Maneet FF-Love makes Life Beautiful#3-Ch 41-P141 - Page 28

Chapter 34

"Main kal Singapore jaa rahin hoon. Mere tickets bhi book ho chuke hain. Morning 8:00 flight", she said, walking slowly, maintaining a safe distance between the both of them.

Maan examined her face for sometime. He understood she was not clearly happy and her voice and face said it all.

 "Geet, why don't you do an internship when you are in S'pore? Tumhari time pass ho jaeyegi aur tum bahut kuch seekhoge", he suggested. "If you want, I can get you in touch with some people". Geet looked at him and he immediately continued, "You can go through all the rounds of interviews and their formal selection process. I'll make sure, they wont directly take you in, because I told them, sicne you don't like it".

"No, my brother will not agree to it", she said, softly and her voice cracked, while she tried hard to complete the sentence.

"Okay! How about a job with one of the portfolio companies? Maybe your brother will agree to this?", he asked.

"No, he wont, agree to me going out, and working", she said, not wanting to look at him.

"Hmmm", he said and walked along quietly for sometime. He spoke again, "The party you attended few days back, the clients are from Singapore. Since you are not allowed to go out, you can work from home. They are recruiting people still. What say?"

Geet looked at him, sadly and stopped walking. She turned to face him and he turned and looked at her.

"Mr. Khurana, very nice of you to think of so many possibilities. But none of them will work. Thank you so much", she said, pausing for a moment. She looked into those dark black eyes, that now reflected some pain, for her. Or was it just her feeling. Whatever it is, she ignored it.

"Okay", he said, softly. He did not want to ask her why, because he knew she would not be able to answer the question. He knew she would be hurt and he did not want it.

"What else?", he asked, as they finally reached the huge iron gates of the Khurana Mansion.

"You have to tell me", she said, smiling.

"Ah thank god, you're smiling", he said, taking a deep breath.

"You thought I had forgotten to smile?", she asked.

"Ah well, for a few minutes, I actually thought so", he said, winking.

"Maan", she said, his name, jovially.

"Yes Geet", he said, walking into the premises of the mansion.

"did you ever walk into your mansion by foot like this?", she asked, stopping.

He stopped and turned back to look at her, "Nope. I just realized how it feels. Otherwise I would always drive in", he said.

She smiled. She walked upto him and he asked, "Packing ho gaya?"

"Haan!", she said.

"Okay, what time did you say is your flight tomorrow?", he asked.

"8am", she answered.

"Okay what time are you planning to leave to the airport. I'll tell the driver to get the car ready. Usually they don't turn up that early", he said.

"Ah that's fine. Niharika is coming anyway so we'll take a cab", she said, casually.

"Geet, did you make some resolution, to not agree to any proposal I make?", he asked her.

She smirked and said, "Well, there is one proposal that you can make and I swear I will never refuse", she said and winked back.

"And what is that?", he asked and stopped, and understood, when she rolled into laughter.

"Geet", he hissed.

"Haan ji", she said.

"Tell me what time?", he said.

"Maybe 5:30am. As the airport is an hour drive and then cheking in, security etc etc", she said.

"Okay done!", he said, and they walked towards the lawn.

"Aap outhouse tak paidal challenge ya phir main driver ko bulau?", she asked, laughing.

"Driver ko nahin, pilot ko bulao. I need to be air-picked", he said, sarcastically. Geet laughed even more.

"Will you stay in touch?", he asked, her and wondered why he asked her that.

"No", she said, settling her stoll around her neck properly.

"Okay", he said, and smiled.

She smiled and he knew the answer. They did not have to say it again.

She sat down on the swing and he stood in front of her. "So you coming to S'pore any time soon?"

"How should it matter, when you are not allowed to go out anywhere, and when you do not want to stay in touch?", he said, folding his hands across his chest.

"Just let me know, I will sneak out of house to meet you", she said, smiling.

He smiled and said, "Sure!"

They spoke for some time and then Geet got up, "Mujhe bhook lagi hain"

"Jao jaake change karo aur dinner karo", he said.

