Chapter 16
Maan came downstairs after a few minutes calling out to her, "Sasha, chale?"
"Yes MSK!", she said. Maan walked into the kitchen again and found gEEt clearing up the table. He told her he was leaving to office, took the papers that she had safeguarded all night for him and walked away.
While getting into the car Sasha asked, "MSK, yeh kaun hain? She comes across as a very arrogant person with a lot of attitude".
Maan heard what she said, but ignored her. "Opinions are bound to change, Sasha", is all what he said, getting into the car. Sasha looked at him, annoyed that he would not say a word against Geet nor did he even bother.From Maan's point of view, he felt that is what he thought too, when he first saw her in the wedding. He thought she was arrogant and full of attitude, but slowly something kept telling him that he was wrong.
Maan got to office and got to work, while Sasha cribbed and removed her anger on the others. Sasha was walking into Maan's chamber and found Pinky, their receptionist walk out of his chamber. Pinky told Adi, "Aaj Dhak Dhak acche mood mein hain"
Sasha, heard Pinky call Maan "Dhak Dhak" and yelled at her, "Tum log yahan kaam karne aate ho, ya boss pe line maarne? Jao jaake kaam karo". She angrily walked into Maan's cabin when Pinky looked at Adi.
Adi laughed hysterically and said, "Arey dil pe mat lo. Kisi ne Maan Sir Ke khareeb gaye honge isi liye jal rahin hogi"
Pinky laughed and said, "Waise, yeh kya DD se pyaar karti hain?", she asked him, both of them walking towards the cafeteria.
"Bhagwaan jaane", he said, making some coffee from the coffee machine. "Lekin itna pata hain, ki Maan sir, isse dekhte bhi nahin hain"
"Par Maan Sir, tuo, iss par vishwaas bahut karte hain na?", she asked.
"Haan, kyunki kaam acchi kar leti hain aur sincere hain. Lekin pyaar wyaar na kabhi hua aur na kabhi hoga", he said, handing her a cup of coffee.
"Lekin kyun? Dekhi jaaye tuo Sasha modern hain, educated hain, office acchi tarah sambhal leti hain", questioned Pinky.
"Pinky, yeh pyaar kisi dress se ya university ke degree se dependent nahin hota. Jab hum kisi se pyaar karte hain, unki sophistication ya perfection ko dekh ke nahin, balki unke stupidity aur stupid si ghlatiyon se pyaar karne lagte hain. Unse jude chote chote baton se pyaar ho jaati hain", he said.
"Chote chote baatein matlab?", asked Pinky.
"Theek hain ek example deta hoon. Ab Maan sir ko hi lete hain. Tumne poocha na ki inhe Sasha se pyaar kyun nahin hua?" said Adi, pausing for a couple of seconds, while sipping his coffee.
Pinky nodded, while she took a bite of her sandwich and sipped on, her coffee.
"Hmm, that's because Sasha has always changed herself according to Maan Sir's likes and dislikes. She has become what Maan Sir likes or dislikes and has nothing that makes her stand out as an individual. Moreover, for a man as complicated and difficult to impress as Maan Sir, individuality plays a very important role. I'm sure he's going to fall in love with a girl, who will be simple, yet independent. He will fall for a girl, who is beautiful not because of the branded clothes she wears but because of the beautiful smile she has, he will fall for a girl, who is not scared to tell him, that she loves him not because he is "The Maan Singh Khurana" to the world, but because he is her "Maan" and only hers".
Pinky looked at him, with her mouth wide open. "Adi Sir, tussi great ho. Itna research kiya aapne Maan Sir ke bare mein?"
Adi laughed again and said, "Itne saalon se kaam karta hoon, Maan Sir ke saath kya itna nahin pata hoga?"
"Sasha bhi tuo kaam karti ayi hain. Phir who kyun nahin samjhi?", asked Pinky.
"Kyunki Sasha, Maan sir ke liye bani hi nahin. Tuo Maan Sir ko samajh ka kya faidaa?", he said.
"HAan theek kahan", said Pinky smiling, "Pata nahin kahan hain woh ladki jo Maan Sir ke liye hi bani hain", said Pinky, imagining Maan in a wedding attire, with a garland in his hand, waiting at the entrance of the Khurana Mansion and looking out eagerly for his bride.
Maan, whose cabin was a few metres away from the place where this analysis was being done, was not working too, instead working on an analysis of his own. Maan had tried to work but got back images of Geet, in the sari, on the pooja day and on the previous night. He remembered how she had ignored him on their meet at the wedding. He smiled and got back to doing some work.
