A Sudden Change Of Heart - Page 55

awesome update. I think Dev was just using Geet. please continue soon

was geet betrayed ???
nice part ...

amazing update...

CHAPTER-27

The wind blew around both of them, making them aware of the cold night suddenly. There was a distant rumble of thunder, but nothing could take away the intensity of the moment. Both of them ignored the weather and surroundings as Geet continued talking.

" I didn't get time to worry about Neha. After that, it was a whole lot of pressure at work. What with the new position, there was twice more work, more trips abroad and more incentives. Life could not get any better for me, for someone like me who had always wanted a good and solvent career. I was happy. Dev Malhotra, on the other hand, had recovered from his heartbreak considerably. He was happy too. One day while we were having lunch, he finally told me what he had wanted to tell me for a long time." Geet closed her eyes as she visualized the scene clearly in her mind.

*****

22^nd April-Mumbai

"I can't believe you brought me here for lunch on a Sunday, Dev," Geet snapped, looking all around the well lit restaurant,"I thought we were going to a dhaba."

Dev laughed, the sound of his musical laughter leaving a pleasnat sound trail in Geet's ears. He leaned down on the table, looking into her eyes and murmured, "This is romantic."

Geet laughed loudly, throwing her head back. A few of the tables around them stared strangely at her, but she was Geet Handa. Who had an excruciatingly loud laugh and didn't care what other people around her thought about her laughter.

She gulped down her saliva to control her giggles and burst out, "Did you just say romantic?"

"Yes, Ms.Handa, I just said romantic," Dev said, with an intense look in his eyes as his gaze pierced hers directly causing her to sober up.

She said, a little solemnly, "Is something the matter, Dev?"

He continued staring at her piercingly, and said, "Just because I'm a little different today, you think there's something wrong?"

"I didn't mean that'" she trailed off, as Dev answered, "Yes, something is the matter. I had to ask you something, Geet."

"Fire away," Geet said, leaning back on her chair and sipping her mojito casually.

"What do you think of love?" he asked, staring at her wit great interest.

The drink froze on her lips for only a second, and then, she lowered it down on the table calmly. Crossing her hands over her chest, she said nonchalantly,"You KNOW what I think of 'love'"

"Apart from it doesn't exist, it never happens, it's stupid and anyone falling for it is stupid, nothing new added to your list of opinions about love?" Dev said, with a chuckle.

"No, except that its' still stupid'.I mean, when does all that happen? That sweating of palms, dry throat, nervousness, anticipation. It's as if love makes you a diabetic patient," she scoffed.

"I know, that Geet and I realized your pathetic theories were actually right, after what Neha did to me," Dev said quietly.

"Why are we talking about her? You know, it'll only hurt you more, right?" she said crossly, racking her brains for a change of subject.

"Except that I'm not talking about her. I'm talking about you, Geet," he said in a low voice.

"Huh?" she said, blankly.

Dev looked at her for some time, and then, held out his hand, "I'm Dev Malhotra. I'm 27 years old. I was ditched by my love a few weeks back and now, I want to settle down with someone who I know won't betray me. I once read in a book that the best thing that could make a marriage work is if you marry your best friend and that's what I want to do. My best friend is Geet Handa, who is as practical as every guy dreams about. Both of us are mature and I think we'd have a shot at it. What do you think?"

Geet stared at him, her mind turning blank for a few minutes. Then, she started laughing, followed by Dev. She choked out between gasps of laughter,"Seriously, that's the way you propose?"

"You just said you don't like the fairytale stuff. So, yeah, that's the way I did. Is that a yes?" he asked, putting a stop to her laughter.

She sobered up and looked at the tablecloth carefully. "I don't know, Dev," she said doubtfully.

He grabbed her hand and said earnestly, "Oh come on, Geet. I was ditched by Neha, which made me give up on the concept of love. You, well, you never believed in it. So, well, you're never gonna fall in love, so we might as well get married!"

*****

The words echoed faintly in her ears, as she looked away from Maan who had clenched his fists and jaw.

He whispered quietly, "What did you say?"

Geet turned to look at him and said, with a humorless chuckle,"I went back home, thought a lot about it and decided it was perfectly practical. I have been scared of the instituition of marriage since childhood. I saw a lot to prove that nothing good comes out of the whole thing. But if you're a girl, you HAVE to get married, so Dev Malhotra was a perfect choice. He was my best friend, and as he had pointed out, marriages work if you are friends with your partner."

