A Maaneet Tale
Camera's
15 August 2004
I got out of the shower the next morning, towel wrapped around my head like a classic turban. I stood in front of my mirror, putting on some earrings I had found on my desk; a note also saying:
"Sorry Geet, I hope this cheers you up" in Maan's elegant handwriting. I really loved the earrings and I didn't have to even think if they were diamond ones or not.
After that, I put on my mum's bangles she had gave me before she died. They were gold ones bought my my mum's hard earned money. There wasn't a day when I didn't take them off.
I unwrapped my towel and let the fragrance of shampoo escape as I started to towel dry my hair. I didn't need a hint to tell me that somebody was watching me. Turning around, I saw it was Maan and was not surprised. I could smell his perfume he always wore and which I always loved. It made sexy Maan even sexier.
He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and a faint smile on his face. I asked what he was doing in my bedroom.
Maan blinked and cleared his throat, and I started to wonder how long he'd been watching me.
Maan: "Oh just making sure you were wearing the earrings I bought you, that's all" he said and looked away. A sign that he was lying. He always looked away when he was lying.
I grabbed my dubatta and threw it over my neck and was about to leave my bedroom when Maan cleared his throat. I stopped and looked at him.
"What?"
Maan: "Your back... The knot..." he trailed off and I felt my back, realizing I had forgotten to tie the knot of my kameez. I turned around and fumbled with the string, my hands sweaty and shaky. I hated it when Maan had that effect on me.
Five seconds later, I could feel his body heat on my back and then his fingers as he tied my knot. I shivered as his fingers brushed the bare skin just below my nape.
Maan: "There. See you downstairs"
***
Maan: "I need a new secretary, fast" he said over the dining table the next morning. I spread the jam on my bread, still not quite friends with him.
Maan: "Like, really fast" he said and I could feel his gaze over me as I popped a piece of bread in my mouth, gulping it down with some juice.
The Queen wasn't feeling well so she asked for her breakfast in her bedroom. The King had gone out which means it was just me and Maan over the dining table.
Maan: "I thought we were friends" he said, slapping down a spoon on his plate which made me jump. I slammed my spoon down as well, and turned to look at him.
"We are friends, but you kind of broke some of the friendship we had yesterday. I still haven't forgotten" I said, tears threatening to fall down my cheeks. I looked away, still not quite believing he could hurt me so much.
Maan: "Geet, I really am sorry. I do worst things when i'm angry" he said, putting a warm hand over mine. I looked back at him; his gaze soft and sincere, his voice gentle and convincing.
I sighed.
"Okay, whatever" I said
He removed his hand from mine and then held it out for me to shake.
Maan: "Friends?" he said
"Friends" I repeated and shook his hand. He took back his hand and turned immediately into professional mode.
Maan: "I discussed this with mum and dad yesterday and they said it was okay for you to work as a secretary at my office until I find a permanant one. You wake up at 7:00am, and we leave at 8. You come back from office at 1:00pm and then do the rest of the household chores. Okay?"
"I didn't even agree to be your secretary" I pointed out
Maan's cheeks had formed a hint of pink and I smiled to myself, thinking about how cute he looked when he blushed.
Maan: "Your coming with me today so I can show you around the office so you know where to go tomorrow" he said and I nodded like an obediant child before finishing off my juice. I stood up and left the dining room to get ready.
***
I peeked through the door to the exit of the mansion. As I peeked, I saw there were paparazzi and press people crowded around the pathway. Poor security gaurd was trying his best to keep the paparazzi out of the property. I guessed this was normal to Maan and the rest of the family. I mean, who wouldn't want a glimpse of the hot Prince?
"I hate getting my photo's taken" I said, turning to Maan who stood right beside me.
Maan: "Tell me about it. I mean as soon as I open the door and they see you, they're gonna think all sorts of bullshit" he said, looking angry and frustrated.
"We can't just stand here all day, though" I pointed out
Maan nodded.
Maan: "Put your dubatta over your head and don't let go of my hand. This is tough" he said and I did as he said, draping my veil over my head and mouth like a hijab. I turned to Maan and nodded, indicating I was ready. He stared into my eyes for a full 10 seconds before gripping my hand tightly and squeezing it.
The door opened and I was blinded by the flashing of camera's. For a moment, the paparazzi stopped snapping pictures and noticed me beside him and then started snapping pictures again, asking all sorts of questions.
"Are you the Prince's girlfriend?"
"Do the Queen and King know about your relationship?"
