Shackles of Love#4# MG FF Chpt 17-21 - Page 70

bina update diye kanhi nahii jana hai aapko

@sana..nahi jaing darling

Hey guys. 😃

Thank you soo much for your patience. And for all your wishes. I am all better now. Except for the khotte marks. 😡😭😭😭

Here is the update. I know a lot of tamatars are gonna come my way, but kya karu, aadat si ho gayee hai! 😉😉

Anyways, what I wanted to say was, I am going out of town next week, from Tuesday to Sunday.

⭐️Miss me and enjoy.⭐️

"Geet, come on get up! It's time for your medicines. Eat something and then you can sleep if you wish to. I am leaving for office. Have some urgent work to take care of, and while I am gone, you better not move an inch out of this bed." He stated without looking at her.

She nodded her head to his words, not wanting to spoil the truce she felt brewing between them. Glad that she was not arguing with him, he continued, "Freshen up and come fast, I will serve lunch."

"Lunch? Abhi?"

He rolled his eyes, "If you haven't noticed its past 12 now. You were pretty exhausted, so I didn't wake you up earlier. Chalo jaldi utho abhi." And, left the room.

Geet stared at this miracle in front of her. Was this really Maan? Talking to her so politely and caring for her? She had thought yesterday night was a one off, but looks like Maan was really sorry and was making an effort to take this relationship forward. "Babaji! Please is baar sab theek kar dena."

She freshened up and hurried over to join him for lunch. They both ate hungrily, not a word passing between them.

But the silence for a change was not uncomfortable.

After finishing, Geet moved to take their plates, but was stopped with his trademark "Geeettt!" she made a moue to which he rolled his eyes. "Didn't I tell you are not doing anything? Go take your medicines and rest. TV dekhna hai to dekho. But don't get up from the bed. I will come and make dinner, ok?"

Without giving her a chance to speak, he ushered her back to the bedroom and after ensuring that she was comfortable, left.

And those were the last words they had spoken before all hell had broken loose.

==========

Maan was working in his office when the door opened slowly and a young girl peeped in. On seeing him working, she shyly kept staring at him, taking in her fill. Her heart was all Dhak Dhak as always on seeing him.

She had first seen him three years ago, when she had visited her dad in his office at KC during vacations. One look at him, entering the office, with that entire attitude had made her fall head over heels. She had been besotted. To her he was the embodiment of all the film stars rolled into one. The charisma oozing out of Maan Singh Khurrana had not left even her alone. She had followed him around like a devotee, treating him as her idol. When the idol had turned into obsession, even she didn't know. But as she grew, and understood the world, she came to the conclusion that she loved him.

One look from those intense dark eyes, and a smile for her when Dad had introduced them had been enough to make her decide that he would be hers. It had taken her time to name the feeling coursing through her, but she at last knew it was love. He was hers, and she would be his. It was just a matter of time.

And he was! Her MK! She had been privileged enough to be granted the use of that name. No one else dared call him that.

When she had heard about his marriage, she had been enraged. How could he? Weren't they meant to be together? She was not going to let some other woman steal her man!

And so Sasha Parekh had vowed to do her utmost to throw that woman out of her MK's life.

As she stepped in, Maan irritably looked up to see who it was. He had warned Pari that he wanted to be alone. The situation with Geet was fraying on his nerves and he was always on edge nowadays. It had been six long days. Their relationship was hanging together by a thin string, waiting for something to snap it off.

Staying away from her was a much needed diversion. Since he had admitted his attraction for her, he was in a dilemma. He was in no state to accept her in his life, and truth be told, he didn't want to. Enough complications in his life existed and adding another woman to it was far down his list.

But her eyes haunted him. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could see her smiling at him, questioning him with her eyes. He knew that she knew that he was ignoring her, but he preferred it that way. His self control would only stretch so far. And he was, but human. Her ways to gain his attention were childish at best, he thought in amusement.

"Hey MK" a voice broke his reverie.

A slight smile lifted his lips at her sight, "Hey Sasha. How are you? Your dad didn't tell me you were coming. Everything ok in school, kiddo?" he asked indulgently.

"MK! Stop calling me that! I am not a kid! I am all of sixteen now. A big girl! If you haven't noticed!" she whined, a typical childish reaction, smoothing down the skirt of her ultra short dress. She had brought a whole new wardrobe in order to get him to realize that she was not a child now, but a woman.

