Part 58 Earth calling little Ms. Sunshine.
Maan:"Get out Geet"
<Geet's monologue>
I shook for his words came down like thunder as he bellowed. It had been a bad day so far, starting with the shoving spectacle at the lobby. My apology at the elevator had not mollified him and I sort of understood his anger. Senior director being dismissed by an Analyst? Yeh tho ab mera chun chunke badle lenge. He was letting hell loose on our team members that day and I questioned if it was all related to that morning's chain of events. If it was then, then he was every bit unprofessional and this was no way to treat his wife/team member "Get out Geet". My eyes narrowed in anger. He noticed it and before he could say anything else, I stomped out only to collide with Shasha carrying a boxy package.
<Maan's monologue>
Argh
Argh! That was unnecessary. I huffed while my finger traced my brow. I was in for real trouble at home. I couldn't help for the entire system was now out of shape and it had only been two weeks that I was off the site. No status emails had been sent and all the execs were fuming for they were missing numbers. The ones that were out there were incorrect and had caused havoc. Geet was partly responsible to make sure she had KT'd her work to someone else in her absence. She had not followed up either and that to me was utterly irresponsible.
Arey yeh kya? She stormed out and ran directly into Shasha. Voh teek tho hain? I moved closer to inspect the scene and there she was swaying again due to her ear condition which conveniently had me tied her to her hip. This time I went for her upper arm and held on to her until she could fathom her spatial position.
I could already read Shasha's scorn but it was not something for me to tackle. To my surprise, she tried to balance by holding onto my shirt and the top button flew out as she cowered the piece of cloth in her hand.
<Geet's monologue>
It took me a few seconds to realize that there was one more item to be added to my list of goof ups for the day. My forehead narrowed and my eyes conveyed embarrassment to his chagrin as I apologized.
Geet:"Oh! Maan…I'm so sorry…"
He turned away to look at Shasha and didn't care for the mishap, yet I pursued.
Geet:" I don't know how…I'm…"
He momentarily met my eyes with a choleric "I will take care of you later" look.
Maan:"Its ok…Geet…." He broke off to turn to her and continued "Hmm Shasha, let me take that from you"
He eyed the package and gave her some instructions.
Maan:"This is mine as well, but I'm expecting something from the Singapore office. Get that to me once it comes in".
He stopped to look at me once again before he made his way back to his seat and my eyes followed him.
<Shasha's monologue>
Am I seeing it all right? Wait a minute, Isn't that the same boquet that Geet carried this morning? And her chakkar? MK held her by her waist and yet she ran behind him? And MK not being mad at her for breaking off a button on his shirt? Am I missing out on an office affair? Hold on…they even came back the same day to office? But she was gone for almost 2 months though. I closely examined her for any vital signs that could breed my suspicion. She had sindoor and mangal Sutra as the new additions compared to her two month old self. She was married even before? Then why was she calling it out now with all that endorsed and screamed marriage? Quirky is all I could come up with for what was going on.
I simply followed her to the restroom as she cleared out the air infront of his cabin.
Shasha:"MK is just ghoulish… Isn't he? Poor you…Your illness and all and he gives you those bitter looks"
<Geet's monologue>
Did she just give me an opinion about my husband? Was she actually on my side? I played along
Geet:"I guess that's just Maan…He only cares about work…vunhe tho pharak nahin padta hain ki vunke co-worker bemar hain ke nahin"
She jumped onto something else totally irrelevant. I felt there were more things that she wanting answers for.
Shasha:"Hmm Interesting. Maan…Vunhe…Tum MK ko pehle se jaanti hain kya?...I'm just curious and all you know…"
She narrowed her brows to process what was coming.
Shasha:"He is just so different around...you know…hum sab ke liye MK…aur tumhare liye Maan…"
His words came back to my mind… "Office mein main tumhara boss hoon Geet, but if someone questions what we are to each other, I will give it straight to them that I'm your husband" I just couldn't say it. I wanted to give her a run for her villainous mind, make her pull her hair out to unearth the truth about our relationship. What the heck? I was only here for 7 more days.
I looked into the mirror and arranged my layers and turned to check myself out in the mirror as I gave out her much needed answer.
