
Dev knew it was Geet's message, he read the message and texted back, "Thank you express G" and blushed.
Both of them turned back to look at Maan , when he spoke up again, "She is here for a special venture. Naintara if you could explain", he said and sat down.
"Thank you Veerji", she said, standing up and turning to the small group of architects that were present in the meeting room.
"I'm here to get ideas for a venture that I have been given responsibility for. We (as in the Khuranas) were planning to get a farmhouse constructed in Hyderabad. I thought I would invite some designs for just the living room from each one of you present here and the best designer would then go ahead and design the rest of the farmhouse. Since, it is related to the Khuranas, we would be signing a separate contract with the designer until the farmhouse design and construction is completed", she said.
"How much time do we have, to present our designs?", asked Geet.
Naintara thought for a while and said, "You can take a week's time".
"A week?", interrupted Sasha. "Well well, I don't think I would need that much of time".
Naintara raised her eye-brow and answered very politely since she did not want to disrespect a woman in front of others, "Well, then Miss Shergill- I'll see your design first- how about tomorrow evening 5:30?"
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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