OS: The Greek Revival: Post Updated

The Greek Revival

It's when she was idle that her mind picked on sore spots. No denying that it had been a good two years since she had seen or heard from him and yet here she was sitting on the lounge chair by cyan Mediterranean waters, thinking about the man whom she ardently had loved and now hated in equal parts. Nah! Perhaps not in equal parts and one emotion did trump the other, which she didn't like to clarify.

Ok, this was disgusting to think of Maan NOW. Not when she was at the crest of her career, had a handsome guy for a boyfriend, when Maan had never declared his intents openly and when she had not approached him with her feelings. What had become of her forgive, forget and move on policy that she so generously preached? It doesn't quite apply to oneself when you sail the same sinking boats, she thought to herself grudgingly.

She had passed the first two months doing the same routines as the universal heartbreak company prescribed, which was to stuff your body' s weight worth in food, indulge in excessive amounts of decadent chocolate and dessert and if you did shots of Tequila, then to ceremoniously down 6 shots at least to gag away the sorrow the next morning. Everything was done and as always, it did little to take away the feeling of self-doubt and the dumped-by-a-hot-guy misery she had so often wallowed in. Except the only gain being in double digits of fat in pounds that had piled up on her frail and bony structure which then made her seem not so weak and gaunt.

Seasons changed, times changed and she tried to change as she had gone from calling him a "traditionalist" to a "dim-wit". It was so much easier to cast all the blame on him than hold herself on the cross for having foolishly attached motives to his casual actions (Could she really tell?).

Well she was not blind either and Maan was no saint. Truth be told, they did openly flirt for all to gape and speculate if they did share what their screen images Aditya and Sanaa did. They had left half the country guessing, feeding the theories of the ever doubting press and the hormonally imbalanced. But little did she expect to fall prey to her own actions and there it was the result of giving in to the slight caress and occasional holds, a blown up heartache which she had bluntly denied to every concerned soul around her.

Now that she concluded that she had indeed settled with a boyfriend and was established doing a short movie role, it really was forbidden to reflect upon such petty dalliances(if she could term it so).  Not when she had paid a whopping amount to get away from India's tinsel town to the hot and exotic Greek Isles; hoping to leave behind the thoughts and people that made up her exhausting career and drag relationships. But he seemeed like bubblegum stuck on hair today and had refused to budge from her agonizing mind. Why today? She wondered.

Geet didn't understand the strange anticipation that bubbled in her. She constantly kept looking to her side and back as if something was to walk right into her. Did she feel it or imagine it? She tapped her forehead and looked at Pinky, signaling her to walk along the shores of the calm sea. Perhaps the ripples could kiss away her nervousness, she thought.

As one would call it destiny and to Maan a mere coincidence, he was here in Mykonos, shooting for the new rage of the Telly world, a reality show. He was a big-screen player and like all his other co-stars did, he had adopted himself a manager, who was now sitting on the chair, and watched Maan give a retake. Adi, middle aged, still single, someone who would jump at the chance to give out an annoying guffaw at pretty much everything, did not firsthand witness the so-called entanglement that Maan and Geet had been in while they had shot Sanaa. But he knew well to filter the news that came his way about Geet before he religiously spewed it to Maan, for sometimes it did affect his scene retake numbers shooting it all the way to a distressing 20. According to Adi, Maan was in denial over his feelings for her, but he never did dare announce his trivial opinion to enrage the already ever-annoyed Maan. He had the famous temper of our very own angry young man of Bollywood and so it didn't matter if he acknowledged Adi's thoughts about the unnamed, unspoken affair.

And now would be a moment to brace himself from Maan's seething anger for Adi had just got news from his sources that Geet was in the same island as them for her much needed vacation. Only to make matters worse she was in the same Grand Hotel, they had camped in.

Not that they would fling vases or chairs at each other, or engage in a pulling-their-hair-out brawl, although the press would have a field day at that, but Adi did not want a difficult, self-loathing, drunk Maan tonight. With lady luck smiling at him at a time and place, far from his home shores, he had with much difficulty secured a date for tonight, with a girl he had stumbled upon by the hotel corridor. It was just meant to be he had convinced himself for his sincere inquest to find himself a bride in India for a little over eight years had yielded none to agree to a dinner date, let alone marriage.

So he sat quietly giving out a wide grin, as Maan came back for his touch-up and go through the script for the next scene. If one didn't already know this is how reality shows are made, well crafted and structured to include everything far fetched from reality. The glee on Adi's face made Maan question his intentions as his eyebrows knotted, for his instinct told him that Adi was guilty of hiding something already.

"So Adi...what's wrong?" Maan expected a loud snigger to follow.

There was no time for Adi to cover up and good that he didn't for a second later he would have been deemed a liar had he answered, "Nothing Sir...No one is here". And would be due to the fact Maan's grazing eyes had just fell upon the stunning and ravishing Geet who was strolling by the cool waters without a clue that Maan was here too. Catching wind of the direction in which Maan's eyes shot at and once he took in the familiar slender figure, Adi felt a gruesome bite in the rear from a wild pit-bull.

Or so he thought but it was only his mind telling him what he had in store for the day.

Maan turned left and right, all at once, for he could not believe the song he heard now, the same one that mournfully played when someone died in old Hindi movies. A tribute to his dead feelings that his heart whistled upon seeing his lady love, the one he never claimed or risked playing the knight in shining armor to.

Well, what can you expect from a newbie, who had just finished a yearlong soap and was just about to ride the success wave to moviedom. He was as anyone would put it, playing it safe, not getting stamped for Page3 news (although rumors always existed) at an early period of his career with the screen.

