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Chapter 15
With nothing to do other than sit quietly, Geet thought back to her meeting with the private investigator earlier that day. The man had been very nice but when she asked about cost, he couldn't give her any positive news. He said that even the simplest missing person cases would start at Rs. 20,000, and if it took longer, or became more complicated, the price would only rise. If she wanted to look for a place that charged less, she was running the risk of being scammed. Geet had no idea where to come up with so much money, or even how much money she would need. All these confusing thoughts continued to fill her mind until the ringing phone interrupted.
"Geet Beti, how are you? I was a little worried that you haven't come home yet."
"I'm fine, Dadima," answered Geet after hearing the pleasant voice of Savitri on the other line. "I don't know when I'll be home. Maybe not for another hour or more."
"I see. I assume Maan is still there. Will you transfer me to him, please?"
Geet cringed at the request, quickly saying, "No, Dadima, I can't. He was adamant that I not transfer any calls to him. If I don't follow his orders, he will be so angry and fire me."
It was only at that point that Geet realized a very important fact. "Dadima," she gasped, "you knew that MK was really Maan, didn't you? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I'm sorry, Beti, but you seemed so intent on taking the job, I just couldn't spoil it for you. Was the first day very bad?"
Geet briefly gave a disgusted glance at Maan, who had his head buried in some report, before complaining, "It was awful Dadima. He yelled at me infront of the whole office, and I know that he wanted me to quit, but I wouldn't. I told him he could fire me if he wanted, but he hasn't done so yet. He probably is trying to think of ways to make me give up, but I won't."
Savitri commiserated with Geet, secretly admiring the girl's spunk. After giving her some encouraging words, along with a request to come home as soon as she could, Savitri said goodbye. Once the call was over, Geet was again left with nothing to do but think. She turned her mind back to her money problem, but eventually even that was not enough to keep her tired mind from drifting off to sleep.
Maan had a very productive few hours, completing a lot of changes on the blueprints for the Noida project. Now they were ready to be finalized and he could finally go home. As he was packing things away, he remembered to turn his cellphone back on, which began ringing just a few seconds later. Seeing that it was Savitri calling, Maan answered immediately.
"So," he heard the commanding voice of his grandmother, "you've become so big that now you don't even receive my calls."
Maan's brows bunched together in confusion as he answered, "But Dadima, when have I never taken your call?"
"Just today. You told your secretary not to accept any calls, not even my calls. That was not right, Maan. You know that I have heart palpitations. Suppose there was something wrong and I needed to contact you?"
"This Geet! Never does anything right," cursed Maan, before his mind actually caught up with the facts. "Wait a minute. Don't you use that heart problem excuse on me, Dadima. You must have known that Geet took the job as my secretary. How could you let her do that? I don't want her in KC. This is not acceptable to me."
"Yes, I did know that Geet accepted the job as your secretary, and I can imagine what your reaction would have been, but I didn't think it was fair to stop the child from doing something that she wanted to do."
"But, Dadima, this is an impossible situation. It certainly doesn't fall within our agreement. Just what do you expect of me?"
"What I expect is that you put your personal feelings aside and act the way the MD of Khurana Constructions would act." Savitri's words and tone stung Maan, but he continued to listen. "Who you employ at the office should not be affected by your personal issues, but by their abilities to do the job. I want you to ask yourself what you would do if Geet was a stranger, not someone that you already have a past with. The fair minded Maan Khurana that I know would give her the same chance that he would give to anyone else. That is all I want. And be assured, Geet working as your secretary will not affect our agreement, I promise you."
Maan didn't want to follow her words, but in the end he said, "Alright, Dadima, I will give her a chance, for you, but I expect you to keep to your word."
"Of course, Beta. Now, it's much too late and I don't want you to keep the child there any longer. You both need to come home right away."
Cutting the call, Maan couldn't contain his surprise to find out that Geet was still there. Striding off towards her office, he opened the door angrily, intending to give her a good scolding. When he saw that she was asleep, his ire cooled down slightly, but he was still annoyed that now he was put to the trouble of waking her. Five minutes later he was back in his own office even more annoyed.
