Part 7: Hot Chocolate?
<Geet's Monologue>
The door bell rang…it must be him…I wasn't sure how to face him…my hands were fidgeting with my Dupatta…Chal beta…darwaaza khol…True he is your senior in office…but these things happen Geet…
I walked to the door hesitantly..
Meera: "Geet…Are you getting the door?" she called out from the kitchen…
I opened the door…hesitant to meet his eyes…
Maan: "Hi…tum…."
I didn't want to look at him…but I can't ignore…he is here to help me…I can't be rude…I lifted my face to meet his eyes…
<Maan's Monologue> Suit…aah…she looks….Maan….remember..no resisting…just flow….take a breath….
Geet: "Hi Maan…" He breathed loudly… "come in…"
He reluctantly came in…as if he was lost in his thoughts…
Maan: " Tum…yeh le lo…and ….hmmm I'm leaving…bye…"
Geet: " Maan…."
<Maan's monologue> Common maan loosen up….
I hesitated…I wanted to say sorry to him about last night's tamasha…
Geet: "Woh mein kal raath…kuch zyaada…"
Maan: " Its ok…you handled it well…."
Geet: " Actually sorry….and thank you…you had to take the trouble of dropping me…huh! …"
Maan: " Its all good…don't bother…"
Geet: " Please let me make it up to you….I and meera and yash are going out shopping…I was wondering if you can come with us…."
<Maan's monologue> pull….control…remember…just flow…
Maan: "Hmm…alright…what time are you guys leaving?"
Geet: " Around 3.00? ".. had not even asked others…I included Meer and Yash even without asking them…I don't know if they were even going to make it…but I cannot go alone with Maan…at any cost…what's wrong with me…kya zaroorad hai ab make up karne ke liye…you said…sorry and thank you right…
Geet: " Aur…I wanted to make up for that shirt as well…."
What am I speaking…mere dimaag kuch soch raha tha…or moo se labz kuch aur…
Maan: " You don't seem to be giving up…ziddi…huh! …alright…"
He agreed that he would let me buy only if I could pick up something that he already didn't have…something made him so sure that I wouldn't be able to spot any…He was to meet us at the apartment garage at 3.00….He said he would drive….babaji…ab please meera aur yash ko bhi aana padega…please aap mere madad ki jiye na…
Meer and Yash agreed…they didn't understand the part than Maan was joining us too…it was all too wired for them as he never hung out with them…the weirdness factor increased when I told them that he was driving…
He came down the elevator and joined us in the garage…
Yash: "Yo…whatzzup"
Maan: "My man…"
Meera: "Hi MK"
I just smiled at him…
Maan: " Hey guys…"
Maan: " Alright I'm driving…"
He pressed a button on a remote and the garage door opened…
Yash: "Swweeetttttt….. Actually mujhe chakkar aa raha hai…."
He imitated falling down and balanced on Meera….she pushed him away….
Yash: " Ashton Martin…Killer ride MK…didn't know a half million dollar drive was hiding in this garage…."
He just smiled and got in…I and Meer got into the back seat and yash got into the front seat…
I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into…but I wanted to enjoy this once in a lifetime ride…
We had to go through special valet entrance at bloomingdale's….his car couldn't be parked in the regular parking lot…Who is Maan Singh Khurana? Did I even know him at all?
Yash was walking away behind a girl he had just met….Meer didn't like it…she didn't approve it anyway…
Maan was chatting away with a friend who happened to be there…
I was standing by the men's section and was not sure how to make up for that shirt I ruined…apparently..turkish coffee ruins clothes once in for all… His car scared the hell out of me…badi badi bathen kar rahi thi…that I wanted to get him a shirt…but looks like I will not be able to get him even a handkerchief with my full paycheck…This shop will strip my purse…
I also didn't like the idea of getting him a shirt…I had not even got Dev a shirt…the idea now troubled me..
He walked towards me…just then…
Meera: Hey…I'm going to try some stuff in the women's section…I saw some nice trench's…
Babaji…mein maan ke saath akele….
Maan: "So…did you pick anything…"
Geet: " No…why don't you pick…how would I know what you don't already have…"
We went around…he didn't like the ones that he already didn't have…we went through Burberry, Paul Smith London and Salvatore Ferragamo…they even had a limited Eton collection…Maan had everything that I liked in those sections…he left me hanging there…I was in a fix…should I be happy that he didn't like anything and I was not buying him a shirt…or should I worry that I was not going to make up from the mess?....
He smiled…I followed his eyes…he was watching Meer and Yash break into a cute fight over the girl he was following….
Geet:" Hot chocolate"
Oops…I blurted...
Maan: "What? What did you just say?..."
Geet: " Hmm..Nothing…kuch nahi…"
Maan:" Common…that was so weird…."
I was taken back…yes that is weird…but I didn't expect him to say it right out… He noticed that I took it offensive..
Maan: " Actually…I didn't understand why you would say that…Please Geet . bolo na…"
I was surprised …"Please"…Is this the same Maan singh Khurana that walks like his head is 10 story's high…
Geet: " You know that tingling feeling that you have in your stomach when are having hot chocolate on a cold winter evening…"
Maan: " Cozy…?"