Just as Adi was about to distract Maan, who was about to walk towards Geet, who still was unaware of Maan's presence, caught sight of the same chubby but cute girl, following Geet. One and one always meant two, but his mind now quickly came up with another derivation for Pinky and Geet put together. This meant another roadblock for the expectant date night Adi had been imagining all day long.

"No...No...No..." Adi screamed in panic, making a confused Maan turn back to look at him while he continued to move towards Geet.

Maan had least expected to find Geet here of all places and at a point in time, when he had been taught to kiss and hug even a homeless person if needed to avoid a show. And here there was an entire filming crew and so he knew exactly what to do. All through the few seconds that it did take for him to reach her, his mind had played back scenes from the sets of Sanaa where Sadoo had been his middle name. How she had changed all that by the end of it? Only he knew.

In the beginning Maan was ghastly astonished at the incessant quantities of vada-pav's and tea that she would noisily slurp to his growing annoyance. At first he had felt that is what had intrigued him and it had even left him a little jealous over her slender figure and excessive good looks for which she had hardly worked for. But later he had realized that it was Geet's attitude towards life and how she lived by the edge was what had reeled him closer to her. The feelings he had harbored for her, threatened to expose him night and day and he had plainly covered it with his bitter mood and sour words when he was around her. And yet she did the unthinkable as entering a dragon's lair and had pursued him beyond his will to slay down the raging beast of anger and ill feeling in him.

Maan never questioned the chemistry they had shared for he knew well where it had stemmed from and for her he had no qualms either. But it was not in his being to orphan the drowning commitment he had held onto even before he had stepped into his TV career. He did what every other man, shy of the press and news would do. Maan walked away and refused to acknowledge all that existed between them, only to spend hours at empty bars and bawl with gripping rage over his rebuttal. He was no hero in his love life, for he rebelled against having one and the one that already did exist in his life, only carried its name and did not include the emotions that went with it.

It was a phase when he had often raised toasts to that glorious feeling, grew a beard, smoked many a cigar and finally let go of the urge to try, listening to Yellow Submarine. He had convinced himself, he never needed her, or her picture, or a copy of Sanaa with its own episode guide and now at the first sight of her, after a whole two years of having carefully avoided her at award functions and social parties, he felt parched; like a man that had roamed the scorching deserts for the entire time she had left him. He mentally corrected the last thought that ran through his mind, and it now it went something like "...for the entire time they had left each other".

"Geet...You here...Any good?" He asked still recovering from his dazed state at seeing her as Adi rushed to his side.

Pinky and Geet had seen the shooting by the bay and Geet had initially dismissed walking over to that side, but Pinky had insisted on pulling her to check out the Indian crew that was shooting there. Geet rolled her eyes and grunted each step of her way they took in the direction of the telly unit. It was customary to meet and greet people from her world if they were to be in the vicinity which Pinky her unofficial secretary and chum made sure that Geet followed religiously.

Her world came tumbling down just as she saw Maan clothed in a white shirt and blue jean, folded up to his knees, walking toward her with his classic smirk. The wide-eyed Geet did not comprehend his words as he warmly took her name and greeted her. A wave of emotions splashed in her, throwing her in a fit of confusion as she struggled to find out if she welcomed the feeling that waged in her. Her heart raced and she felt feverish; all signs of the blood gushing out of her brain, gave her a cold shiver that ran down her body as she shook slightly to grab Pinky by her wrist. "Happy thoughts'Geet...Happy thoughts..." her mind tried soothing her rude awakening. What was she thinking? That she would never meet Maan again? Unfortunately she did in her own silly mind and that had her dumbfounded upon meeting his longing gaze. She instantly decided to play it cool for there was no need for him to know that he still had some...ok smashing effect on her.

"Yeah good...So you have been shooting around eh? Hope you are not stalking me" she asked acting composed with a snotty look on her face.

Maan chuckled noticing how she had gone from a surprised Geet to a haughty one. Good for him, he had read her too well and still remembered many of her acts. In that quick second his mind had pushed aside his inhibitions, calculated the odds of meeting her in the remote island and called to his memory the time he felt had lived in monotones of grey and black. White and the colors had disappeared, or so it had seemed, right after he had walked out of Sanaa's success party, the last time he had met her. How many times do you meet your past obsession or whatever she was, at a place where there were no family or reporters to burn you down with guilt and shame over spending some time with her? Then came the current crew he was working with and that he knew Adi could deal with. He truly believed that he had no emotions except surprise and joy over seeing her and that his feelings for her were long dead and gone (Did he really believe that?)

No wonder he was a successful soap actor, for now his heart trumpeted and drummed, as a spirited resolve grew deep inside him. It was now or never and so he decided to take up the risky endeavor against all that his sanity dictated the same affected moment.

"Why?...Would it make a difference?" Maan asked, forcing him to believe what he had just said. Adi gasped, while Pinky froze and now all eyes turned to Geet for the answer. She was about to faint at his choice of words and the unflustered state he was in. How dare he? She thought.

"No...A hundred times No" she rejected him and crossed her arms to look away from him. But Maan was not ready to let go of her this time around, of which she had no clue about. He just had to try and mentally he had not thought about how long he was willing to test his perseverance. Perhaps forever, for in his mind, she was ever more lively and lovable to lose sight of her once again.

"So what about the hundred and oneth time? Will it work out?" he pursued with a pleading look on his face. Geet could not have been more surprised in her life and seeing Maan as he was in that wishful state, she slowly began to walk into the nippy afternoon waves that raced to the shore.

