Maneet FF: Finally Found Ya, Epilogue (p102) Mar19,2015 - Page 24

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Chapter 11: Lost II

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"What happened?" Maan said, making a jerky movement, as if to move toward her. His hand was stretched out, almost as if he wanted to touch those scars. But he stopped, his lips tightening.

Geet stared at him, her skin heating as his eyes moved over her body, seeing bare skin that hadn't seen the light of day in so many years. She wanted to cover herself, to hide those scars, but she held still wanting him to see and to know why she would never dare to attempt a seduction.

"I . . . Leave for now Ms. Handa," Maan said brusquely, moving toward the connecting door. "I need to take care of Rahul right now."

"But . . . sir," she began hesitantly, appalled that her revelation had been for naught.

"We will discuss all this later." Saying those words, he turned and moved through the doors and was gone.

Geet sat in the car, her eyes trained unseeing on the sights outside of the window. Her mind was still mulling over what had happened. Her hands clenched in her lap, as she wondered about what she could do. Everything had soured so quickly. How could she make them believe that nothing had been planned and that hug hadn't meant the beginning of a seduction?

She frowned, forcing herself to breathe deeply and calm down. Getting agitated about it and driving herself into depression wasn't going to help anyone. Least of all her.

"I heard her, daddy. I heard her say that she would come to you and hug you. She said that you would love her and only her. She said that this was why she was here. To make you hers and to steal you away from us."

When Rahul had first said the accusatory words, she'd been surprised. There had been shock and a sense of unreality at that moment. Then the hurt had come welling up, as she'd tried to grapple with her disbelief over the fact that Rahul would distrust her so much. She'd seen the anger in his eyes, and his desire to hurt her when he'd flung himself at her.

But now that she'd had time to calm down, she could see beyond those words to the fear and hysteria Rahul had been suffering from. She could see the hurt. That little boy had lashed out because he'd been hurting himself.

She felt no anger. The things Rahul had said hadn't meant to hurt her. He hadn't thought; he'd only reacted to his fear of Sameera. He was young and incapable of processing the hug he had seen in a manner that would reveal the truth of it to him. Also, he'd had Sameera's poisonous words still stuck in his mind.

But Maan was an adult, capable of processing and deductive reasoning. But he hadn't taken a moment to think or doubt the information he had been given. Why had he been so ready to believe? He had turned everything between them, as little as it was, into a part of this great big conspiracy of seduction; he'd colored everything with his cynicism and had tainted every moment that she had spent with him.

She clenched her teeth, as tears appeared in her eyes once more. When she'd shown him her scars, he hadn't said a word. He hadn't needed to. She'd seen a certain emotion in his eyes. Now that she'd had time to think on it, she could almost identify it as disgust. The anger had continued to burn. She inhaled sharply, battling the sudden upsurge of hurt. He truly thought that she had tried to seduce him! His disgust had been for her efforts and her flawed body.

Her chin began to quiver as the pain overpowered her and tears began to fall one by one. She'd given her heart to the two of them, but Maan hadn't even taken a moment to throw her out of their lives.

She roughly knuckled away the tears, stiffening her wobbly lip. Okay, so Sameera had been a crazy b****, and both Maan and Rahul had been burned. But did that mean that he could turn on her without a second thought or doubt? She had expected more from the man that she had come to know as Maan Singh Khurana.

"Geet, ma'am," a voice intruded on her thoughts. "We've arrived at your home."

Geet turned to the open door, and saw the driver peering inside from the open doorway. His face wore an open expression of sympathy.

"Thank you," she said huskily, getting out from the car. She trembled slightly in the cold air, becoming all too aware of her wet clothing.

"Dadi Ma wanted me to come pick you up tomorrow," he said. "What time should I come?"

Dadi Ma. Geet remembered how worried the older woman had been when Geet had left the house. Not being able to see that wonderful woman again. That was just one more thing she regretted.

"I won't be coming back," Geet said quietly. "Maan Sir has already made his wishes clear." Saying those words, she hurried up the steps of her home and walked inside. She ignored the calls of the man she had left standing behind. Maan Singh Khurana could make all the explanations.

Greeting her parents, she quickly moved past them, choosing to ignore the worried looks on their faces. She knew that her face was red and her eyes swollen. They would know that she had been crying. But she didn't have the courage to explain right now.

Going to her room, she resolutely closed the door behind her. Quickly throwing off her soiled clothes, she fell into bed, pulling the covers over her head. It was then that she allowed herself to breathe deeply, forcing her body to relax.

