Eager 2 knw about geet's past...maan's reaction after knowing it nd rahul's confession about da misunderstanding...
I truly love this ff
Plzzz update soon..will b waiting
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Chapter 10: Lost I
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"What did you do?" she demanded, striding angrily into the room. The disappointment could be seen clearly on her face. She frowned slightly when he remained mute, his face turned away from her.
"Maan beta, what did you say to Geet?" she questioned, her voice gentling when he turned and she could see the confusion in his face. "She was in tears," she said, quietly noting how he flinched at that revelation. "She tried leaving here wearing the clothes she soiled preparing for your son's birthday party," the accusation came despite that momentary understanding. "If I hadn't insisted on sending her with the driver, she would have walked home in those wet clothes! She didn't even have her purse with her! By the time Nakul came rushing after her with her belongings, it would have been too late. So, I ask again, what did you do to that sweet girl?" She crossed her arms and glared at her grandson.
Maan moved over the fireplace, his eyes trained on the flames that burned in the hearth. He could feel the fire inside of him, burning away pieces of his soul. He clenched his hands, his jaw tightening in frustration. He was so tired and so afraid that soon there would be nothing left of that old Maan.
"Mr. Maan Singh Khurana, what do you have to say about the allegations that your father had a mistress and kids?! What do you have to say about the fact that she is demanding their share?"
The Maan he used to be before he'd found out about his father's betrayal.
"Maan beta, what are we going to do? Your mother . . . my son . . . we've lost them both."
The Maan he used to be before he had heard of his parents' deaths.
"Bro, I can't marry Naintara. I'm sorry."
Before Dev had run away, leaving him to take responsibility.
"You might be dead inside, Maan bhai, but I'm not. I can't hate everybody just because your wife betrayed you. I love Arjun. I'm going with him, bhai, even if choosing him means that I have to live without you."
Before Annie had chosen Arjun over her family.
"I've always loved you, Maan, but you married that woman. I've waited years for you. Isn't it our time yet?"
Before Sameera had come tearing into their lives . . . Before Vicky . . . He cut off that train of thought, warning himself to not go any further. The wounds of that defeat were still too fresh. He rubbed absentmindedly at his chest, wishing that the burning pain would go away.
"Maan beta," Dadi Ma said insistently. "Was it because I gave her Annie's sari to wear?" she asked suddenly, the surprise apparent in her voice. "Was that it? This whole thing was because of Annie? Beta, I know you can be stubborn, but to hurt someone like that over old memories?"
"Dadi Ma, please," Maan said, turning to stare at his grandmother. "It has nothing to do with . . . don't bring her up. It had nothing to do with her."
"You can't even say her name," she noted sadly. Shaking her head, she inhaled and demanded, "Then why? Why was Geet crying? Why is Rahul in his room rather than at his own birthday party? Why won't either one of you talk to me? What happened?" Her tone was steely, and Maan knew that she wouldn't leave off unless she had some sort of answer.
"She's just like Sameera," he said vehemently. "She tried to seduce me when the lights went out. Rahul saw her and he's heartbroken. That's why he's not at his birthday party," he stated.
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Geet? Geet is like Sameera?" she asked incredulously, latching onto that ridiculous allegation. "Geet is a sweet, innocent woman, Maan! A woman of good morals. She is someone who has been scarred by the darkness of her past," Dadi Ma said softly, shaking her head at his inability to see the good in the one woman who had no evil in her.
Maan sighed deeply. "We all thought that about Sameera, as well," Maan reminded his grandmother. "She fooled all of us."
"Not all of us," his beloved grandmother retorted acerbically. "You were the only one."
Maan's eyes widened in surprise at that revelation.
"The truth is, beta, that we all saw through her gradually, but you . . . you were completely under her spell. Nothing got through to you," she said, emphasizing the 'nothing' in her phrase.
"You're saying that to me?" Maan demanded, his voice roughening with the pain that he couldn't hide from the woman that knew him best. "When you know that I wasn't the only one. The proof . . ." his voice trailed off.
"I don't mean to hurt you, Maan," she said softly, coming to stand by his side. Reaching out, she placed a loving hand against his cheek. "I saw through Sameera from the first week, but I never thought that she would do such harm to us all in such a short amount of time. If I had known, I would have asked her to leave."
"Dadi Ma," Maan began.
"And that is why I can say that you need to listen to me now," she continued, ignoring him. "You didn't listen to me last time," she reminded him gently. "Don't make the same mistake again." Patting his cheek, she turned and exited the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Maan stared at his grandmother's retreating figure, wondering what he could do. He felt so helpless. He hadn't realized, not until now when he had to grapple with the possibility of her leaving, how important she had become to him.
But the way Rahul had cried in his arms . . . his son couldn't have lied to him. He had seen the pain and fear in those teary eyes. Beyond those first few words, Rahul had said nothing, no matter how long Maan had stayed with him. The little boy would only cling to him, remaining stubbornly silent in the face of Maan's questions.
The hurt in Geet's eyes was still making him squirm. What if '? No. He shook his head impatiently. Rahul wouldn't lie to him. The boy had stopped talking to him due to Sameera's manipulations, but he had never lied.