"Well Maan...you are just not my type...I'm a social butterfly and you are a sadoo" Geet bit into her words, not caring to see if she was being followed into the water by him. She had long abandoned the moony fantasies he had been part of and now she closed her eyes to make believe of the same. Sensing his presence, she quickly compelled a smirk and turned to face him. There were no super powers needed for him to read into the hurt and lost hope in her. God knew he deserved such snide remarks, a whole lot more perhaps and so he went on to make light of the situation.

"That's a match made in heaven right there...We will have all the drama we need in life and God forbid even some fun" he said as he smiled. What was wrong with this man? Geet couldn't shake the thought off her head. She snapped her head down as she bubbled with anger. He must be high...And that was the only sane explanation she could come up at his crude joke. Match made in heaven? she knew he had gone crazy.

Noticing the duo in a hushed conversation, Adi and Pinky had pooled by them to listen in, still alarmed over their chance meeting and how it could impede their splendid night.

Adi knew he had to drag Maan away from the scene as he saw Maan's eyes glint with the growing warmth in him. This was a disaster in the making for both their careers and all that they had worked to maintain in the eyes of their family and a forgetful world. And so he jumped in, not knowing if Maan would later thank him for the timely save.

"Drama?...that is exactly why...we dont want to be standing here and talking...Maan sir we should get back to work" he winked at Pinky hoping she got the real intention behind the gesture as the other two remained rooted to their spots and were lost in the wide vast horizon.

"So where are we meeting for Dinner?" Maan asked ignoring Adi's minute long request.

Geet met his eyes, still stunned and irked at his behavior, but she strangely didn't have it in her to deny him anymore.

"No...No...I mean...we are busy...we are on vacation you see" Pinky squealed and fumbled with her words, shaking her hands vigorously as she picked up Adi's fears. To Geet and Maan, the others did not exist and as it would it rightly seem they did not turn or react at their reasons they made up to disrupt their impending encounter.

"Ok, I'm not sure when I'm would be done here...will ask Adi to call you" Maan said, still locking her image in his eyes as she shot a piercing glance at him. All though, all that she was made up of revolted her silence, she couldn't bring herself to speak another word at his proposal. Taking that as his cue to her acceptance, he walked back to his shot that awaited him. He turned to look at a mad Geet, eyebrows still knotted with rage and disgust, but he knew he could work up to warm her down from the cold shoulder that she would give him at the start. Sinking into his chair, Maan smiled, stuck with utter disbelief as he realized he had just propositioned a dinner date with the one he had staunchly reserved his avoidance for.

Having Geet walked away in silence, Adi and Pinky were left behind, knee deep in the blue waters, with fear and concern for their so-called friends and employers.

"This is all unwanted mess...I so hate your Maan sir" Pinky said, as she eyed Maan at a distance. Adi jerked at Pinky's statement and a wave of relief washed over him as he let out a sharp sigh.

"So you don't want them to meet?" He asked with frenzied excitement.

"Not in a thousand years" She let out a sigh herself and lowered her gaze. Pinky had exactly known what Geet had felt for Maan all along and pitied her plight she was now wrapped up in.

"So good actually great...I will cover it up with Maan sir and you do the same with your Geet maam'I will pack him off to some restaurant and...you know what I mean right?" Adi said only wishing that the plan would work. Adi was no trickster and Maan was no half-witted moron who would believe all that Adi would spin at him.

"Adi...I don't know you...but I think that's perhaps the best thing you have ever come up with in your lifetime...Chao then" she sang to his half-baked plan and hopped to join Geet by the hotel beach.

Well Adi, didn't know what turn of events, life held for Maan and Geet, but he sure was hopeful of a blissful beginning for him as he stood there gaping at the receding form of a good cheered Pinky.

For the rest of the afternoon, Maan rehearsed and practiced all that he could say and perhaps even wanted to say from the time he had missed her. He had no clue how it was going to play out at the actual moment they would be seated facing each other at the dinner table. His thoughts made him feverish and slightly nauseated as his stomach churned with anxiety over wanting to take the perfect shot at the opportunity that had presented itself. But why? And what did he want to achieve through the time he would spend with her? He had no answers to all that his sane mind threw at him.

Adi watched Maan pace back and forth the room in uncontrolled agitation. He was almost tempted to say "I said so" but instead made it into a query.

"Is everything alright Maan sir?" He asked as Maan stared into the mirror, beating himself over the arrangement he had gotten himself into.

"Yes...I'm fine..." he took the easy route. What did Adi expect? Have him sit down and cry over, how his insides had been turning all day long and give him a graphic description of the torcher he had experienced over the years when Maan had thought he had lost her. Hell no. But he did babble to Adi's surprise.

"Huh! May be I should wear that jacket...Or may be not...It's just nonsense...Should I call home?" he shook his hand high and low as if he could shake off the panic in that one physical motion.

"Sir...this is very common...I have felt this many times..." Adi was silenced half way as Maan glowered at him. The poor guy had only wanted his boss to feel at ease while he was on his way to the most important date of his life. Realizing that was unnecessary, Maan fell back into the chair and waved for Adi to sit down on the bed.

"Maan sir, don't worry, I will call home and give them the bad news myself" Adi closed his mouth in dismay as he made sense of the words he had just uttered.

Maan knew he had to get out of the room for he was sure Adi would end up dead any minute he delayed his leaving down to the lobby. As Maan got up from the chair, for a moment he had felt Adi had wanted to hug him. Can't be...He shrugged off the thought and made a mad dash to the door. Maan was right for Adi did see the doom that made its way towards them, that night.

