Chapter 46
Maan glared at the offending objects which graced his desk, as if his gaze would burn them out of existence. This was certainly not what he had expected to see first thing when he walked into he office on a Monday morning. He knew that no one would dare to do such a thing, no one except one very frustrating girl. Picking up the phone angrily, Maan called Geet into his office, ready to do his worst. She barely was able to say she had brought white roses because white was his favorite color, when he let loose on her.
The most galling thing was, that even though he gave her a crushing set down for her stupidity, she still had the nerve to argue with him. She spouted a lot of nonsense about how she had been brought up to truly show her appreciation to a person when she was thankful. It got to the point where Maan had to order her to take the flowers away and throw them out, since she didn't seem able to get the hint on her own.
If all of this wasn't enough, Geet couldn't even keep herself from getting pricked by the rose thorns. When he tried to show some concern, she just left without even saying sorry, attitude sitting squarely on her nose. Noticing a flower that was left behind, Maan contemplated whether he had been too harsh with her or not. It wasn't like he wanted to always be yelling at her, but when she did crazy stuff like this, how else was she supposed to realize who was the boss? Regardless, Maan wasn't to worried because he figured that she would get over her anger soon enough.
Hours later, sitting alone in her office, Geet was still angry with Maan. Finding out from Pinky that their boss hated flowers, especially roses, did nothing to cool her ire. So what if Maan didn't like roses? To Geet's way of thinking, he still should have accepted her gift politely, even if he didn't want it or like it. He definitely should not have yelled or spoken to her like he did.
"I couldn't possibly say, thank you for the flowers, Geet, I really appreciate them," she mimicked with a deep voice, doing her impression of Maan. "No, I just have to stand there and say mean things with my big, big eyes, because I'm the boss, and if I ever act nice, people might mistake me for a human being."
Geet put her elbows on the desk, holding her head with her hands, pouting as she thought. She wondered if she would be able to stick to her resolve. She had been so angry about not only the flowers rejection but also Maan telling her not to talk anymore, that she has planned not to say another word to him. She quickly realized that not talking was not only very immature, but not really practical in an office like KC. Instead, she had decided to keep to just "yes, sir" and "no, sir" as much as possible, writing notes or emails for longer communication.
"If he doesn't want to hear my voice, then he won't," Geet whined. "Dusht danaav! And I don't care that I had decided to postpone thinking about school because he was so nice the other day. He blows so hot and cold that you never know what's going on. For sure I am going to talk with Dadima tonight. With the way things have been going, I can't count on having this job forever. I need to come up with some plan for my future."
"Geet, are you still in her worrying over what happened with DD?" asked Pinky much later when she came happily walking through the door, a half eaten sandwich in her hand. "Anyway, it's seven, which means it's time to go home now. Don't think about it any more. You're both husband and wife, so it will blow over."
"That's what you think," muttered Geet under her breath.
"Geet, don't you think it's a bad idea to keep these flowers on your desk? If DD sees them, he will just get angry again."
"I don't care what that dusht danaav thinks. I bought those flowers, and if he doesn't want them, then that means they are mine. If he is too 'angry young man' to enjoy their beauty, why should that stop me?"
"I don't know, Geet. I would be too scared to defy DD like that," Pinky replied, taking a bite out of her sandwich to steady her nerves.
"Well, I'm not scared of that Dusht Danaav!" claimed Geet proudly as she grabbed her bag and headed out the door.
This claim was put to the test a few hours later at the outhouse when Maan began calling Geet's name loudly. Geet had just started to get ready for bed when she heard him calling. Fearing that something might be wrong with Savitri, she rushed downstairs, uncaring about anything else. When all it turned out to be was Maan had received a phone call from Mr. Chopra, Geet was not at all happy.
"You called me down here, practically shouting the house down, just because of a client's phone call? I thought something had happened to Dadima, or the house was on fire or something," Geet complained.
"Oh, so you are actually talking to me now?" questioned Maan, momentarily ignoring that fact that Geet was actually close to shouting at him.
"What does that mean? When did I stop talking to you? If I spoke a little less in the office, it was only because you told me not to say another word, but how practical is that in an office setting?"
"I can do without the attitude, Miss Know-it-all. I just had a phone call from Mr. Chopra. He needs to leave for London at noon tomorrow, so he wants to see the finalized blueprints tomorrow morning before we sign the contract," stated Maan.
"But the blueprints aren't finished yet. How can we show Mr. Chopra finished blueprints when they aren't done. It will take hours to get them ready. It's not possible to show them in the morning," stated Geet firmly.
Maan rolled his eyes before saying, "Yes, it is impossible for someone with your brains, and I wouldn't be bothering you if this wasn't your project. Come on."
"Hey, let go! Where are you taking me?" cried Geet when Maan grabbed her arm and began to lead her towards the door.
"To the office so that we can finish the blueprints. Where else?"
"What? At this time of night? Are you crazy? I'm in my pajamas!"
Maan, who had momentarily forgot about Geet's state of dress, told her that she should go get changed, but that they were definitely going to the office to finish the work. Geet grumbled, but did as Maan said, though she constantly muttered to herself about the "dusht danaav" and his high handed ways. When they arrived back at the office, Geet was left to idle in her cabin while Maan was elsewhere, causing the young woman's imagination to start working overtime.
"How weird this Maan is. Couldn't he have just calmly told Mr. Chopra that the blueprints couldn't be finished so soon? But no, he had to 'meet the client's demand". Now we're stuck here late at night and I am feeling very strange. What if somebody strange is roaming the halls? Maan is here of course, and he is very strong, but he left me alone. What would I do if some stranger came along and tried to do something with me?"
Geet looked around her office for some kind of weapon she could use to defend herself against the imaginary attacker. Finally her eyes landed on a letter opener. Grabbing the item out of it's spot, she inspected it fully, happy to see how effective it could be against unwanted advances. She felt much better with the tool in her hand, until Maan came in the room requesting that she bring some files. Quickly putting her hands behind her back, Geet looked at Maan nervously, noticing that his attention seemed to be focussed not at her, but at her desk.
Following his gaze to the white flowers that still sat there, Geet stuttered, "Uh, there wasn't any room in the waste basket. That's why the flowers are still here."
"Really," came the amused reply. "Then why is the basket empty?"
Geet's eyes automatically darted to the mentioned basket, before saying, "Obviously that trash was emptied after I left earlier this evening. That doesn't mean that now I'm going to throw the flowers away. After all, this is my office, my table, my flowers. I can have want I want on my own desk, right?"
"Fine," declared Maan conceding to her logic. "As long as those flowers stay away from my office, then it's fine."
Geet heaved a sigh of relief when Maan turned to go, only to be caught unawares when he turned back and asked, "What do you have hidden behind your hand?"
Geet didn't want to admit what she had been up to, so she naturally denied that she had anything. Maan being himself wouldn't let it go. When he found out what it was she had, he was not impressed. He assumed that she was holding the paper cutter because she wanted protection from his supposed amorous advances. Telling her that she was no fairy from heaven, and not that beautiful that he couldn't control himself, he ordered her to hurry and come to a specific conference room, and not to forget to bring the necessary files.
"Again this Maan makes his stupid assumptions," cribbed Geet when Maan had left. "Why would I need to use a weapon on him? He anyway has made it clear that he doesn't want anything to do with me in that way. Oh, Geet, why are you even bothering. You should just hurry up and follow him, otherwise who knows what crazy person might come along and get you."
Precap
"Geet, what did you do?"
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