haven't edited it so plz ignore the mistakes . . . thank you for the lovely comments . . . loved reading them😳
CHAPTER 7
Past
That night for the first time in three months, Geet did not cry herself to sleep. Strangely, even those fifteen minutes she spent with Mr Ajnabee soothed her pain to some extent. Though healing it was impossible but those few minutes did help her forget her loss for some time. In the past three months she had seen her life crumble, she had witnessed her mother's break down; the past three months have been like a living hell for her. She couldn't share her fears, her pain, and her insecurities with anyone. Unmindfully she had put up a wall around her, completely shutting herself from the world. Even her mother couldn't break through that wall but this one guy, whom she met by chance literally, has already started drilling holes in that wall and peeking inside. Though there was some connection she felt with this guy but at the moment it was mild May be with time, this unknown bond deepens and may be just may be he will succeed in pulling her out of her shell. For the time being, she just enjoyed his company and she for one was looking forward to meeting him again.
********
Whereas Geet was lost in peaceful slumber, Maan was busy changing sides on the bed. He couldn't sleep. The first time he met her and saw her crying, he had thought of lot of reasons why she could possibly cry and her being merely a 14-15 year old teenager provided him with plenty of reasons but never in his thoughts did he even contemplate it could be so deep. When he heard her talk to herself, when he heard her remembering her father, there were so many raw emotions that seeded through her, and he could see through those eyes. They concealed pain and hope but what kind of hope. He knew the pain but hope, maybe it was the hope to fulfil her father's dream but why would she hope for the fulfilment of his dream when she was more than confident and determined to make it up to her destination. Throughout the night all he could think of was her and her tears.
********
Geet woke up as the alarm went off. She yawned as she outstretched her arms and got off the bed. She was in good mood, for the first time in the last three months she had a smile when she woke up. Her eyes were not swollen, her face was not pale, there were no traces of tear streaks on her cheeks; she was happy.
*********
Geet donned a simple white t-shirt and knee length jeans and tied her hair in a braid. Like always, she went to the kitchen, grabbed an apple and just when she was about to take a bite Rano snatched it from her hands and scolded "how many times I am to tell you . . . wash and then eat. You'll never learn, will you?"
Geet smiled as she shook her head.
She finished her breakfast, kissed Rano on the cheek and left the kitchen. She had just come out of the kitchen when Brig yelled at her "what are you wearing . . . go change now and dress decently"
Geet snapped back "excuse me . . . who do you think you are to comment on my dress"
"Your brother" Brig barked.
"cousin brother . . . and let me remind you something, when dad was here last time, he warned you against passing your judgement about me or anything related to me and that includes my dress" Geet replied with anger evident in her tone.
"that was when he was here, just in case you don't remember he is no longer her so now you have to do as I say" Brig spat.
"Well . . . I will not . . . when my parents have no objection to what I wear who are you to order me" Geet retorted.
"You're forgetting whom you are talking with and what I can do" Brig yelled yet again.
"Would you care to enlighten me on what you can do" Geet replied as her eyes spelled fire.
"I forbid you from leaving the house in those clothes" Brig barked.
"it is MY house that you are trying to lock me in and it is my wish when I go out and when not, wearing whatever I want to . . . you like it or not" Geet said as she turned to leave.
"Geet . . . that is not the way to talk with your elder brother" Rano came out of the kitchen and scolded Geet.
"I am sorry mom but he called for it" Geet replied.
"GEET" Rano knew it wasn't Geet's fault. She was brought up that way; her father never let anyone question a thing about her. Rano was scared Geet was like her father in ways more than one. If one would ignore the looks, she could be considered his replica in everything else.
"Had dad been there you --- ever since that day you've changed. Where you should be trying to fill the void da . . ." she choked. She could never say it.
Geet said as she suppressed her tears "you are making it deeper"
She left the house as she said "I'll be late tonight, I am going to Anwesha's farm house"
"Chachi ji, how can you give her the liberty of coming late" brig turned to face Rano.