Maan looked at her in disapproval, "Sasha those are not the clothes to wear at a site! Does your dad know about it?"

Sasha laughed bitterly. "Yeah sure. As if he ever had time for me. He doesn't get time from all those bimbos who flutter around about him like bitches in…"

"Sasha!" Maan broke her off. "Behave! That's not the way to talk about your father. I know for a fact that he loves u. So you better give him the respect he deserves."

"MK can you stop sounding like a broken record? We have had this conversation. If he loves me so much," she said sarcastically, "why does he keep sending me away to a hostel? I know! I know! 'A construction site is no place for a growing girl'" she mimicked her father. "He just sends me away so I don't hamper his lifestyle. All those woman…"

"Was there a reason you came here? Or was it just to annoy me?"

"So now you don't have time for me either! Now that you have a wife!" her nostrils flared in anger at the word.

"Of course not, sweetheart! I will always have time for my favorite girl." He said tolerantly.

"And here I was thinking I was your favorite Veerji!" a voice piped in. Both looked up to see Naintara making her way towards them.

"Hello Sasha dear, how are you? How is school?" Naintara pointedly asked to make her realize that she was just a kid.

Her Veerji might be blind, but everyone else knew about the humongous crush Sasha has on Maan. It was almost laughable to see her trying to gain his attention.

"Naintara Di, how are you?" Sasha asked with saccharine sweetness. She knew how much Naintara meant to Maan, and so behaved decently in front of him.

There was no love lost between them, as Sasha preferred to think that she was the only woman in her MK's life. Naintara put up with her childishness because she knew deep down, Sasha was not bad. She was just a lonely kid, going through a painful adolescence, seeking out love and affection.

Having lost his wife, who he loved to death, Virat Parekh had turned away from the world, to drown his sorrows. Sasha had been just ten, and had to cope with the double loss of her parents. By the time Virat got over his grief, the chasm between them had widened too much to breach. Both father and daughter were unable to reach each other.

In this painful time, she had met Maan and had latched onto him as her life line. Maan, who knew what it was to have no parental affection, had indulged her, but was clueless as to her love.

He treated her as a little sister, caring for her, pampering her. But this gave Sasha wrong notions and she started getting up her dreams.

"So Sasha, did you meet my bhabhi?" she asked her innocently. "She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Aakhir mere Veerji ki choice hai!" she said winking at Maan, who ignored her teasing even when Geet's face flashed in front of his eye.

Just the thought of his name being linked with another woman, made Sasha's blood boil. She left in a fit of rage, with a "Bye Mk. I will see you later. I remembered some important work" and huffed off giving an evil glare to Naintara behind Maan's back.

After she left, Maan turned to Naintara, "To what do I owe this pleasure? Am I forgiven yet?"

"No! You are not." She retorted. "I came here coz I wanted to discuss something."

"Hmmm…"

"Wo actually Veerji," Naintara hesitated.

"Bolo na Naintara, what is it that is making you hesitate?"

"Wo Veerji, I wanted to ask you whether you need any financial help?" she blurted out in a fit. "Don't misunderstand me. I know this month there have been unusual expenses which must have really pushed your budget, pehle aapki shaadi, fir Geet ke wo hospital ke bills…"

Maan took in a deep breath, trying to think of a solution. How was he to tell her that they would never need to worry about money now? If he told her that now, it would make her suspicious. It was better left for later.

"No Naintara I am fine. I will manage. Tum tension mat lo. Agar mujhe kuch chahiye hoga, to apni behan se nahi to kisse maangoonga?" he asked her, praying she wouldn't question him further.

"If you say so, Veerji." Naintara smiled back and got up to hug him before leaving with a "This does NOT mean you are forgiven!"

Geet who had decided to come meet Maan that day, hid in the corner as Naintara left. "Babaji inhe paiso ki itni takleef hai, phir bhi mujhe kabhi ehsaas nahi hone diya. He got me whatever I asked. Mai to sirf inhe satane ke liye ye sab kar rahi thi. Aur maine inki pareshaaniyo ko aur badha diya! Geet tu bhi na! Jhalli! Kya zaroorat thi wo bematlab ki cheeze mangwane ki! Abhi bhugat!"

