New FF: New York times with Maan and Geet - Page 46

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Part 30: Project J

<Maan's monologue>

The stage was being set….I had no experience whatsoever in such dramas to induce jealousy…

Meera was the creative, director and editor…I had decided to join the class only the next Friday as I was still recovering…In the mean time…Meera wanted me to start coming over for Dinner at her place…she also planned a slow transition for things to heat up to make sure everything to be believable…

It was 8.00 PM…I was standing in front of their apartment wondering how things were going to work out for me…

I knocked on the door…Geet answered…

Maan:"Woh! Main…actually…"

Meera saw me messing it up…she came running..

Meera:" Oh! Aap…aagaye…"

<Geet's monologue>

"Aap…" what is wrong with Meer….Maan ko aap kyon bula rahi hain…

Geet:" Maan…Meera…you invited him?"

Meera:" Haan…Maan was complaining he was bored with Nakul's food…so I invited him…"

Maan?....MK kab Maan ho gaya hain?

He sat on the couch and switched on the TV….

I walked behind Meera to find out what she was upto…

Geet:"Meer…yeh! Sab kya hain…kab se Maan Nakul ke khana se bore ho rahe hain?"

Meera:" Actually its nothing…we were out for coffee and he was just cribbing about the food…so invited him…"

Coffee? Babaji yeh kya twist hain?

<Meera's monologue>

Ok…now I totally didn't anticipate that…Should I disclose everything to her or not….I was wanting this reaction from Yash…not from her…

Geet:" Hum toh frozen kaate hain…why would he be interested…?"

Meera:" Nahin…main aaj khichdi banane waali hoon… actually almost done…"

<Geet's monologue>

Kabhi Yash ke liye Kichdi nahin baniye…aur ab Maan ke liye Kichdi ban raha hain…

The door bell rings…

Maan gets up to get the door…

Yash:"Aur main haazir h…."

He is shocked to see Maan get the door…

Yash:"MK…aap…"

Maan:" Yeah…Meera invited me for dinner…"

He was puzzled….he scratched his head and came down on the sofa as if he was not sure what was happening…

We all settled for the dinner…Our dining table only had two chairs…so we all sat down…

Meera:" Aur thoda lijiye na…Maan…you should eat well…"

<Maan's monologue>

Yeh meera ko kyon nahi lag raha hai…yeh! Thoda zyaada kar rahi hai…

I tried to signal her with my eyes asking her to control…

Geet was more surprised than anything else…

She put the plate down with the thud and walked to the kitchen…

She took a glass to drink water…She did bottoms up…

Yash didn't take his eyes off us…

For the first time I was sitting next to Yash and Meera and not Geet…It did appear strange…

Next Meera was signaling me to get my first dialogue out…

Maan:" Toh! Meera hamara first lesson kab ka hain…"

Meera:" Friday ko hain Maan…"

Maan:"Aur…tumne mera form bhi bardiya right…?"

Geet:"Kaunsa form hai ye…Kaunse class?"

Meera:" I and Maan have joined bollywood dancing…This group is performing for Asha foundation to raise money…thought we will do it for a cause…"

Yash:"So this is the one you were asking me to join?…"

<Yash's monologue>

Am I loosing it? MK actually agreed to join her as her partner..?

<Geet's monologue>

Maan and Meera dance class?....Babaji…mujhe to chakkar aa raha hain… Yeh kaunsa track hain babaji …

Actually I'm getting it all wrong…Maan can never be that guy who jumps from person to person…

Just because…I…I mean…I'm only his…I don't know what I'm to him…

Yeh! Kaisa ho sakta hain.? Ab mera kya hoga?

I couldn't stand there…I got up and walked to the kitchen and started cleaning the mess Meera had made in making the simple kitchdi…

Yash walked to the kitchen to place the place the plate in the sink….

We were both standing and looking at them still sitting and happily eating away to each other's glory…

Yash:" Tumhe kuch samaj mein aa raha hain…"

I didn't answer anything…I just cleared all the utensils and dropped it with a thud in the sink…I couldn't tolerate it anymore…it had been more than a week since he talked to me…He didn't call me…He didn't mail me…And he was sending all the report requests to Meera…

I started cleaning the countertops…Yash left the kitchen….There were just so many glasses and cups on the countertop…I thought she only made one dish…There was some water with haldi…what was she really making?

I took the glass and threw it in the sink…Oops…I didn't know he was standing there…

Babaji…

He looked so upset…his usual…white shirt…Aah! Peela hogaya hain…

Geet:" Maan…aap kahan se beech mein aa gaye…?"

He was angry now…

Maan:" Geet…kuch kaam dek kar bhi kiya karo…"

Geet:" Aap Mujhe ye shirt de dijiye…main aapko…clean kar ke de doongi…"

I was in a state of panic…I was in a mess because of what was going on with Maan and Meera and then this…

<Maan's monologue>

She clearly wasn't processing anything…She was panicking big time….I wasn't going to put her through this…but before I could say anything…She was so close…and her hand was partially resting on my chest and on my shirt…she had taken a wet tissue and was trying to clean the stain with her other…

It had been more than a couple of weeks since she was this close to me…I just stayed still…I didn't want her to stop…she realized what she was doing…She lifted her head to look at me directly…she was not the same….her eyes had so many questions as if she had gone through some kind of rejection…She didn't want to break our gaze either…it was the first time ever that she had looked at me continuously for such a long time…My right hand was automatically reaching towards her cheek…when I snapped out of it…

Geet:" Aapka tabiyath teek nahin hain…ab dance class join karna zaroori hain…"

She questioned me and turned to the dishes in the sink…

Maan:" It's for a good cause…I think I should do it…logon ke charity projects bane se behatar to hai…"

Her anger was sky high…and I was strangely enjoying this.

