Maaneet FF *A Second Chance* |NOTE P.65| - Page 32

hellooooo everyone!!!!!!!

im sooooo sorry for not updating!! i had midterms last week that i had to study for. and i still have one more on monday..bio 😔 every time i would sit down to finally start writing after i finished homework and studying and all that stuff, i realized it was like 2 in the morning (which is actually pretty early to go to sleep) but then i'd be waay to tired to think of something sensible to write 😆 so you may notice that my writing is kind of weird in this update..sometimes i feel like my writing style changes throughout the chapter (thats because i've been writing this throughout the week at different times..)

anyways'.this is super long update compared to all my other chapters, so i hope you enjoy them!! you may ask why its so long..well, 1) its to make up for not updating at all for the past week 2) and im not sure if i'll be able to get in any updates next week either because i've been super busy lately.. :( so i hope this i good enough for you guys!!!!!

so do let me know what you think of this chapter and please continue to leave comments, because thats how i can tell if im being confusing or not (especially the ending part) lol!! im trying to clear up confusion as i go 😃

NOTE: the stuff in italics are the characters thoughts and feelings 😃

Shreya

Maan aggressively slipped into the drivers seat after he shoved Geet into the passenger seat, making sure to lock the door, and began to drive furiously back to the mansion. Geet silently watched Maan, who's eyes were now red with anger. She jerked forward in her seat suddenly when Maan abruptly forced all the energy he could muster on to the accelerator, but Maan didn't seem to notice. He was too busy crushing the steering wheels with his tenacious grip. Geet naturally placed her hand softly over one of his.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, even though she knew what the answer was.

"What's wrong?" he roared back, causing Geet to cringe. Maan could feel Geet's hand jerk over his suddenly when he yelled. He angrily turned to face her, but stopped when he saw Geet's calm and composed face looking back at him. He looked deeply into her anxious eyes. He saw no fear, no hesitation, no apprehension. He only saw concern, concern for him, in her eyes.

Geet didn't back away at Maan's aggressive response. Instead, she returned Maan's vicious glare, which was obviously meant for Rahul, with her calm gaze. She kept her hand over Maan's and gently began caressing it. Maan's eyes began to soften their glare as Geet's delicate touch ran through the veins in his fingers. He shivered slightly at her cool touch. Her touch, that was enough to calm him down. Maan started to gradually slow down the speed of the car and Geet could see that the tension that had been quite visible on his face was beginning to ease away.

Geet tenderly asked, again, "What's wrong?"

"Aren't you...don't you..." Maan tried to start, but stopped.

They both became quiet.

"Yeah, I guess I was feeling kind of uneasy...nervous...and weird when Rahul was there," Geet broke the silence. "I mean, he's been trying to get my attention all day. And the way he grabbed my hand and pulled me - "

"He held you hand?" Maan said angrily.

Geet squeezed Maan's hand and quickly said, "Yeah, well, he was going to give me a ride home..." She tried to wave it off, as if it wasn't that important. "But then you walked in," Geet began again, warily watching Maan's angry expressions. "I knew he wouldn't be able to come near me with you being right there. I knew you wouldn't let him." Geet told him. Maan had completely stopped the car now and had parked to the side. He turned to face her completely.

"Who was he?" Maan asked. His voice was beginning to become more relaxed, but it still wasn't quite there yet.

"Rahul Narayan." Geet answered. "He's a senior doctor at Sanjivani," Geet answered.

"Oh. Are you going to have to work with him a lot?"

"Well...yes. He will probably have to come to me for medical advice and some minor issues like that. Otherwise, I probably won't see him around too much," Geet said. "...unless he comes looking for me."

Maan was silent, but Geet could see the concern that was beginning to show on his face.

"Don't worry about it. After the way you acted today, I don't think he'll want to come anywhere near me unless he needs to," Geet tried to laugh, but failed miserably.

"That's what scares me," Maan said quietly. "The way he looked at me. It looked like he would be willing to do anything, anything, to get back at me for what I did, for how I pulled you away from him." He was silent. "I'm afraid he might do something to you."

