FF: Beetein Lamhe Prt 7 pg104 2/25/13 - Page 47

Present

As he poured himself another drink Maan realized that there was no more ice left in the ice box that he had brought up earlier. Putting his glass down on something – what he wasn't even sure – he staggered out of the room into the hall. He held onto the banister to keep himself from tumbling down the stairs as he descended them. As he came to the landing at the bottom he heard someone call out to him and say something but to Maan it was as if he didn't hear anything. He just waved his hand in the direction that the sound came from to dismiss whoever it could have been.

He tried and failed to turn on the light in the kitchen. He managed to find the fridge and opened it to get light from within. Finding the bag of ice in the freezer her used his bare hands to break it down. As his fist hit the hard block of ice he felt pain course through his arm. If the coldness from the ice wasn't enough, he felt his skin cut open on the sharp shards of ice that stood out. Once he was satisfied with the amount of ice he had in the bucket, he closed the freezer and fridge.

A dim light caught his attention when he began heading back to the stairs. Forcing his eyes to focus, he saw that it was coming from the entertainment room. A smile spread across his face

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Past

When Maan had heard that Geet would be staying with them for the next few months, he was ecstatic. He was giddy like a little kid in a candy store. Geet ended up moving in the very next day, much to Maan's pleasure. As excited as he was, he was also nervous. I mean, come on, it's not every day that the girl you are falling in love with is sleeping just down the hall. Maan was so afraid of saying something to upset or offend her; but more so, he was terrified of making a fool out of himself. He figured that as long as he kept up with his usual day-to-day schedule, not making any serious changes, then he would be just fine.

However, there was one thing that changed – Maan began coming home earlier. Ever since the wedding, Teji left the office either early or on time, but never late. Maan was the one that stayed back dealing with whatever needed to be dealt with. He really didn't mind – after all, who did he have at home waiting for him? Now, things had changed. Although Geet wasn't at home waiting for him, she was still at home – that's all that mattered. Maan made it a point to leave with Teji or shortly after. That way, it wasn't too obvious and yet he still made it home on time to join the family for dinner. During those dinners he had gotten a chance to have casual conversations with Geet and got to know her. That had to come in handy, right?

Only one problem – that arrangement didn't last for too long. A few weeks after Geet had moved in, KC (Khurana Constructions) received a big contract that had to be completed within a very limited time frame. Both Teji and Maan had to now stay at the office after hours. He still did get to see Geet, but not as much as he wanted to.

In the weeks after Geet had moved in, Maan got to see how devoted she was to her sister. Pammi was suffering from serious morning sickness – not just in the morning but pretty much all day. Geet took care of her every need without so much as batting an eyelash or wrinkling her nose. One night, when he and his brother had gotten home, they saw no sign of Pammi or Geet. The entire house was quiet except for the faint sound of running water coming from a bathroom. As they got closer and gently pushed the door open, they saw that Pammi was doubled over the sink, "puking her guts out" – according to Maan's account, of course. Geet was right there, by her side, holding her hair and gently rubbing her back. Immediately Teji dropped his briefcase and rushed inside to help Pammi. Only after setting a cold, wet washcloth on the counter within Teji Veerji's reach, did Geet come out. She then told Maan that Pammi had dared to eat something heavy and this is what ended up happening.

Due to work both Teji and himself were always wiped, weak and tired after they got home from work; basically good for nothing. It was Geet that had taken over the house hold. Pammi would tell her what needed to be done and Geet would take care of it. After that incident with her sister, Geet made it clear that Pammi would be staying on complete bed rest. Pammi Bhabi had tried to complain and make her understand that she was fine, but it didn't do any good because Geet had the full support of the Singh Khurana men and Biji – "no" was just not an option!

During the next month or so, it was Geet that was taking care of Pammi , Biji, Teji and of course, Maan. It was Geet that made sure they ate, she made sure they got home at a reasonable time, not too late. Everything was done for them, they were being spoiled, much to Biji's chagrin. According to her, it would be nice for the men to help out Geet; after all it was their house. Teji and Maan had even tried to offer their help but Geet would have no part of it. She said that Teji Veerji had to look after Pammi Bhabi leaving Maan to look after the business; she would manage the rest. Geet had even taken it upon herself to go with Pammi to her prenatal doctor's appointments – something Teji Veerji was grateful for when he couldn't go himself.

Pammi Bhabi was progressing well in her pregnancy and getting bigger and bigger by the day; not that it was a bad thing and not that they would tell her that – they valued their lives too much to do something stupid like that. Besides, she was happy and beautiful. Maan was really surprised because he finally understood why people said that pregnant women had a special glow about them. Another good thing was that the contract that Maan and Teji and been working on was finally over, which meant no more late nights.

