Nothing Can Keep Us ApartPart 40 - Inattention
The rest of the week passed in a flurry of activity for Geet. Wednesday was spent confirming and reconfirming the plans for Friday's launch party. Muskaan had been delegated the task of checking the venue and catering arrangements. Geet spent the morning on the phone with Mr. Chopra. She had thought the call would take only a few minutes as she just wanted to be sure that Mr. Chopra had received his company's invitation and was aware of all the important details. Mr. Chopra, along with spending a good portion of time complementing Geet, also wanted to include a few extra details to the project unveiling portion of the party that Geet had to discuss with him.
At lunch time Geet tried to tell Maan about how things were going, but he wasn't interested in the details. He told Geet that he was too busy trying to coordinate Mamu's project with Mr. Sharma's company to worry about the launch party. He preferred to leave all that in Geet's hands. Anyway, he knew she was holding a meeting for all the staff on Thursday to give them the details of the party. He would hear everything then.
Geet gave in and asked Maan how Mamu's project was going. Maan complained about how difficult it was working with a non for profit company, that things seemed to take so much longer to accomplish. Geet asked for an example. Maan told about how Mr. Sharma's company still had not finalized which places would be chosen to receive the free medical clinics.
"I know it seems like it's taking a long time, but Maan, this is Mamu's money that is being spent. This type of decision can't be rushed. I'm sure that Mamu wants to make sure that his money is building clinics where it will do the most good. You just have to have some patience."
"I know. I just find it so frustrating. I'm not use to things taking such a long time to get done." Geet made soothing noises, and Maan and Geet continued to eat and talking.
When they had finished lunch and Geet was about to leave to meet with Muskaan, Maan said," Dekho, Geet, Friday is going to be a really busy day for you. Tomorrow, I want you to have the staff meeting in the morning, and then go home in the afternoon to rest."
Geet protested, saying there was too much to do, how could she go home early? Maan would not give in, and threatened to have Sasha take over if Geet would not agree. Geet couldn't bear to have all her hard work handed over to someone else. Though she argued and pouted, eventually she had no choice but to give in.
Thursday morning, Geet came in early to work since Maan had been so insistent about her leaving in the afternoon. She spent nearly two hours going over all the plans with Muskaan. Time flew by as they discussed and talked over every detail. Soon it was near the time of the staff meeting.
"Ma'am, we haven't discussed what I will be doing tomorrow. Do you want me to come with you to help supervise the preparations?"
"No, you need to stay here. I don't even want to think about what Maan will be like if he doesn't have someone to run interference for him with the rest of the world." Geet and Muskaan shared a look saying they both knew exactly what Geet was talking about.
"Theek hai, Ma'am, but what if you need me?"
"I'll have my cell phone with me, so we can keep in touch. The most important thing is that you make sure Maan leaves on time. If I know him, he'll be busy working right up to the last possible moment."
Muskaan gathered up everything that they needed, and she and Geet started out for the meeting room, still discussing as they walked. Upon arriving Geet saw that everyone was already there, including Maan. She felt a little nervous to be presenting for the first time in front of so many employees. Looking over at Maan, she saw him flash a small smile and a small nod, indicating that she should start. Geet felt her confidence come back with the reminder of his presence.
"This meeting is to prepare all of you for the launch party tomorrow. There will be a lot of guests who will maybe familiar with our company, but will still have many questions about this project. I want each of you to be as prepared as possible to answer those questions."
"The most important thing to remember is that these houses will be built in multiple regions and climates. So, while the houses will be mostly the same, there are differences between the designs based on the requirements of each area. Muskaan has handouts for each of you detailing each house design, and I will go over them with you, so that you are familiar with all of them."
Maan knew everything that Geet would explain about the designs, so he sat back and allowed his mind to wander. His thoughts wandered right into thinking about how adorable his wife looked as she was giving her presentation. Maan never would have imagined that he would end up having a wife that was so capable and good at working with him in his business. She would walk back and forth, look here and there, sometimes put the end of her pencil in her mouth. It was not the typical, stuffy, business attitude that Maan was used to from others, but it suited Geet.