Before Rano could reply, Geet retorted "My father never laid any rules on me because he trusted his daughter, when he didn't have a problem with me going out with friends; I don't think anyone should and as for my mother is concerned, even she has full trust on her daughter"
With that said Geet exited the house. Just as she came out of the main entrance, she noticed Anwesha and Meera coming her way. "Were we not meeting at Meera's place" Geet asked.
"I changed the plans a bit" Anwesha replied.
After the argument with Brig, Geet was not in any state to enjoy. She needed this time to be alone and she said "Annie I am really sorry but I don't feel like going today"
Maan was sitting in the car, observing the girls when he felt something was up with Mishti. He couldn't stop himself and came out of the car. He headed towards the girls as he heard Anwesha.
"Geet please, it's supposed to be our day out" Annie cajoled.
"Uh . . . ok . . . you guys carry on, give me the address I'll catch up with you guys in some time" Geet did not have the heart to refuse Annie's hopeful eyes.
"Sweetie . . . we are going to lonavla, how will you catch up" Annie said, amused at Geet's reply.
"I'll manage, give me the address" Geet said again. It was not like Geet was ignorant of the fact that going to lonavala on her own was not a cake walk considering she was merely 14 yrs old but she maybe young in age, she was capable of going on her own---that was how she was brought up by her father, she knew how to make her way through things.
"I'll drive her" Maan called out from behind "Annie you go with the driver, she can come with me"
"You sure bro" Anwesha asked as she looked at Maan.
"Yes" Maan replied.
"Will that be okay" Anwesha confirmed as she turned towards Geet.
Though Geet wasn't shocked to realise that he was Annie's brother but she was surprised.
"Uh . . . I'll come with you guys, I don't want to trouble your brother" Geet replied.
Before Anwesha could reply Maan said "it's not a problem at all . . . Annie you go with Meera, I promise I will drive your other friend safely to the farm house"
Anwesha looked at Geet asking her consent.
"If that is the case, I am ok with it" Geet smiled.
Maan asked the driver to take Meera and Annie to the farmhouse safely and told that he would be there shortly after.
******
After they left Maan asked Mishti if she was ok with walking to his house otherwise he could call the other car.
Instead of replying to his question, she asked him a question in return "you knew I am Annie's friend"
"Yes. . . She told me yesterday" Maan replied.
"Why did you ask my name then" Geet asked.
"She didn't tell me your name" Maan said as she smiled slightly.
"Is it" Geet smirked.
"Yes" Maan nodded.
Geet started walking ahead as she said "as for your question, I am fond of walking so you need not call the car here, but, I'll meet you at your place in an hour, got to go somewhere"
"Tell me where you going, I'll pick you up from there" Maan replied.
"Beach"
"Are you obsessed with the beach" Maan smiled.
Unexpectedly Geet became serious and replied "let's say that is my place to seek temporary refuge from reality"
Maan knew there was more to the statement and he knew mulling over the issue would only give her pain. So he tried changing the topic "can I walk you to the beach, that is, if you do not mind"
"Yeah sure" Geet smiled.
"So how do you like the weather" Maan asked.
"Uh" she chuckled "are you asking me about the weather or I am dreaming"
"You weren't talking, I had to come up with something" Maan replied as they continued walking.
"So that was the best thing you could come up with" Geet said as she looked at him.
"Yes" Maan replied with a lop-sided smile.
"Are you really Annie's brother" Geet asked genuinely.
"Is that a question" Maan inquired.
"I mean there's Annie who is an expert at small talk and there's you . . . you know just like that" Geet smiled.
Maan was quite embarrassed at her frank reply, so he tried changing the topic "Annie told me that you shifted here from Meghalaya"
"More like shifted back. Two years ago dad sent me to hostel in Shillong" Geet said.
"So you liked it there" Maan asked.
"Liked it . . . I loved it there, just that sometimes I would get homesick. But ignoring that, Shillong was a wonderful place . . . lovely hill station" Geet replied with a wide grin.
"I haven't been to any hill station other Shimla, so is it like Shimla" Maan inquired.
