FF|All the Wrong Moves in All the Right Ways I - Page 28

His heart was pounding in his chest as he ran through the streets looking for her. There was smoke and dust everywhere as the debris from the explosion floated through the air. His hair was ruffled and he had gray smudges on his face. His white dress shirt was un-tucked and stained in various areas by the black dust. As people ran towards him he was pushed to the side landing on the hard sidewalk. The pain of scrapping the delicate palms of his hands was excruciating. He saw the flecks of pink skin jaggedly rolled upwards intermixed with spots of red blood. He stood up and made his way down the street heading the opposite way as everyone else. He felt a burning sensation on his right knee and realized that it had been scrapped as well. He limped his way towards the building despite words of warning from the people running away not to go inside. He could hear the crackle of broken glass underneath his dress shoes and the eerie creaking sound of steel buckling under the pressure of the half destroyed hotel. He didn't care the only thing on his mind was her. He had to find her. He walked towards the back of the building searching with his eyes for any hidden bodies in the rubble that lay before him. When he made it to the open courtyard he saw her trapped in the glass elevator on the other side of the fountain. The elevator was miraculously intact despite a large beam resting in a diagonal fashion on the top portion of the elevator shaft. Other than a small head wound on her forehead she was fine. She immediately pounded on the thick glass walls when she saw him. "Prem!" she shouted.

"Heer!" he yelled placing his hand on the glass. They both stared at each other in horror as weight of the diagonal beam began to slowly crack the glass. She placed her hand where his hand was on the glass in an attempt to touch him for the last time. Prem shook his head, "No, you can't go! I won't let you go!" She just shook her head telling him to leave. The sound of metal bending and glass cracking grew louder in his ears.

"HEER!" Prem yelled as his eyes torn open to see his bedroom. "It was just a dream...just a dream," he muttered as his labored breathing echoed in his ears. His chest was pounding and he was sweating. He sat up and ran his fingers through his damp hair. That was some crazy dream...he thought to himself. Prem took off his shirt trying to cool his warm and sweaty skin. He balled it up in his hand and wiped away any droplets of sweat still left on his chest and back. Prem glanced at the clock and sighed it was 3 am. He wondered what Heer was doing. It had been awhile since they last talked. The last thing he heard was that she had gone to the Golden Temple to do a prayer with Meher for her father. Lalit had recently left for India leaving Prem to do the office work. He was still learning the ropes and was far from running the hotel on his own as the president and senior managers were handing that; however he was still busy with projects that he hardly had the time to really talk. Heer on her part seemed to be pretty busy herself. A mutual non-communication seemed to be going on between the two.

Prem smiled feeling the comfort in the fact that the new semester would be starting in the next couple of weeks and the Maan sisters would be back soon. His hours would be cut back at the hotel and he could finally spend some quality time with Heer. The thought of confessing his feelings to her was driving him crazy. He held so many mixed emotions of anticipation, excitement, nervousness, giddiness, fear, and anxiety inside of him because he didn't know how she'd react and what to expect when he let it all out. It was a pretty big step moving from friends to more than friends, but he couldn't ignore the feelings from his heart anymore. He had to tell her. Prem rubbed his face and laid back down feeling weary. He slowly closed his eyes hoping this time he would have a better dream, a sweeter dream about Heer.

Preet grabbed the armrest and braced himself for any sudden impact as the car raced through the city streets. "I think they would like to see us alive not in pieces, PB."

"Oh, like you haven't driven like this before?" Prem questioned.

He gave a weary smile, "Okay point taken but I really prefer to be in one piece when I see Meher. I know you are really excited to see Heer but have a little pity on me will you?"

Prem grinned and slowed the speed of the car down, "Sorry, Preet. You're right."

It didn't take long for them to reach the airport. Prem parked the car in the short term parking lot and they walked to the baggage claim. Preet smiled as he saw a crowd of people gathering around one of the conveyer belts for flight 1672. "Looks like we made it right on time," he said. "Do you see them?"

Prem scanned the area searching for either Meher or Heer but his eyes failed to recognize anyone. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Meher's bubbly smile. "Hi!" she greeted and gave him a big hug. "Where's Preet?"

"I don't know he was here a minute ago," Prem replied looking around him. He then mischievously said, "He's going to be jealous if he knew I was the first one to hug you." Meher blushed uncontrollably at his comment. "So, where's your sister?" he said next.

"Oh, she's over there standing in line waiting for the luggage to come out. It was a full flight so who knows how long it's going to take for our luggage to come," Meher said.

