Maan knew what he had to do. He walked out of the room and took his breakfast. He could feel Geet's and Daadima's eyes burning into him and left for the office.
"Geet Beta, aap aaj office nahi gayin…kya baat hai?" Savitri Devi asked her daughter-in law. She had been watching Geet for a while now, and her mind certainly seemed to be elsewhere. She had not accompanied Maan to the office and that didn't settle well with her. Ever since the attack on Geet, Maan always made sure, Geet was with him all the times. Others might see this as an overbearing act but Geet understood Maan. It was for the love he had for her. So when they hardly exchanged any words at the breakfast table and Maan left for work without her, Savitri Devi knew something wasn't just right.
Not getting a reply from Geet, she touched her arm hoping to get her attention. Geet smiled at her but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Sab theek hai na bete?" a worried expression beheld the elder lady's face.
"Haan Daadima, Bas aise hi, aaj office jaane ka man nahi hai. Koi movie dekhen?" Geet replied attempting to change the direction of the conversation.
Mildly pacified by Geet's response, Daadima relaxed, "Theek hai bete..jaisi aapki marzi..which movie do you want to see?"
"Let me see what's on TV" Geet took the remote as she flipped through the channels. Finding nothing of interest, she threw the remote on the table.
"Daadima, ek baat poochun?" Geet asked
"Ji bete, kya poochna chahti hain poochiye"
"Daadima, Yeh Maan hamesha itne gusse mei kyun rehte hain?" She twisted the end of her dupatta.
"Bete, woh to bachpan se hi aise hain…." She smiled.
"Daadima, Maan kabhi apne parents ke baare mein baat nahi karte. Infact unke paas unki koi picture bhi nahi hai. Aisa kyun?" She looked at Daadima with a solemn face.
Daadima took a long breath before she answered her daughter-in-laws questions. "Humne aapko bataya tha na, ki Maan didn't have a very happy childhood. His parents were always quarrelling among themselves. Nandini, his mom found out that Mahesh cheated on her with his secretary. And all hell broke loose. She found solace in a company of her childhood friend and Mahesh thought she was having an affair with him."
"Was she?" Geet was appalled.
"Pata nahi bete, Nandini always denied it. According to her, he was just a good friend who understood her better. They had gotten together the time Mahesh was having an affair and she had turned to her friend for comfort." Daadima remained quiet for sometime living those moments.
"The next three years of their marriage they fought every single day. Maan would stay in his room trying to block their loud voices. And then finally one day, we got a call from the police about Nandini's accident. She died in that car crash and her friend was with her in the car. Mahesh was a mess. He did love his wife and he took to alcohol ignoring Maan who was just 10. Fours years later, my son too left us---"She choked as the tears spilled from her eyes.
Geet offered her a glass of water and rubbed her back.
"And that is when Pammi, came back into our lives with a 10 year old Dev. We never even knew if Mahesh had fathered a child. But Dev always blamed us. He thinks because of Maan, his father never acknowledged his presence. He tries to make Maan's life difficult. Maan always ignored Dev petty little things and forgave him. But now his life is intertwined with yours." She touched her cheeks adorably." You have brought so much happiness and love into his life and he is scared of loosing it..maybe that is one of the reasons even though Maan forgave Dev in the past, he isn't able to forgive him now"
Geet was touched as Daadima accredited her presence in Maan's life with such a pride. The smile that had been missing since last night made its way back on her rosy lips. She took out her cell in order to call her husband but suddenly she realized. Wasn't she supposedly angry at him?? Contemplating at what to do, she twisted her lips when the door bell rang.
Nakul came back with a big bouquet of red roses that were apparently from Maan to her with a sorry note attached to it.
Daadima let out a slight laugh. "I knew something was up when you didn't accompany him to the office" she shook her head as she left Geet with the beautiful roses that filled the living room with their fragrance.
