MG FF - Gharwali, Baharwali - note page 149 06/12 - Page 63

Chapter 19

Dev returned from the bathrooms to find the three of them sitting in silence, staring at the menus. Maan looked at ease, his eyes wandering over the different ranges of Italian cuisine, but Geet & Pari were frowning slightly, trying not to make their displeasure too obvious.

Dev noticed their perplexed expressions & smiled to himself.

"I'm guessing you two aren't into Italian food, right?"

Maan looked up from his menu.

Pari shook her head to say no, but Geet rolled her eyes at her sister.

"Pari's lying. We haven't really tried Italian food before so we don't know what to expect," Geet admitted.

"That's easy, just order pizza," said Dev. "If you don't like it, we'll pick something up for you on the way home. Dadima would kill me & bro if she found out our fiancees hadn't eaten anything."

Geet scanned the menu, settling for a simple pizza. When the waiter arrived to take their order, Geet & Pari went for the same pizza & Maan & Dev opted for two different pastas.

The server arrived with the drinks, & placed them down in the middle of the table.

Dev began to panic - all the glasses were identical, even the drinks looked identical. How was he supposed to know which were alcholic & which weren't?

"Thank god, I'm thirsty," said Maan, picking up the nearest glass to him. He took another one & gave it to Geet.

Dev did the same, giving one to Pari then himself. He tried to discreetly sniff the drink to see which one was meant to be his.

But it was of no use - Maan had gulped down half of his drink already, which meant Dev would have to wait for the after effects to see if Maan had picked up his intended drink.

One was down. He had to prevent Geet & Pari from downing their drinks too.

Just as Geet raised her glass to her mouth, Dev stopped her.

"You won't have space for the food if you drink that now."

"But I'm thirsty," replied Geet in a matter of fact tone.

"Er... well yes, I appreciate that, but-"

Geet ignored him & took huge gulps of her drink too. Pari did the same.

It looked like Dev would have to sit tight, wait & pray that Maan & Geet wouldn't end up drunk. Reluctantly, he took a small sip from his own glass when Maan picked up his drink, finished it all in one go then smiled contently at the empty glass.

"That drink was delicious," he said, running his fingers around the rim of the glass. "I wonder why it was so strong though..." He trailed off, laughing quietly to himself.

Maan was the first victim of Dev's doomed plan. Fingers crossed underneath the table, he prayed Geet wouldn't be the next one.

Pari frowned at Maan talking to himself, but ignored him & turned to Geet instead, who started to finish off her drink too. Pari had never seen her sister drink so much in her life.

Geet slammed the glass down on the table, which startled a now drunk Maan & made him jump.

"Oh, sorry, darling," Geet slurred, giggling.

"It's ok, baby," Maan winked, & they burst into fits of laughter.

Dev & Pari were horrified at their strange flirtatious behaviour, and Pari leaned closer to Dev.

"What did you do?!" she whispered.

"It's a long story but trust me, I didn't mean for this to happen."

They watched as Maan & Geet pulled their chairs closer together for a game of rock, paper, scissors.

"Yeah, scissors beats paper, eat that, MSK! Yeah, that's right, I called you MSK, what will you do?"

"Let me think... nothing," Maan replied, and they proceeded into more laughter.

~

10 minutes later, the food arrived. Dev & Pari picked at their food, but Maan & Geet had no intention of eating as they were in discussion over which Bollywood couple they were most similar to.

"I'm Aishwarya Rai, you're Abhishek Bachchan," said Geet, smiling happily.

Maan shook his head. "I don't want to be Abhishek. I'm Saif Ali Khan, you're Kareena Kapoor."

"I don't want to be Kareena. I'm Priyanka, you're Shahid."

"They split up. I'm Amitabh, you're Jaya."

"No, I don't like that one, they're old. I'm Bipasha, you're John."

"They split up as well, I think. I'm-"

"Look, you're Maan, she's Geet, ok?" said an annoyed Dev.

"Oooh," taunted Geet. "Someone wants to join in. Ok then, you're Dharmendra & Pari is Hema Malini. Perfect match!"

Maan nodded in agreement. "Good one, Geet, high five!"

They shared a high five & then burst into yet more laughter.

"Geet, why don't you try the pizza, it's not that bad," offered Pari, trying to get Geet to calm down a little.

"Nuh uh. Me & my fiance-" she winked at Maan. "Are having delightful discussions on... on... life in general, you know?"