She was one shade more beautiful when she was like this…I was now totally imagining things that were not appropriate…I walked out of the kitchen…

Meera came running seeing my shirt…

Maan:" Let me go change…"

Meera:" Maan bhi aapke saath chaloon…uske baath walk pe chalte hain…"

Yash:" Meera…I thought we were going to watch the DVD I got….See…"

He showed her the DVD…

Meera:" You know what Yash…May be tomorrow…"

Geet couldn't stay behind…She wanted to know what was going on…

<Yash's monologue>

Lagta hain…I have lost my chance…or have I really…

Bachu time to join the dance class…

Meera aur Maan ki lagan kabhi nahi hoyega…aisa hogaya to Geet ka kya hoga…

Lekin yeh naya chakkar kya hain…Kahin yeh log Geet ko line main lane ke liye ye sab to nahin kar rahe hain…agar main galat hoon tho? Main isme chance nahin le sakta..

Aaj tak…I was never in a situation forced to express my need for her…but aaj to…dar lag raha ki Meera ke yahan no vacancy board lagne jaa raha hain…Yash…is exam main toh pass hona hi padega…

<Geet's monologue>

Kahin yeh log Yash ke liye ye sab to nahin kar rahe hain..? Rab di kasam….if its something else…main…meera se kabhi nahin baat karoongi…Aur Maan….I don't know what he thinks of himself?

I'm here right…very much living and breathing…aur…mujse ab tak ek baat…nahin kiya…aur bol rahe te…"Charity project nahin ban na chahta hoon…" Maine kabhi use charity project ki tarah treat kiya hain kya…

What one earth is wrong with him? He will be holding Meera by her waist….chi chi babaji…main yeh kabhi hone nahin doongi…

Both of them left the apartment….I couldn't stay back either…

I left behind them after 10 mts…and went straight to the apartment…

He got the door for me…

Geet:"Aaapka phone reh gaya tha… "

Maan:" Thanks…"

He didn't even smile at me…bas ek smile babaji…

Geet:" Aur Meer hain…use ek…."

Maan:" She is not here…she has gone out for a walk…"

I was overjoyed but controlled my enthusiasm…

Geet:" Accha teek hai….hatiye…"

I pushed him gently to the side and walked inside…he was taken back…He was till at the door…

Geet:" Milgaya…"

<Maan's monologue>

She was searching for something in the couch….

She picked up something from the recesses between the cushions and came back to the door…

She showed me her palm…and it was her jhumka…

Geet:" Mujhe maloom ta ki yahi pe milega…When I was here in the evening…it must have fallen down…"

<Geet's monologue>

He instantly removed the hair covering my ears and looked if it was the same jhumka…

His fingers caressed my skin in such tender motion…

Maan:" Lekin Geet…yeh to tumhara jhumka nahin hain…"

Geet:"Kya…."

Maan:" Haan…See …it's definitely not yours…"

I was mad…what does he mean that this is not my jhumka? This is my jhumka I know it but why is he saying it's not mine…Who else was here? I was gone for a couple of days and why are things changing now…

Geet:" Main…sirf do din ke liye bahar gayi…to ghar mein ye sab kya ho raha hain…Babaji…"

I couldn't believe she just said that…"Ghar"…I couldn't help smile…Agar gharwali…I stopped…Maan…tu yeh! Kya bol raha hain…

<Geet's monologue>

He was smiling...How does he always know what I need the most?

I couldn't belive how close he was to me…

He lifted his hands to slowly remove the other jhumka that was still on my ears…his breath was warm…I didn't move…one jerk and his lips could touch my skin…I was melting as each second passed…

He took the jhumka out…lifted my hand with the other jhumka…and place the one that he just got out…

I had to change to my anger now…

Maan:" Dekho…yeh dono toh different hain…"

Geet:" Haan…Main bhi wahin pooch rahi hoon…ki yeh kiska hain… Yeh to kisi…"

I wanted to closely examine the difference and when I did I saw that they were both the same…

I was so engrossed to find out about the "other" woman that I forgot to check...He was teasing me…it was the first time in the entire week that he actually spoke anything light…

I started smiling too… but this didn't mean I was giving in…Not until I or my decisions mattered to him…

Geet:"Lekin…iska yeh matlab nahin…ki…"

Maan:"Yeah! I know…main tumse door hi ranhoonga… aur vaise bhi mujhe bhi kuch khaas interest nahin hain…tumhare paas aane ka…"

As he was saying that he came too close to me…that I actually has to stepped back…

I walked back….but couldn't help turning back to have another look at him…he was still at the door as if he knew I was going to turn for one last look…

I turned back instantly and took the elevator back home…

I didn't understand his games…they were new and beyond my understanding…I didn't know how to remove this veil of anger between us…was it anger or ego or something more…

I knew he was expecting me to say something to him about that night…but I had no clue what it was that made him so cold…Was it about the fact that I had used Dev's name to cover up people's questions?

I smiled…bas ek pal ke liye kisi aur ka naam le liye to itna gussa?

How could he stay behind…I couldn't take one step further without him…I decided to stay behind too…