FF:Love makes Life Beautiful!Maneet-Ch19-P142*updt - Page 61

Chapter 13

Geet's exams started and she and Niharika would not have time to discuss how their exams went. Geet would take the exam and rush back home to prepare for the next exam and the same thing happened to Niharika as well. Geet would call Niharika some time in the evening to find out how she was doing, and again both of them would get back to studying.

Geet waited for the day her exams would be over, but she also feared how she would do, in some subjects. She found them boring and irritating because she would not understand them, but Maan's words kept coming back to her, "every problem has a solution and focus not on the problem, but on the solution Geet!"

She smiled every time she remembered his words and focused on her subjects. Everything at the mansion moved on like always. Dev would visit the main office more often since Maan was travelling and Naintara would continue her usual work in the mansion and the outhouse. Daadima was busy with her work work and she took the responsibility of the trust since Maan was out of station. She would meet women and try helping them in every way possible. She met very interesting people and she liked the fact that she and her grandson helped so many young women, pursue their goals.

Maan, on the other hand, tried to make as many deals as possible. He knew he would have to start many new projects since his old projects were on the verge of coming to an end. In addition, now his sister Kiara would help him in handling some projects, so Maan felt he could work on some other interesting projects that were challenging and more time consuming.

He kept in contact with Daadima on a regular basis, and like he had promised her, whe would call her 3 times a day. Most of the time, they would end up arguing with each other over trivial issues like food and sleeping habits of Maan. Maan would never eat or sleep on time, and most of the time, that irked Daadima. Therefore, they ended up arguing repeatedly.

Maan was in Bangalore. He stood in the living room of his suite, which was on the 14^th floor of a five star hotel. He had just come back after a long tiring hectic day. His day had started at 3:30am and finally ended at 7:30pm. He removed his tie and his vest. He threw them on the couch and unbuttoned his shirt. He picked up his phone and dialed his grandmom's number.

"Maan", she said, without even looking at the caller id, smiling as she took the call. Maan could feel the smile in the way she said his name. He felt relaxed whenever he heard her. She was a motherly figure to him, guided him through the thicks, and thins in his life. To him, life would come to a halt, if Daadima were not there. Moreover, for her, too, it was the same. Maan stood as an epitome of strength, when she lost her son and her daughter-in-law, in an accident. He managed the entire Khurana Empire and made sure she would never regret anything.

"Kaise hain aap, Daadima?", he asked, smiling.

"Hum bilkul theek hain, aap. Aapne kuch khaya subeh se?", she asked, expecting the answer to be a "no".

"Ji, aap kuch kahe aur hum na kare, aisa kabhi hua hain?", he asked.

"Bahut baar hua hain. Examples doon aapko?", she asked, smirking.

"Ji, koi zaroorat nahin", said Maan, before his Daadima could get started off, with her long list of complaints.

"So how is work going?", she asked, "Come back soon, Son",she said, in a sad tone.

"Yep Daadima everything is going fine and I will be back as soon as possible", he said, "Aap chinta mat kijiye. I'll take good care of my self", he assured her.

She smiled and said, "Good!"

"So, everything else fine?", he asked.

"HAan! What can go wrong as long as you take care of everything?", she asked, confidently.

Maan felt a sense of pride on the confidence and trust his grandmom put on him. Though he enjoyed being Savitri Khurana's most trusted and loved grandchild, he knew it was an immense responsibility. As he said, "everything in life comes with a price". Therefore, the trust and love come with a price of responsibility.

"Good", he said, and his gaze fell on some papers that were on the bed. He quickly spoke up, "Daadima, Dev ghar pe hain? Kuch papers chahiye the, main office se"

"NAhin beta, he is in office. You could call him there", she said.

"Okay I'll call him there. What else Daadima?", he asked, sitting down on the chair beside his study table.

"ah well", she said, and continued talking about some of the trust activities and also some of the issies that had cropped up in the company, in the absence of Maan. Maan listened to all of them carefully and assured her that it would all be fine. He also told her that he would talk to Dev, Sasha and Adi and resolve them. Daadima felt relieved at his efforts to keep everything smooth and easy-going. They finally bid each other bye's and good nights and hung up.

Maan wanted to sleep as he had not slept for more than 6 hours, in the last 3 days. He had been working continuously for almost 60 hours and he could feel the fatigue growing on him. However, he remembered he had to talk to Sasha or Adi before getting to bed. He called the office to talk to them.

Sasha had managed his business and office affairs when Maan was out of town or on a break. Maan trusted her and she tried her level best to keep him happy. To him, Sasha was his most trusted employee and a good friend. He liked the fact that she was very frank with him and kept eveyrhting in business transparent. To her, Maan was more than a good friend. She did not know why she liked him so much, but she thought he would be hers some day. She waited for a perfect moment to tell him how special he was, to her and what she felt for him. Nevertheless, until now, that moment never arrived. She hoped it would arrive very soon.