===========

A week had passed since that night when they both had silently called a truce in their shackled relationship.

And Maan was driving her insane with all his gracious concern!

He was the epitome of solicitousness. He maintained a polite demeanor in front of her. No angry words, no words at all if he had his way. He was avoiding her as much as possible.

She did stupid things to gain his attention, but it all failed. He refused to rise to bait. Just a couple of days back, she had given him a long list of things which she thought were "absolutely essential" for her to live happily. The list contained frivolous items which she was sure she won't even look at. There were cosmetics galore, a few outrageous MnBs with scandalous cover pages which still made her cheeks burn by just seeing it, a board game, and other such stuff.

But he had got all of them over and given them to her, asking politely if she needed anything else. She thought she detected sarcasm in his tone, but his face was straight and she could not perceive anything. Now she was feeling guilty over it. Being brought up in HP, she had had all her materialistic needs fulfilled. Money had never been an issue, and so she had never thought about it. But after overhearing Maan and Naina Di's conversation, she realized that now her life had changed. And she should think about her husband's finances too. She had never asked him what he did, or how much he earned. Never having thought about money and living on a budget. But she should have realized, she guessed, the condition of the car, the barrenness of the house, they were dead giveaways, but she had been too busy in her airy fairy dreams to connect the dots.

If she had for a moment thought about why Darji had got her married to a not-so-well-to-do man, she had vanquished the thought. Maan was a good man. Ghussa bhale hi naak pe rehta ho, she thought shyly.

She thought back to her Mami and her late Preeto Bhabhi. Even after being married into an affluent household, were they really happy? The men in their lives treated them as less than dirt. Was money really a compensation for all that emotional and physical distress?

On the contrary, there was Annie and Naintara. Anyone can see the happiness and contentment in their eyes. And it came from being loved.

Will Maan love her same way ever? She wondered. "Geet! If you stop your childish acts and focus on understanding him better, he might start liking you! What was the need for that little prank? Khamakha unki pareshaniyon ko aur badha diya!" she thought guiltily. But then she thought back to his behavior over the last week and her temper drowned the guilt.

He took care of her every need, sometimes even before she mentioned it, looking after her. Even after the doctor had given her a clean chit after three days, he had not allowed her to work.

Naintara and Annie were smothering her with their anxiety too.

Naintara had blown the roof when she had returned the next day to find Geet's hand in that condition. Geet had tried to brush it off by saying it was not Maan's fault, but the cuts and burns on Maan's hands had not escaped her notice. Naintara knew her brother well enough to guess they were his way of dealing with his guilt. It had taken them an hour to calm her down by telling her the truth. Now she wasn't allowed to even move a toe without their permission.

They both had been suitably chastised. Whereas Geet got let off easy for not letting anyone know about her wrist immediately, with just a lot of tears and emotional drama, Maan was still in the dog house for having ignored an injury which Geet repeatedly kept saying he did not know about. After a lot of pleading and cajoling, Geet had been forgiven for 'not wanting to spoil their day out' whereas Maan was 'on probation' according to his sister.

She was surrounded by either Naintara or Annie whole day so the chances of her talking to Maan were remote. At night also, he brought in work and came late by which time she was asleep. It was as if their close encounters had never happened and Geet was getting restless. At least when he was angry, he was talking to her, fighting with her. This was an abyss which had no start and no end. The days were just going by without notice like a leaf drifting aimlessly in the wind.

But his silence had the opposite effect on her, "Kam se kam jab ghussa karte hai to baat to karte hai mujhse."

She had to do something to gain his attention. This indifference was driving her nuts. She remembered Naintara's words about tricking the men.

~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~

Geet pounced on her immediately, hugging her, glad to have found a solution. "Sach didi? Aap sikhaoge mujhe wo firangi khana pakana?"

"Haan kyu nahi! Magarrr…." Naintara smirked, wiping the smile off Geet's face.

"Magar kya?" she asked hesitantly.

"Magar tumhe humara ek kaam karna hoga!" butted in Annie who had just entered.

"Kaisa kaam?"

Naintara and Annie smirked at each other and surrounded Geet from both sides. Geet looked at the evil smiles on their faces and muttered "Didi aapke iraade mujhe nek nahi lag rage hai! Aap rehne do mai khud kuch seekh loongi!" and started to get up, only to be pulled down by Annie.

