FF:Love makes Life Beautiful!Maneet-Ch19-P142*updt - Page 77

Chapter 17

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.

He stared at her for sometime, but was disturbed when he heard the car door close to his left. He turned to look to the left and saw Daadima sitting in the front beside him. He smiled at her. Kiara jumped into the back seat.

"Sari?" , said Maan, looking at Kiara from the rear view mirror.

"Haan bro. Accha hain na? Geet ne pehnai", she said, adjusting her sari. Maan saw another car, drive and stop behind his car and Naintara got in, so he assumed Dev must be in it. Geet stood confused as to which car she should get in. Maan did not say anything. He quietly looked at her, through the side view mirror.

Kiara opened the door and said, "Geet yahan. Un love birds ko akele jaane dijiye".

Geet smiled and turned to get into this car. A cool breeze blew, pushing her sari a little away from her waist revealing her belly button. Maan was flabbergasted at the sight through the side view mirror and looked away. Geet got into the car, behind him and Maan did not even look at her, through the rear view mirror.

Maan drove out of the mansion and drove towards the mandir which was two hours away from the mansion. Dev followed Maan's car. Kiara and Geet had got to talking about their friends and college and Daadima would contribute occasionally, to their conversation. Maan grumbled, "Hayye Maan Singh Khurana ka kismet, with three women. Gosh!"

"Kya baat hain Maan?", asked Daadima, "Aap apne aap se baaten kyun kar rahe hain?"

"Kyunki aap theeno mein se, mujhse tuo koi karega nahin. Aur waise kya bakwaas kar rahe ho tum log- isko use pyaar hua, yeh uska boy friend hain, lekin kisi aur se pyaar karta hain, etc etc. Mujhe tuo samajh mein nahin aata, tum log college padhene jaat eho, ya iss pyaar ke nautanki karne?"

"Bro, aap hamare baatein sun kyun rahe hain?", asked Kiara.

"Kiara ji, aapne hamare liye kuch option choda? Awaaz suni aapki aur aapke neighbor ki? Gosh, horribly loud and irritating", he said, smirking.

He looked at Geet and Kiara through the rear view mirror and both of them shot angry looks at Maan. Geet also cursed him quietly for repeatedly criticizing her voice.

"Mujhe lagta hain, inha kisi ghoongi ladki se shaadi kar lena chahiye", said Geet.

"Shaadi? Geet, mere bro ne aaj tak dating nahin ki, shaadi tuo bahut door ki baat hain" she said, and Geet and Kiara, hi-fived each other. Maan looked at the both of them, through the mirror and thought, "I'll make the both of you, pay for this".

They reached the temple amidst all the gossip and Maan's criticism. As they got out of the car, Maan stretched and dev came to him.

Maan spoke up immediately, "Tu na ek kar, Dev. Jaate waqt, ghaadi naintara ko do. Aur in aurton ko uss ghaadi mein bhejo, warna yeh sab milke mera dhimaag khali kar denge"

"Khaali dhimaag phir se khaali karne ki kya zaroorat hoti hain?", said Geet, walking past Maan. Dev suppressed a laugh and Kiara and Daadima followed her into the Mandir. Dev waited to Naintara to get some flowers and they followed too, calling out to Maan," Veerji aa jaeye".

Maan thought to himself, "This Geet is overdoing it now. I have to give it back to her".

They performed the pooja at the mandir and while getting back home Maan had it his way. He and dev went back in one car, while all the women went back in another car, with Naintara driving their car.

"Bro thoda speed jaeye na, kya aap itna slow jaa raha hain?", said Dev, looking at how fast Naintara was driving.

"Dev I'm already going at 120km/hr. I cant really help if your wife goes fast. And it Is a good idea to let their car lead us, so that it is easier to keep a track of them", he said, yawning.

Dev picked up his phone and called Naintara, "Tum AUDI chala rahe ho, Naintara, koi aircraft nahin. Thoda slow jao. Aur waise bhi raat mein itna speed jaana accha nahin hain", he warned her.

"Dev, I'm going at 140, I think I can manage. I'm not goimg that fast too", she assured him.

"Naintara, see I have only 1 wife, I grandmom, 1 sister and the same case with Maan, 1 grandmom, 1 sister and 1 gee..", and Naintara laughed, while Maan looked at Dev, sideways and Dev corrected his statement, smirking, "one grey car. So sambhal ke chalao".

Geet looked at the speedometer and realized Naintara was driving at 140km/hr.

"Haan, Naintara thoda slow jaeye", she suggested. Naintara nodded and slowed down and came to 110km/hr.

"Theek hain, I've slowed down, Dev", she said.

"HAan thanks!", he said and hung up.

"Bro, can I play some music?", he asked Maan, while connecting his HTC phone to the audio output in the car. Maan nodded and Dev browsed for some music and smirked as he came across one song, he played it, deliberately.