He wouldn't doubt his son.
A pained look appeared on his face, as he fought his desire to believe in the woman he had come to know.
He couldn't doubt his son.
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"What did you do?" a voice demanded from the doorway.
"Get out," Maan growled at the woman standing behind him, not bothering to look at her.
Pari strode into the room, ignoring his command. "She was so shaken, Maan," she said, coming to stand in front of her boss. Folding her arms in front of her, she glared at him, waiting for some sort of response. "What did you say to her? What were you thinking?" she asked, when he made no effort to respond.
Maan turned and walked over to his desk. Sitting down, he began to rifle through the files in front of him. All the while, he avoided her gaze, unable to answer the questions he knew her eyes would be asking.
"That was it, wasn't it?" Pari said, coming to sit across from him. "You weren't thinking. You didn't think. You just became angry and began to spout all sorts of nonsense without a second thought, didn't you?" she demanded, smacking the table with her hand.
"I would never do that," Maan argued halfheartedly, flinching as Geet's pain filled eyes appeared before him once more. 'What if I was wrong? What if Rahul misunderstood something? What if . . . ?'
"That is what you do, Maan," Pari pointed out, settling back in her chair. "How many times have you gone off on me without knowing all of the facts? And you can't even apologize! There must be something wrong with me that I put up with it." She gazed at him quietly, shaking her head. "What is it with you Khurana men? Once you get a thought in your head . . ." she waved her hand, pushing aside that thought.
"What exactly do you know?" Maan demanded mulishly, refusing to concede anything in the face of her censor.
"I've been working for you for four years, Maan Singh Khurana," Pari remarked, looking at him steadfastly. She refused to let him look away. "From the first moment I met you, I fell under your spell. I was infatuated with you," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
He snorted at that. "Right. Infatuated. Then why the hell are you always questioning me and criticizing me?" he demanded, leaning forward in inquiry. "Where are the respect and the adulation that are supposed to come with that infatuation?"
"The pertinent word is 'was', Maan," Pari pointed out drily. "You shot me down so quickly when I came to confess my love. I understood. I'm a sensible girl. How could I expect you to love me, seeing as how you were still married at the time. Two years later, when I started working for you, that infatuation wore away pretty quickly."
"What, that fast?" he asked mockingly. "I guess you're just that shallow, Pari."
"You're just that mean, Maan Singh Khurana," she retorted. "I still can't believe the hoops you made me jump through to impress you with my degree and qualifications," she said reflectively. "But when I found out what a bear you could be, and how you had this tendency to get angry at every little thing . . . it was not very conducive to keep an infatuation going, you know?" she said, smiling at him. After a moment of silence, she tilted her head at him questioningly.
He shrugged and looked away from those damn questions. Pari had been around long enough to have an idea of his inner turmoil.
"When I came back and saw you again, you had changed so much," she said softly, after a moment's pause. "I was so surprised to see how much you had softened. Your relationship with Rahul had gotten better. You were taking care of yourself. And you were smiling."
"Pari, you're my employee," he reminded her grimly. "Do you really think that you can talk like that to me?"
"I know you a lot better than you think I do. I've been here, Maan, through everything. I've seen how you act and react. And I see you now." She leaned forward, her eyes glinting mischievously at him.
He mimicked that motion unconsciously, leaning forward to hear what she could say.
"This birthday today, you wouldn't have allowed anything like that a year or even six months ago. You love your son, but you hate being put on display. You said yes when Dadi Ma suggested it. You came home early when you're the worst workaholic in the office," she said.
Maan frowned at her impertinence. Opening his mouth, he readied to blast her for her impudence. "Yo--'"
"Geet did all of that," she said in wonder, blithely overriding his attempts to speak. "She changed you as no other woman has before. Not in a good way, at least," she said musingly. "That woman was good for you, and you just kicked her out." She shook her head, her lips tightening at his continued silence.
Her hands clenched into fists when she saw the mingling looks of regret and stubbornness on his face.
"You made a mistake, Maan Singh Khurana," she said, getting up abruptly. "I just hope that you have the brains to admit it before it's too late." Getting up, she turned and walked to the door. Throwing him a final pitying glance, she left the room, closing the door behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Maan sat staring into the flames once more. He had spent the last two hours trying to convince himself that he had done the right thing. His mind refused to stop circling around the events that had occurred earlier that evening. He had come to the only conclusion that he could. The trust between him and his son was too fragile for him to break it by refusing to believe Rahul's words. It didn't matter whether Geet had conspired to trap him or whether she was innocent, but he could not keep her in his employment if his son did not feel safe around her.
Warily settling back in his chair, he closed his eyes on a heavy sigh. Beautiful eyes flashed across the backs of his eyelids. Her eyes. The red flush of her cheeks. His hands clenched, as if trying to hold on to her ephemeral warmth. His body tightened, as her phantom softness landed against him once more.
He forced his eyes open, a muscled twitching in his jaw. She was everywhere. How was it that in such a short amount of time, she had invaded every corner of his home? Naintara hadn't been able to do that in the years that she had resided here. And Sameera was barely a glimmer.