"Tum to jaanti ho, Holi aa rahi hai. So we want you to get Maan Veerji to come play Holi with us and…"

"Kyu wo Holi nahi khelte?" she asked innocently?

Naintara and Annie burst out laughing, "Geet tum Veerji ko kitne dino se jaanti ho? Tumhe ye bhi nahi pata Maan Veerji ko kisi bhi type ki celebrations se chid hai? Logon ko dekhte hi unko ghussa aata hai! Bas apne ghar me mu phula kar baithe rahenge, ya office ke kaam ke bahane avoid karenge!"

"But this year you are here na. So we thought this time we won't let him get away so easily. He will have to celebrate Holi with us."

Geet complained, "Babaji kaha phasa diya! Yaha meri jaan pe ban aayi hai, aur inko Holi khelna hai! Haan haan! Khelo Holi, mere khoon se kheleo! Wo to mujhe kaccha kha jayenge agar maine unhe aisa kuch bhi bola to!" while thinking to herself. "Agar zinda bachi to na firangi khana seekhne ka fayda hoga!"

"Dekha Didi, Veerji ne kaise abhi se bhabhi pe apna jaadu chala ke rakha hai, unke khilaaf kuch nahi karengi yeh!" Annie turned around and winked at Naintara. Naintara hammed it up, "Haan Annie, humari to koi kadar hi nahi hai! Bas hum hi hai jo ise apna samajh rahe the!

Geet was in a quandary now, she didn't want to disappoint her SILs but neither did she want to mess with Maan, when it struck her and she asked suspiciously, "Aapne to mujhse Maan ko Holi khilane ke liye razi karne kaha tha, to isme unke KHILAAF jaane ki baat kaha se aa gayee?"

Annie and Naintara looked at each other in chagrin, their tale caught! Their expressions were enough to make her forget any planning with them. "Nahi nahi nahi! Mai aapka koi saath nahi dene wali!"

"Okies listen! Last year these men set us up. They planned the whole thing and humari Holi kharab kar di! Hume khelne bhi nahi diya! So this year we want to take revenge" Annie whined seeing that Geet was going to leave.

"Accha? Aisa kya kiya Jijaji ne? Aap Holi nahi khel rahe the to kya kar rahe the? Aur aapko unhone khelne kyu nahi di?" Geet asked innocently.

Annie rolled her eyes and pulled Geet's cheeks "Arre meri bholi bhali Geet bhabhi! Kya hoga aapka! See the thing is, the men in our lives are so possessive that they can't stand anyone else even playing Holi with us and so they planned things such that humko unhone bhang pila di, aur hum poora din sote rahe!"

"Haan, poora Holi ka plan kharaab kar diya! We had a huge get together planned! Humne host kiya tha, kitne logo ko bulaya tha! And can you believe, we ourselves disappeared almost at the start? Itna embarrassing tha!" Naintara frowned.

"We had to bear so many taunts from everybody for weeks. And to top it all, the men got away scot free! Kisi ki himmat ke unse koi sawaal kare!" Annie was on the roll, grinding her teeth! "They behaved like typical MCPs! This year we will show them what embarrassment is!"

"Unhone sab kuch kiya aur blame humpe aa gaya!" added Naintara.

"Lekin Didi, agar aap so rahe the, to dono Jijaji aur Maan kya kar rahe the? Why weren't they present to take care of the guests?"

Both Annie and Naintara blushed a deep red at her question, pricking Geet's interest. "Err Geet wo chodo na, tum bolo, saath dogi humare?"

"Nahi pehle aap mujhe poori baat batayiye!" Geet insisted.

"Ziddi ladki hai bilkul! Mai na kehti thi Maan Veerji ke liye perfect hai!" Annie said to no one in particular!

"Geet obviously if we were indisposed, do you think our darling husbands will let the golden opportunity slip by?" at Geet's blank look Annie hit her head in frustration while Naintara exclaimed. "Geet! They were also with us! Doing…." As the tube light flashed in her brain, Geet turned beet red and her mouth dropped open in an O.

"Now you understand? Why it was embarrassing? And why we need to take revenge?"

