"Talk to her properly. And I mean sitting down with her and clearing the air, not just a prolonged greeting in passing corridors or a short text message conversation."
Dev & Geet found themselves at a restaurant, overlooking the Delhi streets with its large panel windows as they awaited their orders for lunch.
"I don't know what to say to her."
Geet leant back in her chair, crossing her legs as she placed her hands in her lap. "Tell her how you feel."
I wish I could tell you how I feel, he thought, as he started adjusting his glasses. Then his hands on the frame paused as eureka struck him.
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Stopping in front of the now familiar apartment building, he hesitated at first, unsure what he would say if Pinky was home.
But his determination to keep Dev away from her drove him inside, up the stairs & to her apartment door, which he surprisingly found himself remembering.
Maan stopped in his stride as he saw her broken down door... panic struck him as the worst came to mind & he rushed inside the apartment, yelling her name.
When he realised she wasn't there, & no evident signs of a break in reassured him, he stepped back out over the badly broken door - calling a door maintenance company, giving them her address & informing them that he'd left a cheque under the tissue box on the kitchen table of the apartment, before leaving the building.
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She rolled to a stop outside her mother's house - a house which she hadn't visited for the past 5 years. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her frenzied nerves as she opened her car door, ready to step out... but a picture peeking from one of her office boxes on the floor caught her eye.
Sasha pulled the polaroid out, studying the smiling faces of her & Dev of their first day at KC; they had started together. Crumpling the picture until it became a small ball, the edges of it hurting her hand, she tossed it out of the window then grabbed her bag, beeped her car shut & tentatively walked up the famous cobbled steps to her childhood home.
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"Where the hell could they be if they're not at her apartment?" he muttered to himself as he sped down the streets of Delhi. "If that prick's taken her back to his place, I'll strangle his bare neck with my hands..."
He turned onto a street which was busy with fellow businessmen & women, along with other office staff from corporate buildings nearby as they descended onto the area for their lunch, as it boasted numerous restuarants of different cuisines.
He had to shift down a gear due to the commuters, using the opportunity to look into restaurant windows - then slammed on the brakes as his knuckles turned white from the grip on the wheel.
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Their sushi arrived, & Geet's appetite was lost when she all she could think about was the broken door.
What if someone steals my belongings? My precious clothes and shoes will be lost forever... and my diary from when I was 13 years old! No one can ever know about my crush on Mr Bajaj from Kasauti Zindagi Kay... What if Pinky never got my text, asking her to get to the apartment asap? I should text her again...
Dev himself felt nervous as his palms clammed with sweat over his next move. Seeing Geet pulling her phone out of her bag, he used her distraction to relax himself and figure out what he needed to say.
Trying to recall the romance techniques of the Bollywood movies, he recalled a scene where the hero knelt down on one knee to profess his undying love for the heroine.
He figured it was all or nothing, & so he got down on one knee before her. The last thing he registered was seeing Geet drop her phone into her lap as a shocked look spread across her face, then the shards of glass came flying his way.
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He'd grabbed a nearby brick and smashed the massive glass of the window, but that was nothing compared to what he was going to do next.
Stepping over the hole, he launched himself at Dev over the table, sending everything flying as he laid a much awaited fist into his jaw.
"Stay away from her!" he spat as he knocked Dev's glasses off, exposing him to nothing but blur.
"Maan, get off him!" Geet yelled as she tried to pull him away, but the guy was like Superman and she ended up stumbling back herself at the force of trying to pull him off his cousin.
"I can't see a thing..." Dev rasped as the colours faded in his eyesight, all he could see were blobs. That was probably the best thing for him at the moment, Maan's face of rage was petrifying.
The waiters & manager came running as they pulled the two men away, one of the waiters giving Dev back his survived glasses which he was eternally grateful for.
The manager looked between the two Khurana men incredulously. "Maan & Dev Singh Khurana?"
Dev nodded, rubbing his bruised jaw as Maan looked away.
"I'll pay for the expenses to the glass," Maan said as he turned to leave, but then his gaze collided with Geet's & her eyes held a million questions.
Ignoring them, he stepped back out of the glass & walked to his car, not bothering to use the door - but Geet had ran out of the restaurant & beat him to it, standing in front of his Benz.
Dev watched the whole exchange in front of him & hid his look of defeat as he asked the manager for an ice pack, and followed him as he led him to the kitchen.
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"Move out of the way, Geet," Maan said as he opened his car door, climbing inside.
"I think I know what's wrong with you. But I'm not budging until you yourself tell me the reason behind smashing Dev's face in."
"I'm warning you, move or else-"
"Or what? You'll run me over?"
She raised an eyebrow, challenging him, & he placed his foot over the gas pedal slowly. She didn't believe he'd do anything, but when he revved loudly, the noise startled her & she leapt briefly out of the way - however that split second was enough for Maan to pull away & zoom off, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.
"I won't give up that easily, Maan. You haven't even met Geet Handa yet."
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Manish's fury was beyond control as he viewed the CCTV in front of him, which clearly showed his son abandoning a project file & storming out of the office.
The security guard, who Manish had employed to keep an eye on Maan's activities in the office, stood patiently waiting for his commission as Manish threw a wad of notes at him & he bowed & left.
"I knew he would revert back to his old ways," he sighed & leant back in his chair, trying to control his temper.
Outside his office, around the corner, Pammi lay in await of the guard, like a predatory tigress waiting for her prey.
"Did you do as I said?"
The guard jumped momentarily, then gulped & nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I cut out the footage of you & Maan sir just like you said."
"Good," she bit her lip as she threw him a tip. "Now get out of my sight, & don't breathe a word of this to anyone."
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Geet's hand reached for the bell, retracted, then reached for it again, as she finally pressed the buzzer.
The door opened, & a voice inquired her arrival & identity.
"I'm Geet. Geet Handa."
Chapter 27 - Not Just Her Ramblings - Page 14
