Chapter 62
"Dadima, here. Take your medicine. You must take care of yourself," said Geet as she held out the glass of water and the pill in her hands to Savitri as she lay resting on her bed.
"You also need to take care of yourself, Beti. Did you take your medicine?"
Geet made a face, but answered, "Yes, Nakul almost forced me, on your orders, he said."
Savitri gave as stern a look as possible for a woman who just came back from the hospital could give while she said, "Geet, a stomach ulcer is no little thing. It can be quite serious if not treated properly, as I know Jaspreet explained to you, because I was there. Remember, you promised me to follow all of her instructions faithfully."
"I know, Dadima, but it's so hard. I'm supposed to eat such pheeka food and that means that I can't have even one nice, juicy, spicy, yummy gol gappa!" Geet exclaimed in disappointment, her mouth watering at the thought of the delicious Indian snack.
Chuckling slightly at the young girl's wistful expression, Savitri commented, "It's not forever, Geet. You just have to be on a strict diet for a little while. Once the medicine does its job and your ulcer begins to heal, you'll be able to starting eating all the spicy foods that you love again."
"I guess," came the plaintive response. Geet then moved away from the bed towards the wall where a photograph of Maan and his grandfather hung prominently among a group of pictures. "I still can't believe that Maan hasn't called or anything. I hope..."
"What do you hope, Beti?"
"Oh, nothing."
Savitri expressed a smile at Geet's lost expression. It was clear from the way she stared at Maan's picture that most, if not all of her animosity towards him over the launch party fiasco was gone. With an idea beginning to form in Savitri's mind, she decided not to tell Geet that Dev had finally reached Maan, who was now on his way back to India on the fastest jet he could charter. Instead, she asked Geet if she had thought anything about how she would confront Maan over the fact of her job once he did finally return. When Geet's answer came negative, Savitri suggested that Geet should herself look for a new secretary to take her place.
"New secretary?" Geet questioned, clearly the idea not having occurred to her.
"Yes, dear, a new secretary. If you find some nice girl to take your place, then it will be pretty hard for Maan to have any excuse not to let you go."
"Girl?" Savitri struggled to keep from smiling at the lost expression on Geet's face accompanying the one word question.
"Well, I don't say that a secretary can't be a man, after all this is a modern age we are in. However, I don't know if there is any man alive whose ego could withstand working with the ultimate egoist that is Maan Singh Khurana. No, it will definitely have to be a female, preferably some nice young woman who would become infatuated with my difficult grandson's good looks, thus giving her a good reason to ignore all his negative qualities."
"Maan isn't that bad, Dadima," Geet countered, pouting unconsciously as she considered some other girl working as Maan's secretary, someone as silly as Tasha or someone as arrogant as Sasha.
"Well, he is my grandson, but I do know that he has his faults. Anyway, you only were complaining that you can't work with him anymore, isn't it? The best way for you to leave KC without a fuss is to find someone to take your place. Why don't you call Adi and have him help you find some suitable candidates?" suggested the elderly woman.
Smiling secretly to herself as Geet agreed halfheartedly to her suggestion, Savitri began to think over the new plan forming inside her head. Before she had her attack the previous day, she had been planning to show Geet a number of the family photo albums in an attempt to give the young girl an alternate view of the man she frequently termed "dusht danaav". Her hope had been that a better understanding of Maan's life and where he had come from, would engender some softer feelings in Geet that might eventually lead to something more.
However, seeing Geet's restlessness on not knowing Maan's whereabouts had Savitri thinking that her original aim may have already come about on its own. By pushing Geet to look for any other girl to take her place as his secretary, Savitri was hoping that some old fashioned jealousy would be enough to clue the young girl into her feelings for her husband. The wise woman was sure from the changes that she had seen in Maan that he felt something for Geet, despite his outwardly gruff behavior. Yet nothing would happen if she left it up to him, hence this idea of making Geet jealous.
With Geet occupied in the task of looking for another secretary, Savitri had nothing to do but rest and wait for Maan to return home. He arrived early that evening, a mere half an hour after his jet landed at the airport. The speed at which he entered her room and rushed to her bedside mirrored his journey home, as did the speed at which he spoke.
"Dadima, didn't I warn you before I left to take care of yourself? What would I do if anything happened to you?" scolded Savitri's grandson, even as he held her in a loving embrace.
"Maan, if you are so worried about me, then maybe you should think about changing this habit you have acquired to run off on this long business trips," was her reply, along with a slight smack to his stubborn head.
"Dadima, I didn't just run off, there was a major crisis with our project in France and then I went to London to check out our progress there, but I would hardly call that running off. I was needed there."
"Well, you might consider the fact that you are also needed at home. If you don't spend time here, then how will you know what is going on in the house?"
When Maan questioned her meaning, Savitri just raised an eyebrow, before asking, "Have you seen Geet yet?"
"No. I didn't rush here from the airport to see how Geet's health is," was the sarcastic response.
"Well, perhaps you should have. I'm not sure you realize how hurt Geet was by your behavior at the launch party, or how angry at your refusal of her resignation."
Maan grimaced, turning away slightly, before replying, "I did try to apologize, but she wouldn't listen and then I got called away urgently. I'll deal with it."
"Maan, a person's feelings are not something that you just 'deal with'," said Savitri in a strict tone, not happy with his dismissive attitude. "Geet is a very sensitive girl."
"Dadima, don't worry about me and Geet. It will be fine. You just worry about taking enough rest and following all the doctor's instructions so that you stay healthy."
Maan spoke with Savitri for a little while before insisting that she go to sleep for an hour before having her dinner. After assuring himself that she was well settled, he left the room, intending to find Nakul to see if the doctors had given any special diet restrictions that needed following. Moving toward the stairs, he saw Geet coming up from the floor below. When she saw him she stopped dead, her face full of shock. Maan moved toward her, and as he did so, she instinctively moved back, her foot slipping as it reached the end of the step.
Maan didn't even take a moment of thought before reaching out to grasp her flailing hand, pulling her so hard that they accidentally embraced. Given the way they had last parted, Maan would have assumed that Geet would jerk away immediately, but she didn't. With her head resting on his chest, the gentle, pleasant fragrance of her perfume invading his senses, Maan felt an unexpected calm come over him, a sense of completeness. When she moved back slightly, looking at him squarely, Maan found that he couldn't look away from her beautiful, hazel brown eyes.
Precap
"I had thought that you were a naive, helpless, and somewhat clumsy, but nice enough girl. But now I finally understand the real you. You women can never do anything without making plans and trying to make men slaves to your games. Well, you picked the wrong target in Maan Singh Khurana."
"Maan, what are you talking about?"
Cricket
Book Talk
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