Geet:"May be I'm different…."
I turned and gave out a smirk to complete the statement.
Geet:"To him…"
I walked out not wanting to guage her expression, but I could lay down a $100 dollar bill that it was constipated. I had made her day.
Meera announced we all had an urgent meeting with him. It must be another drill to set the affairs in order. It was a lousy day to come to work and I paced slowly to the meeting room when he walked past me. Dynamic and simply emphatic he was and I had to let it sunk in once again he was all mine. We were the first ones in the room and with his top button off; I had some view of his upper chest.
Distraction personified for all the ladies who will be in the room. Oh! I had to include one of the gents too, for Ralph was so very gay. I had no mood to placate him for now I was sure it was going to take a lot more than words to get that done.
<Maan's monologue>
No doubt she was toying with me. Her legs crossed on a cold wintery morning, she was fanning her collar with her top button off to give me a glimpse of her cleaveage? I was far from falling for it, for I had numbers crunching my head and the ones out there were plain wrong.
People started showing up and she goodied up to sit straight and brought her collar together. Nautunki.
Maan:"I'm going to give it straight. You guys messed up big time"
Meera wanted to voice out something.
Meera:"But MK, we had done everything from our side and the new team when they filled in for all our absences thats when the mess started"
I had no time to figure the source it was time for fixes.
Maan:"I don't care Meera. My team is responsible for the numbers and I want it right out there. All of you have to put in what is needed. I need all the reports in the folder XXXX to be re-run and reconciliation reports prepared by tomorrow morning"
<Geet's monologue>
I gasped for he was talking about 23 reports, split by a team of 5 still gave me close to 5. I pinged him in the messenger, even though we were very much on with the meeting.
GeetKhurana:"Maan mujhe neeche apartment clean karna hain aur khana bhi pakana hain…mujse nahin hoga"
He was giving out further instructions, when he stopped to look at the message as it popped up on his screen. He muttered the message to himself and rolled his eyes. He quiclky typed back a response to me. I was surprised for he made an effort to respond to me amidst a crucial meeting. Maan had really changed and that settled me comfortably in the chair with a content smile.
MaanKhurana:"Don't care…Nakul will take care of your food. I need the reports tomm morning"
His message vaporized the smile on my face. I pinged back
GeetKhurana:"Dhust Dhanav in full mode…Don't talk to me until Maan is back"
His Mac chimed once again and he didn't repond to it.
It was boring after sometime for I knew what I had to do and his intsructions were only useful to the others. Looking around each one's expression, I couldn't comprehend what had made their eyelids freeze and not cause them to blink. I turned to look at him and his collar was stretched wide apart and he was indeed serving a visual feast to all the ladies and the one odd gent in the room. I could be wrong too and perhaps they were truly paying attention…Babaji, main itni possessive kab bangayi? It needed fixing before he could end up being in a despair women's smutty fantasy.
The meeting was done and he walked back to his cabin. I dashed to my desk and grabbed the kit to get back there. I didn't knock or seek permission to enter and closed the blinds right after I was inside. He didn't care and continued typing away, with his feet stretched out on another chair with his Mac on his lap. I sat on the top of his desk and he didn't expect that. There were no words flowing between us and I was glad we kept it that way for now.
<Maan's monologue>
I pulled back my neck as she pointed the sewing needle at me and was gesturing to hand her the button.
I opened the drawer to pick it and thumped it into her palm. What came next blew me away. She took the Mac out of my lap and sat astride my stretched out legs to face me. She moved closer to grab my shirt and started sewing the button. I was flabbergasted; trying to figure out if she really was nave or only seemed to be one at times. The moment seemed too good to be true for it was a perfect posture for full frontal snogging. My office masks were tearing that instant and I grabbed the chair by its handle for my desire to savor her physically soared. I leaned back to stay far away from her and she moved in closer. I stopped breathing for I couldn't handle taking in her scent and with every passing second, my chest kept puffing back and forth not unable to hold it in any longer. She realized her raunchy hold on me that I was trying to fight off. She lifted her face to examine my state. Her hands fidgeted with the button, for she was slowly catching up to her licentious behavior. Everything turned stone cold and silent. We peered into each other's eyes wondering what we were to each other. Was it a boss subordinate relationship gone wild? Or a couple trying to get closure on the inner torments for all the time that has passed since their marriage? We were moving close to each other and she was now completely resting on my chest. It was too slow and I wondered if there was a unit of measurement to measure this pace and it only heightened the sense of pleasure. Our lips touched and we stayed at the same proximity for some time as our lips continued to rest on one another without movement. She shuddered at the touch and I could sense tiny sparks fire off in the dimunitive space between our bodies that was left to close. There was no holding back after that.