"Maybe I should see if they have coffee, that would sober them up," Dev said, putting his fork down.

"I'll join you," offered Pari. "Being with those two is a little embarrassing right now."

Dev & Pari left the table in hunt for some coffee.

"Hey, where did they go?" wondered Geet.

"I think they're bored of us," replied Maan. "But let's go off & have a good time ourselves. Come on."

Maan took Geet's hand and they snuck out of the restuarant, stumbling slightly & laughing.

~

5 minutes later, Dev & Pari returned with no coffee, but two glasses of water to find the table empty.

"Where did they go?" Pari wondered, worried.

"I have no idea. We shouldn't have left them alone, especially in their drunken state. I'll call bro."

Dev gave Maan several missed calls, but there was no reply.

"What are we supposed to do now? If Dadima finds out..." Pari trailed off, with an equally worried Dev frantically looking around the restuarant for any signs to where they might have gone.

~

Half an hour later, and they were on an empty stretch of road. It was a dark & clear night, and Geet had her arm linked with Maan as they rambled on in their drunken conversation.

"Yes, but there really is no difference between Pepsi & Coca-Cola, right?" said Geet.

"Pepsi is sweeter," Maan replied, attempting to kick a stone out of the way. He missed.

"When I drink them, I don't see the difference."

"That's because you drink them at separate times."

"So you say you have to drink them together?" slurred Geet.

"No... well, yes but..." Maan trailed off, confused in his own thoughts which were jumbled up in his brain and didn't make much sense.

Geet giggled. "Never mind, future hubby." She stopped walking, which made Maan stop as well. "Let's dance."

"I don't want you to be dizzy again."

"I won't, because you won't pick me up again. We'll take small steps. How about I stand on your feet? We'll take our shoes off. What Dev said about your smelly feet isn't true, right? Leave your socks on, just in case."

Geet kicked her heels off and put them aside. Maan did the same with his shoes. Geet stood on Maan's feet lightly, coming level with his gaze. He wrapped his arms around her waist, Geet's arms went around his neck & they danced down the street.

"We need music," Maan said. "Why don't we sing?"

"I can't sing," Geet replied, giggling. "But we can hum."

They both hummed out of tune to Suraj Hua Madham.

"You're humming wrong," Geet pointed out, still giggling.

"How can you hum wrong?"

"You can, like you."

They both laughed again, still dancing, going everywhere as they were both drunk and had lost some sense of balance.

"I'm tired of dancing now," Geet said admittedly.

"Me too," replied Maan.

Geet stepped off his feet when she realised how much distance they had covered in their dancing & had left their shoes behind.

"Oh no, our shoes," she said, biting her lip & looking at Maan.

But Maan was looking ahead, his hands shielding his eyebrows like he was an adventurer who had just seen water on a hot day.

"I see the outhouse," he replied. "My outhouse. Come on."

Holding Geet's hand, they stumbled their way to the outhouse. Maan pushed through the gates, pulled out the spare key from his pocket & unlocked the door.

"Ladies first," he said, & Geet stepped in, holding the walls to give her some balance. It was dark and she couldn't see anything.

"I've gone blind," she said in a panicked tone. "Help, Maan!"

Maan laughed. "It's dark, that's all. Come on, I'll find you the guest room upstairs."

Holding her hand to guide her, he led Geet up the stairs in the dark. Geet clutched onto his arm in fear, & Maan managed to open the door to the guest room.

"Guest room," he whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" asked Geet.

"Whispering is fun. Try it."

"I'm scared to be here alone," she said admittedly. "Don't leave me here."

Maan held her wrist lightly as he led her out of the room, closed the door behind her & opened the door to his previous bedroom.

"I'll sleep on the sofa, you sleep on the-"

Geet tripped over the rug, losing her balance and went crashing onto the bed. Because Maan still had his grip on her, he landed on top of her.

They shared a brief eyelock before Geet's drunken-ness got the better of her & her head tilted to one side as she fell asleep.

Maan sighed as he pushed her onto the pillows on top of the duvet, lifting her legs up. He went over & sat on the other side of the bed, craning his neck due to sudden tiredness. The bed looked comfy & inviting.

With his eyes half shut, Maan sunk down on the other side of the bed, facing away from Geet who was facing the opposite way anyway but was just a few inches away from him.

Precap: Maan & Geet wake up the next morning...