There was a timid knock on the door. He frowned slightly, deciding not to answer. He wasn't in the mood for any more lectures. It was about Nakul's turn to appear, and the man had a tendency to sulk right in front of you and a way of silently admonishing you with his eyes that got on his nerves. If he hadn't been Dadi Ma's favorite retainer, Maan would have put him in his place years ago.
He remained silent, wanting whoever it was on the other side of that door to go away. But the door slowly opened, and Maan's eyes narrowed at the temerity of that person. He took a deep breath, ready to blast whoever was going to come through.
But the worried eyes peering at him from around the door silenced him more quickly than anything else could have. He forced himself to relax, making the effort to smile for his son. "Why aren't you in bed? It's way past your bedtime, Rahul."
Rahul smiled instead of replying, and made his way to his father's side. Stopping by his chair for a moment, Rahul stared up at him before climbing into his lap. His hand latched onto Maan's smallest finger, and he rested his head against his father's heart, listening contemplatively to his heartbeat.
Maan wrapped an arm around Rahul, and went back to his brooding.
"I'm sorry, daddy," he finally said.
"For what?" Maan asked, gazing at his son's down bent head.
"I cried," Rahul said. "And I didn't go to my birthday party even when Dadi Ma told me to. She worked so hard on it and I spoiled it."
"Hmm," Maan murmured, smoothing a loving hand over Rahul's head.
"But . . . but you were hugging Geet didi," Rahul said petulantly. "You're my daddy. You're not her daddy."
"God no!" Maan blurted out, his body clenching in quick rejection of that thought.
"But why did you have to hug her?" Rahul demanded. "She's going to become like Sameera! I heard her daddy," Rahul said suddenly, clutching at Maan's shirt. "Sameera said that she would hug you, and you would love her and only her. She said that this was why she was here. To make you hers."
Maan froze at those words. "What do you mean?" he asked, forcing himself to speak past the constriction in his throat. "You heard Sameera saying all of these things?"
"She would talk to people on the phone about you," Rahul mumbled. "And she would laugh about it."
"And Geet said the same thing?" Maan asked, his heart beating furiously as he waited for the answer.
Rahul looked up suddenly. "Geet didi never said that!"
"But . . . when you saw me hugging Geet, you said . . ."
"Geet didi never said that!" Rahul said hotly, defending her despite what he had seen.
"Then why?" Maan asked helplessly.
"I saw her hugging you, daddy! She's my nanny. You're my daddy," he said, confused by thoughts and feelings he couldn't seem to express to his father. "You hugged Sameera, and Sameera was mean. What if . . . why did you have to hug her, daddy? Do you . . . do you love her more than me?"
"She was afraid, Rahul," Maan murmured heavily, affected by the confirmation of his mistake.
Rahul had been confused and hurt. He had reacted to a vision straight out of his own nightmares, and had somehow mixed that up with memories of Sameera's machinations. The 'her' in his words had never been Geet. He'd hurt that innocent woman out of a fierce need to protect his child, and to protect himself from more betrayal. But was that any excuse? He hadn't even bothered to react to the revelation of her secrets. He hadn't showed any compassion or concern. He closed his eyes, silently cursing himself.
"Daddy?" Rahul asked worriedly, knowing that something was wrong, but unsure of what it could be.
"When you have nightmares, don't I hug you? And Geet does the same, doesn't she?" Maan said hoarsely, forcing himself under control
"She had a nightmare?" Rahul asked brokenly, trying to understand. "She was scared?"
"She was afraid of the dark," Maan muttered, remembering how she had clung to him when he'd come into the room. Maan pulled Rahul close once more. "It was nothing more," he reassured the boy, realizing, as he said the words, he was lying to himself.
"Is Geet didi mad at me? I think she's hiding from me. I looked for her everywhere. She's mad at me, isn't she?" Rahul asked morosely. "I was so mean to her. I tried to hit her," he said in a horrified tone of voice.
"She went home," Maan said in reply.
Rahul's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"Why don't we go and find out if she's mad at you?" Maan suggested.
"Right now?" Rahul asked in surprise.
"Right now," Maan said resolutely, not bothering to fight against the sudden urge to go to her. He didn't question the relief that was bubbling up inside of him.
He got up and strode to the door, Rahul still in his arms. Father and son made their way to Maan's car, stopping only long enough to make a quick explanation to Dadi Ma and to put on their jackets. Half an hour later the two were in front of Geet's door. Grasping Rahul's hand, Maan strode up the stairs, ready to knock on her door. To apologize for his mistake. To beg, if necessary.
Maan took a deep breath, and realized, with surprise, that his hands were shaking.
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A/N: Hey everybody, thank you for your patience. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to leave lots of feedback! š
awesome dearš, finally maan made a move, hope geet stand strong
pls update soon dearCOVER BY AISHWARYA (Mystic_Muse) SUMMARY Suzanne Miller , an Indian Origin Canadian Citizen adopted by the Miller family, who goes on a quest to...
From the author's desk : Welcome to thread 6! I started to write this story years ago when the show was live and now when I look back on what...
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