MG Dancing Frm the Ashes 2 Chp 56 pg 39 - Page 12

It had been a crazy week, filled with so many colours, so many emotions, she didn't know where the memories began and where they ended.

It had been two weeks since the joyride had begun. Vicky had taken her out every day. There had been many new experiences, many new feelings, many new lifestyles, she'd learnt about the city. There was so much she hadn't known about the life around her. So much she had assumed, based on the opinions of the people she called her family. So much she had missed out on...

The trip to the flea market to throw money away, the pub to hear music and relax, the gardens in the evening, the quietness of the city at night, aloo chaat at the best street food stall, a 3 am coffee and a drive ; a film at the last show available...a sunrise from the highest point at a nearby hill station...it had all felt like a page out of the rom-com movies she watched.

She had always known that she was missing out on life – the very life that others grabbed on by the horns and tackled, every day. Heck, hadn't she wanted to do the same? Wasn't that the very reason she had shifted to Delhi, grabbed on to the job in Khurana Constructions? So what had happened? Somewhere along the line she had stopped wanting. She had started settling for things. It had been a few years, but she couldn't recall going out for more than the office parties, or to meet the office friends when they called. She had retreated in her shell more and more, all under the excuse of doing her job well.

How much effort had it taken her to push herself forward? She hadn't pushed at all, she realized. It had been Vicky. But, he had neither pushed, not pulled...just waited. Waited for her to voice out her thoughts. Waited for her to be comfortable...

And he had been there with her throughout. Accompanied her in the silences she had owned, the laughter she had expelled, all the wonder she had exuded. Never had he ridiculed her simple pleasures, her naivet, her ignorance...

She remembered how they had been in the first few days that he had struggled in Khurana Constructions. She felt ashamed when she thought back to how mean she had been to him. She had ridiculed his ignorance, scorned his methods... rejoiced in her superior knowledge.

Did he remember all that? The past few weeks had felt like magic. She owed him, big time. For being understanding, for taking care of her ... for letting her be.

The part of her being that had felt empty for as long as she remembered, felt full. It felt like it was overflowing...she didn't have anything to catch all that overflowed...it danced away with a will of its own, not letting her give her choice.

It scared her.

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She stepped up and behind, leading the group behind her. Her muscles felt like an aching mass of tissue, torn and creased. Her T-shirt was wet with all the sweat she had eked out during the day. She was sure the studio was filled with the smell of her stench, but she was beyond caring. It was taking her all her effort to put in energy in her dance steps...and it was only the start of the class.

It didn't help that the group was the mixed batch, with students of various age groups. It made the teaching process much slower.

It had been a couple of weeks since Isra had been managing her classes along with Geet's. That made a grand total of about 6 batches per day, all in one go. While she was dead by the time she reached home, she realized she was much closer to her goal of having toned abs, that she had had hoped for. But, all that faded in light of the fact that she was way behind on her stamina, today. She had stayed up late the night before, downing mug-fuls of coffee and studied for a test. The lack of sleep was taking its toll.

She pushed herself to practice the twirl and jump with the group. But she stopped mid-step, when the music went off. Turning around, she caught Farhan walking towards her resolutely.

"Vicky's called you to his office, I'll take it up from here".

She looked at him, confusion striking across her face; Vicky had been out all evenings, for the past few days. Exactly what had happened for him to show up suddenly and ask her to meet him?

She ran towards his office, only to see a Post-It on the door to his cabin.

Take a break. You look like you are going to drop any minute. I'll continue taking the rest of the class.

- Farhan

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. To say that it was a shock, would've been the understatement of the day. She hadn't realized that Farhan had noticed her fatigue. Heck, she hadn't realized that Farhan had noticed her in the studio at all. She dropped her head back in relief and walked to her locker to pull out a bar of chocolate from her trusty stack. She'd have to start keeping extra clothes in there; like Geet and Nida. Who knew till when Geet would be out. She missed the time they used to spend together. For the first time she had had girl friends. True, they had babied her for most of the time, but that was when she'd had that insane crush on Farhan...and he had seemed like some celebrity – the kinds she would stare at, but couldn't touch. And lately, he'd been friendly, nice, warm. Just like a friend...who was currently teaching her Bollywood dance class.

Wow...the mere thought of Farhan deviating from his contemporary dance style and taking on Bollywood seemed laughable. This one she had to see.

She walked slowly back to the studio and listening to his calm voice, directing the students back and forth. She had seen him teach contemporary. He was fabulous at it, but he didn't have too many batches; the work at the Studio taking his attention more.

She peeped into the studio and watched him sway and turn and snap the steps. It took effort not to let her mouth drop down in amazement.

He was frigging fabulous.

His movements were just the right amount of zest, the right amount of snap, the flair, the spring that was required for the song. His lean body moved with as much grace as she had seen any girl move.

He spotted her in the mirror and shot her a wink and a hint of a smile, as he continued dancing. She saw him tilt his head at her, telling her to join him if she wanted, but she ignored it. Why would she go and teach when she could watch him dance.

Have proof-read this yet. Sorry bout it being short...next update is Maneet.