Geet did cry for sometime after she had come back to the hotel, growing blind to her surroundings and unaware that Pinky had not followed her. Those uninvited mornings came back to her. She would wail and cry herself to sleep over long nights, only to wake up to the same emptiness that had engulfed her the previous day. The wretched feeling of having been heartbroken had never left her, raging questions never answered, her world inside a bubble...broken. He still affected her, no doubt and its only obvious she would hit her low point upon seeing him. It's not everyday that you see your bottomless misery take shape, walk towards you with a handsome face, give a sickeningly sweet smile, practically ignore the other two mortals beside you and invite you to dinner.

As tempting as it was, she saw her fears for a glum future take shape in her. Any other day and another man, she would have turned down the invite without so much as a second thought as she would cast away her nail. But today would mark a good two months from her wedding and Maan had made a silent and sudden comeback, the same way he had disappeared from her life. To top it all he wanted to have a full course dinner. Perhaps even dance to a tune or two as expected in Greek style banquets and for all she knew it might lead to a caressing grasp or a bonding hold.

Geet quickly closed her eyes in disgust, sighing that her wistful daydreams never did seem to cease when it came to him. How could anyone deny reliving regretful desires? It was simply irrefutable.

There were no arguments to sort through; she knew she wanted to go, even if only to preach that there was no salvation for his inactions. But before she could drown him in deep regret, she needed an anchor to stand moored through the moments she would be with him, something that would hold her ground. She breathed in choleric anger for him; all that was unsaid and undone was dusted and shined from the ruins of her forgiving mind. Geet hoped it would help her. To her, it was one shot that she had to get more out of the time with him, than all or anything she had to offer. No regrets, she thought as she picked up her bag to walk out her hotel room.

Maan darted straight to the parking lot occupied with her thoughts, part ecstatic and part in remorse only to miss the anxious Geet asking the restaurant manager to be seated by the bar. Her supposed instruction from Adi, which was delivered through Pinky was for her to meet Maan by the exquisite banquet restaurant of the Grand Hotel. Obviously misguided by the mischievous duo, a bitter Geet waited for the misinformed Maan to show up for the promising dinner. A promise from avenging fate to call for a change in their lives.

She had slept off on the bar, waiting for Maan. The barman had thought of waking her up an hour ago, but the peaceful state she was in, had shooed him away, every time he had come around to do so.

Maan grunted over his annoyance seated at the glass table by the door, tapping the glass in vexation over her absence. He hated his guts for asking her out, when his insides had screamed otherwise. Should he have heard his guts or his heart? He owed her much more than what she did for standing him up over one dinner, but somehow, something had told him, he could have made up to her had she showed up. One could only dream, and so he did.

Two years of undetermined wait...but now he gave up waiting for her at the restaurant after a little over 1.5 hrs and headed back to the Grand. He wanted to storm into her room and take out all that coursed in him, his displeasure over himself, his life, her life, her decisions, his non-recognition, her hatred, and may be even the frustration from her failing to keep up their dinner commitment. But if only words came that easy and his actions viewed as arguments of sanity.

The slight nudge by her shoulder had woken her up, to bring into light of Maan's non-attendance. At first thought, she wanted to break down, scream and yell. There were no dreams broken, no anticipation unmet, and yet it brought back the same pain and tears that had raked in her a feeling of abandonment. He had done it again. Maan had run from his own invite. She refused to understand his insult and felt trapped in her denying self to seek closure.

She didn't think she needed one and he believed he could give none.

Lost and wavering, Geet tottered back to her room as she spotted Pinky and Adi on the way, take seat at the restaurant. She really did want to feel happy for Pinky, but her strong sense of failure over trusting Maan had wiped out all strength in her to feel any emotion for her friend.

Dark...her room and life was dark, opposing to the bright sunshine she had basked in life and that morning. The tinkle from her engagement ring caught her eyes as the moonlight from the French windows hit her weakened spirit. She had no reason to fall for the situation. It was only an unexpected dinner call that went wrong. He couldn't change the grain of her past, even if he wanted to and now she was shaken by his no show? She breathed deep.

Geet changed into something comfortable and went to stand by her private shore. She walked around the waters a bit and gathered shells along the way. If only she could pick up pieces of her broken heart...

Holding on to a bottle of water, Maan folded up the ends of his jeans to knee level and trailed to walk by the rising waters. It was'Well, a ritual which he had kept to himself. Every intimate scene with her during Sanaa, had called for a trip to the beach before heading home. He felt the water healed him; his agony over wanting her.

Maan wished the water were Vodka or Gin that could whip his senses and have him lay unknown and blind to his inner turmoil. But the fact of the matter was that it was simply water, just as this day had been any another day; both didn't fizz or have him go bonkers with excitement. He had hoped it would, but it never did any good for him. Until he spotted a lithe woman, waist deep in water, lunge into the ebbing waters. Wow...now he had to save her too?

Maan threw the bottle as he ran against the cold waves that thrashed him to the shore. Taking in a long breath of air, he plunged inside to search for the woman in the white top. The bluish green waters that glinted at the moon rays did not give him the sign of another life beside him. A strange fear strangled him, as he frantically swam back and forth and went deep to trace the woman. He was gasping, running out of breath and yet he could not give up; not now when his heart prompted him to look harder. His arms cut through the waves and extended far out to swim further, when he suddenly located the pale body and came in contact to clutch the arm. The calm that came at the touch of the stranger, the relief that she was within his reach, gave him the needed strength to pull her to safety. Maan held on to her by her thin waist and as he was about to swim to the shore, a loud scream deafened his ears.

