MG FF - Gharwali, Baharwali - note page 149 06/12 - Page 69

Chapter 21

A young woman with wavy hair stood in the doorway, dressed in a simple top & cropped jeans, yet it perfectly complimented her slim figure. She was tall, with green eyes & fair skin.

She had her arms folded across her chest as she raised an eyebrow, then broke out into a full smile.

Maan & Dev were surprised at her sudden appearance. She strode into the room, standing before Geet & Pari. Geet stood up to meet her, sharing a brief confused look with her sister.

"I'm Naintara Singh Rathod," she said, smiling. "Call me NT. I'm Maan & Dev's cousin. Dadima told me all about you two, the famous Handa sisters. I bet you guys had a great time last night, right? Your hot dates with the Khurana brothers."

NT looked at Geet, who looked worse for wear.

"You must be... Geetanjali, am I right?"

"I prefer to be called Geet," she replied, massaging her forehead.

"Babe, you look like you had a rough night. Did you & Maan..." she trailed off, winking slyly. "Many have tried & failed at their attempts to tame Delhi's most eligible bachelor. Well done, girl!"

Dev cleared his throat. "Ahem, what about me, Naintara? Am I not Delhi's most eligible bachelor."

NT shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Sorry bhaiyya, but Maan wins this one." She looked at Pari. "And you're the future Mrs Dev Singh Khurana, Parineeta."

"Nice to meet you," Pari smiled.

"I'm feeling... GA & PN."

"What?" Geet asked.

"GA, short for Geetanjali & PN abbreviates Parineeta. So cute, right?"

"Everyone else just calls us Geet & Pari."

"Yes, but I'm not everyone else. I'm NT. So, by the looks of things, GA & MSK got drunk."

"How can you tell?" Geet asked, shocked.

"Babe, it's like looking into a mirror. I've been there myself, loads of times. I make it a mission to go out every Friday & Saturday night. But the thing is, I'm used to it. You look like you never touched a drop in your life before & decided to drink 3 bottles of wine last night to make up for it all."

Maan walked up to NT, looking annoyed.

"How did you know we were here?"

NT nudged Geet to budge up & sat on the bed, crossing her legs & fiddling with her nails. She blew out a sigh, blowing loose strands of hair on her forehead away then began.

"Well, I arrived here from Mumbai last night. I go to KM & DM, that's Dadima, tells me you've all gone out. She asked me to stay at KM but I had sooo much of my own stuff with me, I brought 6 suitcases here! Anyway, I told her that my Papa had arranged for me to stay at the guest house we have here in Delhi. The guest house happens to be round the corner from the outhouse! I know, so exciting! So I was doing my yoga late last night, like I always do, when I spotted GA & MSK dancing their way into the outhouse. At first I thought of going over & seeing if you guys were ok, because you were both stumbling. Then I realised you're a young couple, in love, so you might want the house to yourselves... Anyway, this morning when I was doing my yoga again I noticed DSK & PN rushing into the outhouse, & that's when I realised something was up. So I followed you guys here."

"Naintara, it's not what you think," Maan explained. "Geet & I got drunk because of Dev, the drinks which were meant for him & Pari got mixed up with ours. Nothing... of that sort happened between us."

"Please don't tell Dadima," Dev added. "She'd kill me."

NT smiled. "Guys, don't worry, it's safe with me. I can't forget the last time I was in Delhi & you both covered for me when I got drunk & puked in MSK's car. I'm just returning the favour."

~

Half an hour later, & Geet & Pari were back at the main house, along with their fiances & Naintara who were downstairs having breakfast with Dadima, who remained oblivious to the events of last night. Maan had thankfully sobered up & most of his hangover was wearing off - he still looked tired though, but when questioned by Dadima he used his paperwork as an excuse.

However, upstairs in her bedroom, Geet was sat on the bed, with Pari pacing the room up & down. Pari had managed to find some paracetamol & water for her hangover, which had helped it calm down.

"Geet, are you sure this is the right thing for us to do?"

Geet nodded. "I know everyone will get suspicious, but what else can we do? I'm ashamed to be here after my actions last night. We'll just say we got homesick & wanted to cut the trip short."

"Everyone will be so disappointed... That weird woman Naintara is bound to know something is up."

"I know, but if it somehow slipped that me & Maan got drunk & slept on the same bed..."

"It won't. She promised us, remember? Look, it was Dev's fault, Maan had no part to play. He's just as clueless about it as you are."

"I know it's not his fault. But I'm embarrassed of myself. I dread to think what else could accidentally happen if we stayed here. I knew this trip was a bad idea, I just went along with it to keep everyone happy. I apologise for cutting short your time with Dev, if you want, you can stay back..."

Pari shook her head. "No, if you leave, I'll leave with you. But don't you want to spend more time with Maan?"

"We have our whole lives to spend time together. But for now, I just want to live down last night's events. And the best way to do that is to go back home & gain back some normality into our lives. Hopefully, everything will be forgotten before the wedding."

Pari & Geet decided to join everyone else for breakfast, & Dadima was surprised when she saw Geet's tired looking face.

"Geet, dear, what happened?" she asked.

"I couldn't sleep last night," she lied. " I'm missing my parents a lot. I want to go back to Hoshiarpur."

Maan & Dev exchanged a surprised look. Both of them knew it was because of last night.

"Oh darling, I was looking forward to the next few days with you girls. We all were."

Naintara swallowed down the food & nodded in agreement. "Babe, I came all the way from Mumbai to visit you two. And now you're leaving?"

"I apologise, to all of you," Geet said. "I appreciate the effort you've gone to. But I feel homesick."

"Pari is staying, right?" asked Dev, looking at his fiancee.

"No, I'm leaving too. I don't want Geet to go on her own."

"Well, I suppose if you really want to go, I can't hold you back," Dadima said, a hint of disappointment in her voice. "I'd better call your parents & inform them." She left the table.

Naintara left her breakfast & rushed over to Geet & Pari.

"Don't tell me this is because you got drunk. If I left a place for everytime I got drunk, I'd be living in the North Pole right now!"

"I feel like it's the best thing to do," said Geet.

"Look, babes, getting drunk is no big deal!"

"It is for me," Geet replied, feeling insulted. "I've never done anything like it before in my life. It's tainting to myself & my family's name."

Maan stood up.

"Naintara, we should respect their decision. Like Dadima said, we can't force them to stay here if they don't want to. If they feel uncomfortable & they want to go back home, then they're free to do so. They have the right to do whatever they feel is best."

He left the room, heading upstairs. Naintara looked dejected, Geet looked down at the floor & Dev & Pari shared a brief glance.

Precap: Geet & Pari go back to Hoshiarpur