New FF: New York times with Maan and Geet - Page 23

Another long one...bear with me...today I managed to write three...but I dont think its going to be like this starting tomorrow...let see...I promise I will write atleast one everyday...Until then please keep reading and posting you thoughts...

Part 20 : Flea market…

<Geet's monologue>

We had an empty apartment to fill…we didn't own any of the furniture from the 10 floor apartment.except the mattress.

I sat by the window seat for one last time…It had got me through some of the tough times of my life…This was my spot…I would be torn down physically or emotionally and this is were I always came to rejuvenate…My own personal spa…

It was Saturday…Meer and I decided to go to the flea market to pick up some pieces for the apartment…I always liked to shop at the flea market…I know they were used…but I believed they came with character compared to the shop bought ones…

Yash was excited about our new place…he said he could crash at our living room anytime..they was plenty of place for everyone…including Maan…

I no longer did mental checks on the time I spent with others…I kept myself surrpounded by people…he knew that…and Maan…he was still behind in his promise… It had been 2 days since I had seen him or talked to him…he was out of town for a business meeting and left the same night he gave me the keys…he must have come in late last night…I decided to call him as well for my trip to the flea market…

Maan:" Geet…."

My call had woken him up…

Geet:" Oh! Sorry…aap so rahe the…main baad mein call karthi hoon…"

Maan:" Where are you? 10^th or 24^th?"

Geet:" 10^th…apartment clean jo karna hai…"

Maan:" Why don't you get cleaners…they will finish it off in 3 hrs… I will give you my maid's number…"

Geet:" Maan…I want to do it…"

He understood what I meant…this was my own personal space that I was leaving behind…the first apartment that had taught me to live on my own…

Maan wanted to drive today…I always loved the flea market…and it always changed everytime you visit…new vendors…new people…new stuff to buy…the experience different every time…

I and Meera debated on carpets and rugs…We bought some nice stuff for the walls…There were real nice vases…fresh flowers…I was worried…we were going to make his Merc dirty with our cheap stuff…that was in no way compared to his car in quality or price…

He didn't comment or even question why I wanted to buy stuff from here…He never questioned me…he never curbed my freedom to do things….

He would stay around and offer his opinion the same way if I were to buy a $8000 turkish deep blue rug from an expensive dealer…He never discriminated…

I wanted some change for me to purchase some dollar trivia…I was asking Meera…when he took his wallet and placed it on my hand…I looked at him…

Maan:" Just take how much ever you want from the coin sleeve…"

I didn't know what to say…he turned and walked off to check out some interesting wall art…

I was walking around and found some very pretty colored marbles..I thought I could put it in a vase and make that into a display…

The shop keeper asked me 75 cents for the whole bag…it was a good bargain… I opened his wallet…I was nervous…His drivers licence was on display…he looked very different in the picture…

I opened the coin sleeve and started picking coins without looking…I felt something…it was nothing like a coin…I dug in and took it out…

It was the blue crystal that I won from the game….Cap ou pas cap…

He has been carrying it around ever since..I was in such turmoil that day that I must have forgotten to take it back…

I remembered…my mind was repeating his sentences in full blown volume…" bilkul tumhari tarah…"

"kuch chup tha nahin inke andar... jo bhi hai…sab saaf saaf dikta hai…"

I couldn't help smile…

The shop keeper was waiting…I paid him and moved on….My thoughts kept coming to the fact that he was carrying the crystal all the while…I turned and my eyes searched for him…He was standing at another shop and was bargaining with Meera for a wall art…

Who was he? Why did he come into my life? Its been just over a month…but he was everywhere…from office to coffee shop to shopping and right now above my loft too…he owned every inch…every inch of the space I walked, lived and breathed…

How was I every going to repay him for all that he has done for me?...perhaps it is the wrong question…How can I repay him? There was no way to repay what he had done for me…

<Maan's monologue>

I couldn't believe I was shopping for her house…no correcting…home…this is what she wanted and I was glad I was able to be a small part of it…

She was standing with a big bag of colored marbles…and looking at us…I and meera were at the shop…What was I doing here? I couldn't believe I was shopping in a flea market…if this is what made her happy then this is where I belong…

We walked towards her…she was lost in deep thought…She looked at me as if she wanted some answers…Did she know her questions though?

Meera:"Chalo chalo…kuch kaatein hain…"

Geet:"Ice cream…"

Meera:"My god…itna tand hai yaahan pe…and you want ice cream…"

Geet:"Then tell me why they are selling it here…mana to nahi na…"

Can anyone ever argue with her? I wondered…

We went and got ice cream…I had to pay the shop keeper…it was $3.50…I took out couple of dollar bills and looked into the coin sleeve for 50 cents…I took out the cents and handed it to the seller…

Hold on…I looked back into the coin sleeve…the blue crystal was gone…I tapped my jean pockets…may be it fell inside…how can it be? I saw it when I had paid for the flowers…

I looked all around…I was going frantic…

I traced my steps back…just to see if I could spot it…It was a bad place to loose the tiny crystal..

