Maaneet FF *A Second Chance* |NOTE P.65| - Page 22

"Geet?" Maan knocked on her door, but there was no answer, so he opened the door and walked in. Geet was standing in front of her mirror. He couldn't help but notice how gorgeous she looked at that moment. She had tied her hair into a loose half ponytail and had left a few strands that framed her face beautifully. She wasn't wearing the usual salwar suit today. Instead, she had wrapped herself into a light pink faux georgette sari that had been embellished with sequins. Her pallu was not pinned up at her shoulder. Instead, Geet had let it flow loosely over her left arm. Her blouse was deep in the back, and tied into a bow at the top. He slowly walked towards her.

"Maan?" Geet turned around.

"Oh, umm, yeah. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Since it's your first day and all." Maans stuttered. Seeing Geet's worried face he asked, "Still nervous?" Geet nodded. He smiled and held up the bowl of ice cream and a spoon he had brought with him. "I brought you ice cream." He handed the bowl to Geet.

Geet chuckled, "Thanks!" and started eating the ice cream. "You know, you're actually not that bad," she said in between her nervous gulps of ice cream.

"And I have something else," Maan said. He pulled Geet's iPod out of his pocket. "Here, its that song you made me listen to yesterday...Jaane Kyun...if you feel really nervous, just listen to it and think about Vicky," he told her. "... and me" he added quickly.

Geet's smile widened. "Thanks a lot." She set her ice cream bowl, which she finished in no time, down and turned back to the mirror to fix her hair. "Jaane Kyun, Dil Jaanta Hai, Tu Hai To I'll Be Alright," she began to sing, perfectly on tune.

"You can sing too, huh," Maan asked, surprised.

"Sort of," Geet answered.

"Its good," he assured Geet. "Jaane Kyun, Dil Jaanta Hai..." Maan began, completely off tune. Geet turned to him with a big smile, and before they knew it, both of them were standing there laughing and giggling with each other. "I'm not much of a singer, am I?" Maan laughed.

"Not really," Geet laughed with him. "But its okay, I'll teach some other time."

"Okay, well hurry up." Maan looked down at his watch. "You don't want to be late on your first day. I'll wait in the car for you." Maan started walking out of the room.

"Wait!" Geet called. "You're dropping me off?"

"Yeah. Vicky asked me too. He wants someone to be there with you in case you have a nervous break down or something," Maan laughed.

"He said I might have a nervous breakdown?" Geet asked, while Maan just laughed.

"He also said you might try to run away, so someone needs to be there to catch you."

"That jerk!" Geet muttered under her breath.

"Hurry up!" Maan called as he left.

"Vicky, that moron," Geet continued to blast her best friend. She usually did get nervous before her first day at almost anything...the first day of classes, at the hospital, first operation...but she had never run away! "I'm going to kill that bonehead!" she said again. "Vick," she smiled.

Geet quickly fixed her hair, grabbed her files and her coat, and ran down the stairs and straight to the kitchen to grab her lunch box, which thankfully, Nakul had packed for her, and out to the car, where Maan was waiting very patiently for a change. He turned to smile at her just as she stepped out. He was amazed at how gracefully she carried herself in that elegant sari and he couldn't help but notice how stunning she looked. She smiled and got in next to him.

For the first five minutes of the car ride, neither of them spoke. They just sat there in an awkward silence. Maan was driving, and Geet just sat there, looking out the window, and occasionally humming to her nervous self. Maan glanced over at her and noticed how badly her hands were shaking. Without even thinking about it for a second, Maan covered Geet's trembling hands with his, but continued to watch the road. Feeling his warm touch, Geet looked down and was surprised to see Maan holding her hands. Her hands began to steady as he held them tightly. Geet looked up at Maan and watched his relaxed face. No one except Arjun had ever been able to calm her down when she was nervous like this. And for the first time, some one else finally did it. But they were different. Arjun used to joke around, make her laugh, and talk nonstop, trying to get Geet's mind off of whatever was making her nervous, but as soon as he left, taking his cheerful mood with him, Geet would become nervous again. Maan, on the other hand, said barely anything. All he did for those fifteen minutes was hold her hand tightly like that, and her nervousness flew away, just like that. Geet's hands were now completely steady, but Maan didn't let go, and Geet didn't ask him too.

"Thanks," she whispered to him.

Maan smiled at her and began to let go of Geet's hand, but she quickly tightened her fingers around his and pulled their intertwined hands closer to her. "Not yet," she said. "Hold my hand until we get there?" she innocently asked.

Maan smiled, "You can hold on as long as you need to."

She was defiantly extremely different from any other woman had met, and without doubt, completely different from her. Geet was changing every moment. When he met her she had fought with him, the next time, she had asked to be friends, and then she had tried to cheer him up, and now, he could see the child that was in her through her nervousness. He could see the honesty and loyalty in her eyes. He could swear he could also see pain in her eyes, hidden somewhere behind all that outward cheerfulness, but he still didn't know why. She had never showed any sign of pain...except maybe when he had found that she had been listening to extremely sad music...but whenever she was face to face with someone else, she would always be smiling. Shev didn't turn away from everyone like he did. She was definitely different.

"We're here," Maan told her softly as he brought the car to a slow stop.

Geet squeezed Maan's hand one last time before letting go. "Thanks," she smiled as she got out of the car.

"Good luck," Maan said.

Geet smiled and closed the door. Maan watched her as walked up to the front doors, close her eyes, and then open the door and step in with her right foot. Before closing the door behind her, Geet turned back to smile at Maan, who smiled back at her and drove off. He shook his hands and laughed as he felt the blood finally begin to circulate in his fingers again. "Geet," he smiled.