"Is the Prince planning to get married to you anytime soon?"
"When did this start?"
Anger started to boil up inside me like a volcano. I was never normally this angry but I couldn't stand the stupid media people ask questions about my and Maan's personal life. One look of Maan and that was all it took to see that Maan was just as angry as I was.
"Stop these stupid questions. When are you going to learn to stop interfering in other people's lives? Me and M-- the Prince are not in any kind of relationship. In fact, I am just a normal servant in this house going out with him for some professional work. Just because we're holding hands, doesn't mean we are in a relationship. Get lost! All of you!" I said and shooed them away. When they didn't move, I grabbed a broomstick another servant had dropped whilst cleaning the garden and used that to shoo them away instead.
"Get lost or i'll --" I said, holding up the broomstick, threatening to hit one of the media people. I really wanted to but I kept my hands tight on the stick. I was nice like that.
I dropped the broomstick in my hands and turned to look at Maan who looked back at me with a shocked expression. Even the security gaurd beside me was shocked.
"And that's how I take care of people" I said, clapping my hands in triumph.
Maan: "You know what? Let's change you to a security gaurd instead" he said and I giggled, feeling proud of myself. Maan flashed me one of his rare smiles and sat in the car. I sat down on the passenger seat beside him.
As we drove, we passed by the temple that me and Maan had met for the first time. The memories came flashing back in my head as I remembered how I fainted and Maan had saved me. I looked from the temple to Maan. He already seemed to be looking at me.
A quick glance at the road was all it took to realize that we were gonna hit the car in front of us.
"Maan!" I screamed and he looked back at the road. His eyes widened as he fumbled with the steering wheel. I shook left and right in my seat as the car span out of control. Soon, I realized we were going to hit a tree.
I closed my eyes and held onto something. I didn't know what it was but I squeezed it as hard as I could. Eventually, the car hit the tree and I nearly went flying over my seat if it wasn't for the seatbelt.
"Are you okay?" Maan and me asked each other in unison, breathing heavily. Adrenaline rushed through my body.
I leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes. I opened them again and realized I was holding Maan's hand.
Maan: "I'm so sorry, I lost focus. Oh my God, are you okay? You aren't hurt anywhere are you? What about your back? Is it okay? Do I need to take you to a hospital or anyth --"
"I-I'm fine" I said, my right hand hurting from holding Maan's hand too hard. I soon realized he was holding my hand just as hard.
"Sorry" I said and removed my hand from his. I looked at his hand and realized I had left nail marks on the outside of his hand.
Maan: "That's okay. I was too focused on controlling the car to notice how hard you were holding my hand" he said and got out of the car to inspect the accident. I got out of the car as well and looked.
The car was damaged and there was no way we could drive this. So instead, Maan got out his phone to call for another car but realized he forgot to charge his phone.
Maan: "Damn it, looks like we have to walk" he said and we started walking, not bothering to hail for a rickshaw since there was so much traffic anyway. Me and Maan kept our distance, not wanting to attract any other people's attentions. The paparazzi followed us and I wish I had that broomstick again.
"GO AWAY!" I abruptly turned and yelled. I grabbed one of the paparazzi's camera and threw it as hard as I could on the ground. The camera cracked and the lens smashed.
"Oi Madam! You need to pay for that!"
"So you can interfere in our lives? Pfft, you can just get lost before I smash another camera" I said, anger boiling inside me again. I forced myself to calm down.
Maan: "I've never seen you so angry and God that camera scene was amazing" he said, a smirk on his face.
"Trust me, neither have I" I said, and we started to walk again.
As we walked, our hands started to randomly brush against each other. His touch sent shivers through my body and just made me crave more of him. I tried to ignore my feelings and hope they weren't real.
Pretending that nothing just happened, Maan continued to lead the way as I followed him just a bit behind. He kept looking behind to see if I was okay or not which was quite sweet.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of walking; we had arrived. I looked up at the huge building and on it was the sign 'Khurana Constructions'.
"Wow" I whispered as Maan led me inside the building. The inside of the building reminded me of Maan too. They walls and furniture were either black, or white just like his bedroom. I walked carefully, trying my best not to knock an expensive vase down or anything.
The workers bowed in front of Maan and ignored me. The only person who smiled at me was this chubby looking girl who didn't stop eating. I looked at the nametag which was pinned on her chest and found it read Pinky which was a sweet name. I decided I never wanted her to lose weight and I also decided I quite liked her.
