Devils's Den: KEEP THE HEAT ON!!!! - Page 65

No Priya. I did not forget Vicky. I had made him Maan and Dev's cousin brother who had come to live with them after his parents died in a car crash. The boy would have fallen into bad company at college and Maan would have been strict with him. He ran away to HP where his uncle used to live but could not be traced afterwards. Maan had gone searching for him when he met Geet.

@Opti: Your story is beautiful! It really closes all the loops we wanted to get to the bottom of. I would love to know more about Sameera as well.

I always imagine her to be a really conniving woman who got a job at KC, pretended to be a loyal employee and thereby made Maan fall for her. Then she used his trust to embezzle funds from KC or something. Unfortunately, she slipped at some point, underestimating Maan's intelligence and the loyalty of his other employees (I just want Adi to be a part of this) who helped him piece together what was going on after an arduous investigation. Her betrayal broke his heart and made him the angry, restless creature we met.

I imagine Maan pre-Sameera, not that much different, still reserved and introverted with a dry sarcastic sense of humour. People like that are used to others not approaching them voluntarily because they are intimidating (Maan being a Khurana of the Delhi Khuranas would have only added to this) so he would have been enamoured by Sameera who got past these barriers and pretended to see and love the "real him". Being reserved in the first place, putting yourself out there and then ultimately having your heart broken will make you think you were right to be careful in the first place and Maan would have reverted to that, now with anger and bitterness added to the mix, thanks to Sam.

Samana, thanks. Here is what I wrote about the mysterious Sammy in my fic although it would not go down well with people who would like to believe Maan was a virgin. Anyway in my fic, Maan reveals his past to Geet to make her understand that she is not the only one with a past. This scene is immediately after Geet tells him she is pregnant.

"I am pregnant."

She informed a tired Maan as he stepped into his house after a hard day at work. Maan looked in surprise at the breathtakingly beautiful woman who stood before him.

"Are you sure?" he asked anxiously.

When she nodded her head in confirmation, he felt a twinge of disappointment at first. After all they had been married for hardly two months and were still struggling to adjust to each other. He felt for a moment that a baby at this juncture of their relationship would add to their responsibilities and mellow down their passion for each other. But these thoughts were soon replaced by an unfathomable feeling of exhilaration at being instrumental in bringing a life into this world.

He broke into a broad smile and lifting her in his arms, he twirled her around in excitement, not noticing that she did not share his enthusiasm. He made passionate love to her that night to celebrate the prospect of the new addition to their family. Little did he know that the woman who moved physically in sync with him as he ravished her, was mentally completely out of sync with him for she had already made up her mind to negate the baby's existence.

Sameera knew that Maan will never agree to her decision so she informed him only after the deed was done the next day. He felt as though she had just punched him in the gut. His breath constricted in his chest as he struggled to breathe. When he heard that the reason she terminated her pregnancy was because she did not want it to interfere with her busy career, he was furious that she would so heartlessly sniff out the life of their baby for such selfish reasons, that too without taking him into confidence.

Both of them were strong personalities who fiercely held on to their individuality without wanting to give an inch to the other. It was this very trait of holding her ground that had attracted Maan to Sameera when they were still in college pursuing a course on business management, for he admired strong women with a mind of their own but he did not know that her obstinacy and determinacy would one day cost the life of their baby. In marriage, there needs to be compromise and adjustments from both sides but he soon realised that while he was the one who was willing to accept this and meet her at least half the way, his wife remained unbending.

The baby could have cemented their relationship but the abortion rocked it to the core and from then on the two of them emotionally just drifted apart and although they lived under one roof, the chasm between them kept getting wider by the day. One fine morning she confessed to having an affair with a much older and richer man and sought a divorce from him and with that their fragile relationship finally broke up, exactly six months from the day they tied the knot.

The bitterness he experienced in his brief tryst with marriage three years ago had hardened him to all relationships and he firmly shut the door to his heart to protect it from getting wounded again. He managed to keep it that way till Geet came along and gradually broke down his resolve without even being aware of it. While everything about her was attractive to him, the qualities that drew him to her were her endearing innocence and her genuineness.

His mind quickly rewound to the day they bumped into each other at the fair in Hoshiarpur and images of all the incidents that occurred since then flashed rapidly before his mind's eye. His mind lingered lovingly on the vision of Geet clad in white, looking as pure and innocent as a lily. The image suddenly spun out of control and shattered as he slid to the ground on his knees, bowing his head in defeat, totally oblivious to the fact that the woman who triggered all this emotional turmoil had long left the place.

Opti, you write brilliantly, I've actually read your FF before but I loved reading it once more. One thing I really wanted for the show was Maan's past, and maybe even more on Geet's, They are both such complex characters with many shades, especially Maan, but we have no idea what made him become the way he his. Maan has so much depth but sadly the CVs have failed to uncover the layers of his character. Would've made a great story.