Adi was Maan's most efficient employee. He could have any solution to any problem that arose, in the running of the affairs of the company and Maan liked him, for his intelligence, loyality, and sincerity. His dedication and commitment would reflect in his work and he managed the company's accounts and finances very well.

Sasha took Maan's call and felt extremely happy. "Hello MSK, how are you? Whe are you coming back? Office is boring without you", she said.

Maan ignored the last sentence and answered the first two questions, "I'm fine Sasha. I will be back in a few days".

"Okay! Waiting for you", she said, holding the phone close to her lips, as though kissing it, and imagining she was kissing Maan.

Maan took a deep breath and said, "Sasha lets discuss some issues that have cropped in the company. I also want some papers to be faxed to his hotel. I have informed them that I would be receiving some faxes".

"What papers?", she asked and he answered it. He also discussed the other issues with her and asked her to connect the call to Dev.

"Bas yahin kehna tha, MSK? Ya phir kuch aur bhi kaam tha?", she asked, not feeling contended for speaking so less a time, with Maan.

"Agar kuch aur hota, tuo main keh deta. Waise maine saare business ke issues solve kar diya. So life should be easy for you now", he said.

"Yeah!", she said, feeling weird that only business came up between them.

"I have to speak to Dev, now", he said. Sasha connected the call to Dev. As soon as Dev took the call, Maan told him, "Dev, I spoke to Sasha just now. I also told her to fax some papers, make sure she does that, on time. And.", he said and stopped, trying to recollect other work.

"Bro hamare Hyderabad ke office mein, kuch creditors ne kuch issues raise ki hain. Main jaa raha hoon, parso Hyderabad, unse milne. Kya aap bhi wahan aa payenge?

"Kyun Dev? You handle the matter", he said.

"Haan main handle karunga. But I guess they would be happy to hear the answers from you", said Dev, looking through some excel sheets, that were related to Hyderabad office.

"All they need is answers. How does it matter whom they get it from?", he said, weakly.

Dev realized his brother was tired and said, "Bro aap aaram kijiye. I'll handle the Hyderabad issue and keep you informed", he said, "Good night Bro".

"Good night", he said and hung up.

Maan recollected everything that he was supposed to do, and realized he had sone them all. He ordered for some food, had it and hit the pillow. He lie on the bed for sometime and read the newspaper. He read some news on some of the countries top private sector banks, looking to hire about 3500 epmloyess in the following one or two years. Maan was instantly reminded of Geet. He thought she would be exicted to know this, since she was so worried about getting a job. He took his phone, took a picture of the article, and saved it. He decided he would tell her, later as she must have been busy with her exams. He then wondered how her exams were going. He fell asleep with her thoughts.

Naintara walked into office the next day to give some cheques to Sasha to fax them to Maan. Dev had other meetings and hence asked Naintara to hand over the cheques personally to Sasha.

Sasha never liked Naintara and Naintara never bothered about Sasha. She was just one of their trusted employess and nothing else mattered to her.  Sasha did not like the attention Naintara got as a Khurana bahu and she believed it would lessen once she married Maan and became Sasha Khurana.

Naintara handed over the cheques to Sasha and told her to send them to Maan, immediately.

Sasha rolled her eyes and said, "I know what to do. Akhir main hi hoon, office ko manage karne waali".

Naintara smiled at her foolishness and decided not to argue. She knew there was no point in arguing with a woman who was an "educated illiterate".

"Alright, I'll leave then", she said, turning around to leave.

"Yes please. I have lot of work to do", she said and walked out, before Naintara could. Naintara looked at her and smirked. She walked out slowly and got into the car, thinking about Sasha's weird behavior.

"Oh don't bother Naintara", she told herself and drove away, to get some medicines for Daadima and then get back to the mansion.

It had been more than 10 days Maan had left Delhi, though he had said, he would be gone for a week. Geet had finished her exams and on the last day, she waited for Niharika to come to the cafeteria. Both of them hugged each other and smiled happily, as they were done.

"Yaar masti karenge", said Geet.

"Haan chalo", said Niharika. They met up with their other friends and all of them headed out for lunch. They laughed, joked, and made fun of their professors, exams, and each other. They were relieved by the fact that another semester had ended. They had a break of two months and all of them discussed what they would do.

When Geet was asked, she replied, "yaar mujhe shayad ab Singapore jaana chahiye. My family is there. I stayed back here for my exams. So now its time to go and meet them".

Niharika looked at her, questioningly. Geet ignored her looks and continued to talk to the others. They later watched a movie after lunch. It was already seven in the evening and all of them wanted to go to the pub. While all of them were discussing, Niharika pulled Geet aside.

Geet wondered what happened and questioned her. Niharika told her, "Geet, by the time we come back from the pub, its going to be very late. I'm not sure if the Khurana's would like it, if you go home late. I think you should get back home now", she said.