Maan continued staring at Geet's mouth, remembering how she had been chewing the end of her pencil a few nights before. That led Maan to remember the rest of the night, how he had rubbed her back and they had both fallen asleep cradling the baby with their hands. His gaze traveled down Geet's body and rested on her abdomen, where he could see the swell of her stomach, where their child was growing. Maan smiled slowly as he thought about the fact that in about three months he and Geet were going to become parents. If anyone had asked him, even three months ago, if he wanted children, he would have said no. Now, though still not caring much for other's children, he wanted that little son or daughter growing inside his wife with a fierceness that was unexplainable.
While Maan was gazing at Geet and pondering the future entry of their child, Geet had moved on from talking about the designs and began relating the details of the actual party. She went over the time, place, expectations, and most importantly, the theme of the party. She put a lot of emphasis on the fact that everyone was expected to dress in accordance with the theme, although guest could of course dress as they wished.
When Geet had finally finished speaking and answering questions, she looked at Maan and asked if he had anything to add. Maan snapped out of his reverie and realized that he had not payed attention to a word Geet said. Everyone looked at him expectantly, and he had no idea what to say. Maan's gaze moved around until it rested on Adi.
"Adi, tumne kya lagta hai?" questioned Maan, in an effort to disguise his inattention.
"Plan achchi hai! Ma'am has put in a lot of thought and effort, and...and..."
"Theek hai. Everyone's up to speed now, so you can all go back to your work."
After everyone left but him and Geet, Maan went up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "You remember what I told you?" Geet nodded. "Go and get some rest, then. I'll see you at home later."
****************
Friday evening, after being driven right up to the entrance and getting out of his car, Maan walked into the Oberoi with an attitude as if he owned it. The manager came up to him quickly and offered to personally escort him to the Ballroom. Maan was barely aware, so intent was he on seeing Geet again. he hadn't seen her since they left for work separately that morning. They had only had a brief phone conversation around lunch time, and Maan was feeling the side effects of going almost the entire day without seeing his wife.
Maan had been concerned about Geet supervising the actual set up for the party. He remembered how she had almost fallen off the ladder in the nursery. When voicing his concerns in front of Muskaan, she told him that she had sent both Pinky and Adi along with express instructions to keep Geet from doing any physical labor, and to also see that she had enough to eat and took some rest.
As he got closer to the ballroom, Maan could hear music emanating from behind the doors. Recognizing the sounds he started to get a bad feeling in his stomach. When he walked through the doors, his fears were confirmed. The entire ballroom was decorated as if it was someone's wedding. His entire staff were dancing around the room, wearing traditional indian clothing. Maan's lips curled in disgust. He quickly walked over to Adi and demanded to know where Geet was. Adi showed him the room Geet was using to get ready for the party.
Maan stalked off in the direction indicated, ready to have it out with his errant wife. He could barely contain his anger. After all her talk of no mistakes and wanting to make this party perfect for him, Geet had made the biggest mistake, that just might cost him the whole project. Maan pushed angrily through the doors, simultaneously calling his wife's name.
Geet turned around with a smile as she heard Maan call her name. "I'm so glad you finally got here." Geet then noticed what Maan was wearing and rolled her eyes. "I knew you wouldn't come dressed appropriately." Maan had no idea what Geet was saying to him, as he was temporarily stunned by how beautiful she looked in the red lehnga choli that she wore.
Precap:
"Maan, trust me."
And Thanks Goes To:
Geet presenting, Maan gooring - June 29 and 30 episodes
Maan not liking the party theme - July 19 episode
pm list updated to include dhrashtee
I'm sorry, but I pulled a typical CV move. You know, where they do one thing and then later on in the story they change their mind, and you wonder how everything is supposed to fit? So, when I originally wrote about the housing project, I made it seem like these houses would be built in Delhi only. However, I decided that I wanted the project to be bigger than that, so I decided that they would be building in places all over India. My premise is that the basic house design would be the same, but there would be small changes in the designs based on the specific region of India and what might be the requirements for a house in that part of the country. Hope this makes sense.
Edited by laxmi2010 - 13 years ago
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