"no not at all, Shimla is more like, you see, at the peak, whereas Shillong is located between the mountains, the peaks in Shimla are steep contrary to the hills of Shillong which are more round in shape. As such for a holiday destination Shimla is great but if it is like you know, permanent accommodation, I would prefer Shillong. Though not many people know Hindi there, initially it was quite a hassle to stay there as at that time I wasn't really affluent with English and my class mates there didn't know Hindi or Punjabi and I did not know their local language Khasi. But with time things came in handy and it was all a merry go round. If you happen to visit Shillong anytime in future there's this peak known as Shillong peak, the entire town is in view from that place and it's absolutely panoramic. Besides, there are many other places worth a visit. . . BTW how did you like Shimla" Geet answered as she kept walking by his side.
"I don't really remember as I was 4 years back then. All I can recall is a monkey" Maan replied.
"Monkey" Geet exclaimed, amused at his reply.
"yes . . . actually we were stuck in traffic and I was sitting on my mother's lap eating my chocolate" Maan said "The window of the car was half open, a monkey came and snatched my chocolate from my hand. I was terrified"
"Oops . . . that also happens . . . well then, lucky for me there were no monkey's in Shillong" Geet chuckled.
"I've heard about the butterfly museum in Shillong" Maan said.
"Uh yes even I have heard about it, thought of giving it a visit but I was really not interested to see dead butterflies. I prefer them live" Geet replied as Maan chuckled at her reply.
"So where did you get your schooling done in Shillong" Maan asked.
"Loreto Convent (LC) that was one hell of a school. It was a girl's convent, a strict one but it was fun. Every time in the recess we, me and my friends, would go to the chapel and just sit there sometime. The basket ball team of your school was the best in town. We would have a gala time cheering our team. There was this church, outside out school's main entrance; it was the biggest in town. Trust me the interior of the church was marvellous" Geet replied and he could make out she liked it there; her eyes were sparkling when she talked about it.
"I like the sound of the place" Maan stated.
"I haven't really told you anything yet" Geet said as she smirked.
"There's more" Maan replied.
"Yeah" Geet nodded.
"Tell me about it"
"Ok . . . to begin with, Cheerapunji locally known as Sohra, that's one hell of a place. It's beautiful there. The scenic view of Bangladesh from the peak is a beauty. Then there are falls and a natural cave, talking about the cave the first time I went there, I really did not know how to walk on those bamboo sticks and my leg slipped and I fell into the water. It was freezing cold. The next time was better though" Geet replied.
"How many times have you been there" Maan asked.
"Like . . . uh . . . may be some 25 or 26 times, really didn't keep a count of it" Geet replied rather calmly.
"25 times" Maan was flabbergasted.
"Yes . . . we would go for picnic to Cheerapunji every 50-55 days" Geet smiled.
"What else did you do?"
"we also went for trekking every month, it was like we were discovering more of Shillong every time we went in the wild . . . once I was literally lost in the forest but I managed to find my way back somehow" Geet said "why am I doing all the talking"
"Well like you said I am not good in making small talks" Maan smirked.
"Hello . . . this is not small talk" Geet frowned.
"Ok . . . what you want to know" Maan said enthusiastically.
"Tell me about your university . . . I am sure you would have applied already" Geet replied.
"Yes . . . I have been selected at Howard" Maan said with a pinch of pride.
"Wow . . . congrats . . . let me guess . . . for architecture" Geet smiled.
"How did you---
"Let's call it a lucky guess" Geet smirked.
And they continued talking. They did not even realise when they reached the beach, sat there and kept talking. It was then that Maan's cell phone rang and it was no one other than Anwesha reminding them they were already in lonavala and waiting for them.
With that, Maan and Geet walked towards his house and Maan drove to the farm house.
*******
There was no denying that she felt light and happy by talking with him but still she did not have it her to open up in the entirety. Being with him provided her a sense of happiness and contentment, and as of then, she was at ease with the way things were turning out. She preferred it simple.
********
Precap: farm house . . . more of maaneet.
so guys how was it . . . plz comment . . .
Edited by 7thHeaven - 14 years ago
38