"Leave me alone will you?" she yelled as she saw Maan panic and tug her. Maan froze as he wiped his wet face of the dripping water in disbelief. He had never imagined Geet of little inner strength. What was she doing in such deep waters? True he had left her hanging in the middle, but if it never called for a decision such as this in all of last two years, then why now? Could this be the reason she didn't show up? He hated himself for pushing her to the edge of reason. While he rattled with contrite and guilt, a fury built inside him over her senseless act. And he chose to act out the same on her.

"What, you want to kill yourself now?"

"Excuse me" Geet said as her arm raised to point a finger at him, as the waters rocked them back and forth " If anybody deserves to die and go to hell then its you...not me" Geet pushed him inside the water. As she turned to walk out, Maan wrenched her back to him.

"So while I rot in hell, what do you do? Stand up people on their dinner invites and kill yourself?" Maan bit into his words and tightened his hold around her wrists. She glowered at him as she fought his menacing look and his gripping hold.

"What's wrong with you? Over you leaving me by the bar? Not ever..." In his confused state, her words didn't strike him at first go. But as his mind worked his way through her statement, it really didn't make sense.

"Wait...what? I left you by the bar? There was no bar in the restaurant" He shot back at her. This launched another shock in Geet's mind.

"Now you lie too...there is a bar, right by the entrance" her eyes grew wide with rage at the play he was now staging.

"Where? The Grape leaf, doesn't have a bar, it's a hole in the wall kind of place" he said as he grappled to make sense of the situation.

"You didn't want me to meet at the Grand restaurant? The one by the lobby?" She spoke in sudden bursts trying to recollect Pinky's instructions. As the ringing truth came forth to their minds, a smile crept up in Maan to announce the culprit while Geet joined him to name hers.

"Adi..." Maan said as Geet blurted "Pinky..." Their laughter sprung back in the air, a sense of joy, they had not felt in a long time. What a relief it was to know that they had indeed done their share of waiting for the other? Walking back to the shore, they sat by the loose sand where the water still crept up their feet. A banishing silence rolled into their unnerving selves. Maan watched her wet body draw up an image of her in his mind as his eyes traced his slender silhouette, sending tremors all over him. How could he want her? He fought to silence the inner cry in him; a simple need for her.

As another warm wave dashed against her soft white body, the sand beneath her caved in and she moved forward, swaying to her sides as the frothy waters drew back into the oceans. Instantly, he grabbed her by her arms and pulled her closer. Those swift movements of balancing and moving had brought them to have Maan sit behind Geet inches away. This was another kind of silence that had moved in, as they hung their heads down with awkwardness.

She could have moved to her left or right and indeed gone back to face him sitting by his side, but she didn't. Their stillness spoke of all that they wanted the other to pursue and yet they didn't follow the cues their minds urged. His hand shook in mid air, as he thought of all that had remained unspoken over the years. Would she reciprocate with a kiss or a streaking slap? The options he had lined up were not far stretched from reality and she had every right to choose either one giving away which emotion surpassed the other. A true test of the time they were separated, a good indicator of her feelings for him, Maan went along with the theme of the evening that was raging in their beings.

His firm touch brought back to her memories of their closeness. Geet let go of herself, immersing her in a gripping nostalgia, slipping into a needful state, forgetting the very moments she had spent in anger and regret over her foolish impressions of him. Observing her closed eyes and titled head, she seemed cowering in agony and that had him pull her closer. Not sensing her position, she fell back on his shoulder, only to be lugged between his legs and she cringed to nuzzle in his bodily warmth. She moaned in sheer passion, as he placed his chin by the hollow of her neck and breathed out his want for her; his arms moved slowly and gently over her slender arms, feeling her wet silky skin to tangle with her fingers that rested on her knees. Inching in closer, he pulled back as he brought their laced fingers to encircle his waist. Geet turned to face him as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Their kiss deepened to have her turn in his tight embrace and close the distance between them as the waves washed away the strains of heat and lust in them.

A coherent thought fought back in Geet's mind, unable to accept the kiss she was now a part of. The fight rebelled against her actions and the passion that knitted in her. It only seemed sinful to give in to him at a moment of unsparing weakness. He should know better than that, she thought, pulling away from his arms, which left a surprised Maan thinking if he had done the right thing kissing her. But she had kissed him back, so now what?

As he sat there seeing himself in her eyes that felt violated by him both mentally and perhaps now physically, a sharp pain burnt his cheek, in that quick second he had looked away in shame. Geet slapped him, lashing out her anger, not knowing if it was the kiss that had done it, or the years of anguishing wait that had erupted the unsure moment.

"Geet'" Maan yelled in anger. Now where did this come from? He wondered. Caught up in the frenzy the slap had caused inside him, mixed with ages of guilt, he questioned her arrogant slap. Somehow that was uncalled for, had been his unyielding opinion. A kiss; only on the lips'only to awaken his undying passion for her, drive into his muddy senses that she had lived inside him in his actions and his decisions, denying time and himself that he'

Maan refused to accept the clarity that had now come back to him. It sure was so much easier to rule it as attraction than name it something that dipped him in humiliation for being a coward around her.

It stuck him hard, if she could have felt the same for him all the years, he had strutted by her, glorifying the emotion and the pull to be named merely physical.

"You kissed me back too? Are you mad?" He screamed, shamelessly hoping it was for the kiss.