The person I decided to hate was this woman named Sasha. She also bowed in front of Maan and I expected her to ignore me like everyone else, except she looked me up and down and screwed up her nose as if I smelt of something. She was wearing a tight, revealing pink dress that kind of reminded me of Sophia. I watched as she wiggled her hips as she found her way back to her desk and I wondered if she was Sophia's lost twin.
Maan led me inside his cabin and sat down on his chair proudly. He signalled to the chair across from him and I sat down on the edge gingerly, hoping I didn't get the leather chairs dirty.
Maan: "This is my cabin. Everyday you will come into this cabin and report that you have arrived. I will assign you work and you will be expected to do it. Your cabin is the one right there" he said, presenting the window that was on my left. I could see through the blinds that it was a cabin just as big as Maan's, but with a different chair from Maan's chair. Suddenly, I felt like a new kid at school.
Maan: "Your first work isn't hard. We're going to go upstairs into a room and sort out some files"
I gulped, feeling nervous already but I nodded anyway.
Maan: "I'll be there with you, don't worry" he said, snapping out of his professional mode into friendly mode and then snapping back into professional mode again.
I felt a bit better knowing that Maan was going to be there beside me. I gave a small smile and stood up. Maan lead the way to the room full of files upstairs while I followed him. I glanced at Sasha who gave me a dirty look and continued on with her work. Accidentally, I bumped into this guy with nerdy glasses, who seemed to laugh in a quirky way afterwards but he apologized after. I learnt that his name was Adi.
We entered the room and I looked around. The room was indeed full of disorganised files that needed organising. Maan sat down on a chair and put his arms behind his head, a smirk on his face.
Maan: "Let's see what you can do" he said and I nodded slowly, tying my dubatta around my waist. I quickly set to work and picked up a file, not knowing what to do with it. I looked at the file and realized there was a letter stuck on the file which confused me even more. I looked at Maan with a puzzled expression but he just smirked back at me. I held the file in my hands, not knowing what to do with it. I walked to the shelves and realized they had letters stuck on it too.
"Oh! The idea was to put the files in alphabetical order" I said and turned to Maan who nodded.
Maan: "Good, your not stupid like the secretary I fired yesterday. She didn't even know what to do with the files and couldn't be bothered to even figure out what to do" he said and stood up, helping me put the files in the correct order.
A few hours later, me and Maan had finally set the files in alphabetical order. I looked at the watch on my wrist and saw it was just after 2:00pm. I hadn't realized we had spent 4 hours in the room.
Suddenly, light had stopped working and the room was dark. The room had no windows and it was already getting hot without the air conditioning on.
"I can't see you, where are you?" I asked, hands in front of me; trying to feel for Maan. I somehow found my way to the chair and breathed a sigh of relief. He was probably still sitting there.
But when I felt for him, he wasn't there and his seat was empty.
"Maan?"
"Maan? Ma --"
I had bumped into Maan as I was walking backwards. I lost my footing but thankfully, Maan rescued me like he always did. He gently pushed me against the wall and I jumped, not realising how close his lips were to my ear.
Maan: "I went to find candles" he whispered in my ear and suddenly, the candle lit up; his handsome face appearing in view.
"Oh... I thought you'd..." I trailed off, deciding not to finish the sentence. Maan smiled.
I went over to the door and tried to open it but strangely, the door didn't open. I tried again, but the door wouldn't budge.
Maan: "Oh no" he said
"What?"
Maan: "I forgot to tell you not to close that door. The lock needs to be fixed. Damn it!" he said, angry.
"This is all your fault. If you told me, maybe I wouldn't have closed the door and maybe we wouldn't be stuck in here"
Maan: "Oh yeah, just blame it all on me" he said sarcastically and tried opening the door but his attempt failed. The bloody door wouldn't budge.
I picked up the candle that Maan had put on the desk and brang it closer to where Maan was, trying to get the door to open but failing. I could see drops of sweat on his forehead.
Maan: "This is bull!" he exclaimed, slamming the door with his fist.
"Your phone"
Maan: "Brilliant idea. If only I charged it!" he said and started to pace up and down, reminding me of my Dad when he used to do that.
"My dad used to do that" I said randomly
Maan: "Do what?" he said, still angry
"Pace around like that. He did it when he was worried or angry" I said as I watched him pace. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and his anger had vanished instantly.
Maan sighed and sat down next to me, putting an arm around my shoulder. He pulled me closer so I could rest my head on his shoulder.
Maan: "Well if your Dad was alive, then we would have been quite good friends" he said softly as a tear fell out of my eye and seeped into his shirt.