Geet looked at the red roses and the note which had a simple sorry written; she smiled to herself "You have to much better than that Mr.Khurana"
Maan waited for her call. He knew she must have gotten the flowers by now so why hadn't she called or texted him. He decided to text her asking if she liked the flowers but got a blank text back. He knew, she wasn't going to forgive him so easily. He sighed.
"Adi, I am going out, reschedule my meetings" He said as he left the office in a haste.
Adi looked at the receding image of Maan leaving the office in confusion. Never in his five years of working with him, had he seen Maan ignoring his work.
Maan made his way to the jewelers. There were amazing designs but none looked good enough for his wife. Finally he bought a bracelet with a charm and ordered for an inscription on it. He also ordered a necklace making sure, it was exactly the way he wanted it. Though the bracelet was ready in a few minutes, the shopkeeper informed him with an apology that the necklace would take a week. Taking the wrapped bracelet, he headed home.
He searched his room, the garden and terrace but he couldn't find her. Eventually Nakul told him that Geet was in the kitchen.
Maan waited patiently by the door. Daadima passed him and he promptly placed a finger to his lips, indicating his wish for her to remain silent. She patted him on the cheek affectionately and left.
He needed to speak to Geet properly, she had left him no choice. He couldn't withstand her silence anymore. He had attempted to speak to her number of times during the day by calling her or texting her, but she had neither picked up his call nor returned any of his messages.
Maan approached Geet slowly and quietly, as if speaking to himself he said in a soft voice, "Lagta hai biwi abhi bhi bauhat naraaz hai…Maan tu to gaya aaj…."
He looked towards Geet, who looked extremely unimpressed with his behavior. She remained silent and continued to cut the onions with precision, sniffing along.
"Geet…." he said as he made an attempt to hold her hand. She seemed to freeze involuntarily in her position as his hand covered hers. He slowly turned her around in order to make her face in line with his. He brushed off the tears spilling from her eyes with the pad of his thumb and placed a soft kiss on each of her eyes.
She sighed deeply as his lips made their way from her eyes to her cheeks tasting the salty water on them. She abruptly broke the stupor that engulfed them both as she gently yet firmly pushed him away and turned her attention back to cooking.
Maan wasn't shocked at her behavior; He knew her, she was playing hard to get. He encircled his arms around her waist and kissed her nape softly and nibbled at her ear. She suppressed a moan that threatened to escape her lips.
He came closer to her "Geet..sorry baba… Aage se aisa kabhi nahi hoga" he said gently, dropping his voice to a whisper. He continued to place soft kisses on her exposed skin.
Though Geet was enjoying the whole charade, she wondered how long she could push his buttons. She tried wriggling from his strong arms. He turned her violently around once again and stared at her with such intensity as he bought his face closer to hers that it took all her strength to turn her face and move out of his hold.
They heard someone call "Geet" from the dining hall startling them both. She started to move and leave the kitchen. Maan rushed behind her and leaned against the kitchen door to prevent her from leaving. He gave her a lopsided grin which Geet matched with her own mocking smile as she ducked under Maan's arm and left him standing there all by himself.
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The dinner had been once again a quiet affair just like the morning breakfast. Daadima looked once at Geet and then Maan wondering what was going on between them. She knew better not to interfere in their matter for she knew they could resolve their problems themselves. She also understood that Geet would talk to her if she felt the need to, so she ate in silence and left them to themselves.
Once finished with the dinner, Geet left for their bedroom with Maan right behind her. He however, had some calls to make which he decided to take in the study. Much later, when he reached his room, he saw Geet unexpectedly sitting on the bed with his gift in her hands. He smiled to himself.
Geet looked towards the door as if she sensed his presence there. She smiled warmly up at him, forgetting her anger for a moment. Quickly her smile turned into a frown and she turned her attention back to the object in her hands.
Maan suppressed a smile. He didn't want her to think he was laughing at her, it would only aggravate the situation. He strode slowly towards her on the bed and came to sit beside her.