On one particular day Teji Veerji had left the office early because Pammi Bhabi had a doctor's appointment and then they planned to do some shopping for the baby with Biji. Maan had figured that Geet had gone with them, like she always did. After a very long time, he would have the house to himself. Once he got home he went straight for the entertainment room – he had something to do and not much time to do it. He went over to the CD rack, reached in the back, pulled out a well-hidden CD and put it in the player, setting the volume at full blast. The CD was actually Michael Jackson's "Thriller" CD; it was a little known secret that this was Maan's favorite song. Maan knew that the workers would never say anything and he figured that the shopping party would be out for at least another hour – he was safe. By the time the song came on over the speakers Maan had managed to loosen his tie and get out of his shoes and coat. Soon, he was well into "the groove", as he called it – he was dancing like there was no tomorrow! It made him feel really good, carefree actually. Maan hadn't had the time or space to do this in a long time. It was odd, but for some reason this song and dancing to it managed to calm him down and reduce his stress.

Maan was shaking his "groove thang" with his back to the entrance of the room. While enjoying the music, he did a 360 degree spin on one foot; he spun around once and came to dead halt once he was standing in his original position (back to the door). His eyes bugged out in shock; did he really see what he thought he saw? He slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder, which is when he saw someone standing at the door; it was none other than Geet, of course. Just his luck – the girl he had the biggest high school crush on was watching him dancing, to "Thriller" no less, for God knows how long. At this point, Maan was about as bright red as a chili pepper, he felt just that hot too.

Moving as snail speed, Maan turned the song off; he thought if he went slow enough then maybe Geet won't see…Yeah right!! As the music stopped, Geet burst out in laughter. No one had ever laughed about Maan Singh Khurana, let alone laughing to his face. He was at a loss for words.

"Wow! Nice moves!" Geet said, as she gave him a thumbs up.

"Umm…errm…" What exactly was Maan supposed to say?

"Maybe you can teach the baby some day," Geet said as she smiled. The she began humming the song and copying the moves Maan had been doing just seconds ago.

Maan grabbed his coat, shoes and fled upstairs – literally FLED! Another first for Maan Singh Khurana, running away from something, that too a girl! What was happening to him? There was at least a small silver lining to this whole situation – Maan didn't trip over himself while he ran up the stairs.

At dinner that night everyone was seated and eating together. He had thought about skipping dinner all together, he couldn't face Geet. But then he didn't want to look like a complete loser who couldn't deal with one small, embarrassing moment. Who was he kidding? He was officially the biggest loser on the plant!!

Maan watched Geet, from under his eyelashes, as she made sure that everyone had what the needed before settling down herself. Maan had just taken a sip of water when he heard a very distinct hum coming from Geet – she was humming along to "Thriller". He chocked on the water and was pretty sure that some water even came out of his nose. This all caused Geet to burst out into laughter; once again at his cost.

"Maan, what happened? Are you ok?" Pammi Bhabi asked.

"Yeah Bhabi, I am fine," Maan managed to say in between his coughs. "Just down the wrong pipe."

This caused Geet to laugh even more and Maan to look down in shame. Pammi Bhabi was now looking back and forth between Geet and Maan. Could things get worse?

"No…no there's more to it. Geet, why are you laughing?" she asked.

Apparently things could get a lot worse, Maan thought as he groaned inwardly.

"What?" Geet said, suddenly caught off guard. "It's nothing Didi. Just say something hilarious this evening."

"Really? What? Tell us too, what's so funny?" Teji Veerji asked.

Maan closed is eyes and wished that he was anywhere but here. Here it comes, he thought, the end to his life as he knew it.

"Oh no, I couldn't tell you," Geet said.

Maan's head immediately shot up and looked straight at Geet. What was she doing?

"Come on Geet, share your joy," Teji Veerji pleaded.

"Usually I would Jiju, but not this time," she said.

"Don't be such a spoil sport! Why won't you tell us?" Teji Veerji asked annoyed.

"Because, it is something that is a secret joke between me and that other person – the rest of you are out of luck. So sorry," Geet said.

Maan breathed a sigh of relief right before he excused himself from the dinner table. Up in his room he was thinking about Geet. Shocker, right? Never in his life had anyone laughed at or teased Maan Singh Khurana – it just wasn't done. Now, here comes this girl that he really doesn't know much about, and she has him on his toes. He wants to see her all the time, he constantly thinks about her. She has the nerve to laugh at him and tease him. Oddly he didn't mind, he liked it. She has guts and she is fun. Maan really liked that Geet had said it was a special joke just for her and him. Ok, even as a joke…at least Geet thought he was special…right? But wait, did she think he was special as in 'special special' or special as in mentally challenged 'special'?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Present

A chuckle escaped his lips as he remembered the incident. It was possibly the most embarrassing moment of his life yet for Geet and her laughter, he'd relive that moment over and over again. Against his better judgment he walked into the room and placed the ice bucked on the coffee table before heading towards the CD player. Fishing around the stack of CD's he finally found what he had been looking for. Putting the CD in and pressing play, he skipped to the song he was interested in listening to. As the lyrics and music of "Thriller" came over the speakers, Maan found himself slipping to the ground as more memories flooded him.