She paused for a second, as Maan looked away, feeling an unknown sensation of sadness tug at the corner of his heart and then, said, "I said yes."

The silence which reigned between them was deafening and painful at the same time. Maan's hands and knuckles turned white with pain as he continued clenching them tightly. Geet is married'she is married'she had a reason to stay away from me and I didn't understand'this is what she had wanted to tell me'his thoughts were interrupted as Geet started talking again, much to his surprise. He had expected that to be the end of her story.

"Within the end of the month, everything was finalised. Our families were perfectly okay with it, in fact, I think they almost expected it. Though we tried to tell everyone that we weren't in love exactly, noone believed us," she trailed off a little, and continued in a more shy voice,"Our relationship was perfectly platonic, we never felt any warmth or jealousy or possessiveness for each. Meera tried to tell me that something was wrong, that's not the way it usually is, but I ignored her. I was convinced that since it was a relationship between two mature people, it was sensible. What I didn't realize was that nothing of that sort existed between us."

"The preparations for the marriage started out. Both the families started trying their level best to make the experience an unforgettable one. I submitted my leave of absence letter for 6 months on the 15^th of May, meaning to get back sometime around the end of this year. The plan was to work in Delhi for one month and then, move to Mumbai forever." one part of her face twisted in a mocking smile as she spoke with her voice full of bitterness.

"I left Delhi on the 20^th of May packing up my apartment. I was so happy to do so. Dev Malhotra came to pick me up and we flew to Mumbai, ready to engage in the marriage preparations. And, then, I met you."

Geet looked up to see Maan staring at her. She spoke in a soft voice,"Do you remember the first time we met? In Mumbai?"

Maan stared back at her and answered promptly, "In the shopping mall. You tore my shirt. I was there to meet Adi."

She chuckled only a little and said, "That day was very special for me. I was there with Meera and my family. You broke my grandmother's chain which my mother had given me." Geet opened her purse and held up the tattered chin in front of Maan's eyes, who stared at it with a tenderness in his face.

He held out his hand almost involuntarily and Geet dropped the chain in his palm. He was staring at it strangely, but his head snapped up as she murmured,"Main uss din aapni shaadi ka jora kharidne gayii thi."

*****

(Okay, guys, this scene was in Chapter 2. It was written mainly from Maan's perspective, so now, I'm posting it from Geet's point of view as she said it to Maan.)

27^th May-Mumbai

"Woh red wala accha tha, nahin?" Meera said, as they divided the bags between themselves.

"Mujhe traditional red nahin pehenna shaadi mein," Geet said, peering into the nearby shops with great interest looking for a perfect wedding outfit.

"Haan, haan'pata hain," Meera said, slightly exasperated, "Yeh mall aaj kuch zyada hi busy hain, haina? I almost bumped into people twice in a row now."

"Hain, shaadi ka season haina, shayed isiliye," Geet replied, looking all around her, and then, added, "Yeh mumma kidhar chali gayii?"

"Yehi toh thi'tu rukh, main dekh ke aati hoon," Meera left, trying to find Rano.

Geet started strolling idly when she saw a perfect maroon color lehenge on display in a shop just a few steps away. Her eyes were on that lehenge as she started walking quickly and without noticing, collided hard with the chest of someone. She tripped on her own feet, and was about to hit the ground, when she quickly grabbed hold of the man's shirt for support. The shopping bags which were clutched tightly in her knobby hands landed on the ground with a thud. She held his shirt more securely, her eyes tight closed, hair flying all over her face. As she slowly opened her eyes and stared into the eyes of the man she had collided with, she realized with a pang, that his dark irises were beautiful, but blank. They had a sternness, an almost ruthlessness which was unusual. She stared on, deeply pulled by the magnetic cruelty, when Meera called out from the distance, "Geet!"

The magical trance broke as Geet heard Meera's voice. She jerked herself, trying to stand up straight, and ended up ripping the first two buttons of his shirt against her necklace. The beads of her thin necklace scattered on the floor and her eyes and heart went out to them immediately. She didn't spare a glance at the man who was probably glaring at her, but stared at the broken chain on the floor sadly. She suddenly felt her arms being grabbed and twisted painfully and winced involuntarily, but couldn't tear her eyes off the chain on the ground.