"It's not about the kiss'and will never be about the kiss Maan'you know it too" she said, biting into her direct remark as she got up to walk away from him.

Maan was up on his feet in no time and followed her praying in his remorse; missing her from the time she had put some distance between them.  It was not the carnal drive in him that begged for her to be back in his arms, but a pure sense to be one with her, perhaps feel her pain and if lucky soothe the same if he could.  He ran to catch up the distance and blocked her from moving ahead. Folding his arms, his head lowered unable to meet her gaze as he let out a sharp sigh.

His words failed him as he attempted to console her over his silence. Maan looked around with one hand on his waist, and the other going up and down in the air, he came down with an emotional downpour of words, again wishing, it could explain his helplessness over the situation.

"I wish there were words Geet...to say sorry'to tell you I made a mistake'" Geet looked at the tides that were coming in and posed to him in contempt.

"I never stopped to find out what you felt for me'if that touch was real'" he was breaking her with his words as the rim of her eyes pooled with her tears. It had only been a little over three years to hear this from him and here they were stuck at a point in life, unable to jump and hug and kiss, as any other couple would do. The irony of life and love was more pronounced now as he spoke to her with deep regret.

"If your eyes spoke something'" Geet turned to meet his gaze. Could he read her now? She asked herself.

"I cared for all that we shared, but for the one reason'I had felt the same emotion for someone else, I had dismissed US'And I had no right'" His words toyed with her emotions and all that she had subdued, came out to play in her. Wobbling in those gripping movements, she let out a slow painful cry. She had not planned on this, not wanted to come across weak, nor give away her feelings for him ungracefully and definitely not portray anger to only confirm that had cared for him too.

"You had no right'You are damn right'not that time when we did Sanaa'or now'or ever'" Geet pointed her index finger at him in a fit of rage and pain. Not knowing how to calm her down, Maan ran a disbelieving hand through his hair. He couldn't look at her as she came down upon him, stating he did not deserve her. Not true, so not true, his mind bellowed back at him. For reasons, that he didn't know, his feelings for her seemed a kaleidoscope to him.  They had remained the same over the years, the broken pieces in them had remained the same, the light that bore into them was no different, but as fate and time juggled them the shapes that they now formed, had a beautiful name. Content and thankful over the realization that had come to him in those strenuous times, he broke into a smile to only burn Geet in rage. Strange as it seemed, a grateful certainty picked up pace and it pulled him as if he was a puppet on strings.

Geet's eyes grew wide in shock and anger as she tried to fight him off. She tugged his collar and steered to force him away but all in vain, his hold on her cheeks had tightened as his lips continuously crushed hers. Those seconds seemed rude and unruly of him to grab and kiss her, but as the agitation died in her, she tasted a slick need for her in him. A passion that wrapped her in his tracing arms that slid around her waist. His long hand pulled out her plain white top off of her in a swift pace and moved up her back, to press her closer to his chest. She tried calling out to his attention, but it didn't help as they fell on the porcelain sand that shone bright under the glistening moonlight. Maan pulled away to take in the view of her blue bikini top she had worn underneath her top. Her willowy figure and her feminine curves filled his eyes with undying desire and ignoring her guard to shield herself from his piercing gaze, he pressed his lips by the hollow of her neck and stroked her sensuous skin by her small of her waist. Geet shriveled under his growing fervency, her face turned away, not in disgust but in blazing ardor that smoldered in her. The air around them, hung thick with a dense mist of raw spirit and emotion as Maan fell back to lie down next to her. The tides swelled and sent a cold wave to wash the shiny white sand, stuck to their feet.

She caught a glimpse of Maan rivet his hand against his forehead in utter disgust. For a moment, she wanted to alleviate his fears, tell him, she had liked it that he had for once taken control of the situation, made her feel she was his woman, but just as his commitments had his tongue tied, her ego had hers.

Something had changed, those seconds she watched him suffer in pain, a feeling that rummaged inside him, almost making it all seem far from being salvageable. Did he always suffer like this? She thought. Geet got up as she reached for her top that was now torn and unusable. Holding it to cover all that was naked to his eye, she was on her feet to give away her back speckled with the fine grains of the beach sand. Maan struggled to look up words in his mind. He didn't know if he wanted her to stay, or leave, may be he had something to say, or wanted to listen, but the words that did manage to come out, did not fail to shock him.

"Geet...This is all a big mistake...I'm just..Sorry" he stuttered and without another glance at her, he turned to walk away. In an attempt to calm her down, he had forced himself upon her and kissed her. Torn her top like an animal, giving more of his primitive instincts to take control. He was at a loss of words when he thought he could try explaining that he was only hoping to console her and that had in turn lost himself to come across no less than a cave man who jumped on his instincts. But if his heart couldn't receive his reasoning well, then how would she? There was nothing in this world that could set right all that he had done and none to make him stop and turn back, when he heard her words.

"It...was never a mistake..." She had spoken as tears lined her eyes and some streamed down her cheeks.  She wondered what on earth she would have to do to drive the insane truth inside his head. Time and again, they had come together bumped into each other the same way and just as nothing happened or affected them, they had walked away, with hatred and disappointment. This moment was no different.

Or so she thought, when she felt a firm hand on her back, dusting off the fine sand by her shoulder.

"I always meant to ask you...why didn't you come out that day I called you out for coffee?" Maan asked as Geet sipped her coffee sitting by the patio that opened up to her private beach.

They had come back to her room, much to Adi and Pinky's dismay. And to add to their horror, Geet had sent them away, joking and thanking them about their devious plan, which had only failed to indeed bring them together.