"This girl is going to make me crazy! She and Dadima both. I can't believe that Dadima actually talked me into giving such a lack-brained creature a chance. Well, she can just find her own way home, I'm certainly not going to have anything more to do with her tonight."
Maan then saw the clock on his wall and realized that it was already ten. Before he could stop himself, he wondered how she would be able to get back home so late on her own. He actually felt a little bad that she had stayed so long, before his brain kicked in again. He reasoned that any other secretary would also have stayed, but not only that, she must have a car waiting to take her home, just as he did. Picking up his things he made his way out of the office and down to the waiting car.
The car had just pulled out of the back entrance and began pulling around the side of the building when Maan saw a sight that he really didn't want to see. Geet was standing alone at a spot that was a common pick up for autorickshaws, with two men and their bikes in front of her. It was obvious that they were harassing her, something that he would not tolerate, not against her or any other woman.
Geet had been quit concerned at the two men's behavior and was just starting to reach into her bag when Maan showed up. As if he did that sort of thing all the time, after striking one of them on the cheek, he confidently told them to leave. Geet was glad the men were gone, but when Maan turned to look at her with those mocking eyes, she couldn't take it.
"Get in the car," he said, sounding so superior it was unbelievable.
"You don't need to put yourself to any trouble for me," she responded, avoiding his gaze. "I can make my own way home."
"Geet, you will never find a taxi or an auto here at this time of night. Don't be stubborn and get in the car."
"Don't worry about me," she fired back and tried to leave, but he blocked her way.
When Maan grabbed her wrist, Geet's fighting instincts finally roused slightly and she began to tug at his hold. Maan ignored her loud complaints and demands to be let go, opening the back car door and shoving her inside. He then quickly got in the other side and told Mohan to leave. Even being stuck inside the car wasn't enough to quiet Geet, who demanded to be let out on the reasoning that she didn't want to ride home with him.
Finally Maan had had enough, spitting out, "Don't give me any attitude!" which finally shut the complaining Geet up.
"You've been troubling me all day, and now you're still doing the same? Do you realize that Dadima's health is not good? You don't give me her phone when she calls, not caring that she may have needed something from me, and now you don't care that she is probably at home, worrying about where we are. Just stop your nonsense right now. If you can't say anything sensible, then just shut up and sit quietly."
Geet looked at Maan and asked softly, "Is Dadima really sick?" not wanting to believe any such thing. Maan just looked at her without speaking, and Geet also did not have anything else to say. Soon Maan had his phone out, checking it's messages, while Geet sat silently, wondering what kind of man he was. He was so mean on the outside, could barely say one nice word, and yet he had made those men leave and was taking her home.
Naintara waited for Dev to finish in the bathroom as she wanted to speak with him. She didn't like how calmly he was taking the whole marriage between Maan veerji and Geet, nor how he seemed to have meekly accepted his pathetic position in the Khurana household. Maan veerji was a lost cause for the time being, and Geet a non entity. That left only Dadima as the one they needed to concentrate on, and she intended that Dev should start trying to rebuild his relationship with her.
As these thoughts swirled around in her head, her phone went off unexpectedly. Not knowing who could be calling her at such a late time, Naintara quickly picked it up. When she saw the caller id, she got out of bed and left the room, looking to see if there were any servants about before she answered.
"I told you never to call me unless it was an emergency," she said as she answered.
"Escaped! What do you mean, escaped?" was her question when the reason for the call was explained.
"Didn't you send out search parties? How far could... Two days? It's been two days and you are only informing me now? No, who knows, it's better if you get out of the area immediately. Yes, I will make sure that you get your final payment. Don't call me again!"
Naintara hung up the phone angrily, all thoughts of pacifying Savitri out of her head. Now that she was fully aware of the situation, she realized that she had much bigger problems at the moment. If she made one wrong move, it would mean her downfall. Ever since Maan veerji caught them in Hoshiarpur, nothing seemed to be going right.
"Maan veerji! Maan veerji will kill me if he finds out what I have done!"
Precap
"Geet, come to the third floor conference room!"