When he didn't say anything, Geet looked at him. He eyes were fixed on the hands that held his gift. He spoke tenderly "Open it"
Geet opened the package and found a beautiful platinum bracelet with one heart charm dangling from it. The heart shaped charm had an inscription which read "Maan ki Geet"
She looked up at Maan with a bright smile that reached her eyes "Mere liye?"
"Nahi, mere liye hai.. " he replied with a grin.
Her smile quickly turned into a frown once again and she turned around with annoyance. Maan smiled heartily as he placed his head on her lap, "Geet" When she still refused to look at him, he touched her face gently " I know I offended you last night but please ab to maaf kardo" She still didn't budge, he circled his arms around her neck pulling her down a little, "Ok just tell me, do you like it?"
She nodded with a slight smile playing on her lips. Maan sat upright as he helped her put it on. Geet's face lit with excitement as she looked at her wrist. Maan closed the loop of the bracelet and placed a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist. Geet took in a long breath as his lips rested on the palm of her hands and his eyes rose to meet hers. She smiled at him with a heated breath, her heart fluttering in her chest like a caged bird.
"I am sorry" he said again as Geet moved closer placing her head over his shoulder. "If you ever do that again, I am going to go far away" she looked up at him boldly, but her voice betrayed her…breaking slightly as she spoke with choked up tears.
"Shhhh….don't you ever say something like this again." he seized her by the shoulders to emphasize his feelings towards the matter. "Geet, you are my whole life. I agree I lose my temper, but without you, I am a lost soul"
Tears rose in Geet's eyes. Maan cursed softly and drew her into his arms.
"Damn it!!!" he said grumpily, "the last thing I wanted to do was to make you cry."
"It isn't you," she said. "It's—it's just that I feel this is all a dream and one day I will wake up and you won't be here"
"I am always going to be here" He held her close, pressing his lips to her hair, and after a long, long moment, she looked at him and smiled despite the dampness on her lashes.
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The next morning, Geet stretched and sighed, winding her body more closely around Maan's and relaxing into the tangle of their arms and legs. Beneath her fingers, she felt the steady beat of his heart in his chest and she smiled. She felt the curve of his cheek against the top of her head.
She felt him move and struggle to open his eyes. She yawned and turned her face up to look at him.
"Good morning" she murmured as she started to get up.
"Hey" he said sleepily and pulled her back into his embrace. He gently kissed at the nook of her neck.
"Hmmmm" He mumbled into her ear and pulled her close to him. He ran his hand under the fabric of her night robe until it met with the smoothness of her skin. A soft smile played on his lips as he heard her gasp when he grazed his hand against her soft skin of her flat stomach. He held her firmly with his other free hand as she tried to wriggle free.
"Maan?" she whispered, "Please leave me…mujhe bahut kaam hai"
He smiled inwardly as he released her. Immediately her eyes showed disappointment and her lips pouted which was not unobserved by Maan. He cupped her face and kissed her softly. She sighed against his mouth, closing her eyes. He pulled back "Geet, tumhe to kahin jana tha na? Bahut kaam karne hain" he laughed as she buried her head in his chest, feeling shy.
Flipping her onto her back, he loomed over her with an iniquitous smirk. She touched his lips with her fingers as Maan placed a soft kiss on them. He slid his hand to the back of her neck and he nipped at her bottom lip and took them both deeper. She moaned as he bent to kiss the hollow of her throat. He reached under her robe again opening it this time, and felt her peak under his soft caress. As his large hands explored her petite body, inducing response at his touch, warmth swamped her. She spread her hands against his back as she arched, pulling him closer. "Maan" she panted into his ear stripping him off his black vest. His damp body now in contact with hers, they moved in their own rhythm until he felt Geet tighten around him and whimper out in ecstasy.
He watched as her breathing returned to normal, he caressed her long black tresses, "You have brought so much happiness and sweetness in my life, you are my Mishti" he whispered. Geet turned to face him "Your Mishti" she parroted the words with a smile and closed her eyes in contentment.
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Precap: None…..:)
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