Chapter 2Pari had woken eagerly at 6am to help Rano with the final preparations for the Khuranas visit. And seeing as she had to share a room with Geet now, this meant that Geet had been waken up early too. It was now 8am - Pari & Rano rushed around the kitchen preparing food, while Geet sat around, a inspirational book in hand.
"Geet, stop reading that nonsense & help us out in the kitchen!" called Rano. Geet sighed and set the book aside, standing up, but then she saw her father rush in, out of breath & ran to his side.
"Dad, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned. Rano & Pari appeared from the kitchen.
"The Khuranas will be pulling up any minute!""What?!" gasped Pari.
Rano dropped the knife that was in her hand.
"Hai rabba, hai rabba," she chanted as she ran to the kitchen, trying to clear most of the mess up.
Pari grabbed Geet's hand and began dragging her up the stairs.
"Pari, get off me!" protested Geet.
"We need to get ready, they can't see us in our pajamas!" exclaimed Pari. She rushed to Geet's bedroom, locked the door & began taking their clothes out of the wardrobe.
~There was a slight knock on the Handa door. Rano quickly stood up, adjusting her dupatta, whilst Mohinder attended to the door.
The first thing that was in sight was Savitri Devi. She was dressed in a beautifully embrodiered white sari, with simple pearl earrings to match, her hair pulled back in a tight bun. She joined her hands together & greeted Mohinder.
As Savitri Devi walked in to greet Rano, Maan Singh Khurana stepped forward. He was wearing a blue half sleeved shirt which showed off his defined muscles, with plain black trousers - looking formal yet informal. Mohinder greeted him and he just simply half smiled & nodded, walking in.
Dev Singh Khurana was last, who quickly put his phone away. He was wearing a vest with jeans - keen to show off his also defined muscles. He shook Mohinder's hand & walked inside.
Savitri Devi had already sat down on one of the sofas, opposite Rano. Maan & Dev joined their dadima, Mohinder joined his wife.
"How are you finding Hoshiarpur so far?" Rano asked nervously. She was keen to make a good impression on the Khuranas.
"It's lovely," said Dadima, looking around the house. Her eyes fell on a joint portrait of Geet & Pari, which was taken only a few months ago.
"Are they your daughters?" she asked, gesturing at the portrait. Rano nodded proudly.
"Yes, they are. The one on the left is Geetanjali, who prefers to be called Geet, and the one on the right is Parineeta, who prefers to be called Pari."Dev peered over, trying to catch a glimpse of the portrait of the two girls. Maan nudged him, indicating him to behave.
Geet & Pari appeared at the top of the stairs - Geet wearing her chosen green salwaar kameez with silver jewellry, & Pari was wearing baby blue with gold jewellry. Savitri Devi, Maan & Dev stood up, along with Rano & Mohinder. Pari's straight hair had been tied into a side ponytail - Geet had managed to tame her curls with half of her hair tied back, a few loose curls around her face.
Pari rushed over to Savitri Devi, touching her feet who tapped her head. Geet followed, copying her twin. Pari then smiled at Maan & Dev - Maan just nodded, whilst Dev was eyeing her appreciatively, smiling back. Geet just briefly glanced at them both and went to join Pari, who had sat beside Rano.
Dev raised an eyebrow, also appreciating Geet, as was his habit. Geet chose the seat beside her father.
"Your daughters are very beautiful," said Savitri Devi, smiling. Pari blushed; Geet looked around, bored, trying to stifle a yawn.
"I'll bring breakfast out," said Rano. Pari copied her mother & stood up when Savitri Devi stopped her.
"Pari, dear, sit down, I'd love to chat with you & your sister. Is that ok with you, Rano?"Rano nodded.
"Yes, of course." She gestured for Mohinder to join her & they disappeared off.
"How did you know our names?" Geet asked. She saw 4 surprised faces turn to look at her.
Savitri Devi smiled.
"Your mother told us."