"Tuo phir tum hya karoge?", she asked, while carefully taking into consideration, what Niharika had just said. She made sense. She did not know if Daadima would not like it, if Geet went back home late. Afterall, it was a matter of a few days and she did not want them to be dissapoointed or worried.

"Main bhi ghar jaungi. Tum nahin jaoge, tuo kya karu pub jaake? Bore ho jaungi", she said.

"Kya main daadima se permission loon?", asked Geet.

"Nahin Geet! Just go back home and spend some time with them. We'll meet up tomorrow, either at my place or in the khurana Mansion and have fun until evening", said Niharika.

"Okay!" she said smiling and hugging her, for her wonderful advice. They told the rest that they had not informed at home and hence they would have to get back. They took a cab back home and on their way, they talked endlessly about the movie, the lunch, and the plans for the next day. As they were struck in the traffic, they realized the weather had changed. It was more cloudy and pleasant.

"Accha mausam hain na?", said Niharika.

"Haan! Aur iss Mausam mein garam chai aur garma gharam pakode kaani chahiye, ya phir, bearish mein bheegte hue, icecream khaani chahiye. Mazaa aa jayega", said Geet, imagining how much fun it is to do all the activities she had just mentioned.

Niharika agreed and they continued to talk again about various other stuff. Niharika dropped Geet and told her she would meet her tomorrow and headed home. As Geet made her way through the lawn, into the mansion, it had started to rain. She stopped. She held her hands out and let the droplets of rain, trickle down her face and her throat. she turned around enjoying the rain. Kiara and nainatara watched Geet, as she got wet. They were standing on the stairs and looked at each other. They both smiled and ran into the lawn to join Geet, in getting wet. Geet was pleasantly surprised to see them join her. She happily screamed that she was done with her exams and all of them screamed together.

Geet was dressed in an orange colored long skirt and a white sleeveless top. Naintara was in a kurta and jeans. Kiara was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. All of them played in the rain. Kiara ran in to get the basket ball. They had decided to play basket ball in the rain. When Kiara ran in to get the ball, Daadima was walking down the stairs. She was shocked to see, Kiara dripping.

"Beta kya haal bana rakha hain? What are you doing? where is Naintara?", she asked concerned.

Kiara, holding the ball in her hand, stopped to answer Daadi.

"Daadima, don't worry. Mein, bhabhi aur Geet basketball khel ne jaa rahen hain. Ab tak hum bhaarish mein khel rahe the", she said, jumping up and down and tossing the ball.

"Kya? Bhimaar pad jaoge bacche. Andar aa jao", she said, going close to Kiara.

"Arey Daadi, kuch nahin hoga. Aap bhi aa jaeye", she said, winking.

Daadima shook her head in frustration and before she could respond, Kiara was on her way out, screaming, "Daadima, we;l be fine. Don't worry".

Daadima followed her and stopped at the stairs of the mansion. The three young women of their house, were outside enjoying the rain. She asked Nakul to get her some tea and she sat at the tea table, watching them play and scream. They ran behind the ball and behind each other for the ball. Once or twice Geet and Kiara fell into the puddle of water too and laughed their lives out.  Daadima smiled endlessly as she saw them enjoy and get muddy. She saw, the huge iron gates of the Khurana Mansion open and a black colored Audi drive in. She smiled even more. Dev got out of the car and looked at the crazy women in the rain. He then turned to look at daadi and walked to her.

"What's with these women?" he asked, sitting beside her, at the table and pouring some tea for him in a cup.

"Dev, you sound like Maan right now", said Daadima, laughing.

"Oh do I?", he asked, winking at her. Both of them siped their tea and watched the ladies run all around and get wet. They also discussed business. They did not know for how long, they sat and watched the game and for how long they spoke. They noticed the ball roll out of the court and Geet ran behind it to take it. She did not realize she was chasing the ball, in the parkway. Just then the huge iron gates fell open again and this time, Dev and Daadima notices a chocolate brown colored BMW drive in.

"Bro!", exclaimed Dev.

"That's what I think too", said Daadima. "Finally he's back".

"Ah well, lets hope its him, daadima", he said.

"you're right. I'll correct my statement. Hopefully maan is back", she said, looking at the car drive in and enter the driveway.

Dev looked at her and they laughed. Nevertheless, both of them almost dropped their cups when they heard the screeching sound of the brakes of the car. Both of them stood up, horrified and turned in the direction of the car, to see what happened.

Naintara and Kiara went running towards the car, as soon as they heard the sound. Geet stood horrified too, as the car had some to a screeching halt, right behind her. It almost touched her, but there were no injuries. She had bent down to pick the ball and take it back to the court. She had not seen the car drive in and hence stood right in between the driveway. She was about to fall down, but somehow took support of the bonnet and stood straight. Dev came running out and all of them ran towards geet.