TUM SE HI (MG) Thread 1 - Page 27

THIRTEEN

"I'm not," he said with a serious expression on his face, "nor have I ever been married ma'am."

"Yes I know. Main to bas mazak kar rahi thi. Annie ne bataya tha, par--" she leaned slightly toward him "'why not?"

"I haven't found the right woman." He said with an indifferent emotion on his face. "It's as simple as that."

Bingo, Geet thought. Men had no imagination whatsoever. They should hold a mass meeting and come up with new material. She'd heard the line countless times. It was the pat answer and easily understood by single woman across the country: Maan was not interested in marriage.

Bilkul sahi, she thought, the "I haven't found the right woman" sab ladke bas playboys hote hain. No serious commitment for them. No way.

"I imagine," she said, adopting a casual tone of voice, "that your house and the landscaping must look like something out of a magazine, considering what you, Annie and Dev do for a living."

"I don't have a house," he said. He'd once believed that he would. Oh yeah, a big place that would echo with children's laughter. There would be a huge garden to play in, with plenty of room for the kids. "I live in an apartment."

Ah-ha, Geet thought. Apartment, not a house. Maan wanted no part of any domestic work.

She looked at her socks, wiggling her toes and watching mickey-mini do a dance.

"I was thinking about Anvesha and Arjun," she said. "Twins. Your entire family must be excited. Twins kitne cute hote hain."

Maan laughed. "Twins are an overwhelming thought." Double the joy, double the work. "Two of everything, that's what Annie and Arjun are getting into. Phew."

"That's for sure," she said, nodding. "I'm reading you loud and clear." Maan Singh Khurana wasn't crazy about babies or the idea of being a father.

Well done Geet, she mentally praised herself. She'd collected the information and computed it. Maan was mobile, single, entertaining absolutely no plans of marriage, home or child.

"Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying here," Maan said. "I want to get married, have kids, a home."

Geet's eyes widened. "You do? Par tumne to'abhi'.I mean'You do??"

"Yes, I truly do. I guess that I'm gun-shy because I've seen so many of my friends and family members getting divorced. When both the spouses are working, there just isn't any time for family. More or less careers always seem to take first place."

"Oh," Geet said. Was the conclusions that she had drawn wrong? She had never been wrong before. "Well, there is a little thing known as compromise, Maan."

He frowned. "Wo har baar kaam nahi karte. It starts out fine, par maine bahut se logonko dekha hai, and they run into trouble. Hey, I'm not a chauvinist who feels a woman belongs in the home being a bahu, biwi and mom, and shouldn't have a career. I'm just coming to the conclusion that the life-style that a marriage of two working people produces is not what I want."

"Lagta hai meri kismat me bachelor rehna hi likha hai, and enjoy with my nieces and nephews as their uncle."

"Ah I see," Geet said thoughtfully. "So you engage in casual dating and focus your energy on your job."

He shrugged. "I enjoy my work. I get a lot of satisfaction out of the challenges of it."

"Hmm," Geet said, staring in space.

No wonder Annie itna pareshan thi Maan ke liye. The man has attitude problem. He'd obviously done some information gathering of his own and drawn conclusion from it. But despite what he believed, two-career marriages could be happy, fulfilling, and everything that Maan was wishing for.

She herself wanted no part of being married. Not ever again! But she sincerely believed that those who wanted to create a union by marriage- even though two-career- can have that if they loved, shared, and compromised. Maan was burying his hopes and dreams in an overload of work, instead of being determined to have what he wanted.

Not good. This man needed help, had to be shown the errors in his thinking. He was sentencing himself to a lonely life, and that was incredibly sad. He just worked, worked and worked. Her schedule suited her perfectly, Maan's did not serve him well.

There was no hope for it; she was hooked. She would take Maan on, reprogram his poor, malfunctioning brain on the subject matter of marriage and dual careers.

For starters she has to first get him to lighten up on his work schedule to show him how compromise can be easily targeted.

As crazy as it was, Maan Singh Khurana was now officially THE PROJECT, her assignment as Pari called it.

"Geet," Maan said, bringing her back to attention. "Is it ok if I put another log on the fire? It is burning low."

Geet nodded, and then watched him as he began to do the work. Within moments her eyes began to wander, watching him intently, his every move, and his every muscle. RED ALERT!!! Her mind began to say.

His shirt strained across his broad shoulders as he reached for the log, and was tucked into defining his narrow waist. There were powerful muscles in his legs, outlined to perfection by the pair of pants he was wearing.

The flush on her cheeks and the heat that was swirling inside her, she knew, was not caused by the flames but rather by her heart.

Maan Singh Khurana was throwing her off base again by his sheer presence. She'd have to be on guard against his male aura during The Project.

But since she knew that she was easily unsettled by his appeal, she was one step ahead of things and was in total control of herself.

THE PROJECT aka Maan Singh Khurana aka her assignment, was officially launched.

"There we go," Maan said moving back against the couch.

He sat closer to Geet this time, his shoulder pressing on hers.

Oh yes, she thought, the prospect of two weeks with Maan was certainly much better than taking cooking lessons. Much more better.