"Kyun aap dinner nahin karenge?", she asked.

"Nahin aaj main fasting kar rahan hoon", he said, with a lopsided smile.

"Kyun? Acchi patni ke liye", she said, suppressing her smile, when she saw him get angry.

"Nahin, kyunki tum mujhe chod ke jaa rahen ho. Kaise jeeyunga Geet, main tumhaare bina?", he said.

"Yeah right Mr. Khurana. Bahut ho gaya mazaak", she said and "Don't flirt with me", she said.

"Oh really!", he said.

"Haan really actually sab kuch. Ab chaliye. Main chalti hoon. Aap bhi change kar lijiye", she said and started to walk towards the mansion. Maan stood there watching her. She was leaving. This is what he had wanted the first day she stepped into the mansion. But why is that he did not want it anymore, when the moment had arrived. In less than 12 hours, she would be out of the mansion, out of the city, out of the country and out of his life. What had changed since her first day in the mansion till her last day that his entire perspective and outlook of her had changed?

As he stood there, watching her enter the mansion, his phone rang. He ignored it, waited for her to completely go out of his sight, and then looked at his phone. It was a call from Sasha. He simply ignored it and looked at the path she had taken to enter the mansion. When he found it empty, he felt some voidness. He smiled at his changing feelings and walked towards the outhouse.

Geet had announced about her departure to S'pore the next day and it came as a shock to everyone. Kiara and Naintara yelled together, "Tum hume ab bata rahe ho Geet?"

Daadima looked at her and said, "Beta itna jaldi sab kuch ho gaya aur aapne kuch nahin bataya"

Dev remained quiet, as he already knew she herself was not happy about the trip. He decided to say nothing.

"Daadiji maine sirf visa ke liye apply kit hi. Aur baad mein aap se hi aake tickets ke bare mein baat karne waali thi. Lekin mere veerji ne ticket already book kar liya. Ab main unke baat thaal nahin sakti. mujhe maaf kijiye", she said, with her eyes, getting teary. Naintara immediately got up and walked towards her.

"Geet, its okay. We understand. So what if you are leaving tomorrow. Since you are done packing, let's have some fun. What say Kiara?", she asked.

"Ofcourse Bhabhi, whatever you say. But one thing Geet, you will be missed", she said, walking over to Geet. Geet smiled weakly and said, "I'll miss all of you, too".

"Geet we don't have much time, so you gotta hurry. Quickly go change. Lets all have dinner and then we'll decide what to do", said Kiara.

Geet nodded and turned around to rush to her bedroom, when she saw Maan standing there. He had already changed. He did not react and she quickly walked into her room.

"Bro, you know what? Geet's leaving tomorrow morning", said Kiara, as she walked towards him.

"I know!", he said.

"We are so going to miss her, bro. Can she not go?", she asked him.

"She has to meet her family right. So, she has to go", he said, patting her cheek and walking towards the couch to sit, by daadima.  

The next few minutes no one spoke anything. it was only Kiara who kept thinking about what they would do, once they had dinner.

"Hey lets play snooker", she screamed all of a sudden.

Maan looked up, from his phone at her, when he heard the word "snooker". That instantly reminded him of a girl dressed in an orange sari, trying to play snooker, when he held her from behind and taught her how to play it. He also remembered the incident that followed the game, which changed not only her life, but also his outlook of her, forever.

"Snooker when?", asked Dev.

"After dinner bro. All of us will go there. You and Naintara bhabhi in one team. Me and Geet in one team and Maan Veerji and Daadiji in one team", she said.

Maan was still stuck in those past events related to that room, when Kiara called out to him, "Maan Veerji, what do you say?"

He slowly nodded his head for a "no" and said, "I have some work to finish" and said, "Lets go and have dinner. I'm hungry". Saying so, he got up and walked away, to the dining room. The rest of them followed.

Daadima sat at the table and said, "I wont join too, have some phone calls to make. But after that, I am ready to sit and chat with Geet".