With nothing to do other than sit quietly, Geet thought back to her meeting with the private investigator earlier that day. The man had been very nice but when she asked about cost, he couldn't give her any positive news. He said that even the simplest missing person cases would start at Rs. 20,000, and if it took longer, or became more complicated, the price would only rise. If she wanted to look for a place that charged less, she was running the risk of being scammed. Geet had no idea where to come up with so much money, or even how much money she would need. All these confusing thoughts continued to fill her mind until the ringing phone interrupted.
"Geet Beti, how are you? I was a little worried that you haven't come home yet."
"I'm fine, Dadima," answered Geet after hearing the pleasant voice of Savitri on the other line. "I don't know when I'll be home. Maybe not for another hour or more."
"I see. I assume Maan is still there. Will you transfer me to him, please?"
Geet cringed at the request, quickly saying, "No, Dadima, I can't. He was adamant that I not transfer any calls to him. If I don't follow his orders, he will be so angry and fire me."
It was only at that point that Geet realized a very important fact. "Dadima," she gasped, "you knew that MK was really Maan, didn't you? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I'm sorry, Beti, but you seemed so intent on taking the job, I just couldn't spoil it for you. Was the first day very bad?"
Geet briefly gave a disgusted glance at Maan, who had his head buried in some report, before complaining, "It was awful Dadima. He yelled at me infront of the whole office, and I know that he wanted me to quit, but I wouldn't. I told him he could fire me if he wanted, but he hasn't done so yet. He probably is trying to think of ways to make me give up, but I won't."
Savitri commiserated with Geet, secretly admiring the girl's spunk. After giving her some encouraging words, along with a request to come home as soon as she could, Savitri said goodbye. Once the call was over, Geet was again left with nothing to do but think. She turned her mind back to her money problem, but eventually even that was not enough to keep her tired mind from drifting off to sleep.
Maan had a very productive few hours, completing a lot of changes on the blueprints for the Noida project. Now they were ready to be finalized and he could finally go home. As he was packing things away, he remembered to turn his cellphone back on, which began ringing just a few seconds later. Seeing that it was Savitri calling, Maan answered immediately.
"So," he heard the commanding voice of his grandmother, "you've become so big that now you don't even receive my calls."
Maan's brows bunched together in confusion as he answered, "But Dadima, when have I never taken your call?"
"Just today. You told your secretary not to accept any calls, not even my calls. That was not right, Maan. You know that I have heart palpitations. Suppose there was something wrong and I needed to contact you?"
"This Geet! Never does anything right," cursed Maan, before his mind actually caught up with the facts. "Wait a minute. Don't you use that heart problem excuse on me, Dadima. You must have known that Geet took the job as my secretary. How could you let her do that? I don't want her in KC. This is not acceptable to me."
"Yes, I did know that Geet accepted the job as your secretary, and I can imagine what your reaction would have been, but I didn't think it was fair to stop the child from doing something that she wanted to do."
"But, Dadima, this is an impossible situation. It certainly doesn't fall within our agreement. Just what do you expect of me?"
"What I expect is that you put your personal feelings aside and act the way the MD of Khurana Constructions would act." Savitri's words and tone stung Maan, but he continued to listen. "Who you employ at the office should not be affected by your personal issues, but by their abilities to do the job. I want you to ask yourself what you would do if Geet was a stranger, not someone that you already have a past with. The fair minded Maan Khurana that I know would give her the same chance that he would give to anyone else. That is all I want. And be assured, Geet working as your secretary will not affect our agreement, I promise you."
Maan didn't want to follow her words, but in the end he said, "Alright, Dadima, I will give her a chance, for you, but I expect you to keep to your word."
"Of course, Beta. Now, it's much too late and I don't want you to keep the child there any longer. You both need to come home right away."
Cutting the call, Maan couldn't contain his surprise to find out that Geet was still there. Striding off towards her office, he opened the door angrily, intending to give her a good scolding. When he saw that she was asleep, his ire cooled down slightly, but he was still annoyed that now he was put to the trouble of waking her. Five minutes later he was back in his own office even more annoyed.