I stood up and went up to the shelves, staring randomly at the files.
"I miss them. I would do anything to just..." I trailed off, trying to control my wobbly voice. Maan came up and stood next to me, browsing the files along with me.
Maan: "Your parents and your sister would be so proud of you" he said
I didn't know what to say after that, so I just stood there; trying to control my tears until I had a strange urge to squeeze Maan and cry in his chest. He somehow read my mind and wrapped me in his arms, me silently crying; and him just being silent.
"Thanks for being a good friend" I said, voice muffled in his chest.
Maan: "Oh Geet, shutup. Don't get me so emotional" he joked and squeezed me tighter, his face hidden in my hair.
We hugged like that for a while before we unwrapped ourselves from each other. I could barely see his face since the candle was on the table but I knew he was giving me one of his rare smiles. I smiled back, and hoped he could see it.
I turned around to walk back to sit down, seeing as we had nothing else to do but wait when I slipped on something. Before I fell, I glanced down to see it was a random file that I had forgot to put on the shelves. Maan caught me but ended up slipping himself so he ended up falling on the chair and I ended up sitting on top of him.
My dubatta was sticking to my neck from sweat and it started to irritate me so I grabbed it and threw it away, realizing I had done a big mistake since I was sitting right on top of Maan. I mean, what must he be thinking?
Maan: "Well that was quite sexy. I liked how you threw your veil away" he smirked as his hands found their way to my waist. He kept them there.
He grabbed the candle that was set on the table next to us and held it between us. A lone tear was on my cheek from the earlier crying which he wiped away.
Maan: "No more crying" he said, his eyes twinkling; and that smirk on his face which made my knees go wobbly. He put the candle back on the table.
I clutched his collar tightly and remained kneeling on his lap. It was comfortable and he seemed to be liking it anyway. He gripped the bottom neck of my kameez and pulled me closer, his other hand on my waist.
Maan: "So, are you planning to stay like this forever?" he whispered as I played with his tie. I looked up into his eyes and nodded.
"Until the light comes back on. I'm scared of the dark" I said
Maan: "Oh totally" he said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes.
I continued playing with his tie till I accidentally took it off. I held the tie in my hand and then put it on the table.
Maan: "That tie is designer" he joked
"Whatever. Oh, thanks for the earrings by the way" I said and absent-mindedly undid his buttons until I realized what I was doing. I flushed and looked away, moving slightly back.
Maan: "Come closer" he whispered but when I didn't move, he did it for me; jerking me closer to him. My cheek brushed against his during the process. I closed my eyes, liking the feel of his sharp stubble against my cheek.
My hands found they're way around his neck and I knew I wanted him more. Right now. I leaned back to see his face, his eyes full of love and his lips just the perfect M shape. I wanted to kiss them.
I parted my lips, ready to kiss him. Ready to feel him; and I closed my eyes just after he did, then I leaned in closer to put my lips on top of his...
"Maan Sir? Geet? Are you in there?" somebody knocked on the door and it was Adi. Perfect timing.
Maan's eyes flipped open as he sighed. We were both breathing heavily and I didn't feel like just leaving him without a kiss.
But I had to.
"Lights back" I said as the sudden wave of wind flew in the room from the air conditioner just a little before the bulb switched on above us. Maan's shirt was completely drenched in sweat and I knew I was too.
Maan: "Yep" he said casually as if nothing happened. I grabbed my dubatta and put the file I had tripped on in it's right place on the shelf.
"Yes! Adi Sir, please open the door" I said and blew the candle out. I tried to control my beating heart.
Adi: "Oh Goodness, how long have you been up here for?"
Maan: "Several hours" he said, looking completely normal
I stepped outside into the fresh air, my clothes irritating me. I wanted to just take them off and put some clean ones on.
"I think... Is it okay if I go home and change?" I asked Maan
Maan: "No, Geet i'll just order clothes for you. And a new shirt for me" he said and left the suffocating room.
"Designer"
Was what he whispered as he passed by me to go back to his cabin. He turned around and winked at me before he left.
I smiled.
Precap: Sasha problems
******
I kind of hated writing this update because I am HORRIBLE at writing steamy scenes so if I wasn't as good as you expected me to be then i'm very sorry. I'm also really very sorry that I disappointed you all by ending that kissing scene RIGHT there before they were going to kiss but... Oh well. Mwahahahahaah. 😆
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Edited by Sameeha786 - 13 years ago
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