PART 12. REALIZATIONS!
"Daadima?", NT spoke nervously as she knocked on the door of Daadima's room. It was an hour after Geet's departure to the party and NT wanted to ask certain questions to Daadima about Geet and Maan.
Daadima, who sat on the bed leaning against the headboard reading some magazine, looked up and smiled at her Bahu, "Haan! Naintara beta!"
NT smiled nervously, "Woh humein aapse baat kar ni thi!"
Daadima nodded, "Haan boliye beta! Aapko jo kehna hai kahiye! Lekin aap baahar kyun khadi hai? Andar aayiye!"
NT nodded and stepped in. She sat on the bed gingerly and looked at Daadima with trepidation, "Hum aapse agar koi sawaal pooche toh kya aap jawaab dengi?" Then her nervousness took over and she started rambling, "Hum aapke koi decision pe sawaal nahi utha rahe, hum bas aapke decision ke peeche ka reason jaanna chaahte hain!" She mumbled the last few words.
Daadima frowned, "Dariye mat Beta! Hum aapke baat ka bura nahi maanenge! Poochiye! Jo humse poochna hai poochiye!"
NT gave Daadima a hesitant smile and spoke, "Daadima! Aap humesha Maan Veerji ko Geet ke saath kyun bhejti hain? Pehle College chodne aur pick up karne bheja tha aur aaj party ke liye bhi! Hum yeh nahi keh rahe ki humein ismein kuch galat lag raha hai! Lekin aap bhi jaanti hai ki in dono ko saath bhejna matlab ghar mein din bhar jhagda! Jab dono ek doosre se itne irritate hote hain toh un dono ko saath kyun rakhna?"
Daadima let out a laugh at NT's nave question and shook her head, "NT beta! Aap woh nahi dekh rahi jo hum dekh rahe hain!" NT frowned and Daadima explained, "Kya kabhi Geet se pehle aapne kisi ko bhi Maan ke khilaaf aawaaz uthaathe hue dekha hai?"
NT shook her head. Everyone was scared of her Veerji. Even Dev would not go against him. Maan listened to Daadima only and that also out of respect.
Daadima continued speaking, "Lekin Geet unmein se nahi hai! Geet ne humesha wahi kiya jo unhein theek laga! Woh Maan ke aage kabhi nahi jhukengi! Aur hum yahi cheez Maan ko sikhaana chaahte hain!"
NT frowned and Daadima explained, "Maan ne bachpan se wahi kiya jo unhein chaahiye! Apne parivar ko chodke kisi aur ke feelings ke baare mein kadar hi nahi ki! Bas apni manmaani karte aaye hain! Khud ko duniya se upar samajhte hain! Lekin hum chaahte hai ki woh yeh bhi seekhlein ki woh jo chaahte hain woh unhein humesha nahi milega! Zindagi unke hisaab se nahi chalti! Aur unhein yeh sabak sabse achchi tarah se Geet hi sikha sakti hai!"
NT nodded as she understood Daadima's logic. Daadima spoke again, "Aur ek wajah hai humaare Maan ko Geet ke saath bhejne ka?"
NT looked on curiously and Daadima explained, "Aap toh jaanti hai ki Maan kitne rude hai! Aur ladkiyon se kitni rudely pesh aate hai! Kya pata Geet ke saath rehkar ladkiyon se baat karne ki unmein thodi tameez aajaaye!"
NT giggled and Daadima winked at her.
The party had been going on for two hours and Geet was enjoying herself. She was dancing amongst some girls of her class with whom she used to hang out with during the College time. They were seven of them and except Geet all were drunk. Geet was the only one out of all of them to not have a boyfriend and not to drink at all. But that does not mean her friends did not try to set her up with their boyfriends' friends but Geet politely refused them as she wanted to finish her studies first. Plus, she knew her Darji will kill her if the news of her having a boyfriend came out. Her family was not as liberal as NT's parents.
So Geet continued to dance with her friends to some latest music in the middle of the dance floor and when it came to drink time, Geet drank mocktails and juices while her friends drank vodka and cocktails. Hence, Geet was surprised when suddenly she felt dizzy. Yeh mujhe kya ho raha hai? Geet wondered as she grasped her head tightly. Maybe it was because of dancing so much. Haan! Yahi hoga! Mujhe break lena chaahiye! She excused herself citing tiredness and went and sat in a corner watching everyone enjoy themselves.
After a while, Geet again felt dizziness, and this time it was stronger. This freaked Geet out. She could not understand what was happening to her. Why was she feeling so dizzy? She got up to stand but the dizziness took over and she had to sit down before she fell. Scared of what was happening, Geet grabbed a glass of water from the passing waiter and drank it fully. The dizziness ebbed and Geet wondered what was happening.