<Geet's monologue>
I gave in for I strangely wanted him too given the fact that I was still not up for it. I had just been plain lucky since our suhaag raat is all I can say. There was nothing passionate about it, for it was every bit a lascivious kiss that we shared. He crushed my lips at first contact and his hands were moving fast to unbutton my shirt, when that was too time consuming, he just moved onto pull out the shirt that was tucked away inside my trousers. His hand raced to feel the skin on my back and moved forward to grab me by the narrow of my waist, it once again traced to the side and climbed to perch atop my shoulders from the inside of my shirt. He was chewing away the corner of my lips when I moved on to take out the other buttons of his shirt to reveal much more of his bare chest for my view. His hands were out of my shirt now and pulled it aside partially to smother me with kisses on my neck and shoulder. I let out a low moan. Whatever happened to our professionalism for his cabin had transformed into a cheap side pub where we were trying to grab a nooky? His hand pulled out the band to let my hair loose, he further grabbed my hair and tilted my neck to face him and came close to continue the snog that had originally started off the sensual drama.
His phone beeped to let us know of his upcoming meeting. He was calming down a bit and now it was shorter pecks on the lips and our shallow breathing were improving to draw out air for a longer time. I realized it had gone too long too far and I pushed him away by letting go of his crumpled shirt collar from my hands. I got up as he removed his hands off my waist and he drew his feet from the chair to the ground. I moved back holding my hair and closed my eyes to regroup myself.
Geet:"Babaji….yeh..sab….mujhse nahin hoga…"
He was surprised, but smiled to come closer to hug me from behind and I once again turned to push him away. He was furious and screamed at me.
Maan:"Bahuth hogaya hain Geet…I know this is office and I slipped…but that doesn't mean you can shove me around as you like"
I wanted to convince him and let him know that it was not him, but me…I was the problem. I just couldn't go further even with the man I loved. This is how far I could come and associate love and physicality for anything more brought back cursed memories. I was not ready to explain it to him here. It just had to wait.
I quickly looked down and saw that the first couple shirt buttons were open to show my feminine essentials inside. I pulled the two ends of the shirt closer and turned to button them up, while he did the same from the seated position. Ah! My head-band? Where did he fling it? It was nowhere to be found. I turned but couldn't face him as he stood up from the chair. I went close to him, finished off the button in three or more swift stitches and went closer to cut the thread by my teeth. He flinched for a moment and pulled his head back for me to be done and gone. We didn't speak the whole time and strangely I was thankful for that once again. Before I left his cabin, I tried to straighten my hair and stepped out to directly face Shasha.
<Maan's monologue>
She had forgotten to tuck her shirt and it was obvious for the wrinkles around her waist gave a clear picture that the shirt was indeed tucked away for a long time and was just pulled out. I had to ping her about it? Or would she figure it out when she goes to the women's room?
<Shasha's monologue>
She scrupled as she came out of the cabin with a sheepish smile. Can someone please tell me what is going on? Bina doubt ke yahan pe tho kuch na kuch chal raha hain. Vaise yeh sab US mein common hain…perhaps they had a make out session. Her shirt…was it tucked in this morning? Anyways I wanted to follow her to the restroom, but before that I had to give this away to MK.
Shasha:"MK, here is your package from Singapore"
I said as I handed the package to him.
Maan:"Thanks Shasha…"
He didn't care for me much and so I made my way to the restroom. She wasn't there and so I tried to get to her desk. What is this? MK was there once again handing her something? I hid in the hallway to observe the processdings. Am I seeing it right? Her head-band? I fainted.