She let out a mocking smile as she answered him and shot a glance to his side. "The one time that you did...And then what? Have obnoxious phone calls keep me up all night?"

Maan swallowed something down at her statement, an inconvenient thought for the moment perhaps. He knew what she was talking about and that was something he had not thought about in a while, ever since he had kissed her that evening. Trying to change the color of his mood and may be even hers he attempted to find out her thoughts about getting wooed.

"Would have you come had I pursued? May be even go down on my knees..." He asked in a husky baritone.

Once again, she couldn't help a smile, as her cheeks blushed with a rosy tinge. Noticing that she was flushed, Maan shifted from his chair to sit by her on the pool chair, which only changed her blush to a deep scarlet.

"Well now that is something to think about, Isn't it?" She teased him hopelessly. Now, was he going to back out at the dame's taunt and so, he placed his hand on her hand that held the coffee cup and said "You never know things could have changed...A lot of things can happen over coffee" And lifted the cup to his lips for a taste.

He took his other arm around her back, and adjusted to sit behind her. Perching his chin atop her shoulder he turned Geet to face him. The coffee cup shook its weight in her hand, but he had a firm clasp on it from slipping and his body came forward to have his lips linger closer to hers. Her gaze lowered unable to meet his and that gave her the time to think of all that was happening at her patio. It all seemed too fine for reality for she was living a dream. One jerk and it would shatter to a thousand pieces same as a fine china cup dropping to the floor. Her lashes flicked as the uncertainty picked up in her, but she managed to throw a smile on her face and questioned him back.

"Yes...some can scare the wits out of you too...would have you been up for it?" she asked as he saw the faint smile disappear on her face. No that was not what he wanted to see and it needed his intrusion. He wanted his Geet, the cheerful and playful Geet back from all that was clouding her spirits.

"Now scaring the wits, can only mean involving you..." he grinned and hoped to take diversion from where their evening was heading.

"And you know better than that" she voiced in a razzy tone, implying everything that he intended. He sat back, flexing a bit, as he heard her.

Maan had loosened up to a large extent around her and she could not help notice how he had been eyeing her ever since they walked into the room. Moments of shared gazes, shot intense adrenalin up the course of their bodies, denying to find out if there was anything fair about the passion filled images that danced in their minds.

"Guess it was just me then...I should have insisted" He said, regretting on slipping up on the opportunity. Not to repeat any such mistakes from their past, he plunged at her lips and took all of her resistance in as her hands climbed the edge of his buttoned shirt to encircle his neck. The pull to stay in the kiss and to let go had its own share of reasons and weighed equally at the instant. Ignoring all that went on in their minds, Maan tasted her luscious lips once again, occasionally pausing to steal a look at her alluring eyes. It made it all the more irresistible to him.

At one such gaze, he had caught sight of her coy smile, only to read her need for him. There was no error in his judgment as he responded to the longing in her eyes; he softly trailed kisses by the side of her neck and her collar as she slowly bent her head back. Buttoning down her shirt he slid his hand inside, around her bare waist and nudged her closer.

"Maan...stop..." Geet said, as he pulled his head back to her. He thought she had meant it, perhaps he was stepping on his boundaries, but her alluring tone and the glint in her eyes had given it all away. Maan smiled sheepishly as she confirmed he did not get it all wrong and hastily carried her to the bed, kissing her all the while.

Geet was shy and hid underneath the covers. Her senses awakened as Maan's fingers lingered and traced designs on her back and waist. Silence was the language of the hour as he guided her untrained hands over his taut shoulders.

She shriveled in his arms and it was all too new for her to not react the way she did which he read clear in her glimmering hazel eyes. He gently cupped her cheeks giving out a warm smile, as she shied away to close her eyes, a longing burned the edge of her mouth for the kiss that he was about to place on her puckered up lips. And he did, only without expecting all that was to follow the passionate crushing of his lips over hers.

What did she expect of him? A saint? Geet was taken back as he boldly touched her, his hand raced to feel all that was naked to his view. Geet moaned his name, as he glided his fingertips over her smooth neck, slippery back and lusty curves. In a sputtering second he had woken deep-seated feelings in her that had long waited to surface for him. He had done it again. All that she had buried and forgotten was now woken up to haunt her back. What was happening in that room? Her mind raced as her pulse matched his. Questioning herself weakly if any of this fleeting vigor would last to have him face the verity of the day...Honest to god truth, he simply loved her.

The truth brought tears to her eyes.

He kissed her tears and rested his forehead on hers, hesitating to move ahead with their passionate endeavor.  Overcome by her emotions, Geet hugged him tight. In that still minute, Maan felt the insecurities that shrouded her. Moving to her side, he took her in his arms and she rested her head on her shoulder. No words or actions could assure her of a future for them and as he lay beside her in defeat he continued to kiss her gently by her forehead and by her cheeks.

Time passed and Geet had pacified her tears, snuggling close to him. Not sure if his kisses had done it, Maan placed a tentative kiss on her lips. At first he doubted her ardor for him, but in no time, Geet responded with the same affections.

She moved on top of him and locked his eyes with his. A faint gleam of disappointment gave away the displeasure in the black of his eyes. Seeking to relieve him of his pain, she lowered her lips and slowly placed a wet chain of kisses by his neck to leave a pulsing twitch in his jaw. His zeal multiplied and his need for her throbbed in his nerves.  As he rolled over to pin her to the bed and undressed her in a heated urgency, an eager affection came over him to slow him down while he took in her tender gaze. Disrobing himself, he came down upon her, with deep, sensual kisses all over her body. Geet moved and ruffled the white sheets as she cringed underneath him in sensual agony. Stopping to memorize the rise and fall of her curves, her smooth expanses by her waist, he traced her softness with his thumb, leaving lines of burning awareness on her skin.