The volume was set to very high and the song literally bursted Maan's eardrums, "Na na karte pyaar haye mein kar gaya kar gaya". Maan took a deep breath, muted the song, and yelled at him, "Dev, itna volume kyun? Aur yeh kaisa ghaana hain?"

Dev tried to control his laugh and said, "Sorry Bro, woh accidentally maine us ghaana choose kiya aur main jaanta nahin tha, ki volume itna high hain. I'll play a better song", he said, searching for some more funky and apt songs for Maan's situation and dilemma.

"Haan, yeh Ghana accha hain, mera favorite you know and played it", and tried to observe Maan's expressions from the corner of his eye.

Ho Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga

Jaise Khilta Gulaab

Jaise Shaayar Ka Khwaab

Jaise Ujli Kiran

Jaise Van Mein Hiran

Jaise Chaandni Raat

Jaise Naghme Ki Baat

Jaise Mandir Mein Ho Ek Jalta Diya

Ho Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga

Dev hummed along. Maan recollected all the times, Geet was dressed in a sari, how beautiful she looked on the previous night. He also remembered the way she hugged him, in the rain, while the song continued. He recollected the time; he saw her walk down the stairs of the mandir, with the pooja thali, her lighting diyas at the mandir along with the other women of the house. He did not realize he was hitting the accelerator all this while, and that had touched 150kn/hr. He overtook Naintara's car and she was amazed. Dev grinned and tried very hard to control his laugh.

Naintara was amazed at how Veerji was driving. "Yeh Maan Veerji ko kya ho gaya? Why did he speed all of a sudden? Very rarely he looses control over the car and drives recklessly", she said, worried.

Daadima said, "Aaj kal Maan ke dil aur dhimaag dono out of control hain. Car kya cheez hain".

Kiara laughed loud and Geet looked away, and did not comment, as she was in the same situation too. Naintara told Kiara to call Dev and find out. Dev realized the car was going out of control and alerted Maan. "Bro kya kar rahe hain, aap? Naintara's car is way behind and you have no idea how fast you are driving".

Maan came back to his senses and looked at the speedometer. He slowed down and Dev sneered and said, "Kiske khayalon mein koi hue the? Mera Ghana itna accha laga aapko, ki aapko pata bhi chala ki aap 150 pe jaa rahe hain?"

Maan pulled the car over to the side and took a deep breath. He put his head onto the steering for sometime and then heard a honk. He looked up in the rear view mirror and saw Naintara's car, pull over too.

"Dev, bandh karo isse, and go in that car", he said, angrily.

"Okay, whom should I call from that car, then?", asked Dev, smiling and turning off the music.

"koi nahin aayega. I'll drive alone", he said, unlocking Dev's door.

"Par Bro aap akele kyun drive karenge. Main kisi ko bhalaata hoon", he said, removing his seat belt.

"Out Dev!", screamed Maan and Dev got out of the car and closed the door. He bent over to the window, that Maan had opened and said, "Bro, I'll call Kia..", and before Dev could finish the sentence, Maan zoomed away. Dev looked at the car, speed away, merge with the other traffic, and laughed. Naintara honked and Dev turned and walked towards her car.

"Kya hua?", she asked, opening the window.

"Maan bro ko gussa aaya, isi liye mujhe is beech sadak pe chod ke chale gaye", he said, rolling in laughter.

"Bait jaeye", she said, "Lets go!".

Daadima got down and took the back seat while Dev, sat in the seat by the driver's seat. Dev continued to smile remembering Maan's anger and his restlessness.

"Aise kya kiya aapne, Dev?", asked Daadima.

Dev turned to tell her and saw Geet. He just told Daadima, "Baad mein bataunga, Daadima".

"Kyun Veerji, bataeye na", insisted Kiara.

"Arey yaar, tum log", he said and turned in front and texted his grandmom and his sister.

"I was teasing Maan, and so he threw me out of the car. More details later. Geet is here", he texted and sent it to them. Daadima and Kiara read the texts and replied back, "Alright son, eager to know" and "Okies, can't wait", respectively.

They reached home, 45 minutes after Maan had reached. Maan knew he had driven home, rashly. He had kept recollecting the song and Geet, and he hated it. He removed his frustration on his favorite car- a while colored Maybach. He changed very quickly and had dinner. He informed Nakul to tell the others that he finished dinner and was going to bed.

All of them walked into the mansion and sat in the living room. Daadima told the helpers to arrange dinner and asked for Maan. Nakul came and told them that he had gone to bed and he had his dinner. Dev started laughing yet again and everyone turned to look at him, surprised. He excused himself and walked away into the dining room and yelled from there, "Bhook lagi hain, jaldi aa jao tum sab".