As they turned towards the direction that Heer was waiting, Preet suddenly appeared around the corner. He beamed a huge grin and ran towards Meher gathering her up in a tight hug doing a little spin. In his excitement at seeing her after such a long time he didn't realize that he was actually causing quiet a scene; everyone was staring at them. A few people chuckled at the sight murmuring words that they were a cute couple. Meher's face turned beet red as she hung in the air as Preet held her. "Preeeet!" she whispered. "Everyone is looking at us. Put me down!"

Realizing where they were he gently let her down and sheepishly grinned rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry. I was just excited to see you, Meher."

She shyly smiled, "I'm happy to see you too, Preet."

"What cute love birds," Prem whistled.

Preet blushed hearing his brother's voice embarrassed that he had witnessed him being intimate with Meher. He coughed, "Um, so we should go find Heer and help get the luggage?"

"Ah, right the luggage," Meher quickly added and lead the way to the baggage carousel.

Prem's eyes grew bright at seeing Heer. She was just as beautiful as the day he last saw her. His heart was beating rapidly as he approached her with a shy smile. Preet smirked and playfully let his foot slip out to the side tripping his brother. Heer looked up just in time to catch Prem; his hands on her shoulders while her hands rested on his waist. They both stared at each other stunned at what just occurred. "Bhaiya, I know you are excited to see Heer but watch the personal displays of affection in public," Preet sniggered. Prem and Heer immediately blushed and stepped away from each other. Prem gave a nasty look at Preet who just smiled lovingly at him. Meher elbowed Heer with a knowing glance. Heer looked away concentrating on locating their luggage.

Several minutes later they had collected the luggage and were soon on the road heading to the Maan's townhouse. Once parked the brothers quickly got out and began carrying in the luggage. "What do you have in this one...it's so heavy?" Preet asked as he heaved it out of trunk.

"That little thing?" Prem laughed and then tried picking it up. "Whoa, that's heavy."

"That's the gifts for you guys," Meher replied.

"Gifts?" Prem repeated. "You didn't have to do that."

"We wanted to," Meher said.

"So, what did you get me um-I mean us?" Preet asked with great curiosity.

She smiled, "Well, I have to unpack everything first...maybe tomorrow?"

"One hint?" Preet whined.

"It's your favorite thing," Meher said.

"Chocolates!? You got me chocolates?" Preet replied excitedly.

"You have to share," Meher said sternly.

"Share? Kulraj gave them all away to her class...she wasn't sharing!" Preet said bitterly.

Meher frowned, "It's a huge box Preet. I think you can share it otherwise I'll tell Auntie not to give you any."

Preet shook his head, "Don't do that. I promise to be good...just don't tell Ma."

"So, I think that's everything. We better get going Ma's got dinner on the table for all of us," Prem announced.

Heer glanced over at Meher and then said, "Thanks Prem but we already ate on the plane."

"You call airplane food, food?" Preet asked. "You guys have to be crazy to think that. This is Ma's cooking we are talking about."

Meher bit her lower lip while Heer continued, "No, seriously we ate already. It's been a long trip for us. Please tell Auntie we're really sorry."

"Nothing better than a good home cooked meal after a long trip," Preet pressed. Meher suddenly yawned and looked around her surprised by her own tiredness. "And we've got plenty of guest rooms if you want to sleep over. So let's stop arguing about this."

"We should stop arguing about this," Prem replied and put his hand on Preet's shoulder. "You guys should rest at home. Ma will understand." Preet gave a wide eyed look at Prem who gently squeezed his shoulder.

"I'm really sorry guys but I'm really tired. I'll see you guys later," Heer said and walked up the stairs.

Prem pushed Preet out the door despite his protesting and glanced back at Meher who wore a nervous expression. "Don't worry about it," he reached in his wallet and took out some cash placing it in her hands, "I know the fridge is probably empty. Order some pizza or something so later when you guys wake up in the middle of the night you have something to eat."

Meher gave a thankful look, "Thanks. Sorry about that...Didi gets a little cranky on long trips."

"It's understandable...who wouldn't be after such a long flight? She's probably exhausted," Prem chuckled. "Take care and goodnight."

Meher waved goodbye and closed the door. She leaned her back against the polished wood and sighed glancing up the stairs with a worried expression. Looking at the wad of cash in her hands she smiled, "Hmmm, pizza does sound good. Didi will probably be hungry later tonight...better order before they close."

Gayatri laughed at the comment being said over the phone, "Teji, it amazes me you still have such a sense of humor after everything that's been going on."

"If I didn't find something to laugh at I would be crying all the time. And we both know that isn't healthy. Sometimes we have to find the humor in even the direst of circumstances," Teji replied. "So have your boys come home yet?"