Suddenly, Geet was reminded of a conversation she had with her sister. NT had warned her to be careful as during such parties drugs were mixed in girls' drinks and then they were taken advantage of. Geet's broke into sweat as she realized that there is a good chance someone had mixed something into her drinks. Her mind reminded her that several of her drinks were handed over to her by her classmates! Jaroor kisi ne kuch mila diya hoga! Hey Babaji! Ab main kya karoon? Agar yeh kisi ka mere glass mein kuch milaane ka asar hai toh? Geet gulped as she looked around in confusion, unsure what to do next. She was scared and tears welled up in her eyes. Nahi Geet! Tum rone waali nahi ho! Babaji pe bharosa rakho! Rone se kuch nahi hoga! Rona band karo aur socho! Geet's conscious spoke to her sounding suspiciously like Maan.
Mujhe... Mujhe yahaan se nikalna hoga! Aur thodi der idhar rahi toh pata nahi kya ho sakta hai! Geet nodded her head. Yes! She would get out of here and go home! But how will she go home? Agar raste mein kuch hogaya toh? Aisi haalat mein main ghar kaise jaaungi? Kahin raste mein behosh hogaya toh! Hey Babaji! She felt dizzy again and she gripped the chair besides her tightly willing her dizziness to lessen, just enough that she could reach home.
Just as the dizzy spell went away, Geet's eyes reached her friends dancing on the dance floor. She realized that they could help her. She got up and stumbled towards them as the drug was impeding her balance. She felt the world tilt its axis and she stopped walking as another thought hit her. Her friends were drunk. What help would they be to her? What to do now? That is when she remembered that she was supposed to call Maan to pick her up. Haan! Maan se baat karti hoon! Woh turant mujhe yahaan se le jaayenge! Mujhe yahaan aur nahi rehna! She pulled her cell out of her purse and dialed Maan's number.
After ringing for a while, Maan picked up her call. Till now Geet remained strong, but the moment Maan said hello, Geet broke down crying but Maan could not hear her as the party's music did not allow him to hear Geet's cry. Maan continued to call Geet's name but the party music made him unable to hear her. Geet mumbled Maan's name inbetween her crying when it struck her that the music was obstructing his hearing. Mujhe yahaan se baahar jaana hoga! Mujhe college se baahar nikalna hoga! She cut the phone and stumbled out of the College Premises her dizziness getting strong.
Once she was far enough from the College that she could not hear the music, Geet stopped walking. Geet knew that she did not have much time before she lost conscious. She pulled out her phone to dial Maan's number but her fingers shaking due to the drugs fell from her hands right onto the ground. Geet felt tears well up in her eyes but a voice sounding just like Maan spoke to her again, "GEET! Be strong! Tum itni jaldi haar nahi maan sakti!" Geet nodded and wiped the tears away. She fell onto her knees and picked up the phone. With her shaking hand, she typed a four letter message and pressed send' hoping Maan would come to her before the person who drugged her reached her.
Maan was dressing up when his phone beeped indicating message. Even though Maan had not been able to talk with Geet on the phone, he knew that the only reason she would call him was to pick her up. So Maan, who was sitting in his study, working on his laptop, dressed only in his vest and jeans, got up and started wearing a shirt so that he could go and pick Geet up.
Maan frowned while buttoning his shirt when he saw that the message was from Geet. Yeh message kyun kar rahi hai? Call bhi toh kar sakti thi? Especially jab ise baat karne ka itna shauk hai? Maan opened the message and as soon as his eyes read the message they widened in horror as Maan felt a chill run down his spine. The message read, "HELP" That was enough to make Maan run out of his house like a bat out of hell. The family was shocked when they saw Maan run towards his Car. Yeh Maan ko kya hogaya hai? Daadima wondered as NT and Dev looked at each other curiously.
Geet was sitting near the college gates with the mobile in her hand. With patience and concentration she slowly got onto her feet willing her eyes to stay open for few minutes. Bas kuch der Geet! Main aa raha hoon! She imagined Maan whispering to her and Geet nodded knowing that her panicked message would get Maan here immediately. Maan might fight with her a lot but she knew somewhere in his heart he considered her as his friend and for the sake of their friendship she was sure he would come.
Geet slowly started walking towards the College gate when suddenly someone grasped her arm from back. She turned around quickly and had to close her eyes as she felt dizziness again due to the sudden turn. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, "Rahul!", she whispered as she saw the person holding her hand.
