Chapter 15
Maan stopped short just outside of Dadima's room, & saw her reaching for the phone.
"Dadima, wait!" he exclaimed as he rushed & snatched the phone off her.
"Maan, what are you doing?"
"I... I'm expecting an important call from the office."
"Since when has the office called on the house phone?"
"Since... well, since... My phone's battery is running out, so I asked Adi to call here if there were any problems."Dadima raised a suspicious eyebrow.
"Well, charge your phone & tell Adi to call on there instead. I need to talk to the Handas."
"Dadima, you must be hungry, I'll get Nakul to make you some food."
"I'm fine."
"You might want some tea, shall I call for some tea?""I've never drank tea in my entire life, Maan."
"There's a first time for everything. Why don't you take a nap, & call the Handas later? You must be tired."
"Savitri Devi does as she pleases. And I'm phoning the Handas. I don't know why you're so jumpy about it, I expected you to be calm & relaxed about your upcoming marraige. Look at your younger brother, Dev, he's handling it beautifully. You've become a nervous wreck. I'm worried for you now, I'll arrange an appointment with the doctor for tomorrow."She began to dial the Handa's number. Maan quickly made a swift exit out of the room, panicking about what was coming next.
~On the third ring, Pari picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Parineeta, it's your Dadima - well, you're Dadima-to-be. How are you, dear?"
"Ji, I'm good thank you, are you feeling better now?"
"Feeling better? What do you mean?""We called you earlier, your voice sounded awful..." Pari saw Geet coming down the stairs, she beckoned her over.
"I'll pass it to Geet, she talked to you before."Geet took the phone.
"Hello?"
"Geet, what's Pari saying about you calling earlier?"
"Dadima, we did. You sounded like you had a very bad throat, you sound so much better. It's those medicines Maan's been giving you, isn't it? You know, I had to scold him for not taking care of you properly, even though he said he was at home with you."
"Dear, are you sure you're all right? Because I don't know what you're talking about. I'm perfectly fine like I always am, & Maan was at the office all day. I was out shopping.""Maan was at the office? But he told me you were ill & he was at home. I even talked to you earlier, you were talking about Maan's pu- I mean, his development into adolescence."
"Geet, darling, I have no idea what Maan has been up to, he's acting strange as well. But let's put that aside for now, the reason I called was to talk to your mother, is she around?""No, she's gone to visit someone who came back from Canada."
"What a shame, because I was thinking that you & Pari could spend some time here in Delhi before the wedding. It would be a nice chance for you both to get a taste of your future lifestyle, & also spend some time with your fiances.""Oh," said Geet, surprised. She hadn't expected to be invited to Delhi - this meant her & Maan would have to act like a genuine fiance & fiancee.
"I know it sounds daunting, but Delhi is a wonderful place, I'm sure you'll both love it. Do tell your mother to call me back once she gets home, I want to discuss this in detail. Take care dear.""Bye, Dadima," Geet said & she put the phone down.
Pari emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands with a cloth.
"Is Dadima better now?" she asked.
"It's so strange Pari, she says she wasn't ill at all & she was out all day. And that Maan was in the office earlier..."
"So who did we talk to?"
"I don't know, but I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough. Dadima's invited us to Delhi."Pari's face lit up.
"Really? I can't wait!""Me too," Geet added, faking her enthusiasm and pretending to smile.
~A week laterThe visit had been fully prepared for Geet & Pari to spend a week in Delhi. They had been given a week to prepare, which meant a lot of shopping trips for new clothes, to Pari's delight & Geet's dismay. The only thing Geet was looking forward to was the potential visit to Khurana Constructions, her future workplace.
"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Rano asked her daughters as they stood in front of the door of their house, saying goodbye to their parents.
"Yes, Maa," Geet replied, rolling her eyes.
"Take care of each other, call me as soon as you get there, & be sure to leave a good impression."Rano hugged her daughters tightly, then they went to greet Mohinder. They got into the car that had specially arrived from Delhi for them & waved goodbye to their proud parents.
The journey to Delhi was a long one, but luckily Geet had come prepared. She was reading the stock market news, while Pari was contemplating on which earrings matched her blue & silver churidaar outfit best.
"...but the silver ones compliment the embroidery, isn't it, Geet?"Geet continued reading, not paying an attention to what her sister was saying.
"Geet!"
"What?"
"Which earrings, blue or silver?"
"Whichever."
"Where's your earrings?""I'm not wearing them."
"But Maa said you have to!"
"Yes, but they won't be hanging off Maa's ears, will they? They're too heavy and get tangled up in my hair."
"That's because you never straighten it.""I have no desire to."
"I can't win with you," Pari sighed, settling for the silver ones.
"I know."The rest of the journey lasted with Geet's reading & Pari fiddling with either her bangles, her hair or her shoes.
Before they even knew it, they pulled up to Delhi a few hours later. The car came to a gradual halt outside a massive gate, which stood as a gateway to the biggest & luxurious mansion they had ever seen.
Geet & Pari's mouths were formed in O's in amazement.
Precap: Judgement day for Maan
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