Khurana Mansion
Daadima, Dev-NT and Kiara had got back to the mansion. They sat in the living room for sometime, talking about how the party went and how much fun they had. As Daadima sat and spoke to them, Geet walked into the mansion from the outhouse and smiled as she saw them.
"AAp aa gaye? Kaisa gaya party?", she asked, sitting beside Kiara.
"Arey bahut mazaa aaya Geet. Wish you had come too", said Kiara.
"Hmm!", said Geet, looking at Daadima.
"So how did you spend your time, Geet?", asked Daadima, pouring some coffee for herself, into the cup.
"Ah I watched TV for sometime, and then tried out some stuff that I shopped. Later, I fell off asleep", she said. "Arey haan, Maan ne bhi phone kiye the" and Dev choked on his coffee.
Geet looked at him, and NT smiled back at her, shot an angry glare at Dev, and pinched him slightly, gesturing to stay quiet and not say anything.
"Accha Maan Veerji ne phone kiya tha. Kyun?", asked Kiara, smirking.
"Ji, woh kuch papers sambhal ke rakhne the", said Geet, wondering why the Khurana Khandaan was making this a big issue.
"Okay, so what did you do today morning?", asked Daadima, "breakfast kiya, beti?", she asked.
"Ji Daadima, outhouse mein Maan ke saath kee thi", she said, smiling and looking downwards.
"Oh I see!", she said, suppressing a smile.
"Breakfast tuo accha gaya hoga na, aapka?", said Dev
"Ji?", asked Geet and Dev corrected himself, "Mera metlab hain, Breakfast acchi thi na?Maine taste kiya, abhi abhi".
"Ji!", said Geet, not knowing what to say.
She looked around for sometime and everyone felt silent. Naintara finally spoke up and said, "Chaliye jaake sab fresh ho jaeye, lunch taiyyar karti hoon".
Geet said, "Naintara ji, aap bhi jaake fresh ho jaaeye, main lunch ki taiyyari karti hoon". Naintara smiled and said, "Thanks Geet. I'll join you very soon, in the kitchen".
All of them left and Geet went in to the kitchen. Daadima got a call and stayed back to speak on phone. Half-hour later, everyone met at the dining table. Maan was back home too, for lunch, as it was a saturday. He sat in the place opposite to Geet's chair and had lunch. Daadima looked around and saw everyone busy having lunch.
"I have a good news", she said, putting her spoon down and looking at everyone.
"Kya granny?", jumped up Kiara.
"Rishtaa aaya hain", she said, laughing.
Geet dropped her spoon down and everyone turned to look at her. Maan shook his head and thought, "Ah this girl is careless".
Daadima suppressed her smile and understood what played in her mind. Kiara rolled her eyes and said, "Granny kya faidaa. Maan Bro shaadi waadi tuo karenge nahin. Sanyaas lene waale hain", she said.
Geet laughed out loudly while others joined. Geet almost fell off the chair laughing imagining Maan in the sanyaas avatar.
Maan shot everyone an angry look and Daadima said, "Arey relax. Humne kab kahan ki Maan ke liye rishtaa aaya hain? Rishtaa Geet ke liye aaya hain" and Geet's mouth fell wide open. All of them turned to look at Geet's shocked and perplexed expression.
Maan grinned and said, "Geet muh bandh kar apna". Daadima continued, "Abhi Abhi Devanshi se baat kar rahin thi, tuo Devanshi ne bataya. Ladka accha hain, aur Singapore mein kaam karta hain and…".
Geet spoke up, "Excuse me" and went away from the dining room. Daadima smirked while Kiara wanted to run behind her and stop her.
Maan spoke up, "chaliye ab, daadima, papers jaldi se taiyyar kijiye. Singapore jaegi", he said, throwing the napkin aside and getting up to leave to the outhouse.
"Bhai lunch khatam?", asked Dev.
"Haan! YEh khush khabar sun ke meri tuo peth bhar gayi", he said, winking.
He walked out of the mansion and Daadima waited for sometime to make sure he would be gone. Kiara and Naintara had also finished their dinner.
Kiara got up excitedly and said, "Main jaake zara Geet ko tease karke aati hoon", she said.
"Kiara baith jaeye", said Daadima.
"Arey Daadima aise mauke baar baar nahin ayenge. Jaldi jaake aungi", she said.