He was afraid. Maan Singh Khurana was afraid. The same Maan Singh Khurana who had never been afraid of anything. Yet he felt so terrified of losing Geet, of her not becoming his. Why? What had made him suddenly claim Geet as his? Why did he feel like she belonged to no one else but him? Why had he gotten so angry when he saw that 'Rahul' standing next to his Geet? He remembered, when Geet had gripped his hands tightly in the hospital, he had known something was wrong, and he knew that Rahul had something to do with it. Geet's one touch, one look, was all he needed to know what she was thinking, to know what she was feeling. He had felt his blood boil when Rahul had tried to stop him from taking Geet with him, from taking his Geet with him. Who was Rahul to question him? She was his. That was it. She was his and he was going to take her with him. He had felt like beating the pulp of him, but his eyesight had been blurred by his rage. And that's when he had said it: "She's mine" and pulled her out of the doors, grasping her much more tightly than even she had held him earlier that morning. Why?

"But you'll always be there for me, right?" Geet disturbed Maan's thoughts.

Why had she just asked that, as if she honestly didn't know the answer? Of course he would always be there for her...right? Or was she just expecting that from him, was she just hoping that he would always be there for her? Was she expecting too much from someone she had just met? She didn't even know why, but she felt so protected when she was with Maan. When she had seen him walk through the doors at the hospital, she suddenly felt more...she didn't have a word for it...maybe strong? Maybe even kind of invincible? She felt like nobody could touch her when he was there. But why? She had known him for what, less than three days? But she felt like she had some kind of a strong bond with him anyways. Why else would she feel so protected when he was around? And why had he said that she was only his? She couldn't say she was angry with him or that she didn't like that he had say that. No, she couldn't even pretend, because she really did like it. But why? She was still trying to figure that out. She was still trying to understand why she had wanted to say, "I'm yours," right back to him. She was still trying to figure out why she had stopped herself. Why?

"Right?" she pressed again, breaking out of her thoughts.

Maan placed his hand over hers, now sandwiching her delicate fingers between his, "Always."

They sat there, holding each other's hands, for what seemed like hours, just gazing deeply into one another's eyes, not saying one word. They didn't need to. Their eyes said it all, at that was enough. Maan impulsively moved closer to Geet, and Geet did the same. As they moved closer to each other, Maan freed one of his hands, which were now intertwined with Geet's, and gently pushed the few strands of hair that had escaped Geet's hair-tie behind her ear. He slowly brought his fingers down, stroking Geet's cheek, and cupped her chin with his hand. Geet unconsciously moved even closer to Maan and tightened her grip on Maan's hand.

Beep! Beeeep! Maan's cell phone went off.

Geet's eyes suddenly widened as she realized how close she was to Maan's face. They both tried to back away from each other as quickly as they could, but they ended up bumping each other's foreheads in the middle of their own individual struggles.

"Ow!" they both yelled together, looking up at each other. When they caught each other's eyes, they suddenly began to laugh with each other, rubbing their foreheads at the same time.

"Sorry, are you okay?" Maan asked, trying to control his laughter. But he hadn't laughed like this in such a long time, and he just couldn't control himself. He felt as if he were making up for all the time he hadn't laughed by laughing at this moment, with Geet.

Geet nodded, still laughing. "I'm sorry too. I hit you pretty hard, huh?"

"No, its fine," Maan said. His laughter had now turned into a wide smile. He began to start the car since it was almost eleven now, but the car wouldn't start.

The smile on Maan's face left as quickly as it had come. "Are you serious?" Maan said angrily to himself, trying to start the car again. But it only went forward a few centimeters before stopping again.

Geet laughed, "What's wrong? Is your car in shock or something? I mean you actually laughed just now, like actually laughed."

"Geet, be quiet! It's all your fault," Maan turned to her.

"What? My fault? What did I do to your car?" Geet said back.

"You're sitting in it!" Maan yelled back.

"So you're saying you're car isn't starting because I'm sitting in it?" Geet yelled.

"YES!" Maan screamed. "Finally, your snail-speed brain is working!"

"Snail-speed! Snail-speed!" Geet yelled. "Did you just say my brain works as slow as a snail walks?"

"I would have said that your brain seems to be working slightly faster now, but FYI, snails don't walk. They crawl."

"Ugh!" Geet whined. "You're so...so...ugh!"

"What am I, Geet?" Maan provoked Geet. "Huh? What am I?"

"Dusht Danav! That's what you are!" Geet yelled into Maan's ear.

"Aah, what's wrong with you?" Maan yelled back, covering the ear Geet had screamed into.

"You honestly think your car isn't working just because I'm sitting in it?"

"Can you see any other possible reason? It's you!"

"Really?" Geet said nodding frantically. "Fine! Fine! We'll see!" she said as she opened the door to get out of the car.