Pulling down the covers, she glared at the ceiling. She wouldn't go back. Why bother? He would only fire her when she showed up. It would be better to end it now on her own terms. School was going to start in a week anyway. She had more important things to worry about now than two males who did not trust her.

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"Aapka humsafar aapki zindagi mein aaj hi aane wala hai . . . yeh lo taveez. Isse usse pehna dena, phir dekhna. Babaji ki mehar aap dono par hamesha rahe gi."

Geet stared at the taveez in her hand, smiling sadly for the young girl who had actually believed that fortuneteller's words. When the man had said that she would meet her soulmate on that day, her heart had begun to beat furiously, as she tried to imagine the man. Despite the reality of her life, she had allowed herself to dream foolishly. When the fortuneteller had given her the charm, telling her to give it to her soulmate, she'd clutched it to her, imagining how she would put it around this faceless man's neck, so that the charm would protect both her and him.

That sunny day, when her papa ji had agreed to take her and her cousins to the festival, had started out as a happy day. They'd bought trinkets and taken rides, and Geet had been able to push away the darkness in her life. She'd been able to forget that her family was forcing her to quit school. She was able to forget, for a few moments, the man her grandfather and her cousin had found for her to marry. She'd been able to forget her nightmares, and dream a beautiful dream.

Her sister-in-law had been the one to see the fortuneteller, and she had eagerly urged Geet toward him. Geet had sat before the man, who crowed in delight when he had seen her fortune. Geet had actually believed him at that moment, taking some much needed courage from his words. Only . . . she had never meant that man. Her soulmate had never come. And the subsequent events had stolen away her ability to dream.

"I told you to stay near the family! How dare you shame us in that manner?" he bellowed at her, his facing turning red with the anger.

"But . . . Veer ji, I don't know how it happened," Geet tried to explain in vain. "One minute I was with Dolly bhabi, and, the next, I was all alone. I don't know where she went," she said in a small voice, knowing that the explanation wouldn't suffice.

"What are you saying, Geet?" Dolly asked with a gasp. "It's not my fault that you wandered off on your own. I was looking for you," she hotly defended herself.

"There's no excuse!" Brij shouted, advancing toward Geet, his hands clenched into fists. "You're a woman and you know your place in this world. You are supposed to follow us. And when I found you . . . you were with those men," he spat at her.

"But . . . they were chasing me," she said, trying to defend herself. "I didn't mean for them to come after me."

"If your in-laws find out what happened today," he said through gritted teeth, "They will break the relation. Then what will you do? Or was that your purpose?" he said in a dangerously soft tone, a hand coming up to grip the back of her neck.

Despite the pain, Geet raised her head, the anger beginning to sparkle in her eyes. The fortuneteller's words were still running through her head, and she took hope from them. "I won't marry him! They are not my in-laws." She refused to wince, even as Brij Veer Ji's hold on her neck became bruising.

"What did you say?" Daar Ji demanded from where he had been sitting. "You dare to question my decision?"

"I don't understand . . . why do I have to marry that man? Are you so desperate to marry me off that you'd marry to a man of his age?" Geet asked, the tears welling up in her eyes. "I want to study. I want to go to a university and get a degree. I want to be able to stand on my own two feet," she said, the tears beginning to fall. Seeing the closed expressions on her grandfather's and Brij Veer ji's face, she knew that they would never understand.

"Beta Ji, please don't talk that way," her father pleaded with her. She knew there was nothing her father would do to help her. He expected her to bow down to her grandfather's dictates, the way he had done all his life.

"How dare you to talk to Daar Ji like that?" Brij growled, shaking her roughly. "You are a daughter of this house. You do what we say. You live the way we tell you to. You breathe, because we allow it. Don't push me too far," he warned her, shoving her away in disgust.

Geet fell back, stumbling against something. She stumbled and fell, hearing the shocked cries from everyone around her. Suddenly there was a burst of pain, it receded, and the world took on a hazy quality.

She was burning. She knew it. She could hear the horrified cries of her parents as they watched her burning before their eyes. She felt the hands rolling her on the ground, trying to douse the flames.

"Beta ji! Are you okay? Please, answer me. Beta Ji!" It was her father's voice, filled with worry.

She couldn't answer, no matter how hard she tried. Everything was receding, until there was only darkness.