The next minute she heard his voice.

" Cant you see what you're doing or where you're going, girl?" his voice was angry and rude and he still held both her arms tight.

" Sorry!!". She muttered almost inaudibly, still staring down at the broken beads of the necklace on the ground as if looking at it for the first time. She felt her eyes fixed on the ground fill up with tears which threatened to trickle down. Her nose turned red immediately, and the man let go of her arms brutally, causing her to almost lose balance again.

" Is that the best you girls can do? Cry? Are all your nerve endings wired to your tear-ducts? Whatever happens, you start crying, thinking you can get away with everything' Well, not with me certainly, do you know how much this shirt costs?? Have you ever seen anything like this in your life?" he sneered at her, throwing her a dirty look," you're busy lamenting over this cheap, useless piece of chain."

Geet looked up, as his words pierced her soul. She stared at the man in front of her, who was good-looking and seemed affluent. Suddenly, she noticed that his eyes were full of anger and fury.Glancing down, she saw the torn part of his shirt, and said in an apologetic tone of voice, " Woh.. main.. I am extremely sorry, maine dekha nahin ke aap'" but was stopped halfway when the man sneered at her and said," Is that all you've got as an explanation, woman?"

Geet wiped her tears which had trickled down and at that moment,she didn't care that she had almost cried in front of a stranger. She placed her hands on her hips, and gave him a long deliberate look. Then slowly, she smiled cheekily, and said, " Sorry, I didn't recognize you earlier. But now, since I know who you are, I won't apologise anymore!!". The man stared at her, a thin film of confusion lining his otherwise angry eyes, when Geet raised her eyebrows mockingly and continued," What?"

" Tum kehna kya chahti ho, do you know who I am?" The man gritted his teeth, and spat out angrily. He was clearly angry at her and Geet decided to infuriate him further. Already she was feeling horrible for breaking her grandmother's chain, so the words reeled off her tongue on an accord of their own, " Yes, I know. You are a male chauvinist.. Aap woh ho, jo khud ko koi devta ya maha purush manta hain.. lekin, unfortunately, they are the only ones who think like that, No one else agrees with them!!".

She started laughing, throwing her head back. She was proud of her sense of humor and sarcasm, something which set a lot of people on fire. But when her eyes fell on the broken remains of her chain on the ground, she stopped laughing, and bent down hastily. Cupping the remains of the beads, broken pendent, and tattered string in her hand, the hazel eyes again filled with tears. She looked at the chain, and softly whispered, " I am sorry, Mumma..I am sorry Naani'", she was still busy staring at the chain, when she heard two words of comtempt from his mouth and lost her calm.

" Useless Creature",That was the final straw. She got up on her feet, and stubbed her index finger into his rock hard and half exposed chest, yelled out, " You broke my chain!!"

*****

Both were lost in the memory of the day they had first met. Maan had never imagined the long story which was behind their meeting. She was there to buy her wedding wear'he thought, too shocked to form any rational thoughts.

Geet sat quietly, without saying anything. Maan had a question nagging at the back of his mind, and though, he hated to utter his name from his mouth, he cleared his throat slightly and said,"Wasn't he'I mean'Dev there with you?"

"No," Geet replied promptly,"He never went out shopping with me for my wedding materials. According to him, I was intelligent and stylish enough myself. I didn't need his opinion. I was too proud to request him, so I went alone."

There was a silence for a few more minutes, but Maan was feeling sick with the stillness that was almost haunting him. He broke the quietness by saying, "We met again, after 5 days, haina?"

Geet snapped her head up at him and said, staring at him strangely, "Aapko yaad hain?"

He nodded his head, staring at her passionately, until she lowered her gaze.

"Hilton Hotel."

I'm not complaining but I would love to have a few more likes and comments. I'm trying to update as frequently as I can, so you all might as well...you know...😊

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Love

Sarzah

Res


Muahhahaa im first 😃
Brilliant part Sarzah. Just like the previous one. Very well narrated 👏
The more she narrates about her past, the more dev's behaviour sounds fishy.
Meera ki baat sunle geet, dev is upto no good 😕
Poor Maan he's registering that geet is married Is she? 😉
Cant wait for more 😊

🤗

res

nice one

okkk