<Geet's monologue>
I grabbed it from his hand, before anyone could see it. I had no complaints, for he was indeed discreet about it. Meer perhaps noticed it as she was the one close by and went behind the cube separation to giggle her heart out. Whatever happened that forenoon…mera tho bolti band ho gayi thi unke samne.
He stormed back to his cabin and I was stumped in my chair. I was unable to see or face anyone. Just sat there, wondering if it was out of line even for a steamy office affair. How did he feel? Was he still miffed about the shoving? I was not going to find out and tried to get over it and get on with work.
My messenger chimed to give me a message from him.
MaanKhurana:"You shirt needs to be tucked…it still shows wrinkles"
Babaji, mujhe yeh kya hogaya hain aaj? I ran to the restroom to have it tucked. I stood infront of the mirror to do the same when I noticed my fifth and seventh button was missing. Babaji? I was about to cry. I needed a pin. Holding onto my shirt, I ran to my desk to grab my other clothes bag. I decided to change to the saree for it was not going to reflect well, if I had two safety pins for buttons on my shirt.
It was lunchtime and I was sure he wouldn't know that I had got lunch for him too. I walked to his cabin and he was nowhere to be found. He must have gone to LuLu's to fetch his usual sanwhich and salad.
I took the elevator down to meet him there and on the way eyed Shasha at the desk, doing the one thing that the company didn't pay her for, sanding her nails. I looked straight ahead and there he was about to go through the turnstile. I was in a saree and I didn't want the cold air, blowing away my pleats and so I ran to stop him before he could get too far. He turned right after my first call.
Geet:"Maan…rukiye…"
He got back through the turnstile and came back in and was surprised to see me in the same saree I was in that morning.
Maan:"Saree phir se?...tumhara formals ko kya hua?"
I blushed and turned away before I could answer back.
Geet:"Woh…do buttons shirt se…."
I didn't have to complete the sentence for him. He was pretty good at completing them for me.
Maan:"Oh….sorry…I mean….mujhe..."
Thinking back, it was comedy of errors that is I went there to replace his one button and ended up losing two of mine.
He was blushing and that was not normal for him unless he was really prepared to give it away.
I came back to the actual reason I had stopped him. I raised the box I had packed for him.
Maan:"Yeh kya hain?"
I wanted him to take me seriously because I couldn't take myelf seriously for I was at that moment carrying out garden-variety wife duty for MAAN.
Geet:"Aap ke liye ghar se Khana le ke aaiye.."
He had least expected that and his amused look gave away that he indeed felt it was an endearing act, but still there was no smile. Babaji…mujhe inhe ghar jaane se pehle manana padega.
He simply grabed the box and walked towards the elevator and I followed him. We boarded the elevator and got off at our floor without a word. He was still very mad and I just wasn't prepared to talk about it at office.
<Maan's monologue>
We parted ways at the 12th floor elevator area and I walked back to the cabin. She had cooked for me. Inspite of getting in at 4.45? She had cooking dinner for me? Her Babaji did give her a big heart to love, I thought to myself, but I couldn't understand why she was going out of her way to get all this done for me. They were not even part of my expectation list. Not that I expected her to do only things that I expected and nothing to surprise me, but this was becoming an everyday act for her.
She had packed green bean sesame stir-fry and a roti/paneer roll with a side salad. It was more than what I normally got for lunch at Lulu's and sumptuous too. I devoured it and went back to return the box.
As I walked towards her desk, I noticed she had dozed off at the desk and she was sliding off the chair. I wanted to toy with her. I set the alarm in my cellphone for the current time and let it blare close to her ears after I confirmed no one was close by. She jumped out of her skin and her seat to land on me.
Her eyes narrowed in anger and her forhead crumpled as she her hand continued to rest on my chest. She was mad alright, but it didn't come close to what she had done earlier that morning. Elbowing didn't equal blaring. No way, not when I made sure no one was around.
<Shasha's monologue>
So MK is reciprocating, Geet Madam's games? No kidding. What I'm seeing is not MK at all? They are playing each other for something. I made sure I stayed hidden in the hallway until MK walked away. They didn't speak the whole time, everything was being conveyed to each other silently. My my this is getting pretty serious.