All of them had dinner and went to bed. It was a tiring drive and a tiring day. Geet was tired too, but she was in no mood to sleep. She did not even feel like changing. She walked around her room for sometime and thought about Daadima talking about the proposal. She looked very upset and did not want to meet any person or get married to anyone other than the person, whom who she had started to develop feelings for, recently. She called Niharika to speak to her, but Niharika's phone was switched off. Geet realized that Niharika must have been travelling, as she had told Geet, a few days back.

Geet did not know what to do. "What would she tell her grandmom and her brother about the rishtaa? They would never agree for getting Geet married to a guy of her choice and the guy whom she is in love with, does not even bother to speak to her properly".

She meddled with her sari pallu for sometime thinking, "Hey Babaji, yeh kaisi musibat hain? Mujhe tuo himmat bhi nahin hain ki main daadiji ko phone karu aur unhe us rishtaa ke bare mein poochu. Unhe yeh lagega, ki main interested hoon. Nahin unhein phone karke mein aur musibat mein nahin padna chahti". She thought for sometime and walked around. She looked at the clock and realized it was 12:15am.

She slowly walked out of the room and walked around the mansion. She went towards the back yard and walked to the poolside area. She then walked into the room where there was a snooker table. She looked at the table and wondered how that game is played. This room was very close to the outhouse and clearly visible from the backside verandah of the outhouse, on the first floor. Maan was standing and talking on phone, when he saw the lights on, in the snooker room. He walked downstairs and towards the room.

In the meanwhile, Geet took the cue and tried hitting the balls. She did not understand the game, so she blindly pushed the balls with the cue. She grumbled to her self, "Arey yaar, yeh kaise khelte hain" and her voice echoed in that room. She covered her mouth with her hand and said to herself, "Geet, sab ko uta mat dena" and tried to hit the balls again. Maan watched her, while kneeling against the door, with his hands folded across his chest and his legs crossed. He cut the call and texted Adi back, saying, he'd talk to him later.

"Kya is stick se is ball ko us pocket mein push karna hain? Yeh kaisa game hain", she grumbled and kept doing the same thing, while Maan grinned. He silently observed Geet, who kept turning the cue around and hit the balls in random directions in a haphazard manner. His gaze moved to her pallu that kept falling off her shoulder as she bent over to hit the ball. He was happy, he was standing behind, so she would not be embarrassed.

"BAhut ho gaya", she said, "Mujhe tuo neend bhi nahin aa rahin hain. Kya karu?", she said, standing, straight, by taking support of the cue, whose one edge was resting on the floor and the other, Geet placed her arm on it.

Maan smiled and walked  towards her slowly. He placed his hands on her waist and squeezed the skin on her wiast. Geet was about to scream, when he whispered in her ears, "Geet, main hoon"

Geet turned her face to look at him and he pulled her back such that she hit his chest hard. She dropped the cue down and that made a hell lot a noise and that noise re-echoed too. GEEt closed her eyes and placed her hands on her ears. Maan smiled yet again, at her innocence.

"Aap yahan?", she asked, placing her hands on his, around her waist and trying to get out of his hold.

"Hmm!", he said and made her walk towards the table. He took another cue, with his right hand, while his left hand was still on her waist. he bent over her and she bent forward too. He took the triangle and set the balls in order. Geet shivered, at the proximity. She could feel his weight on her back as he set the balls in an order and she could feel his chin touch her shoulders, as he did that. She closed her eyes. and started breathing faster.

He stood straight again and whispered in her ears, "Ready?"

Geet turned to look at him, and did not know what to say. Maan smiled and said, "Dekho ab".

He showed her how to hold the cue and as she did it, he held her hand over the cue and made her strike the balls and as he did that he explained, how the game is played. He then moved her to the other side of the table, by placing his hand, on her bare waist and Geet's stomach did a somersault. Her knees went weak and Maan made her strike the ball again.

He asked her, "Kuch samjh mein aaya?"  with his lips touching her ears and Geet felt tickled. He moved a little farther away to take another cue for himself. He told Geet, "chalo now try on your own" and Geet did. While she did, he stood on the opposite side of the table, bent over it, and rested, with his weight on his arms. Geet could not concentrate as she would see him staring at the ball, everytime she tried to look at the ball. However, she did not give up. She tried striking the ball and she did. She waited for Maan, to play his turn and he did it with ease. It was her turn again and this time, she was successful in pushing the ball, into the pocket. Maan smiled as Geet jumped in joy. She looked at him, and smiled back. They continued playing for some more time and Maan looked at his watch. It was quarter past two. Maan put his cue back in the stand and said, "Geet you should sleep now"

"I know, I'm not sleepy", she said, putting her cue back.

"Kyun?", he asked as he turned off the light, in the room, and opened the door for her. She said, "Pata nahin"

Maan smirked and asked, "You thinking about that guy from Singapore is it? Oh by the way, that reminds me, Congrats".

