Chapter 58
Maan walked very confidently through the hallways of The Taj Palace, the hotel's efficient staff having directed him to the Shah Jehan hall. As soon as he set foot into the room, he reassessed his opinion of the staff's efficiency. It was clear to him for the decor, that he had been mistakenly directed to some marriage celebration. Turning around, Maan intended to go back and demand he be shown to the correct venue when a loud drumming grabbed his attention. He never expected to see the sight he was presented with, the shock temporarily keeping his fury from erupting.
"Sir, how did you like our dancing?" questioned Adi with a nervous smile, once all the employees had stood at attention in front of their employer. "We all tried very hard to get back to our cultural roots."
"What the hell is this?" barked Maan angrily, scaring the young man out of his wits, while a smirking Sasha and laughing Tasha looked on. "Do you all think Khurana Constructions is some circus? Who the hell arranged all this nonsense?"
"G..g...g..geet, Sir," was the single muffled reply, while the others looked on silently.
"Geet?" repeated Maan with deadly calm.
"Yes, MK, all of this was Geet's idea. Geet arranged everything. She notified all of the staff that traditional clothing was a must for this party, that the theme was Indian. She, she even had PR rewrite your statement to the press. Look, it's in all of the newspapers."
Sasha produced a copy of said newspapers to back up her statement, but Maan barely glanced at the thing before demanded, "With whose permission did Geet turn this launch party into a cheap theatrical display? And what are all of you doing here, dancing bhangra as if you belong to a Punjabi dance company, huh?"
Giving a very convincing performance of wounded misunderstanding, Sasha answered, "MK, you were the one who gave Geet the job of planning this launch party. We were only going by what she informed us. I thought you were aware of her plans."
****
"Tasha, did you see how angry MK was? This turned out even better than I expected."
"Yes, Sasha, I mean, Ma'am. That behenji is sure to get it good from DD now. She won't be able to escape this time."
****
"GEET!"!
The loud echoing of her name throughout the small room had Geet coming out of her reverie of preparation in shock. Stormy eyes met her gaze in the mirror, forcing Geet to turn around to confront the angry lion head on. It was only when she saw Maan's gaze trailing down her body, that Geet realized she was without her dupatta, leaving her chest heavily exposed by the low cut kurti she was wearing. Feeling too vulnerable by her state of slight undress, Geet felt fortunate that Maan took pity on her, snatching her dupatta from the nearby rack and tossing it her way. She did not feel so fortunate when Maan turned back toward her once she was presentable, ready to unleash his fury on her.
"How dare you!" he whispered furiously. "How dare you!"
"What? Maan, I don't..."
"I'm the one who should be asking what. What the hell did you think you were doing? Are you just stupid, or are you deliberately trying to ruin me with this ridiculous Indian shaadi theme you cooked up? Do you realize that there is no time to rectify this blunder before the guests arrive? I don't even know what I'm going to say to Mr. Chopra when he wants an explanation."
"Maan, you are upset for no reason. Trust me, I know exactly what I'm doing and..."
"Trust you? I never should have trusted you. I was a fool to trust you! Nobody makes a fool out of Maan Singh Khurana, nobody!" Maan burst out, not letting Geet finish in his anger.
Not willing to take Maan's attitude quietly, Geet fired back, "Then why did you give me this party assignment, huh? Why did you give me the Chopra project in the first place? If you didn't trust me, then why did you never respond to any of my messages? I tried so many times to talk to you about the party, but you wouldn't respond. You told me that I should do my work professionally, so that is what I did. Actually, I think I've been working professionally since I started. The truth is, that everything was fine until that night at the dhabba. Everything changed after that. You changed after that and I don't know why I don't understand what your problem is!"
"You, don't understand what my problem is. You don't understand. What a joke! You are my problem. I never should have let you work for me. You've been nothing but a disaster for this company from day one. No, that doesn't even describe the half of it. From the time you came into my life, I've been plagued by your presence. I never should have married you!" cried Maan in a fury, unable to take her accusations that he had changed.
"Haan! Now we have come to the matter, that you never wanted to marry me. But you solved that problem right away, didn't you? By showing me those divorce papers and telling me that I better be prepared to sign them in a year, because you would make me sign them if I refused? So that little problem is taken care of, but there is still the problem of me working as your secretary. Well, if you didn't want me then I don't know why you didn't fire me before my trial period was up, but I will make it easy for you now. I quit!"
Geet had had enough of Maan's horrible behavior. She was tired of trying to do her best, only to have him scream at her and disparage her efforts. She knew that he wouldn't stop her from leaving, actually would be glad to she her back, but even if he had tried to stop her, it would not have mattered. Storming out of the changing room, Geet vowed not to waste even one minute in carrying out her decision.
Even Savitri was not able to stop her, though the woman did her best to try and sort things out when she discovered her grandson and bahu had had a big fight, but Geet wouldn't listen. She knew that Maan was perfectly capable of handling his own business, so she had no qualms about leaving the party. All she wanted to do was hurry back to the office, type up a quick resignation note, and go home.
"Geet beti, please change your mind. You know what Maan is like. He says anything without thinking, but I'm sure as soon as he calms down, he will realize what a wonderful job you did and apologize," pleaded Savitri sweetly.
"No, Dadima. I can't take it anymore. Even if Maan does apologize, I know his remorse won't last long. There's really no reason for me to keep working at Khurana Constructions, especially if I continue to be treated the way I have been. I'm finished!"
Savitri watched helplessly as the young woman left the hotel, head held high with angry tears held back forcefully. "I have to talk to Maan. There must be some way of smoothing over this situation. If Geet stops working at the office, I don't know how she and Maan will ever connect properly. No, I must do something. Today, I am not going to leave you, Maan."
Precap
"Why does everything always have to be about you? I didn't want to get married, either, but do you even care? I'm tired of all of this. Just leave me alone!"
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
338