"Hi beautiful!", Rahul whispered as he grinned at her lecherously and in that one moment she realized that he was the one who must have drugged her. He was the first person to hit on her in the College and the only guy who seemed to ask her out again and again even after she rejected him numerous times. He never seemed to take no for an answer and continued to harass her by proposing her in various ways. Luckily for her, her College friends were always around her to protect her, so she did not have the need to take any action against him. He must have mixed drugs in her drink as a last attempt to hit on her before they all go on their own way. But she will not allow him to have the pleasure of winning her. She wrenched her hand out of his arms and glared at him.
"Yeh kya badtameezi hai?", Geet glared at him as dizziness threatened to take hold of her but she refused to allow it.
Rahul gave her a smirk, "Yeh badtameezi nahi mera pyaar hai!" He raised his hand to touch her cheek but she took few steps back refusing to allow his filthy touch on her cheek.
"Bas! Bas karo apni bakwaas!", Geet hissed as she stumbled a few steps as another bout of dizziness attacked her. She knew that she had only few minutes to save herself from the creep in front of her. Maan aap kahaa ho? Her mind wondered.
Geet turned to walk away only to grabbed by the creep again. She turned around slowly not wanting to invite her dizziness and growled, "Chodo mujhe!"
Before Rahul could retort with some cheesy line, a hand grabbed Geet's hand and yanked it out of Rahul's grip as Maan came to stand beside Geet, "Jab koi ladki kehti hai ki uska haath chod do toh uska haath chod dena chaahiye!" Maan glared at Rahul and Rahul promptly took a step back.
Geet whispered softly, "Maan!" Maan looked at her worriedly. Geet looked at him pleadingly, "Mujhe yahaan se le chalo please! Mujhe ghar jaana hai!" Maan nodded and glared at Rahul informing Rahul with his eyes to get lost before Maan did some damage to his body. Rahul understood the signal and scrambled off from there.
"Chalo Geet!", Maan grabbed Geet's hand and dragged her away from there.
When Maan had arrived and had seen Rahul grabbing Geet's hand all he felt was panic. Kahin Geet ka koi boyfriend toh nahi? He did not know why but the thought of his Geet in love with somebody else filled him with fear and horror. But before he could try to understand his heart's reaction Geet wrenched her hand away and her body language suggested that she was annoyed and angry at the man. Maan could not describe the relief he felt at the moment as he realized that Geet would not behave so aggressively with her boyfriend. That means that the guy was harassing his Geet! No wonder Geet wrote HELP in her message! Maan got down from his car as he saw red. He was filled with uncontrollable anger and all he wanted to do was smash the man's face for touching his Geet.
But as Maan neared them, a voice whispered through the anger filled haze in his mind, "Maan! Please! Aisa kuch mat kariye jisse main aapse naaraaz ho jaaun! Aap jaante haina ki mujhe yeh maar peet pasand nahi! Please Maan!" Maan realized that it was his conscious trying to stop him from doing something that he will regret later but what surprised Maan more was that the voice sounded like Geet. If Maan would have been anywhere else he would have chuckled at the thought of Geet turning into his conscious but right now Maan focused on getting Geet out of there immediately.
Maan soon saved Geet from the idiot, grabbed her and dragged her from there only to have her collapse behind him. "GEET!", Maan roared as he took in her unconscious body on the ground. If you ask him later, Maan won't be able to explain the agony he felt at that exact moment when his eyes fell on Geet lying on the ground. He won't be able to explain the gut wrenching pain he felt at seeing her so immobile; the heart paralyzing fear he felt at the thought of loosing his Geet. And he won't be able to explain the relief he felt when he fell on his knees and grasped her hand only to sense a soft heart beat. She was alive!
And he won't be able to explain the peace he felt when he grabbed her and hugged her tight. She was safe! She was fine!
Maan lifted Geet in his arms and took her to his car where he placed her in the passenger seat. He got into driver seat and drove as fast as he could to his home. At that moment, Maan was filled with so much panic and fear that it did not strike him to take Geet to hospital at all. All he knew was that he wanted Geet in a safe place and right now the only safe place he knew, the only place where he felt the safest was his house, Khurana Mansion.
Soon Maan reached home and NT, Dev and Daadima were greeted to the sight of Maan coming into the house with Geet in his arms, a panicked looked on his face and fear in his eyes. Daadima was shocked to see her beloved Geet like this while NT was horrified. What happened to her little sister? All three crowded around Maan asking him questions but Maan did not notice them as he placed Geet on the sofa nearby. Daadima ordered Dev to call the family Doctor while NT sat on the sofa placing Geet's head in her lap as she softly combed her hair asking her sister tearfully to come back to her. Daadima looked at Maan and ordered him to answer her questions but Maan was so lost in the fear of loosing Geet that he simply sat in a nearby couch and stared at Geet with a lost look in his eyes. Daadima gave up on getting any answers and she and Dev waited tensely for the Doctor to arrive.