Geet stared at the scars on her arms and chest. They were the direct result of Brij Veer ji's anger. A result of her refusing to marry a man that was twice her age. A result of being the wrong gender. It was also the reason why she had been freed from marrying against her wishes.

She'd been burned. She had scars. And that man had refused to marry her. She'd been saved, but her poor cousin had become the sacrifice. Not being able to give one daughter, when they had made a promise, Daar Ji and Brij decided to give Rajji instead. Rajji, who was two years younger than her and nowhere near ready for marriage.

When she'd been able to get up from her bed, she'd locked this taveez away, knowing that it was hopeless to dream. As long as there were men like Daar Ji and Brij in her family, she would never be able to accomplish any of her dreams.

"You're disgusting now. No one will want you. Women truly are good for nothing. And you . . . you are the worst of the lot."

A feeling of sickness grew inside of her, as she stared at those scars. There would be no one who could accept her with her scars. Not even him.

An image of that man appeared in her mind. Her hand curled around the taveez, her eyes closing in rejection. His eyes sparked at her angrily from the back of her eyelids. Her eyes flew open. There he was, smiling lazily at her from the corner of her room. He casually leaned back against the wall and crossed those arms across his chest.

She turned away from his phantom, staring resolutely at the wall. She gasped when the poster on her wall became his face. She groaned in disbelief, as she saw his half naked body, with him cheekily flexing his muscles at her.

She lay back down in bed, pulling the covers over her head.

He had no right being here. No right to be in her thoughts. She'd never been one wanting or hoping for useless things. And wanting to see him again was the most useless thing she could hope for.

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"Beta Ji, you're still awake?" her father asked in surprise, when Geet trudged into the living room. "You always tell me that you need a full night's sleep since your charge has so much energy." He smiled at her, leaving the way open for her to talk. He could see the worry on her face, and the traces of her tears. He knew that his daughter had been crying. But there was no reaction on his face, and his smile let her know that he was there for her.

"Geet, are you ready for some food, now?" her mother, broke in with worry. "You have been in your room for hours and haven't eaten a thing. I can bring you som--"

"Maa," Geet began, looking at her calmly. "Papa Ji," she said, turning to gaze at him, as well. "I . . ." she took a deep breath, "I won't be going back to work," she finally found the courage to say.

"But why?" her mother asked in surprise. "You said that you loved working there, and it was a great way to make some money for school. They were even willing to accommodate you once school started."

Geet inhaled abruptly, tears appearing in her eyes once more. She was exhausted. She'd thought that there were no more tears, but they kept coming.

"Geet, you love that little boy," her father murmured, looking at her in worry. "How can you just abandon him without any notice? Doesn't he need you? That's what you told us," he reminded her.

Geet bit at her lip, wondering how much she could tell her parents. She wasn't in the habit of hiding anything from them, but the truth would only hurt them. They adored her, the same way that she loved and revered them. It would hurt them too much to know what she'd had to face today.

"Papa Ji, something happened this evening, and Maan Sir told me that it would be better if I not come anymore," she finally said, hoping that her parents wouldn't ask any more questions.

"What could have happened?" her mother asked in wonder. "Why would they fire you? They loved you."

Geet's lips trembled at that word. "There was an issue with Rahul," she said with difficulty. "He's had some issues with his previous nanny. I told you about that, right? There was a misunderstanding, and he had a bad reaction to me today. Maan Sir said that it might be better for him to not have a nanny for a while. That's a-all," she said, her voice breaking on the lie.

"But what happened?" her mother asked gently. "What misunderstanding?"

"It's okay, beta ji," her father quickly said, as he saw the tears threatening to fall. "I'm sure that you have made your peace with this decision, no matter why or how it came about. We won't question you any further."

Geet nodded gratefully, smiling thankfully at her father.

"Maa, do you wan--" She broke off when there was a knock at the door. She looked at her parents, silently questioning them if they were expecting someone.

Her father shook his head, wearing a look of confusion.

"Who could that be?" her mother murmured, gazing at the clock and back at the door. "This late? I hope everything is alright."

"I'll get it," Geet murmured, striding down the hallway to the front door. She opened it and stood gazing in surprise at the person on the other side.

"Geet?" a voice murmured.

Geet nodded.

There was a short pause. "I'm sorry for coming at this late hour."

"Don't worry about it," Geet responded, smiling tremulously. "Please, come in," Geet murmured, moving aside. "You know you're always welcome here, Pammi bhabi."