"Oh."An awkward silence followed. Dev had tried to get Pari's attention, but had failed as her eyes were fixed on the ground shyly. He had then tried to get Geet's attention, but she oblivious to the fact that two good looking young men were sat in front of her & was too busy playing with a curl of her hair.
"So," said Savitri Devi, adjusting her sari.
"How old are you both? You're twins, am I right?"
"Ji, we're 20 years old," Pari said sweetly.
"Maan is 24," Savitri Devi said, pointing at him as he was sat next to her.
"And Dev is 22."
"Who's the eldest from you two?" asked Dev. Maan shot him an annoyed look.
"I am," replied Geet matter-of-factly.
"By 3 minutes.""Cool," said Dev, grinning at Geet. She frowned slightly at him then turned the other way.
"I've been told that you both studied at top colleges. Any particular subject you were interested in?"Pari shook her head.
"Not really."
"What about you, Geet?"
"Business."Maan's head shot up immediately. Savitri Devi smiled.
"Well, what a coincidence. Maan runs our company back in Delhi."Maan & Geet glanced at each other briefly then looked the other way.
"What about you? Do you run the company with him?" Geet asked Dev, who looked a little embarrased. Savitri Devi nudged Maan, amused, who smiled to himself.
"Oh, well, I... erm, you know, bro handles it all."
"So what do you do?"Geet & Pari shared an amused smile as Dev got all flustered as he tried to think up of an answer.
"Well... I-"
"He parties all night & sleeps all day," said Savitri Devi, laughing.
"Isn't that right, Maan?"
"Yes, absolutely," added Maan, enjoying how the Handa sisters were teasing Dev
"Oh, so he doesn't do anything?" said Geet.
"Well, you're not a true Punjabi munda then, are you?"
"What's a munda?" Dev asked, his face totally serious.
This made Geet & Pari burst into laughter.
Dev looked down, embarrased as Dadi & Maan also began laughing. Mohinder & Rano came through with the food.
"What's the big joke?" asked Mohinder as he set down a Punjabi breakfast in front of the Khuranas.
"Uncle-ji, your daughters are laughing at my expense," said Dev jokingly. Mohinder turned to see Geet & Pari covering their mouths with their dupattas, still giggling. Rano gestured for them to calm down and they did, but still sniggered every now & then.
The Khuranas began eating their breakfast - Geet & Pari were watching Dev sneakily, amused as he took a few bites of the food & made an awkward face. They cleared their throats at the same time to hide their laughter.
Maan, who was also amused at Dev's antics, reached out for a glass of water & accidentally knocked it all over his shirt. Geet & Pari's attentions shifted to him; Rano jumped up from her seat.
"Sorry, Aunty-ji," said Maan apologetically.
"Don't worry about it dear, I'll get a cloth for you."
"No, it's ok, I'll just take my suitcase upstairs & change into a new shirt."Maan carried his suitcase upstairs effortlessly with one hand.
"This food is simply delicious," complimented Dadima.
"Is there seconds, Rano?""Ji, of course," replied Rano, & gestured to Pari to bring some more food out. Pari went into the kitchen. Rano began the preparations for the after breakfast tea & asked Geet to go upstairs & fetch down her best tea set.
Geet went up, making her way to the spare storeroom when Maan suddenly stepped out of the bathroom, topless, drying his arms off with a towel. They both looked at each for a few seconds, then Geet immediately turned around.
"Sorry," she said, not daring to look back.
Maan cleared his throat awkwardly and started to walk past her to go into one of the guest rooms.
He brushed past Geet, but she happened to be off balance and almost fell. Maan quickly secured his arm around her waist, Geet placed her hand on his bare shoulder.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she replied, feeling awkward as she was half falling, half standing, almost hugging a topless young man who she'd only met half an hour ago.
"... Can you let go of me, please?"Maan immediately removed his arm and helped Geet up.
"Thanks," she said, & walked off to the storeroom. Maan went into the guest room, which was next to the storeroom & locked the door shut.
Geet spotted the tea set on top of the cupboard. She got a stool, placed it in front and tip toed to reach it, but she ended up pushing it further back. She sighed as she tried to reach for it without falling off the stool.