"They should be home any minute with the girls. I've made some of their favorite dishes you cook for them though I don't know how mine compares to yours," she chuckled.

"You're a wonderful cook, Gayatri. Those two will love it I'm sure," Teji said. "Though I wonder after everything..."

Gayatri waited on the line for her to finish her thought but the silence just grew. She sighed, "Have you tried talking about it?"

"Things happened so fast. Nothing turned out as expected," Teji replied sorrowfully.

"Nothing ever does, does it?" Gayatri said. "We can only try. I've talked to Lalit about it."

"Maybe Balraaj will listen to him. We can only hope," she replied.

"As daughters we were told to follow, as wives our decisions are made for us, and as mothers we can only hope for the best that our advice will be taken," Gayatri said.

"So true," she said. "Oh, Gayatri, I'm getting a call on the other line. I'll have to talk to you later."

"Okay take care. Send my wishes to Balraaj. And if my husband starts misbehaving let me know," she said.

Teji laughed, "I'll make sure he doesn't go off his diet. Bye."

Gayatri hung up the phone just as Prem and Preet walked into the living room. She gave them a loving smile and then noticed that they were missing two people. "Where are the girls?"

"They were really tired Ma," Prem answered. "They said they already ate but I gave them some cash to order some pizza just in case they wake up in the middle of the night hungry."

"Good thinking," she replied.

Preet was surprised that his mother was taking the news so well. She was even more excited than they were when they had left to pick them up. She had spent the entire day before prepping in the kitchen. "I can't believe that they would pass up on your food," Preet pouted. "You spent all day cooking."

Gayatri laughed, "Beta, they were tired. It's okay. Go freshen up and get ready for dinner." Preet nodded and sulked up the stairs. "Prem, I'll put aside some food so you can give it to them tomorrow."

"Haa Ma," he replied obediently. She smiled and gently placed her hand on his cheek in a motherly manner. "Ma?" he asked questioningly. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head, "Nothing's wrong, Beta. Have you grown that much that I can't show any affection anymore?"

"No, Ma. I'll always be your son," he said and gave her hug. "Love you."

"Love you too," she replied.

***************************************************

Meher glanced at her phone and re-read the text message she had received from Preet. "It says meet me at the park. But where in the park?" she murmured to herself. She looked around her hoping to see Preet walking around somewhere but he never emerged. She strolled her way over to the bridge and saw a sign with her name in large letters with an arrow pointing towards a row of park benches. She looked around her making sure the sign was really for her and not some other person named Meher. She saw no one around her paying much attention to the sign and shrugged her shoulders deciding to follow its directions. As she walked further down the path she saw another sign pointing at a park bench telling her to sit there. She cautiously looked around her again before sitting on the bench. She checked the time on her phone and sighed, "It's 12:30? Where is he?" She blew on her hands rubbing them together trying to keep them warm. "It's so cold out here. If he doesn't come soon I'm going to leave," she huffed to herself. Suddenly out of nowhere she felt two warm hands coving her eyes. She gasped in alarm as her body stiffened.

"It's me, Preet," he whispered.

"Preet? What are you doing?" Meher replied.

"Just keep your eyes closed, okay? Promise?" Preet said.

"Okay," she said and felt his warm hands lifting off. She waited a few moments and then heard a cheery melody start to play. (*Preet and Meher's theme from Kis Desh, Seene Mein Dil from the movie Koi Aap Sa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyZYTGbfysQ Many thanks to my friend for translating the song for me*)

seene mein dil

[in my chest there is a heart]

dil mein dhadkan

[in my heart there is a heartbeat]

dhadkan mein kya hai

[what is in my heart beat]

teri pyaas hai

[there is a thirst for you]

har pyaas mein

[in every thirst]

dard hai sanam

[there is pain my love]

yeh dard tera ehsaas hai

[this pain gives me the essence of you]

Originally posted by: sweet_gurl93

hey great part,
im glad prem will finally have the guts to confess lol, cant wait for that, and really like meher and preet
but not, that sanjana, is she like trying to get a way to prem through gayatri?? cuz thats evil, very evil!! lol
anyway cant wait for more
do continue soon
Maheen xx

Originally posted by: suryavni

hi grace ..sry for not commenting lasttime...was down with fever the next day...

and this waz just awsome.....!!

i could feel some undercurrents flowing....!!!why heer is in delhi..and meher s unusual behavior in the end....😕

and what is with this suspense with harman and the girl.....?

uff!sanjana is very tricky...acting so goody doody with her never to be.MIL 😉

and Prem...dumbo!he can't have the sense preet has?

and rishi even gets past preet in this matter😆

nice one...can we expect the confession tomorrow...please😛

Great update Grace.