Geet nodded in compliance, still not convinced, she ventured, "But what is Maan's fault in this? Unhe aap kyu bali ka bakra bana rahe ho?"

"Because my darling little innocent, it was Maan Veerji who gave us the mixed bhang! You think we are so stupid that we would drink anything our husbands offered after their show of male dominance? And they knew it. That's why they got Veerji to do their dirty work. And we like the foolish sisters, took him at his words!"

"Yes! And this year we have vowed to teach them a lesson they won't forget in a hurry, Maan Veerji included!" Naintara said in a determined voice. "And you darling are an added bonus. Maan Veerji ko tang karne ke liye tumse better aur kaun! They would never suspect you. So you are our winning card. Let them also realize woman power at its best!"

"Yes! So what do you say Geet? Time to show them who the weaker sex is?" Annie ventured forward with her palm open which Naintara immediately clasped.

"Sorry Didi! But I won't go against Maan. Pehli Holi pe kaise mai unke khilaaf kuch kar sakti hu," Geet said in a subdued voice, "Mujhe maaf kar dijiye par mai aapka saath nahi de sakti." A tear fell down her eye as she expected them to sideline her now.

To her surprise, both of them hugged her tight! "Geet, why are you crying? Buddhu! Isme rone ki kya baat hai? Hum tumhe force thodi kar rahe hai. Infact, jaan ke accha laga ke you want to take our Veerji's side. Isse zyaada kisi behan ko kya chahiye?"

"Chalo chalo, I will teach you how to make Veerji's favourite pasta. Tum tension mat lo." Naintara calmed her down telling her the list of ingredients. "You go and get everything ready; I will come in half an hour."

After Geet left Annie flopped down on the couch, "Didi abhi kya karenge? Geet ne to mana kar diya! Agar wo maan jaati to it would have been so simple."

"All is not lost Annie. There is still time for Holi. Let her stay with Maan Veerji for a week, wo khud aayegi humare saath haath milane!" Naintara laughed. "Pati parmeshwar wala saara bhoot utar jayega uska!"

Annie couldn't resist adding, "And if the husband in question is Maan Veerji, then I am sure it will take just 4 days to get her around!"

Both of them hi-fied each other and decided to wait for Geet to realize the importance of women power.

~~~~~END FLASHBACK~~~~~~

That was it! That was what she needed to do in order to break this truce.

She needed to do something to irritate him again. And if she knew anything about the two women in her life, it was that they did nothing in half measures. They were sure to go all out with their guns blazing. That would certainly gain Maan's attention.

With a determined look, she went over to her Naina Di's house to eat humble pie and beg to be added in the scheme.

Annie and Naintara exchanged a victorious look over her head as they hugged her and detailed their plan.

Naintara gave her a small bottle containing some blue colored pills and told her, "You just have to convince the guys to have breakfast made by your hands on Holi day and make sure you mix this in it. And the breakfast better be cornflakes or pasta, no oily parathe. Get it?"

"But Didi, what is this?"

To which Naintara just smirked. "Paybacks gonna be a bitch ladies. That's all you both need to know!"

"Par…."

"Geet!" Naintara said sternly, "Don't you trust me?"

"Aisi baat nahi hai. I just…"

"Trust me babes! The less you know the better."

Annie piped in, "That's it Di?"

She looked pityingly at Annie, "Annie sometimes I can't believe you are my sister!" She rolled her eyes when Annie pouted, "Did you think even for a second that Naintara Rathode Khanna would do anything in half measures?", to which Annie shook her head dutifully, "That's just the Kaali Daal, lekin bina Tadke ke daal me mazaa aata hai kya?" she asked to no one in particular an evil smile lightening up her countenance at the thought of the mle conquered!

Hello guys.😃😃

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KaminisKult

awsome part dee...thanx a loot for the update...sasha is here too...😡

Originally posted by: euphoric

i lubss u ttooo jaanemann

Originally posted by: euphoric

Jiuuu tere liyeee MSGgg

Originally posted by: aashluvsmaan

i lubss u ttooo jaanemann

lekin tu update kabhi karring😡

Originally posted by: CherubNoor

hey sonia, 🤗

wen are u planning to update kaliren and ripped apart ????

eagerly waiting for your updates ..

YEs dear plzz do update fast...

long and nice update aashu...