Maan walked out of the board room. It had been one very long meeting and he needed caffeine in his system immediately. It was nearing 9:30 and the office was abuzz with the daily routines. While he waited for his cuppa, he pulled out his cellphone and switched it on. There were a few messages and three missed calles, out of which two were from Geet. He checked the time again. She never called this early in the day. Panic seized him and he called her back immediately only to reach her voicemail. A call to her office, enlightended him on what he thought was the reason behind her calls.

He walked out, cancelling his meetings till noon. As expected, Handa Construction was in a flurry of the presentation. He walked in, and requested the receptionist to direct him to Geet. He was informed that Geet was in the conference room. He was however, asked to wait in her personal cabin, by virtue of who he was.

The cabin itself was a sight to see, with papers and files strewn all around, clear evidence of how her state of mind had been. A movement caught his eye, as he turned to look through the stretch of glass behind him. He did a double take, as he realized he had a clear view into the conference room, of the presentation taking place, with Geet at the helm, starting the presentation. He walked closer, peering throught the glass, not sure if he could be seen from the other side or not.

She was nervous. He had never seen her nervous. Her hair was in a ponytail and her shoulders were struck out defensively. As he watched, he saw the tension in her shoulders ease up. Her movements became more fluid and she lost the stiffness. Somebody in the clients had asked her a question and it was clear that her answer had impressed them. It gave her courage and she smiled back at them, her chin jutting out in the characteristic way that was all Geet. It was plain to see that the clients were bowled over, watching her speak. Heck, they were lapping it all up.

He shook his head in mild disbelief, as he watched her walk to and from the table, emphasizing the importance of the deal , the smaller details...her own staff seemed shocked too. But she seemed oblivious of their wonder.

In the time that had taken him to get to Handa Construction from his office, the panic caused a lump in his heart... but he needn't have worried at all - He should have known it.

She was a bloody natural!

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Geet stood as quietly as she could, as she watched Tasha escort the clients out. She thought she felt exhausted, but she reassessed her state and realized it wasn't fatigue. The conference room suddenly felt smaller, she needed air. She needed to do something ... to let something out. She walked to the door as calmly as she could. The euphoria was building up, her breaths were coming out faster. She wanted to jump, but the transparent door to the conference room prevented her from doing so. So she walked to the privacy of her office, her steps moving faster. As she reached the door, an odd shadow fell on it, like there was somebody inside. She stopped still - the shape that was projected on the door, reminded her of Maan's shadow from the dance they had performed - that of an angel. She shook her head at her absurdity and walked in.

There was somebody inside. She halted in her movements, as she watched him, standing with his hands on his hips, looking at her with that smile on his face.

It was all she could do, to not stand and stare at him, before he rushed towards her and caught her in his arms.

She shut her eyes as she felt him hold her tight, an afterimage of the look in his eyes, the moisture she had felt surprised to see there; stayed in front of her eyes. Before she could process it, she heard him speak.

"Damn, you were fabulous!! First presentation and you knocked them dead, didn't you?"

And then it all came back, just as quickly. The jubilation, the truimph, the glorious feeling that was bubbling in her, just a few seconds before.

And so she hugged him back, pulling him tightly to her, breathing in his warm comforting scent. Her heart was thudding hard from emotion, she felt like laughing loud, dancing, jumping from excitement...

She felt a throaty chuckle run through him, as he felt her excitement, the barely restrained happiness. He pulled back and looked at her face. But she didn't feel like opening her eyes...she only wanted to soak in that feeling; she knew she'd never ever feel that elation again; no matter how a big a project it would be.

When she finally opened her eyes, he wasn't smiling. Instead he was scanning her face, his lips pulled in a straight line.

"Leave work early today...you need to be somewhere". That was all he said before he dropped a kiss on her forehead and left.

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"Where are we going?", she asked him, barely sitting still in her seat.

He smilingly ignored her. She looked at him and poked his arm.

"Maan, where are you taking me. Tell me...".

He still refused to say anything. So she sat back quietly, shutting her eyes. She'd go wherever he took her... tomorrow would be another hectic day at the office.

She didn't know when she had fallen asleep, but when she came to, she felt like she was being carried. She tried opening her eyes, but they wouldn't budge. They were blindfolded.

The next thing she realized his scent; she was in his arms, he seemed to be carrying her someplace. She put out a hand to take off the covering from her eyes.

"Wait, we're almost there...", he stopped her, before tilting her to the floor. She found her balance and started to reach up, when the blindfold was ripped off. She stared at a door that looked very familiar, before it burst open to cheers and hoots, with people shouting her name.

She looked around at Maan in shock, before she was pulled inside by eager hands and hugged. She vaguely registered Nida and Zakhir, Isra, Farhan by himself in a corner, and a few regular students.

A slow grin spread on her face, gathering strength by the second, only to remain there as she laughed and joked with them. But it was short lived as Farhan switched on the music. She turned to look at him confused.

"Don't just sit there - take the class today!", he said, matter of fact-ly.

She stared at him for a bit, but then did just that; because that was exactly what she wanted to do. There was another collective cheer as she got up and got the warm-up started.

Shall post soon - while I still have it in my head...shall PM after that one.

Love

Amruta

Originally posted by: flowers4u

amazing update...luking forward for the next update...!!!!

Originally posted by: Shalve

lovely update