Maan came out of the guest room, wearing a white shirt. He was adjusting his sleeves when he heard the sound of bangles shaking. He peered into the storeroom and saw Geet stood on the stool, one arm stretched out, showing off the beautiful white bangles which adorned her wrist, her other hand holding the top of the cupboard so she didn't fall. Her long, curly hair had been pushed to one side so that her loose curls didn't get in the way.
"Can I help?" he asked. Geet gasped as he'd scared her and turned around quickly, almost falling off the stool. Maan rushed over quickly but Geet stopped him when he came in front of her by putting her hands out.
"I'm fine, thanks. I just need the gold boxed tea set taken down, it's been pushed right to the back."Geet got down from the stool to allow Maan to stand on it.
"Geet, dear, what's taking so long?" Rano called from the stairs.
"Coming, Maa!" Geet called back. Maan managed to retrieve the tea set and he handed it over.
"Thanks again," she smiled, and walked out of the room. She waited for Maan to step out, then
closed the door behind her with one hand & headed downstairs.
Maan was a few steps ahead of Geet, so she deliberately began walking slowly behind him.
Everyone's heads in the living area turned when Maan came down the stairs, just 3 steps ahead of Geet, who was peering at the stairs in front of her so that she didn't miss a step. Maan took his seat beside his Dadima again.
"Maan, you could have carried the set down for her, the poor girl's trying not to fall."
"It's ok, I managed," Geet replied, & she took it through to Rano, who was impatiently tapping her fingers on the kitchen counter.
"What took you so long?" Rano asked, opening the set up.
"I couldn't reach for them properly, so- I had to use a stool to get them down," she lied. She didn't want to tell her mother that Maan had helped her - Rano would end up planning their wedding if she found out they had exchanged a few words.
~After the tea had been served, Savitri Devi was keen to go sightseeing in Hoshiarpur. Rano & Mohinder had agreed that the girls would accompany them, and had sent Pari & Geet upstairs to freshen up.
"What did Maa mean by 'freshen up?'" Geet asked Pari, annoyed as she sat on the bed watching Pari re-do her make up, even though she didn't really need to.
"She's never used that phrase before."
"Geet, they're from Delhi, they're city dwellers. Maa obviously wants to make a good impression."
"I don't want to go, though," sulked Geet, playing with a curl of her hair.
"You'll get to tease that Dev again..." Pari trailed off, grinning. Geet giggled.
"It is fun winding him up."
"Maa and Savitri Devi-ji might mistake it as flirting though."
"Euch, no!"
"He's not that bad looking. I've seen worse."
"Well, no, he looks ok, but he just comes across as cocky. It puts me off."
"And I thought you didn't want to get married? Here you are, analysing the Khuranas."
"I don't want to get married. I have to suss out my future family though, and that's what I'm doing."
"Oh, really?" asked Pari, raising a suggestive eyebrow. Geet through a pillow at her.
"Geet, you'll mess up my hair, it took me ages to straighten it! Get ready quickly, ok?" Pari left the room. Geet tried to put off getting ready at all, but she had to look like she had 'freshened up.' So she ran a comb through her curls, and applied one coat of lipbalm, avoiding any real make up.
However, when Geet got downstairs, there was no one in sight.
"Hello?" she called out.
"Pari? Maa? Dad?"Maan came through the main doors of the house, spinning his keys around his finger.
"Where's everyone else gone?" asked Geet.
"There wasn't enough space in the main car, so they left & asked me to bring you with me. Are you ready?"
"Why couldn't Pari have waited behind?"
"You can ask her that later, now we really need to go, otherwise we'll lose track of them."Maan led the way out of the house; Geet reluctantly followed, bolting the doors shut behind her. She turned around & saw a jeep, with Maan sat in the driver's seat.
"You have a jeep?" she asked.
"I thought you'd have a better car than this, to be honest."Maan didn't reply - he just started the engine, a signal for Geet to get in. She sat in the back seat, behind the passenger side, and Maan drove off.
Precap: The Hoshiarpur Theme Park 
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