Keep the Faith-A Maan and Geet story-upd 5 02/12

Rinnng'rinnng'.rinnng'.

Rinnng'rinnng'.rinnng'..

"Hello?"

Meera Malhotra forced herself to get off bed and answer her phone which had been ringing on and off for the last half hour. Clearing her throat she repeated the hello, this time louder.

"Where in god's name have you been? I've been trying to call you for a good half hour. What if I was dying or already dead? How would you have felt if you hadn't answered your best friend's last call? Huh? Huh?"

The caller shrieked causing her to move the receiver a good distance away from her ear.

"It's four in the morning. I fell asleep only three hours ago after talking to whom? To you. And you certainly seemed nowhere close to dying. If you had indeed suffered a heart attack or if someone had managed to murder you, no one would have found your body until tomorrow and hence I would have got no call until after that plus I'm not that lucky."

Meera answered, ready to slam the phone right back down.

"Okay fine, I'm just going to ignore your little rant as a consequence of being woken up this early. I might as well get to the point. What do I wear?" the caller desperately asked.

"Wear where?"

"What do I wear for the thing'the THING? The life changing presentation tomorrow."

"I thought we had already discussed this like only a million times. Did you burn something the blazer?" she asked fully well knowing what her friend was capable of doing

"Meeera. I didn't burn anything, nor did I tear anything and I certainly didn't lose anything. What or who do you think I am? I'm 25 years old, mature and smart. I certainly won't do any such thing'.at least not anymore, I guess."

"So the clothes are fine?"

"ye-"

"Good so you are wearing them. That's decided and that's final. Or else, I most certainly will drop off both the kids at your place for the weekend and take off with Yash."

"O babaji! Nahin! Not those monsters. I swear Meer, you haven't given birth to children. They are monsters who when unleashed are no less than the creatures from the lord of the rings. I know I'm their godmother but I'd rather appreciate them from afar"

"That's a nice way to talk about your godchildren. I don't blame you actually." She added looking to the door behind which the monsters in question lay sound asleep, hopefully.

"Anyway, get to bed you. If you don't, your eyes will get puffy and red and imagine you'll probably keep yawning away at the meeting. Get to sleep. I'll wake you up. I promise."

"Okay 'Mumma' you're right, as always. I'm actually exhausted; today has been a long day." She said as she stifled a yawn

After a slight pause she couldn't help but add

"I'm going to be okay tomorrow, right?"

"Of course you are. You may be a kid to me but at work you actually are smart, mature, effective and efficient. You're going to get the promotion. You deserve the post , if not you, then no one else does- Vice president of the Asset Management Department .We'll be ready to pop the champagne."

"Promise?"

"Promise"

Meera couldn't help but smile at the childish innocence of the girl who was vying for the a top job at a multinational

"Thanks Meer. I just needed to hear that."

"The treat is most certainly on you, goodnight bubba and sweet dreams, I love you."

"I love you. 'Night"

The caller finally put the phone down and got into bed. It had been a long day, an exciting one but long. Three years after joining the firm, she was tipped off to become the youngest VP of the biggest department. A feat she had once thought was impossible but with support from her friends and family, she had managed alright. The three years had included living away from home, sometimes living in the office itself, dealing with stubborn juniors and old fashioned seniors, working fifteen hours a day minimum and going through several sleepless nights. And tomorrow was to be the culmination of all her hard work. One presentation and it would be decided. The butterflies in her stomach returned and she nearly pressed the redial button on her phone but managed to stop herself. Meera was right. She needed to sleep. She couldn't bungle anything. Everything had to go perfectly.

After simply lying in bed thinking of the next day, she found herself drifting off to sleep. She eventually did fall asleep with a smile on her face, one which lit up her delicate features, at the thought of

Geet Handa, Vice President of the Asset Management Department.

It certainly had a good ring to it.