<Geet's monologue>
It was 3.00 PM and I was sure he was going to be at Peet's for his usual cup of coffee. I contemplated for a while, but gave in to meet him at the coffee shop. I took the elevator down and there was Shasha Nagin waiting to pounce on me.
Shasha:"Not yet...I think you forgot something at MK's cabin…"
She opened her palm to reveal a hairband that was no mine.
Geet:"Oh! Geez is that so…I thought this was mine…"
I turned to show her the one on my head, which now held my pony. She and I both knew where she was getting at and that it was not about the band at all.
Shasha:"May be you will need it for tomorrow…"
She had crossed the line there.
Geet:"Shasha…mind your business. Its not what you think"
She had sarcasm written all over her now.
Shasha:"Why pray tell me, what is hanky-panky at the office being called nowadays?
Maan was walking towards us and she walked away before I could give her an answer.
His eyebrows narrowed as he raised the coffee cup to his mouth. Shasha kept eyeing us from her desk and it was just the right time to make her go for a trip to the institution. I took the coffee cup from his hand and sipped from it. He didn't react for we had been sharing our morning tea from the same cup, or for that matter all beverages whenever we were together. He was still sore from the morning tamasha else his usual line at me would have been "Mishti..,meeta karke de mujhe…" I had a mental chuckle…he was a hard core romantic inside as to my tasting our beverage first was to sweeten it for him. He grabbed it from me and walked away as I stood there in the middle of the lobby with no one watching me in particular except Shasha.
I walked to leave some crumbs for her.
Geet:"Kyon Shasha…tumhara Hanky panky main coffee bhi share karte hain kya?"
I jerked to hear someone else question us.
"Yeh Kya ho raha hain yahan?" It was him…I didn't expect him to there at all. I stuttered to answer him, but in the end decided to rat her out and wanted him to handle the bit I was doing for him. I was done facing this nosy parker.
Geet:"Woh…Maan…Shasha here wanted to know why your Half-Caff would suit me best nowadays and not anyone else"
I folded my arms and tapped my fingers by the elbow. He was taken back and she shook like a leaf.
<Maan's monologue>
I had a whiff of what was going on and if she was giving Geet a tough time then it was high time she knew that she was messing with my missus.
Maan:"Too bad…because I know that this Half-Caff will only suit…."
He waited for arouse her curiosity more and it did for she was now on pins and needles.
Maan:"my missus Geet Maan Khurana best…"
<Geet's monologue>
I just wanted to jump on him and perhaps even shower him with kisses. She had it straight from the horse's mouth. Shasha stood there with a pained look and dumbfounded.
She stuttered "Oh! main….tho…"
All that I wanted to do that moment…Hai! But I settled to pick up his coffee cup and sipped from it once again. He gave out a smirk and turned to walk with me.
I could have told Shasha in the morning, but for some reason I felt I had to prolong it. It must have been Babaji for he had planned such a nice setting for Shasha's whipping. Thank you Babaji. That was just one part of the story, for as soon as we entered the elevator, he grabbed the coffee cup and turned away as he gave me a scorned look.
We walked side-by-side all the way to the subway and to the apartment. Strangely not a word passed between us and to me it was indeed strange because we had never been that silent in the 5 months we had known each other. We went ahead with work that night. He was seated in the living room and I was in his study. I completed the report re-runs' even finished dinner and waited for him to come to bed. He was asking Nakul for everything…coffee, water, dinner…and continued to stay in the living room.
This had to stop and so I walked to him, after Nakul retired to his quarters, but to my surprise he was walking towards the bedroom as well. I didn't speak a word, but I simply lay down on the bed and waited for him to lie beside me as. He didn't. He picked up the pillows and walked to the living room.
I was hurt deeply for not one of his promises was being kept now.
I called out to him.
Geet:"Maan…yeh kya hain…aur aap mujse keha rahe te…that we will never go to bed angry…."
Tears were flowing down, but I was not going to get weak now. I wiped them down and walked to him as he had stopped by the bedroom door. I yanked the pillows from his hands, but he wouldn't give it to me.
Maan:"Geet….."