She cupped his cheeks gently and whispered his name in hushed tones. Her fingers tangled with his hair, pulled him back to her lips and their sultry gaze met momentarily as they gasped for breath. Her balmy fragrance and her naked skin kindled a raging fire in his stomach that pushed him to work her urge up to his.

They shuddered as they closed down the distance between them. Bouts of delight sputtered in them, as they caressed each other's tender flesh and kissed rampantly.  Smoldering in each other's arms, they made love to each other as an erupting tingle ran down their spines. A newfound want was born in them as pleasure and passion reached new heights in their sensual thrill. As they raced to experience the zeal of their blazing desire that shot through them, their oneness prevailed'

As the morning sunshine shot through the glass doors, Geet woke up to Maan's kisses. She was as fresh as ever as the glowing peaches on a dewy morning. The image made him place wet kisses on her neck and by her smooth jaw. Falling back on the bed, only to have Geet leave a fresh chain of kisses by his shoulder, a coherent thought passed his mind. His mind spelt it clear for him. It was you..not Her...once again going twice Maan'YOU...And its still you. it stressed on certain words making it lucid for him to grasp the flailing second, he had hesitated to speak out the same to her.

"I was just plain stupid...Don't you ever leave me...Do you hear me?" He spoke sternly, twirling her hair, as it fell to her sides and bore a fragile smile on his face. It strangely pierced her. After all that passed and happened that night, Geet still felt the lump in his throat as he attempted to claim her with his words. It was unmistakable and was just not good enough for her.

Pulling out of his embrace, she moved out of the bed. Clutching the sheets at the scrunched ends, covering her naked self by wrapping the piece of cloth around her, she held on to it by her chest. Her eyes had spawned blobs of tears by the corners of her eyes, which she quickly dispersed before she could face him. She was Geet for bursting out loud and she simply refused to act weak in front of him. Not when he struggled with his split emotions already.

"Well that's something for you to drive into your head Maan...I was always there...Can I do this now? That's just a big NO" she said in disbelief, hiding her sorrow in her words and let out her statement to reject his weak words. Feeling the hatred creep back into her, Maan, got off the bed to come stand by her, as he tied a towel around him.

"Geet...I will work it out...believe me..." He held her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze of assurance. It still wasn't enough for her. His hesitation had spoken loud and clear. She had not expected anything to come out of their night together, but he had spoken the undeniable when he had asked her to stay with him. If he really did mean it, then the trembling voice had driven her crazy mad.

"You have my phone nos...Call me when you get that done...we'll talk..." she shot back at him, with no sign of remorse over her rudeness towards him. The escalation had done it for him and Maan decided mentally how to handle their delicate situation. No one raised their voice to him and not when he was trying with all his might to own up to her expectations. How blind could she be? It was of no worth to risk the glitzy stardom he had gained for another woman, but all that had become secondary as he had made love to her that night; when he had realized that she had lived through his being, teaching him to love with or without her presence. If she didn't know that already, it was time.

Maan pulled her forcefully into his arms and screamed "I don't care...I'm taking you away...that's it...and if that means I have to steal myself and you...Hell yes"

Geet dismissed his anger once again and rolled her eyes "I'm done sittin..." Maan covered her mouth and cut her off. He didn't care what she had to say.

"Now you hear me...and you listen, for I want to be clear...I love you..." Geet gasped as he let out the truth he had realized those hazy moments by the shore. His eyes sparkled with the very emotion he had just given out. She blinked continuously as fear and confusion knotted insider her upon hearing him, for it only did sound blasphemous. This was not allowed, her mind screamed.

"Only you Dammit" he bellowed as Geet tried to lower her head. Maan shook her vigorously, as if he wanted her to warm up to the same emotional level he was now awake to. Her unbelieving ears let her to shake slightly, her heart stilled in doubt, yet the surprise overtook her, leaving her frozen to his hold. Maan's anger had mounted high and was in no mood to come down as he watched her bound by his words.

"And you make your decisions...I will deal with my life and come for You..." He let go of her as he paced in short steps in front of her. He wanted to do something, break something, but that would not confirm what he had for her, how much he needed her in her life. His incapability to prove anything right that moment made him no less than a maniac. It was only better if he left the place, before he could spoil it any further with his outrage over her stillness and disbelief.

He calmed a bit and spoke softly to her. "You better be ready when I pop the question"

With that he stirred to walk out of the room, with seething anger over the fact, that he didn't have her trust with him, as he was about to face the stifling time of his life. She mattered now and all of her trust was of consequence to him. A firming resolve gripped him tight as he paced the groaning hallways towards his room. There were calls to be made and some disengaging to be done.

Back at the room, Geet slumped down on the chair with a burning ache that splintered her heart.

As much as she had wanted to hear him say that he loved her, she had been unprepared to deal with it. It had been too long and time lost, that it was only next to impossible for such an occurrence in her life. The truth was far from her fathoming horizons; well, it was beyond all that she could grasp and accept. What next? Above all, there was only one raging problem that came between accepting him and his love in real time. Maan was married.

Those moments of his declaration weighed her down now; heavy were those new complications he had scattered for her to deal with.

Time was to answer if there would ever to be an instant where

He was to ask her for all that he had to lose

and

For her to accept everything there was to gain.

And so they waited...

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