Chapter 54
Geet smiled excitedly as the heavy rain began pouring down on her. It was her first time being out in the rain in Delhi, and the wetness that began to drench her felt so good. To her surprise, Maan did not share her feelings, but hurried back into the car, as if being in the rain would do something dreadful to him. Well, the rain was just too tempting for Geet, so she forgot about Maan and started playing to her heart's content. She twirled around, happily spinning through the shower of cooling water.
Stretching out her hands to feel the large drops, she couldn't help but think of the last time she played in the rain. It had been the year previous, when she and Rajji had gotten caught in a downpour on their way home from school. Geet had dragged a reluctant Rajji out from the small shed they had found shelter in, ignoring the girl's protests about getting in trouble for being home late. She smiled at the memory until she remembered the truth.
She would never again be able to play in the rain with her siblings. It was she who had taught Rajji and Tito how to enjoy the rain, just as her father had taught her when she was little. Memories of time spent with her brother and sister flashed before her tear filled eyes, driving home just what it was she had lost in her life. Geet didn't know how much time passed as those memories replayed themselves, she didn't even remember where she was until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Coming out of her thoughts, Geet turned around to see Maan standing behind her.
"What happened, Geet," he asked, his eyes full of concern. "You were so happy before, so why these tears?"
How could Geet tell him that she was missing her family? How could she explain that she finally realized that she had no one now. No one, except him. This realization prompted Geet to seek comfort from the only person that there was available to her. She threw herself at Maan, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly, not even thinking about how shocked her action made him, or that he didn't reciprocate by putting his arms around her right away.
The only thing that Geet knew was that she didn't want to be alone. She wanted to feel like she belonged to a family, to someone. She wasn't aware when Maan's arms came around her tightly, but she did feel a sense of comfort from his action. The warmth of his presence calmed her down, giving her a welcomed feeling of security and belonging. The sensation didn't last long though, for she soon remembered who's arms she was actually in.
Pulling away abruptly, Geet stared at Maan in horror. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten the truth of their relationship. He had never considered her his in any sense, and he definitely wasn't hers. Whatever bond they had at the moment was temporary and it was the man standing in front of her who had decided to end it before it even really began.
Maan had no idea what had happened to Geet. One moment she was happy, the next moment she was crying and clinging to him as if her life depended on it. Then all of a sudden she was pulling out of his arms, saying sorry and that she wanted to go home, before rushing to get into the wheel-less car. Running his hand through his dripping hair, Maan tried to think what might have happened to Geet, but he really had no clue. The girl was a complete enigma to him.
Not wanting to continue standing out in the rain while she sat in the useless car, Maan also got inside. Geet was turned away, looking out of the passenger side window. Maan wasn't even sure if she was aware that he had gotten into the car, but she must have been, for she started speaking to him. In a very quiet voice, she said that she had used his cellphone, which he had left in the car, to call home for assistance. Mohan would be coming soon with another car and to take care of the missing wheels problem. That was all she said to him, and from her behavior, Maan could tell that she was not interesting in talking. Rather than force her, he sat quietly and waited, hoping that she would talk when she was ready. It wasn't too much of a wait, before Maan and Geet found themselves heading back to the mansion.
When they arrived home, Maan again tried to talk with Geet, but she ran into the outhouse before he could say more than her name. Maan stood silently in the rain, watching her retreating back disappear inside. He stayed there even after she was out of view, slowly realizing that he was standing out in the rain, something he had never done purposely before. He remembered what Geet had said earlier when she tried to get him to join her out in the rain. Extending his arms and leaning his head back, he let the rain envelope hin in its smooth coolness. After a few minutes he lowered his hands in surprise at what he had done.
"I am changing. This Geet has changed me."
The words were not utter in anger, but with clear confusion. Maan had no idea what had happened to him. He did not know how this girl had been able to get him to do things he had never done in his life, in fact hated doing. Though he walked into the outhouse slowly, his mind was going through such chaotic thoughts, that he didn't really know where he was.
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"Where is MK?" Sasha muttered to herself for the fifth time that morning. "I don't care what she said, it's all that stupid Geet's fault that he's not here in the office, I'm sure. And that Geet! I can't get over how full of herself she is. I mean, taking it upon herself to go over all the details of the contract and launch party timing with Mr. Chopra. I can't understand why MK lets her get away with this."
"Sasha...I mean, Ma'am," called Tasha, hurrying up to where Sasha stood in the corner of her office. "DD is finally here."
"MK is in the office?"
"Yes. And do you know what else? I was talking to the parking guard, and he told me that from the time Geet started working here, she's been dropped of in a car, and DD has been driving himself to work. I thought maybe this was some important information, at least it seemed important to me. Is it?"
"Probably, but I'll think about that later. Right now I want to talk with MK," said Sasha, already heading towards the office door.
It took a few minutes of asking around before Sasha was able to locate Maan, and when she did, she got another surprise. KC's owner was heading toward the office pantry, something he had never ever done before. Sasha got into a bit of trouble when she questioned him over it, for he didn't like to be questioned by his staff. Of course, Sasha couldn't do anything but stand in wonder and watch him walk with arrogance into the pantry. A minute later, she saw Geet hurry into the pantry after him.
"Ma'am, what is going on?" asked Tasha incredulously. "First, DD goes in the pantry, something he's never done before, and then that behenji goes in after him. Do you think they're trying to have a clandestine meeting?"
Sasha glared at Tasha, questioning back, "Do you even know what 'clandestine' means? Anyway, that is a stupid assumption. As much as I hate to admit it, they're married. They can see each other whenever they want. No, that's not what the problem is, I'm sure."
"Look, DD's coming out and he looks angry. Do you think that they had a fight, Sasha...I mean Ma'am. Silly me."
Geet came out a moment later, and when no upset was visible on her face, Sasha concluded, "I don't think they had a fight, or if they did, then that behenji is the dumbest girl ever to look so cheerful afterwords. No, I don't know what's wrong with MK, but I don't think they had a fight. I just wish there was a way for me to spy on them in the mansion, because they only ever seem to talk about work when they are in the office, which doesn't illuminate their true relationship much."
Tasha felt her eyes gloss over a bit at Sasha's long speech, but there was one part that stood out to her. "Spy on them in the Khurana mansion? How would you be able to do that?"
"I don't know, Tasha, but I will have to try and think of something. I just can't let that behenji get away with whatever she's trying to get away with. I can't."
At that particular moment, Geet was only worried about rectifying a mistake on the launch party invitations. She had brought the card with her into the pantry for Maan to see, though she was a bit surprised that he was there instead of his office. He was also acting strange in other ways, but when he saw the spelling error on the invitation, he was right back to his dusht danaav ways. Thinking that he must be worried about something, Geet determined to do everything in her power to see that the invitation was fixed.
The printer's shop was in Chandni Chowk. Geet decided that it would be better to go there in person and make sure the invitation was done right, rather than try calling on the phone. Since Maan was upset, Geet felt there was no point trying to talk to him at the moment. She instead planned to tell Adi her plans, but he was nowhere to be found either. Pinky was the only other person in the office that Geet trusted, but her friend was busy answering calls, so Geet left a note on her desk before venturing out to Delhi's busiest market.
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