"Geet, what are you doing?" Maan said.

"I'm showing you you're wrong!" Geet stepped out of the car. "Try it now," Geet smirked.

This time Maan was nodding his head frantically. "Yeah, okay. Fine then!" He stuffed the key into the keyhole and turned it. The car suddenly came to life. "You see?" Maan smirked at Geet.

"Wh...But...That's...UGH!" Geet stammered. "That was just luck. I'm telling you, it was just luck, okay!"

"Right, Ms. Chicago Express," Maan mocked Geet. "Now will you please get in the car? We should probably get going now. Don't you see how dark it is? And no one is on the road. Hurry up!"

"I'm not getting in!" Geet slammed the door in Maan's face.

"My car!" Maan shouted. "Don't do that! You'll break the door!"

"I'm standing out here in the cold wearing just a sari, and you're worried about your freaking car?" Geet couldn't believe Maan.

"Geet, don't make this so hard. Just get in the car!" Maan said as he got out of the car.

"I won't. What are you going to do about it?" Geet said. "Dusht! Danav!" She didn't care if Maan heard her or not.

"Dusht what?" Maan said, now walking around the car to Geet.

"Dusht DANAV!" Geet said. "Dusht D-A-N-A-V!" she said. "Do you get it now?" She started walking away.

"Geet!" Maan called after her. "Geet! Stop!" He ran after her, catching the pallu of her sari, which she had not secure with a pin. Geet instantly stopped, and tried to hold her pallu in place in case it slipped away. But Maan didn't let go. Instead, he slowly walked towards her and wrapped the sari around her shoulders, stroking her arm softly. This time it was Geet who shivered. Geet looked up at him shyly, and then looked away again.

"Come on," he whispered softly into her ear and grabbed her hand. He pulled her back to the car and made her sit in the seat, but not as aggressively as before. In fact, he was much more gentle this time. Geet became quiet. At that moment, when Maan had pulled her towards the car, she had physically and mentally felt something slip away. Something that had been a heavy burden. She felt as if some burden that had been too strong for her to handle all alone had just disappeared. She felt somewhat relieved. Maan locked her door and quickly ran back to the drivers seat before Geet could do anything he considered stupid again. But she just stayed quiet. He let her be for a few minutes before asking, "Are you okay?"

Geet just nodded, "Yeah. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"I don't know actually. I just feel lighter now."

"Lighter?" Maan asked.

"It's hard to explain."

"Okay..." Maan trailed off.

They were both quiet the entire way home. Geet would catch herself watching Maan sometimes, for no apparent reason, and then quickly look away when Maan turned to look at her, and then she would get lost in her thoughts again.

"We're home, Geet," Maan said quietly.

"Huh? Oh, okay." Geet said, rather dazed. "Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem." Maan said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I am. Don't worry," Geet said and began walking towards the door, but tripped over her sari as she got to the door. Maan, who had been walking slowly behind her caught her instantly and pulled her towards him, hiding her face in his chest. Geet looked up at Maan after loosening her clutch on his shoulder only to see him smiling down at her.

"What?" Geet asked, as Maan pulled her up to her feet.

"Nothing." Maan said.

"You're smiling though." Geet said. "Are you laughing at me? Just because I tripped? Because if you are, for you information, I have never tripped over my saris before. I was just thinking about something. I wasn't paying attention," Geet tried to defend herself.

"No, that's not it." Maan said.

"Then what?"

"I mean, I was kind of expecting that," Maan smiled. "You always do something silly whenever you're with me. When we first met, you fell on me. Then you slip, and I had to catch you. After that, your dupatta got stuck, and then you spilled eggs on my shirt. I was wondering what it was going to be today."

Geet just started laughing. "Wow, I really am pretty clumsy aren't I?"

They both walked up the stairs laughing to themselves. After waving good night to each other, they walked into their rooms and fell asleep instantly, thinking about each other.

* * *

For the first night in seven months, she hadn't given it any importance or even attention before falling asleep. It had become so accustomed to her touch every night. But tonight, nothing. Her thoughts had been occupied with other ideas, none of them relating to him or it. There was no one to stop it as the wind pulled it off the desk with its mighty hands and through the open window. It carried it around through several unfamiliar streets, not stopping to ask what its preference was. The wind gently dropped it at its new destination, placing it next to its forgotten partner.

The diamond ring and the picture of a handsome young man lay abandoned and deserted, together, in the unknown streets of Delhi.