Strangers:A Maaneet fic. - Page 20

unbelievably fantastic.........................superbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

Originally posted by: revav

unbelievably fantastic.........................superbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

thnxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for these fab updates

Thanks Reva. Will post the next update in a few minutes.

Part 16

"Excuse me Sir, can you kindly move aside?" asked someone in a polite voice. Maan broke from his trance and turned around to see a smartly dressed waiter, holding a tray with two wine glasses in his hand. It is only then did he realise that he was blocking the entrance to the lounge. He looked back at his wife and her ex-lover leaning towards each other on the sofa. His eyes widened in disbelief. How come Dev was back on the sofa when he was supposed to be on the floor? He looked confused for a second and shook his head to clear it. Finally it dawned on him that he had been hallucinating about the entire scene of his rushing in and punching Dev. He apologised to the waiter for standing in his way and stepped aside to let him pass. What was wrong with him? Since when has he started dreaming in broad day-light? Still seething in jealously, he decided to make his dream a reality and took a couple of steps towards them when his eye caught a large portrait of a butterfly in flight on the wall in front of him. Under the picture was this caption in big bold letters:

If you love something let it go,

If it comes back to you it's yours,

If it doesn't, it never was.

He froze reading these words and realised what a foolish thing he was about to do. He was relieved that he did not impulsively act on his thoughts. After all it was he who had asked Dev to call Geet. It was he who had literally begged him not to forsake her. Then how can he now go around hitting him for harmlessly holding his wife's hands, that too to apparently comfort her? Moreover, if he really loved his wife as much as he claimed to, then he has no business making her choices for her. He has to let her decide. He turned to leave the place but stood transfixed. He desperately wanted to know the outcome of this meeting. So he quietly went to the seating area close to theirs and sat with his back to them. He took out the newspaper lying on the teapoy in front of him and hid himself behind it.

Geet's loud sobs tore at his heart. It seemed to disturb Dev too for he could hear him asking Geet to calm down.

"Geet, please don't cry so much. It breaks my heart."

"I am sorry Dev. I am sorry that you had to go through so much because of me. I have never brought happiness to anyone in my life," she sobbed pitifully.

At this point Maan wanted to yell out, "You are wrong Geet. You brought plenty of happiness in my life." He remained silent though and listened to his wife.

"I hope we had never met. Had we not fallen in love my family would not have come after you like they did," Geet was telling Dev in a remorseful voice.

"Geet, don't blame yourself. I do not regret meeting you or falling in love with you. Past is past. Let us not revisit it. It is not going to give us anything but pain. Let's look to the future," he tried to cheer her up.

Geet lifted her tear-stained face to him and looked at him in confusion.

"What future? Whose future?" she asked in a low tone.

"Yours and mine, of course. Now that we have found each other, let us make a fresh beginning. Let's get married and raise our daughter together."

The mention of marriage and her daughter alerted her and she snatched her hands from him.

"No, Dev. I cannot marry you. I am already married," she said stiffly.

"I know," he assured her. Geet was startled to hear this. Dev then told her how he had met Maan the previous afternoon and heard everything about what happened in her life in the past year.

"In fact he was the one who gave me your cell number last night and asked me to call you. He asked me not to forsake you and our daughter. He assured me that your marriage was only in paper and that he would get it dissolved soon."

Maan wanted to scream out, "No, I don't want to get it dissolved. I want to concretise my marriage with her. I want to make her mine. I want to be a father to her child. I want my little family. I don't want to surrender it to anyone." It required tremendous effort on his part to hold his tongue. He squeezed the edges of the newspaper in frustration as he impatiently waited to hear her response.

Geet looked at Dev in shock. Did Maan call him and ask him to take care of her? Her heart sank at the thought that her own husband was willing to give her up. But then that is Maan - a man who always thought about her and cared for her well-being. She knew he loved another woman but he still did not breathe a word to her lest she feels forced to leave. Instead he had asked his lover to wait. Although he had met Dev the previous afternoon, he did not tell him about her till late last night. He seems to have taken the decision to let her go only after she had asked him to file for an annulment. Knowing that she will be homeless he seems to have tried to find her a permanent place to live.

"I know that my husband cares for me enough to try and ensure that my future is secure but I still can't marry you. Not even after getting my marriage with Maan declared as null and void by the court."

"Why?" asked Dev in confusion.

Geet remained silent. Dev lifted her chin with his forefinger.

"Geet, look at me," he ordered.

Geet reluctantly lifted her gaze to him.

"You love him.... don't you?" he asked her seeing the love she had for Maan transparently reflected in her eyes.

Geet nodded her head in silence. She then said slowly. "I am sorry, Dev. I care for you too much to let you settle for something far inferior to what you deserve. You deserve a woman who can love you with all her heart. Unfortunately my heart is no longer mine to give. It belongs to him and him alone."

"Him? Him who?" Maan wondered as he could not see either of them but only hear what they were saying. "Could she mean me?" His heart was thumping loudly in anticipation.

"I love him with all my heart. I love Maan so much that it hurts," she said with great passion.

Hearing this, Maan's heart leapt with joy. "She loves me, my Geet loves me." He now vaguely recollected her hugging him tightly the previous night. He had thought it was a dream but now he was more than certain that she did indeed hug him. He wanted to jump up, take her in his arms and kiss her passionately. It took every ounce of his effort to stay put. He needed to know why she was leaving him if she loved him so much.