"Kiara, koi rishtaa nahi ayaa", said daadima, to stop Kiara from speaking to Geet.
"Kya?", shouted Dev, "Yeh sab aapka plan hain?", he concluded, sneering.
"Haan. Kyunki kuch kahaniyan aise hi aage badte hain. Inhe ya to ek dusre ka saath dena hain, ya phir ek dusre se door jaana hain. Aur jo bhi ho, jaldi hona hain", she concluded. All three of them looked at the seriousness on Daadima's face and asked her what she wanted?
Daadima spoke up, "I liked Geet and I thought she was perfect for Maan. Nevertheless, this khadoos of my grandson, so full of attitude thinks too much of himself. He rejected that girl without even seeing her. But some how I felt Geet likes Maan a lot and Maan, too, has started to mellow down a little. So, its time for them to either express their love for each other or part ways", she said, with a determined look on her face.
"Daadiji, this is not fair. Aapne itna bada jhoot bola?", said Dev.
"Dev aap chup rahiye. Aap bhool mat jaeye ki aaj agar aapka love-story, itna successful hain aur Nainatara aapke saath hain, tuo woh hamare plans ki wajah se hi hain", she reminded him, looking at both Naintara and Dev.
Dev looked away while Naintara blushed.
"Daadiji, you rock!", said Kiara, "Sach mein maan gaye aapko, Savitri Singh Khurana. Chaliye aapke iss plan mein, main aapke saath hoon".
"Hum kounsa inke plans ke khilaaf hain?", said Dev and Naintara said, "Haan Daadiji, hum bhi saath denge. Yeh tuo bahut interesting hain", she said, excited.
"Thanks! Keep in mind, None of this should be revealed to Maan or Geet. Otherwise, Maan iss plan ka satyanaash karenge", she said, smiling.
"Don't worry Daadiji', said Kiara.
"aur haan, make sure Geet does not call her daadiji and confirm", she said, "Now lets go to Geet", she said, getting up from the dining table.
Dev said, "Main jaake thoda kaam karta hoon. Aap jaeye".
Daadima nodded and the three women went to Geet's room. Geet was sitting by the window and thinking. She did not like the whole rishtaa thing. She knew that she had started to take a liking for Maan, and this whole rishtaa thing had brought her relationship to square one.
"Geet Mubarak ho", said Kiara, hugging and kissing her.
Geet only smiled. That is all she could do, right now, smile at her destiny, which brought her so close to Maan and yet kept him so far.
"Kya hua Geet, aap khush nahin hain?", asked Daadima.
"Nahin!", said Geet and all of them smiled, And Geet corrected herself, "Mera matlab hain, abhi mere padhai complete nahin hue aur yeh sab, accha nahin lagta. Lekin mere family mein koi samjhenge nahin", she said, with a sad expression on her face.
"Geet, tension mat lijiye. Hum sab sambhal lenge", said Daadima, realizing Geet was getting a bit too emotional. She realized the fire from this side has been set and now it has to be set from the other side. She gestured all of them to leave and all of them told her "bye".
Daadima patted her hair and said, "Geet don't worry, aapke shaadi tabhi hogi jab aap chahenge". Geet smiled and Daadima kissed her forehead and walked out.
Maan, walked around the outhouse, not understanding whether he should he happy or sad. He wondered why he should be sad, when the doors for Geet's exit from the mansion, opened up, without any effort from his side. However, he also wondered if this is the right thing, because a few days back they had spoken about job and marriage and how Geet was very worried about finding the right job and the right life partner. He realized he was thinking too much about her and that he should stop. He opened his laptop and just then Daadima called.
"Maan hum sham ko mandir jaa rahe hain", she said.
"Ji", said Maan.
"Kya "ji". AApko hi hume le jaana padega", she demanded.
"Kyun Driver..?" and Daadima, yelled at him, "Maan!"
"Ok alright Daadima, I'll take you", he said and hung up.
It was evening and Maan waited for Daadima in his car, outside the mansion. HE kept sending some emails, while he waited outside and wondered what was taking her so long. After ten minutes, he saw Daadima come along with Kaira. Kiara was dressed in a sari and that instantly reminded him of Geet. he turned away and then from the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of orange. He turned to look that side and continued looking in that direction, with his eyes fixed on this slender beautiful girl, dressed in an orange sari, walk down the stairs. She was holding a pooja thali in her left hand, while she held her sari, a little above her ankles, with her right hand.
"Perfection", was the word that came to Maan's mind, as he saw, Geet walk down.
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