Geet's expression changed to a sad one and she did not answer. She tried to walk away, when Maan stopped her.

"Geet maine pehle bhi kahan ki sirf main, walk out kar sakta hoon" and giggled. Geet did not say anything. She stopped and said, "Theek hain, aap ho jaeye phir, pehle"

"Geet, is anything wrong? Tum itna dull kyun ho? Tumhaare liye rishtaa aayaa hain, aur Daadima ne kahan ki ladka accha hain. Daadima papers bhi taiyyar karwayenge aur tum apne family se milne Singapore jaa sakte ho. Tumhaare exams bhi khatam ho gaye. Tuo ab kya problem hain?"

"Kuch nahin!", she said, standing against the wall.

"Tuo phir tum itna dull? ZAroor kuch problem hain, warna Geet Handa, tuo hamesha baat karti rehti hain, aur aaj chup ho gayi?", he asked, surprised.

"Hmm", said Geet, not wanting to answer anything, "main chalti hoon", she said.

"NAhin Geet, pehel mere sawalon ka jawaab do", he said.

"Kounse sawal?"

"Abhi jo maine kiya, tum itna dull kyon ho?"

"Maine kahan na, kuch nahin, bas aise hi"

"Tum question ko avoid kar rahin ho"

"NAhin"

"Haan"

"Nahin"

"Haan", he screamed back and she screamed back too, "Haan, main question ko avoid kar rahin hoon. Aur aapko bhi", she said, with tears running down her cheeks.

Maan was dumbfounded to see her cry, "Geet!" and she yelled back, "Chup rahiye, aap. Kuch mat kahiye. Haan main aapko ki avoid kar rahin hoon. Aap jaanna chahte hain kyun?"

Maan walked towards her and said, "Geet, please" and tried to wipe her tears , when she pushed his hand away.

"Paas mat aaeye", she yelled, "Aap tuo bahut khush hue honge na, ki main ab shaadi karke is desh ko bhi hamesha cho ke chali jaungi?"

Maan softly said, "Main aisa kyun sochunga Geet?"

"Kyun nahin sochenge aap?  Aap  tuo mujhe aas paas bardaasht nahin kar sakte, mera shakal tak nahin dekhna chahte hain".

"Geet, aisa nahin hain"

"Aisa nahin hain, tuo phir aapne bina mujhe dekhe, reject kiya aur phir mujhse ek baar bhi acche se baat nahin kiya, Har baar mujhe insult kiya, taana maara. Kya main aapki layak nahin hoon? Itna gurror hain aapko, aapne app mein, Maan?"

"Geet yeh keh rahe ho tum? MEri rejection se, aur hamare jagdon se, aur tumhaari shaadi se kya relation?"

"HAin connection", she said, wiping her tears. She walked towards him and pushed him towards the wall. She held his collar and said, "Aapne ek baar nahin socha mujh par kya beeti hogi jab aapne bina mujhse baat kiye, bina mujhe dekhe, mujhe reject ki? Nahin socha hoga. Kyunki main ek ordinary ladki hoon aapke liye, jiske paas na dhimaag hain, na paise hain, aur na hi khoobsurati. Lekin sirf main jaanto hoon, ki aapke rejection ki wajah se mujhe kya kya sunna pada. Mere saare rishtedaar ne mujhe taana maara, bilkul usi tarah, jis tarah se aap maarte hain, khoob sunaya, ki main aapke layak nahin hoon, jaise aap har baar mujhe ehsaas dilate hain. Mere Veerji ne mujhe maarne tak ki dhamki diya, agar maine che mahino ke andar andar shaadi nahin ki, kisi aur se" and left him and paused. Maan felt guilty. He could not see her cry so much and he tried to console her but she did not let him speak or touch her.

"Geet listen to me.." he said, trying to talk to her.

"No, Mr. Maan Khurana. It is your turn to listen. I am very grateful to you and your family for allowing me to stay here and take my exams. I will never forget the members of your family for treating me like a part of the family and being nice to me. I will be grateful to you, too, for getting my passport damaged. If not I would have to discontinue my education and give up all my dreams. Even I am trying to get out of here as soon as possible. And once my papers are ready, I will leave", she said, panting heavily.

"Geet, I don't have any problem, even if you stay longer. I say a lot of things in anger, but I never seriously meant them"

"But I have a problem staying here", she said.

"Geet!", he uttered her name.

"Haan! Sahi suna aapne. Mujhe yahan rehne mein problem hain, Maan. Kyunki main aapke aas paas nahin rehna chahti hoon".

"Geet, ab tum mujhe insult kar rahe ho", he reminded her.

"Bilkul nahin. AAp mere aas paas nahin rehna chahte hain, kyunki aap mujhse nafrat karte hain. Lekin main aapke aas paas nahin rehna chahti hoon, kyunki main aapse pyaar karti hoon", she said.