Oblivious to the myriad emotions she was evoking in her husband who was sitting not more than five feet away, Geet continued her conversation with Dev in earnest.

"I cannot marry you because no matter what the court declares, I will live the rest of my life as his wife, if not to the world but to myself. I cannot give my body to one man and my heart and soul to another. That would be infidelity to both men. I cannot live my entire life with the guilt of betraying the two most important men in my life. All my life I have let myself be led by others. I was a drifter, an indecisive fool. When in the heat of passion you wanted physical intimacy with me, I was not strong enough to resist it. Had I been firm then, you would have accepted my decision and I would not have ended up getting pregnant before we got married. But I let you take me and we know where that left me. When I thought you ditched me, I was unable to face the world and tried to take the easy way out by attempting suicide. If it had not been for that good man I would have been dead and gone, killing my baby along with me. When he offered to marry me, give me a home and an identity for my child, I accepted without thinking. I should have been more assertive back then and told him that I will handle my own problems. But no, I took the softer option. It is high time that I take hard decisions. I need to assume responsibility for my mistakes and not drag everyone down along with me."

"What do you plan to do?" asked Dev, raising the query that was on Maan's mind.

"More than nine months ago I had visited 'Snehalaya', an orphanage run by the nuns, asking them if I could live with them and work in their institution after my baby was born. Sister Teresa, the head of the institution had agreed for both. I will soon join them and hope to find peace in taking care of several kids there apart from my own. I no longer want to burden anyone else with my problems."

Dev was astonished to hear this. Maan who was listening in on their conversation nearly dropped his newspaper. She wanted to live and work in an orphanage, leaving him behind? Why? What about Sahana? What about his daughter?

Echoing his thoughts Dev asked her, "What about Sahana? What about my daughter? You are going to raise her fatherless?"

"There is no other alternative, Dev. I will double up as her father and mother. I'll give her all the love in the world and make her strong enough to face the world."

"What about me? Don't I have any right as her father? I did bring her into existence, didn't I?" he asked in a hurt voice. Geet did not immediately answer his question.

His pain soon turned into anger when she remained silent and he said bitingly, "I'll fight you Geet. I'll fight you if you try to keep me away from our daughter. I cannot force you to accept me, but you cannot force me to give up on her, either."

He was right. He did have a right, not only a moral right but also a legal right as the biological father of Sahana.

She trembled at the thought of a custody battle for her daughter. She has to try reasoning with him before it was too late.

She hesitated for a while and haltingly said, "Dev, you are right. You do have a right as her biological father. But please try to understand me. I cannot give you a right that I am unable to give Maan. You may have fathered her but Maan has been more than a father to her. His bond with my daughter is far stronger. He has been taking care of her and watching over her even before she arrived in this world. He modified his entire life to suit her, sacrificing his freedom for her. He even single-handedly brought her into this world when I could not be taken to the hospital due to a curfew. He loves her and she means the world to him."

"If you love him and he loves our daughter then why are you leaving him?" he asked puzzled by her strange decision.

"Because I do not want to come in the way of his happiness. Fathering a baby that is not even biologically his will only complicate his life. Hence I have decided to leave him for his own good. Even after I leave, I will not stop him from visiting her and spending time with her but I can't allow him to assume the responsibility of a father and ruin his own life. I can't continue to keep him away from Sameera," she said sadly yet firmly.

"What?" Maan sprang up and came out of hiding. He had had enough of this. He needed to know what was going on in that pretty little head of hers. He rushed to Geet's side and clasping her arm, he dragged her up from the sofa. Gritting his teeth he asked in a raised voice, "What did you say?"

Geet and Dev looked at him in astonishment.

Part 17: =>Here

Just posted the second last part of this story. There are two more parts to complete the main story. This will be followed by a five-part sequel with a teenage Sahana with her parents.

Now you are making me really mad....

You know The more I read this Story, The More I find myself a Witness of Their Life, and hence, The more I want to read...."


And I think I would be pulling my hair next instant... Coz I can't do anything in the story....

You are a simply FANTASTIC WRITER.... I wonder if you know some sort of hypnotism or magic....

Coz, it's really wierd how after reading each part... I want to know what happens next and that too so desperately that I keep thinking about the story until I can see the next part....

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏----This is for your amazing writing skills...
👏

hey continue soon and add me to ur pm list its tooooooo gud plzzzzzzzz update can't waittoo long

Just read the last part....

It's really brilliant.... Though I want to beg for more, but I think I can actually wait now..... Now that everything is better resolved, I'm really happy.....

Thanx, for giving us such a wonderful story.....
And I may behave somewhat sanely now...😊

Thats awesome dear

Originally posted by: JhankaaR000

Now you are making me really mad....

You know The more I read this Story, The More I find myself a Witness of Their Life, and hence, The more I want to read...."


And I think I would be pulling my hair next instant... Coz I can't do anything in the story....

You are a simply FANTASTIC WRITER.... I wonder if you know some sort of hypnotism or magic....

Coz, it's really wierd how after reading each part... I want to know what happens next and that too so desperately that I keep thinking about the story until I can see the next part....

👏----This is for your amazing writing skills...
👏

Thanks Jhankaar. There is no hypnotism or magic. When I write, I get into the heads of my characters and experience what I want them to experience. This, in turn, may be making you feel what they feel. As this requires a lot of passion, I end up feeling drained after I've finished writing. There was a time when I was writing like crazy, practically on a daily basis. Now that passion has died down and I no longer write. This was just serving my old wine.