"Arey Geet kahan hain", asked Dev and as soon as he asked, he got the answer, "Main yahan hoon", very much like the first day. Maan recollected how angry he was and how he had blasted her and was kicked out of the mansion. HE smiled at those thoughts and looked into his plate.

"Kya hua?", asked Daadima.

"Kuch nahin. Kuch yaad aaya", he said. Geet, NT and Kiara chattered all through dinner and the rest three became silent listeners to the entire conversation.

"Kya Niharika yahan aayi thi. Kya yaar Geet, tumne introduce nahin kiya", said Kiara.

"Haan, I heard you telling me once that she is very bubbly, cute and goodlooking", said NT.

"Haan, that she is", said Dev out of no where and all of them turned to look at him. He suddenly felt the heat of his wife's eyes and said, "NT, I Love you, so please don't kill me with those looks".

"Aapne kab dekha bro?", asked Kiara.

"Kal, jab yeh dono, dopahar ko morning walk pe jaa rahe the. Who bhi sadak ke exact beech mein", he said.

"Wah Geet, you have an interesting choice for everything", said Kiara.

Geet laughed and explained how both of them were sad and they met Dev, who gave them, his car to go around Delhi. They finished dinner, all the women quickly cleaned up the table, and Kiara told her that they would be going to play snooker. Maan had already left the dining table by then and had walked back to the outhouse. The four of them played snooker for a long time. Naintara outshined all of them and Dev wondered who taught her.

"Who taught you snooker?", he asked, her.

"My ex-boy friend", she said, winking. Geet and Kiara laughed while Dev frowned. They played for some more time and Dev left, saying he would see them later on. Kiara, NT and Geet walked towards the pool, when they saw Maan sitting by the pool and working on his laptop.

"Yeh yahan kaam karta hain?", said Kiara.

"Looks like he's having a drink, while working", said NT, looking at the glass beside his laptop.

"Hmmm!", said Kiara, "Looks like he's busy we should not disturb him", she said, walking towards the other side and going towards the back yard of the mansion. They slowly walked for sometime and spoke and spoke and spoke. They met Daadima in her bedroom and ended up speaking there too. Daadima then bid them good night at around 1am.

"Geet, when you leave tomorrow, morning, wake us all up", said Naintara.

"sure!", she said and hugged NT. Nt left to her bedroom, along with dev, while telling him, "I wish she stayed back", while Dev said, "Hmmm".

Kiara and Geet walked to the living room and Geet noticed Kiara looked very sleepy but still would not sleep.

"Kiara I'll wake you up tomorrow. Go and sleep", said Geet. "Even I'll catch some sleep", she said, looking at the watch, which read 1:35am.

"Are you sure?", she asked, yawning. "yaar main subeh jaldi uti thi, kyunki daadiji ko kisi mandir jaani thi. Isiliye itna neend aa rahin hain. I feel so bad that you are leaving in a couple of hours".

"Kiara don't make it so tough, please", requested Geet.

Kiara hugged Geet and said, "Okay good night. I'll wake up early and see you off"

"Okies, good night", said Geet, smiling. She saw Kiara walk towards her bedroom. She was not sleepy. She looked around the mansion and smiled. In a couple of hours, she would be leaving this place and she did not know if she ever had a chance to come back again. She walked around the mansion, recollected all those small memories that were connected to this huge mansion.

She walked towards the back yard and then towards the pool. Maan was not there. She looked around to see, if he was anywhere around and he was not. She then walked towards the snooker room and stopped. She recollected how she had confessed to him and smiled. She walked inside the room that was completely dark. She walked towards the table and suddenly the lights turned on. She turned back to see him standing there, and looking at her.

"Phir se andhere mein kyun khade ho?", he asked, while walking to the cue stand and picking up one cue. He picked up another one and turned back to face her.

He threw one stick to her and while she caught it he said, "Ek game ho jaaye?"

"Appke saath?", she asked, "Main haar jaungi".

"khelo pehle tuo pata chalega", he said. He walked towards the table and she walked towards the opposite side.

"You first", he said and she nodded.

She struck the ball with the cue and asked, "So how many shots today?"