Geet: " That is what I felt when I looked at them…they just reflected that feeling…"
Maan: " You know what…tumhari baatein…main bikul samaj nahi paata hoon…"
Geet: " Dekhiye…actually very simple hain…have you ever had hot chocolate on a wintery evening?"
Maan: " I don't remember…"
<Maan's monologue> She seemed excited and disappointed …all at the same time…she was determined to make me understand…
Geet: "Kya…you have wasted half you life…"
Maan: " Geet…."
Geet: "…Hmmm Sorry…sorry…what I want to say is…jab do insaan ek doosre ke bare mein itna care kar te hain…tho…."
Maan: " tho…."
Geet: " I get the same feeling like I'm having hot chocolate…"
Maan: "Seriously…I don't get head or tail of this…"
Geet: " Maan…you have to experience it…aapne kabhi aise mahsoos nahin kiya?…common you must have looked at someone and felt like that or even …look at someone else and feel…like they complete each other…"
His expressions changed suddenly..as if he was going back in time…as if I had reminded him something that he was not supposed to remember…I didn't feel good that I had actually spoiled it for him…I didn't know what to say next….
Geet: " Maybe…being with a friend….jaise…jab mein meera …waise I call her meer…jab mein meer ke saath hoti hoon…to I feel like I'm having hot chcoloate…she makes me feel good…in your words…cozy…agar mein kush hoon to she makes me feel COZIER…agar mein dukhi hoon to she makes me feel COZY…"
<Maan's monologue> ladikiyan aur hot chocolate…I will never understand I guess…she is sometimes naive…sometimes ziddi…sometimes mature…I didn't know what shade she was…
Geet: " Maan…you are listening right…"
Maan: " Jo bhi ho…tum to bilkul…"
Geet: " Common…aap bhi aise feel kar sakthe hain…infact aap feel bhi karenge…but you will not accept or you will not take initiative for such things…sab kuch free mein thodi milta hain"
Maan: " Main kabhi…kisi ke saath apne feelings hide nahin karta ha hoon…aur ab mujhe kya initiative lena padega yeh hot chocolate mehasoos karne ke liye…
Geet: " Time spend karna hai friends ke saath…hasna hai…baate share karna hai…friends ke dukh mein shaamil hona hai…yeh sab karna padta hai…and last but not least…vun ke liye kuch mehsoos bhi karna padtha hai…aur aapke friend ya friends ko bhi yeh sab karna padega… tab hoga aapko mehsoos…ki hot chocolate kya hota hai…"
<Maan's monologue> I couldn't believe that I was listening to something absolutely insane and enjoying every moment of it…just because it was coming from her…
Maan: " Accha…ye sab mehsoos karne ke liye main ab kisko jaake doodoon…"
<Geet's monologue> He walked away to the nearest tie section…I didn't know what I should say…things were getting clearer to me…he was not like everyone…there was something about him that he didn't want anyone to see…He didn't want to try…Or did he try and fail and did that hurt him…I could only guess…I almost felt for him and was overcome by strange emotions…I walked towards him…there was some strange excitement in the air…it felt like the beginning of something…
Geet: " Chaliye…mein hi aapko help kar de ti hoon…Friends?..."
He wasn't sure about what I just said…infact even I wasn't sure…He was perplexed, happy, shocked all at the same time…I had never seen so many emotions all the same time in one person…what if what I just asked him was plain wrong?...what if he didn't accept?…then it was definitely going to get weird in office…in the apartment..it would be awkward in the train….he would think I'm crazy…and when I was blaming myself for saying that…I heard it…
Maan: " Friends…" He came forward to shake my hand...that I had extended in anticipation all this while…
We walked along lexington and 59th for some time…Meer and yash had patched up again…they were walking ahead and I along with Maan…and then my eyes fell on the perfect thing I could give him to make up ….
I got it when he was checking another nearby store…I wrapped it in a brown paper bag…I'm girly but I was not going to make it fancy for him…and gave it to him after I met him…and said sorry once again…
He raised his eyebrows as if questioning me what it was and why…
Geet: " I don't think I can ever make up or pay back for last night…and now that we are friends…I don't want to…but I want you to have this….hopefully you will feel hot chocolate…if not now…someday…"
He smiled….he seemed content with my answer…
<Maan's monologue>
I couldn't wait to get back home to see what it was…There was a note inside it…it was not addressed to me…
"What did you expect…a hot chocolate packet?…I want you to feel it…not Drink it.…I hope it catches all the bad dreams of your past…and when it does you will wake up to that hot chocolate feeling…"
Signed …Geet.
It was a prefect little white dream catcher….
She read my eyes that moment when I walked away….that someone gave up and something hurt me to try again…Woh mere sab baat bina kahe kaise jaan leti hain…
I walked to the kitchen…made myself a cup of hot chocolate..I sat facing the setting sun on that cold wintery evening and sipped away the hot drink…I wasn't sure what it told me...I wasn't sure if I had that warm tingling feeling that she talked about…but I was ready to try…once again…."Hot chocolate…"
Part 10: Nostalgic…A walk in central park…
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
Cricket
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