As Daadima and Dev waited for Doctor to arrive, Daadima took a moment to look at her darling grandson. The haunted expression on his face was something Daadima was sure she would not forget for coming years. Daadima knew that Maan was fond of Geet. He may not have acted like that but Daadima had seen him taking tea and snacks for Geet many times when she burned midnight oil during her exam days. Daadima was sure that if they did not like to fight so much they could have been really good friends. But today Daadima wondered if there was more to this relationship. The look on Maan's face as he stared at Geet implied something more than fondness. Kahin Maan bete ko Geet se pyaar... Before Daadima could finish the thought, the Doctor arrived and all the thoughts of Maan's feelings flew out of her head as she concentrated on Geet.
After half hour, the Doctor was able to determine that Geet was just unconscious and would wake up soon. They were to bring her to Hospital next day for blood check up to determine what was wrong with her. And if she does not wake up in few hours, they were to take her to Hospital immediately. The family agreed and soon the Doctor was on his way.
"Maan beta!", Daadima spoke nudging Maan slowly. She was scared for him. He had yet to move from his place on the couch. The haunted look from his eyes had yet to vanish. Daadima sat beside him and cupped his face and slowly spoke, "Beta! Geet theek hai! Unhein kuch nahi hua hai! Woh theek hai!" It seemed that her words worked as Maan slowly turned his head to look at her. "Woh theek hai?", Maan whispered and Daadima was shocked to see the vulnerability in his eyes. At that moment she knew that her Maan was definitely having feelings for Geet. It may not be deep yet and Maan may not know it yet but she was sure that the feelings were there and Daadima vowed at that moment that she would do everything to encourage the feelings without letting Maan into her plan and would get Geet as her Bahu.
It took a while but Daadima convinced Maan to get freshened up and take some rest and Maan slowly walked away to his room.
As Maan came out of his long shower and got dressed, his mind finally came out of the shock and started asserting itself by asking uncomfortable questions. It continued to probe him about his reactions when Geet fell down, when he felt her pulse and when he brought her home. Why did he react so extremely? Why did he feel he could not live without Geet? Why did his life seem so aimless without her? These questions continued to haunt Maan as he got down the stairs of his house to the living room where he stopped as he noticed that Geet had already woken up and was hugging her sister while crying as she explained what had happened with her. NT and Daadima were horrified at what had happened with Geet while Dev promised to put the perpetrator behind the jail soon.
Maan continued to stand there and listen to Geet cry in agony. He wondered why he could feel her pain in his heart too. He could not understand why he could not handle seeing Geet in tears. Just then Geet noticed him and getting up from her seat she ran towards him and hugged him tightly while mumbling thanks amongst her tears. Maan was shocked at her hug and as he stood still with Geet hugging him, his heart answered all his questions with one answer; love. He was in love with her. He was so shocked by the revelation that he was in love with her that he did not move even after Geet moved out of his embrace and hugged Daadima who consoled her. Maan continued to stand in shock as Daadima and NT took Geet to her room to let her freshen up while Dev talked to the cops on his phone.
Maan came out of his stupor after a while and went into his room quietly to contemplate this new revelation. He only came out when dinner was announced and even then he sat and played with his food on the dining table as he wondered about when his heart fell for Geet. He tried and tried but he could not pinpoint the exact point. All he knew was that the feeling gradually built up till it reached the level where Maan could not live without Geet and yet even after it built gradually Maan still felt it snuck up on him without any warning.
After dinner, Maan went to his room and lied on his bed as he wondered what he wanted to do with this revelation. Should he tell Geet? Or should he inform his Daadima that her wish to see him in love was fulfilled? Or should he tell Dev and ask his help in proposing to Geet? Or should he woo Geet as there was a good chance she may not love him back? As these and many more questions continued to haunt him, an inner voice sounding more like Geet whispered, "Maan! Pehle iss ehsaas ko apnaayiye, mehsoos kijiye, jaaniye, aur phir aage ka sochiye! Aap pehli baar pyaar mein gire hain! Kuch waqt dijiye apne aapko taaki aap iss ehsaas ko enjoy kar sakein!" Maan smiled softly and agreed with the voice. Yes! He will enjoy this feeling for a while! Aage ka aage dekhenge!
Next update: Geet plans to go back to HP! Ab kya hoga?
Simple: Maan will start his planning and plotting again!
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Thanks, take care and have fun,
Kalpana
P.S. As usual, I read your reviews daily, but they will be liked or liked and replied slowly!
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