He smiled and said, "Just one"

"Only one? Nice. Your turn", she said.

He struck the ball and said, "If I'd drink more, how would I win this game?"

"Why were you drinking in the first place?", she asked, looking at the cue table, thinking of which ball to strike.

"Just like that", he said, doing the same thing, thinking about the ball.

They continued playing quietly for some time and Geet, after an hour said, "Mujhe nahin khelna, Mr. Khurana, main haar rahin hoon aur who bhi buri tarah se".

Maan put his cue to the side and walked towards her, "Main haarne nahin doonga", he whispered.

He stood by her side and said, "Strike the green one", pointing to the green one on the opposite left.

She did the same and then she hit the balls as he directed and he explained the strategy behind why he told her to hit that particular ball. She understood the game and finally said, "Oh now I understand. Next time jab hum khelenge, tuo main hi jeetungi".

"Yep, I'll wait for that", he said and smiled. She walked to put the cues back on the stand and he stood and looked at her.

"How come you are still awake?", she asked, while walking back.

"I had the same question for you", he said.

"Oh I was talking to Kiara, NT, Daadiji for sometime. we also played snooker before. All of them went and slept and I was not sleepy. So, was walking around", she said.

"I see. I was doing some work", he said.

"Yeah, I thought so. We saw you by the pool with a drink" she said and smiled.

"I see", he said.

They walked out of the room and towards the pool. While they walked he said, "Kiara was telling me, she would miss you"

"Yeah, she told me too. I will miss all of you, too", she said, softly.

"What magic have you done? Everyone likes you so much and are all so upset with the fact that you are leaving", he asked, stopping and turning towards her. He stood looking at her, with his hands in the pockets of his tracks.

She smiled and said, "I have done nothing. it's just that everyone here is so nice that I got along so well and like them so much".

"Hmm", he said, "Go and sleep for sometime. You have about 2 hours left. It is 3:30 now"

"Don't tell me the time Maan, it makes me feel miserable", she said.

"Okay. But you should take some rest", he said.

"What will do you?", she asked him.

"I'll rest for sometime too", he said.

"Okay", she said, "Good night then"

"Yep good night", he said and she turned to walk towards the mansion, when he said, "Sweetheart take care".

She stopped and turned back to look at him. he looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes. she smiled and nodded her head. She walked into her bedroom not wanting to sleep. she switched on the light, when she found a huge greeting card that read, "We will miss you Geet. Come back soon". It was signed by Daadima, Kiara, NT and Dev. She turned the card around to see if Maan signed it. She did not find it.

"I did not sign it, Geet", came his message, when she heard her phone beep and she read the message.

"Do you want to sign it now?", she texted him back.

"No Geet!", he replied. She did not say anything. She then looked at the box of chocolates and the bouquet that was placed on the side table. She smiled and put the greeting car and the box of choclotes in her handbag. She took her diary and made an entry about everything that happened. She placed it on the other side of her bed and fell asleep for sometime.

Her alarm rang at 5:00am and she got up, with her eyes all burning and red. She rushed to the bathroom and took a shower. She came and changed quickly. She came out of her room with her baggage when she found the entire Khurana family sitting in the living room. However, she did not find him.

"He slept very late", she thought and she saw Niharika run to her.

"You took everything Na, Geet. Its okay if you forget something. You came forget boarding the flight", she said.

"Niharika you are still trying to stop me?", asked Geet, pinching her cheeks.

"Kya karu?", she said, sadly. All of them came and hugged her. Dev gave her a hand shake and said, "Keep in touch, Geet and take care"

She smiled and nodded. "Late ho raha hain. I'll start now", she said, looking at the time.

"We'll come too", said Kiara.

"No, I don't want anyone to come. I want to go alone. If all of you come I can never board the flight", said Geet. she turned to Niharika and said, "You too, will not come".

Niharika protested but Geet hugged her tight and said, a final bye to everyone. She got into the back seat of the car and the car drove out of the mansion.

The car stopped a little distance away from the mansion and Geet looked at the driver and was shocked.

"aage aao", he told her.

"aap?", she said, shocked.