I asked the girls to stay at the ice cream shop and went back to all the shops I had visited…

I couldn't find it anywhere…This was not a good sign…what was nature trying to tell me…was I going to lose her? To me it was her…it was a piece of her that she left behind for me…

I was heart broken…

<Geet's monologue>

I was noticing Maan's expressions…he was worried…he was searching for something…I gave my ice cream to Meera and asked her to finish it…She didn't complain…

I went behind Maan…I think I know what he was searching for…Did it matter to him so much? I wondered…

I put my hand on his shoulder and stopped him…He turned and he looked worried…

Maan:" Geet…tum…Meera kahan hain…"

I didn't know why I did what I did…but I wanted to end his pain…

Geet:" I think this belongs to you…"

< Maan's monologue>

She opened her palm to reveal the object of my affection…She had the blue crystal…a part of her…that had gone back to her…

Maan:"Actually…I just had it…I forgot to give it back to you…remember…"

I was just trying to make up....actually I didn't know what I was saying…

Geet:" Haan Maan…I know…but I still think you should have it…"

I calmed down a bit…Her gaze was stinging me…she didn't look away…she was telling me the truth…she wanted me to have it…

Geet:" Aapne kaha ki yeh bilkul meri tarah hain…so just to remind you of me…I think you should have it…"

Her tone changed…

Geet:" May be it will help you become more like it…"transparent"…for all you know its powers will rub off on you too…"

She laughed…and gave the crystal back to me…I was happy to receive it back…I owned it now rightfully..atleast this part of her…

We finished our shopping and went back to the apartment…

I went back and sat at the window seat…they didn't have any furniture yet…Just their mattress from the 10^th floor apartment…apparently she didn't like when I called it her "old apartment"…

Meer and geet argued about how to have the knick knacks arranged and scatter them in a way…that they all belonged there…and they indeed did..after all she has such good taste..

<Geet's monologue>

Maan left a short while after we came back to the apartment…we had already handed the keys to Meera's cousin…this is our first day in our new loft…

We finished dinner and we were still getting used to the new place…when his call came….He asked me to meet him in the gym sit-out…This place had a history to it…it always got us a tad bit closer everytime we met there…

He was in his favorite all white shirt and trousers…standing by the ledge…he didn't turn as I came in…he

didn't know that I was already there…or probably didn't want me to know that he knew me so well…

As I was walking up to him…there was a tiny gift bag on the pool table that I was approaching…Nobody could have left it there…was it meant for me…?

I picked it up just to make sure if it wasn't left behind by somebody…if it was… then I thought I shall give it to secutity…

I opened the gift bag…it was not anything fancy…there was a small note inside it…I took it out..and read it aloud as I didn't expect it be meant for me…

"If the blue crystal is a piece of you…then this is a piece of me..." ...Maan

I knew what he meant…I think I have an idea what was in there…

I looked inside the bag and there was a tiny box…I opened it and found a semi transparent white crystal…it didn't have any shape….it was not polished…it was rugged…unlike the blue one that he now had…

I walked to the ledge where he was seated…he had turned and was watching me the whole time…

As I approached him…his gaze mellowed…

I stood next to him and was leaning on the ledge as well..

Geet:" Thank you…."

<Maan's monologue>

I actually didn't expect her to take it without a fight or argument…I was pleasantly surprised and was glad too…I had the feeling she was going to question me on the price and she didn't…

Maan:"I saw this piece and thought it was only fair that you have something that represented me as well.."

She watched me with awe…I went on …

Maan:"You know what Geet…this can be made to look like the same crystal that you won in the game…shiny…polished…give it a shape…and make it transparent………..."

She listened even keenly…

Maan:"But it has to go through fire to emerge out like the blue one…have the impurities removed to make it transparent…has to be cut for it to have a shape…has to be brushed and softened to make it shinier and polished…right now this rock quartz still has to go through a lot of work…and it needs the right person to shape it that way too…"

Geet:"But the question is does this rock quartz want to be like the blue one? "

Maan:" I don't think I have the answer to that Geet…what if it can never be the transparent one…maybe that is how it was meant to be…maybe…"

She tuned towards me and faced me…She closed my mouth with her hand…Her eyes locked with mine and she said…

Geet:"Chup…Maan…Bilkul Chup…You don't know what it wants…."

She removed her hands from my mouth and she shied away…She didn't expect to do that…I didn't either…I mean…did she just do that?

She walked back…came close to me and once again stood next to me…she looked at me…deep into me…

Geet:"You promised that you will try and that is what is needed"…and she hesitated...

Geet:"That is what I need too…We will let time answer what it becomes…" She opened her palm and showed me the white quartz I had given her…

We sat that way on the ledge for some time…we didn't talk…she broke her silence…

Geet:" So you have to tell me how much it costs…bahut mehenga pada…?

I guess I was wrong…she did want to know the price…I was silent and was smiling…

Maan:" Tumhe kya farak padta hain…waise bhi yeh gift hai…you can't ask for the price…"

Geet:" Please Maan…please…"

She stomped as if she was a little kid…

Maan:" I picked it up from the flea market…it doesn't cost anything at all…"

She was surprised…I could read it in her eyes…I knew she was happy that I had finally learnt her way of giving…

<Geet's monologue>

We talked for some time…actually I talked for some time…he just listend…I was ready to go back home...we took the elevator together…He stood close to me…My floor had come…and as I was about to get off…he held my wrist and stopped me…

Maan:"Thank you Geet…"

And he opened his other hand and looked at the blue crytal that was now his…

I smiled and walked away…

He was not here with me…not in this very loft…not in this very place….but he had left a piece behind for me…rugged, uncut and opaque…but only for now…it didn't have to remain like this forever…I wondered how many tests of time he would have to give to become like the one he wanted to...I know he would…at least for me…

Part 21: Sunday brunch.

abhi abhi geet ne kya bathaya chup Maan bi\hilkul chup🤣 🤣🤣 🤣 tat was Maan's fav sialouge and u gave it to Geet and her move was also Maan's closing her mouth... Awesome update. dear