This is dedicated to jyoti_l, who I accidentally missed off the PM list, sorry about that hun, hope this makes it up to you!
And an very special dedication to Lola13 for creating the preview vid, which will be up very soon! Thank you so much, darling!
Chapter 8:
The following day, the Khuranas were packing their things away to go back to Delhi. Maan was in his room, zipping up his suitcase when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," he called.
He turned around to see Mohinder, who was adjusting his glasses.
"Uncle-ji, is there a problem?" he asked.
"I wouldn't call it a problem. I was just curious."
Maan panicked. What if Mohinder had found out about the proposition he had offered to his daughter?
"Maan, Geet is the kind of person who knows what she wants. She knew, ever since she was a child that she wanted a career, not marraige. I'm confused as to how in a matter of hours, she agreed to marraige."
Maan hadn't expected the Handas to question him about this - he thought they would be happy that she had agreed.
"Well, Uncle-ji, I talked to her."
"What did you say?"
"I told her how I admired her courage to stand up to everyone."
"That's it? You just admire her courage? Maan, I know you like my Geet. But I hope you didn't force her or anything like that."
"No, I would never do that."
"Dad, I agreed of my own accord."
Mohinder turned around to see Geet stood in the doorway.
"I know it's hard to believe, but I agreed because I wanted to."
"Are you sure?"
Geet stepped in and stood beside her father.
"Yes, Dad, I'm sure." She glanced at Maan, who looked relieved.
"I'm sorry to interrogate you like that, Maan," said Mohinder.
"Don't apologise. You have every right to ask me."
"Come on then, Geet. We'll let you pack the rest of your things in peace."
Mohinder walked out first, followed by Geet. Geet turned back to look at Maan, who whispered thank you. She smiled and closed the door behind her.
~
The day had gone by in a haze, with the Khuranas busy packing away & the Handas discussing the engagement. Rano had offered to make them lunch but Savitri Devi refused, saying that she had already asked Nakul back in Delhi to prepare food for them once they got home.
At 4pm, the Khuranas came downstairs to say their goodbyes. Savitri Devi was in front, leaving her two grandsons to carry all the luggage. They placed their suitcases at the foot of the stairs and Savitri Devi moved forward to say goodbye to Mohinder & Rano.
Dev looked around for Pari, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then, from the corner of his eye, he spotted her & Geet walk through a door which led to the garden. He racked his brains for an excuse.
Like his younger brother, Maan was also looking for his fiancee-to-be, Geet. However, he hadn't noticed her go out into the garden with her twin. And he knew she wasn't upstairs, so where could she be?
"Bro, our future wives have gone into the garden, I think we should go & say goodbye," Dev whispered to Maan.
"With what excuse?"
"Just play along with me, ok?"
Savitri Devi & Rano were in discussion over the engagement plans.
"Dadima, me & Maan need to check whether the jeep will take us back to Delhi."
"But our driver is coming to pick us up," replied Savitri Devi.
"Yes, Dadima, but I want to take the jeep back," Maan said quickly.
"Why? You don't use it in Delhi anyway."
"I... I might need to." Maan wasn't a very good liar, & it was beginning to show. Dev decided to interfere.
"Dadima, I think what bro is trying to say is that we might miss Geet & Pari while we're in Delhi, so it would be nice of we had the jeep so we could come & visit them before the engagement. Right, bro?"
Maan nodded, shooting an annoyed glance at Dev.
Savitri Devi smiled in response.
"You can go, but don't take too long, you have to come back to say goodbye to the Handas properly."
Maan & Dev hurried out of the room & went through to the garden. They hadn't seen the garden before, but it was breathtakingly beautiful. The grass was a pure green, with flowerbeds on either side. A gravel path had been made down the middle for walking, with a bench to the left & a small water fountain to the right, where a few small birds were drinking water. They spotted Geet & Pari on the bench, who were laughing in unison about something.
Geet's back was to the Khurana brothers, but Pari saw them, & she stopped laughing, her eyes trailing to Dev.
"Pari, what is it?" asked Geet. She turned around and saw Maan & Dev at the foot of their garden, staring at them. They began walking towards them.
Pari immediately stood up, but Geet remained seated, avoiding eye contact. Dev stopped directly in front of Pari, with Maan lingering behind, his eyes focused on Geet.
"I wanted to say goodbye to you properly," said Dev. Pari blushed, looking down. "Shall we take a walk?"
Pari nodded, & she went off with Dev, which left Maan & Geet alone.
"Do you want to sit down?" asked Geet. Maan took a seat at the opposite end of the bench. Geet played with a curl of her hair, wondering what she could talk about. She took the opportunity to bring up business.
"What does Khurana Constructions specialise in?" she asked.
Maan was taken aback. He hadn't expected her to start talking about business. He had wanted to say goodbye to her properly.
"Well, constructing buildings."
"What type?"
"Geet, we can discuss this after marraige."
"I'm going to become CEO, so I want to do my research properly. What's your net profit?"
"I promise you, after we get married, we'll talk about this thoroughly. Right now, I just wanted to say... Well, I wanted to say goodbye."
"We'll be seeing each other again in a few weeks."
"I know, but I thought that I would say bye properly."
"You just did."
"Geet, I'm trying to make an effort here."
"I know, Maan, but this is just a marraige on business terms, remember? So I'd like to keep it that way." She looked around the garden & saw Dev & Pari going back inside.
"I guess we better follow them, I have to say farewell to your Dadima properly."
Geet got up & walked back to the door, with Maan following behind. He was going to have to find a way to win Geet's heart, and being away from her for a few weeks gave him just enough time to do that.
~
Dev & Pari entered together and saw 3 heads turn to face them. Pari looked down shyly.
"Oh, so that's the jeep you went to check on?" Savitri Devi asked, a smile spreading across her face.
"No, Dadima, I mean, I was just-"
Rano laughed.
"It's ok, we understand."
Dev stepped forward to touch Rano & Mohinder's feet & take their blessings. Pari went down to touch Savitri Devi's feet, but she stopped her midway & hugged her instead.
"You're about to become my bahu now," she said, touching Pari's cheek lovingly.
Just then, Geet entered, followed by Maan a few seconds later.
"And here comes our eldest bahu-to-be," said Savitri Devi. Pari stepped aside as Geet went down to touch her feet, but she stopped Geet and hugged her like she did with Pari.
Maan took his brother's lead & took blessings from Mohinder & Rano.
"I want to see both of you looking as beautiful as you do on the engagement, so take good care of yourselves," said Savitri Devi.
"Ji, Dadima," they replied in unison.
"Mohinder, Rano, call me within the next few days to arrange a formal date, and we'll take it from there."
"Ji," replied Rano, smiling.
Maan & Dev carried the suitcases out to the car where Dadima was going home in. The Handas followed, standing in the doorway.
"Dev, you go with Dadima, I'll bring the jeep," said Maan.
Dev & Savitri Devi got into the car which their driver had brought & set off. Dev turned around in his seat to catch a glimpse of Pari, who was staring at the back of their car. They both smiled at each other.
Maan followed after, and he adjusted his side mirror to catch a glimpse of Geet. She too, was looking at the back of his jeep, but there was no smile evident on her face - she looked more serious than anything else. Maan smiled to himself & turned the corner, leaving the Handa driveway.
Note: This FF will now take a month's leap to the engagement
Precap: The day before the engagement
Edited by WalkIntoMyLife1 - 14 years ago
Cricket
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
193