"This girl is going to make me crazy! She and Dadima both. I can't believe that Dadima actually talked me into giving such a lack-brained creature a chance. Well, she can just find her own way home, I'm certainly not going to have anything more to do with her tonight."
Maan then saw the clock on his wall and realized that it was already ten. Before he could stop himself, he wondered how she would be able to get back home so late on her own. He actually felt a little bad that she had stayed so long, before his brain kicked in again. He reasoned that any other secretary would also have stayed, but not only that, she must have a car waiting to take her home, just as he did. Picking up his things he made his way out of the office and down to the waiting car.
The car had just pulled out of the back entrance and began pulling around the side of the building when Maan saw a sight that he really didn't want to see. Geet was standing alone at a spot that was a common pick up for autorickshaws, with two men and their bikes in front of her. It was obvious that they were harassing her, something that he would not tolerate, not against her or any other woman.
Geet had been quit concerned at the two men's behavior and was just starting to reach into her bag when Maan showed up. As if he did that sort of thing all the time, after striking one of them on the cheek, he confidently told them to leave. Geet was glad the men were gone, but when Maan turned to look at her with those mocking eyes, she couldn't take it.
"Get in the car," he said, sounding so superior it was unbelievable.
"You don't need to put yourself to any trouble for me," she responded, avoiding his gaze. "I can make my own way home."
"Geet, you will never find a taxi or an auto here at this time of night. Don't be stubborn and get in the car."
"Don't worry about me," she fired back and tried to leave, but he blocked her way.
When Maan grabbed her wrist, Geet's fighting instincts finally roused slightly and she began to tug at his hold. Maan ignored her loud complaints and demands to be let go, opening the back car door and shoving her inside. He then quickly got in the other side and told Mohan to leave. Even being stuck inside the car wasn't enough to quiet Geet, who demanded to be let out on the reasoning that she didn't want to ride home with him.
Finally Maan had had enough, spitting out, "Don't give me any attitude!" which finally shut the complaining Geet up.
"You've been troubling me all day, and now you're still doing the same? Do you realize that Dadima's health is not good? You don't give me her phone when she calls, not caring that she may have needed something from me, and now you don't care that she is probably at home, worrying about where we are. Just stop your nonsense right now. If you can't say anything sensible, then just shut up and sit quietly."
Geet looked at Maan and asked softly, "Is Dadima really sick?" not wanting to believe any such thing. Maan just looked at her without speaking, and Geet also did not have anything else to say. Soon Maan had his phone out, checking it's messages, while Geet sat silently, wondering what kind of man he was. He was so mean on the outside, could barely say one nice word, and yet he had made those men leave and was taking her home.
Naintara waited for Dev to finish in the bathroom as she wanted to speak with him. She didn't like how calmly he was taking the whole marriage between Maan veerji and Geet, nor how he seemed to have meekly accepted his pathetic position in the Khurana household. Maan veerji was a lost cause for the time being, and Geet a non entity. That left only Dadima as the one they needed to concentrate on, and she intended that Dev should start trying to rebuild his relationship with her.
As these thoughts swirled around in her head, her phone went off unexpectedly. Not knowing who could be calling her at such a late time, Naintara quickly picked it up. When she saw the caller id, she got out of bed and left the room, looking to see if there were any servants about before she answered.
"I told you never to call me unless it was an emergency," she said as she answered.
"Escaped! What do you mean, escaped?" was her question when the reason for the call was explained.
"Didn't you send out search parties? How far could... Two days? It's been two days and you are only informing me now? No, who knows, it's better if you get out of the area immediately. Yes, I will make sure that you get your final payment. Don't call me again!"
Naintara hung up the phone angrily, all thoughts of pacifying Savitri out of her head. Now that she was fully aware of the situation, she realized that she had much bigger problems at the moment. If she made one wrong move, it would mean her downfall. Ever since Maan veerji caught them in Hoshiarpur, nothing seemed to be going right.
"Maan veerji! Maan veerji will kill me if he finds out what I have done!"
Precap
"Geet, come to the third floor conference room!"
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