(Home in Mumbai)

'Congraaatulations!' the entire living room erupted as soon as Geet entered her apartment. She looked around beaming at the small but the loudest bunch of people she knew best and loved most. She should have known, they wouldn't have missed it for the world. Meera and Yash, the first friends she had ever had; Pinky, the vivacious foodie and her best friend from work, Tej and Lucky, her older cousins and their wives Pammi amd Preeto; Rajji, her little cousin and even Meera's monsters. They were all there. As always. And leading the group were the people she loved, respected and cared for the most, her mother Rano and father Mohinder Handa. The pride and tears in their eyes were clearly visible and so she couldn't help but engulf the two of them in a giant hug and start bawling herself.

The day had gone perfectly, after a grueling two hour presentation with the top brass executives and a bunch of senior officers, not a single soul doubted her ability to guide the department well. She had answered all their questions and showed them the ideas she had for the future of the department, she was different than the others. She was smart and confident. Young, yes but with that she brought a certain level of vibrancy to the firm and a bunch of ideas which none of the grey haired executives could ever bring to the table. She had joined the company as a junior analyst, with frizzy hair and an almost tom boyish sense of dressing and style. As her role in the firm grew and changed, so did her style, her confidence and her personality. She morphed into a young gorgeous woman who presented herself in the most professional and impressive manner, she started carrying herself better than she ever had. She was looked up to and people respected her. She was one of those who no one could ever gossip about, she never involved herself in office affairs and politics, and she simply did her job. She was tough but not cut throat. She mingled with everyone but stuck to only a few closest friends. She had struggled more than anyone for a good three years, changing a whole lot in the process and today she had finally achieved what she had set her eyes on.

For 25 year old Geet Handa, life so far had pretty much been perfect. A loving and tight knit family, A few close friends, a Masters degree from a leading management University and a job profile many would kill for. As a child and a teenager, she had been shy, introverted and lacking in self-confidence. As a result she was often taken for granted and left hurt by several who she had considered as friends. Yet through all those years she never felt alone, her family had always been by her side as well as Meera, a friend she had met when they were five, who was like an older sister in many ways.

The Handa family had once been one of the most popular and well to do families in the community. Despite much of the family wealth having been squandered away, donated or taken away by greedy relatives, the family name still commanded respect amongst society.

Brought up as an only child in a middle class family, Geet had all the values, ethics and kindness of heart that was expected of a Handa. She was adored by adults, pampered by her older cousins and loved by the younger ones. She cared for animals just as much as she did for humans. There would be days when she would pick up a whole litter of kittens from the street, bring them home and hide them in her room until her mother found them and sent them to new homes. In words she was pretty much the perfect girl.

As she cut her chocolate mousse cake, and as her father popped the champagne while everyone clapped and whooped, she couldn't help but send a silent prayer to her Babaji.

"Please Babaji, don't let anything ever change. Let things always remain just the way they are."

Little did she know just how much things were going to change and that the day's events were just the first in a series of changes that were yet to come

(An office in South Mumbai)

Accused of trespassing, robbery, physical assault and lastly murder, a witness and ….yet something was amiss.

He had spent the last twenty hours poring over document after document and report after report. For most other lawyers, the case was clear and taking up the defendant's case would mean definite loss of the case and their reputation.

But then he wasn't like other lawyers. Taking such cases not only gave him a high but had made him the highly sought over lawyer with a formidable reputation. Almost every case of his in the past had been ones which no lawyer would even touch with a barge-pole – poor and destitute accused of heinous crimes by rich, famous and powerful, sure shot death penalty or life imprisonment, pleaded innocence and inability to pay the fee of the best lawyers.

He had never once lost a case, losing was never an option. Not ever, not when they were innocent lives on the line. He had not lost one yet and neither would he lose this next one.

After all he was Maan Singh Khurana

I've tried to make this part all about them, their lives, their work.

Originally posted by: Dreamy_Mystique

fabulous update
portrayed the dilemma dfaced by geet';s mom well...
loved it
keep writing