He was furious and dropped the pillows to lock my hands behind me and pulled me closer. I was just not going to give in…
Geet:"Chodiye…mujhe…"
I fought to get away from him and he pinned me to the door and kissed me forcibly on my cheeks. I shoved him once again and ran from the room to the study and locked myself. He had asked for it this time. He didn't come behind me. I stayed behind in the study and was lying down on the day bed. Damn the jet lag, I was getting sleepier as every second passed. I got up to go through the books in the shelf, to see if I could catch me self an interesting read. I was going through the top shelf when my eyes fell on a thick leather bound book that was in its last days. I picked it up and turned the first page to see something totally inappropriate in Maan's study. It had little notes and even markers to particular pages.
The top part of the page had someone scribble a love note for him "Maan Darling…No wonder you're a charmer…I want page 59….Your Naughty Sameera" I turned to page 59 and instantly threw the book aside. I was in tears now, wondering how to digest what I had just seen. I had never expected Maan to copulate with another girl. The one raging problem with me apparently was not a problem at all for him. He was a charmer? With people making requests to him?
The door unlocked from the other side and that took my mind off from what was causing my blood to boil now.
Maan:"I knew you would not unlock…so I found the keys…"
He came and sat next to me. His hand slowly rose to turn me by my shoulder and I burshed it aside before he could even touch me.
Geet:"Ab kya hua Maan…ab kya badal gaya hain? I'm still the same person who shoved you…"
<Maan's monologue>
Why were we taking turns to get mad at each other? Can we just get it done with? Ofcourse, women didn't like such straight talkers…Now I had to give it to her in another way.
Maan:"Geet…ab tum kya chati ho…main sorry bolon…for you pushing me around?"
She was holding her head and seemed to be in pain.
Geet:"Nahin…sorry for the fact that you let it go all this while…even after I apologized in the elevator…"
She was getting it all wrong.
Maan:"It was not about the elevator…its about the little office session..about what just happened at the bedroom door….you could have told me that it was uncomfortable…you didn't have to push me…"
I stopped there and hesitated to complete it.
Maan:"I felt like we were having an affair…and made me feel I was forcing myself onto you…"
She sighed and turned to hold my hand.
Geet:"Its not you…alright…its just me…"
It was the classic break up line…it worried that she was using it for….
Geet:"Woh bad main explain karti hoon…pehle yeh kya hain Maan…"
She was pointing to my secrect stash that had me going at B School…It was funny it landed in her hands and that too at the most appropriate time.
Maan:"Wow….where did you get that? So are you oriented now?..."
She turned to me furiously and that told me it was a bad time for jokes.
She walked to pick up the book on the floor and turned some pages and came close to show it to me.
Geet:"Yeh kya hain…….aur yeh…..yeh wala bhi…"
She was pointing to the notes and messages from Sameera, Preeti, Laura, Deb, Jen and Liz…. Ofcourse it was a long one for now.
Maan:" You really thought you married Saint Nick…Oh! Wait Santa Claus is married…and he did it too with Mrs Nick Claus…"
I roared…but definitely a bad time. I held back my snigger. She ofcourse did understand it and I could see it in her eyes. Or was I wrong?
Geet:"Aur…kitne sare hain?....Aur kya kya nahin jaanti hoon main aapke baare main…"
<Geet's monologues>
It was not just Sameera I had to deal with at that moment, but it was an endless list and how stupid was I not to have thought about it? He was 29…and ofcourse I should not have expected him to have been…Some of the notes in the book flashed to my mind and it was plain uncouth. I couldn't believe Maan had a past with a sybaritic lifestyle. I wondered what else I didn't know about him. Babaji, mujhe toh yeh bhi pata nahin ki yeh kitna kamate hain…I remembered the time he was down with Mono…."I smoked a joint…" Did he mean a cigarette or…?
There was just one sentence that echoed in my ears…"Earth calling little Ms. Sunshine"…I had been lost in a perfect world…in my Mr. Perfect. Reality called out to me. He was not perfect after all.
A long one friends. Hopefully this is to your liking as well. Please post and comments. Silent readers how about you show up now? Click the like button too.Maan:" You really thought you married Saint Nick…Oh! Wait Santa Claus is married…and he did it too with Mrs Nick Claus…" - No offense meant to anyone. This is just an age old inside joke. Please let me know if you want me to remove it.
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