Chapter 37: Water-Works
~Present~
"Ma," Geet heard a small whisper and looked down to see her daughter, her eyes filled with tears. She tried to get up but her body seemed too stiff to move. She struggled to sit up when Maan and Arjun came to her rescue and helped her up.
"Come here baby," Geet said as soon as was settled. Maan lifted Kritika up the bed while the little one lunged to her mother's waiting arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Shh, I'm okay baby," she soothed, rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry ma, I'll never do such a thing ever," she managed to say in between her hiccups.
Geet eyed Arjun and Maan with confusion at Kritika's confession when Maan pitched in, "She meant to say you should never do such a thing. Kyun Arjun?" he asked hoping Arjun would play along.
"Haan, exactly Geet, you don't worry," he added to Maan's relief.
Kritika, who didn't hear the conversation due to her loud sobbing, hugged her mother tighter. Maan didn't want another shouting from Geet and he for sure knew Kritika had warmed up to him. So he wanted this incident to slip by so that they could start afresh.
"Chalo Geet, you need rest, I'll take kriti back home and Maan will stay with you," he said grabbing Kritika whose sobs had died down by now.
"Maan you too need rest, I shall be fine here," she assured for he looked beaten due to tiredness.
"Geet, no arguments," Maan said in his no-nonsense tone. "I'll stay by you tonight and once Arjun comes tomorrow, I'll go home and take rest," he added.
"Fine!" Geet pouted, looking away, her reaction reflecting Kritika. He chuckled and shook his head at her childish reaction, that hadn't changed an ounce since the last he had seen.
"Good, now sleep well, I am right here," he said kissing her forehead and ignoring her pout before settling down in the couch in the corner of the room.
She turned to see him stretch on the couch from the corner of her eyes. Did he just ignore her anger and went to sleep? This man had the guts! "Maan!" she snapped, "I am still angry!"
"Oh accha?" Maan asked surprised. "Toh main kya karoon?"
"Haaww," she gasped, her mouth widening into an O-shape.
"Close you mouth darling, you don't want your jaw breaking too," he said coolly and walking to stand by her and pushing her open jaw close. "Jaanu, it's for my satisfaction. I cannot leave you like this. Main chein se so nahi paunga. Please mere liye," he said lovingly tucking a strand of hair.
Looking at his concern, Geet got teary-eyed. "Maan," she whispered, her voice hoarse.
"Shh, rona mat," Maan smiled wiping her tears with a swipe of his thumb. "I, I am just scared I'll lose you too," he whispered, his face ashen. But before she could realize and probe further into his statement, he changed the subject quickly. "Chalo so jao, I need rest from your bak-bak," he winked. She looked shocked at his complaint before sticking her tongue out. He chuckled at her childish behavior while she closed her eyes to get some sleep.
Sleep did overtake both Maan and Geet, as they were tired from the long day of events.
***
~Past~
The morning broke with the sun streaming through the window, illuminating the room. Geet snuggled into her quilt, smiling in her deep sleep.
Arjun had hinted to Maan to wake Geet as she could never wake on her own. She was no better than a child, he had admonished but he had no other option but to go wake her. He got ready and walked to her room to wake the sleeping beauty.
Maan entered the room and walked to the bed to see her completely wrapped in quilt and her face was buried in it.
"Geet?" he called softly only to have no response from her. "Geet!" he called a bit louder this time but there was no sign. He sighed, Maan Singh Khurana, MD of one the best construction companies, trying to wake Geet, who seemed to not budge an inch. "Kya zamaana aagaya!" he cursed under his breath, shaking his head. "Geet utho!" he now said shaking her slightly and trying to remove her quilt as she resisted and held tighter on to her quilt.
"Five more minutes, peesh," she mumbled sleepily, burying into her quilt. Buying her excuse he went to get the papers ready for the site visit and came back exactly after five minutes to find her in deep sleep once again.
"Geet, utho, we are getting late," he said shaking her.
"Hmm last two minutes," she rambled in her sleep before turning to the other side.
"Kya!" he shouted annoyed at her little game. "Geet abhi utho varna," he warned only to find her sleeping peacefully. "Ugh yeh ladki sach mein!" he said finding no words to describe her. "Oi Miss Kunbhakarni! Wake up!" he said shaking her roughly.
Geet got up with a sudden jerk at his incessant shaking, disoriented by the sudden awakening. She blinked, opening her eyes wide, and looking around as though she was seeing the world for the first time.
"Hello sleeping beast, wake up, we need to get going," he said nonchalantly turning to walk out of the door hoping she would be ready in half hour.
Maan returned half hour later to check if she was ready, only to be horrified, she sat there in the same position as she woke up, her eyes closed, and her head bobbing as she was sleeping. He slapped his forehead, "Yeh insaan hi hai? Bhai kitni sothi hai!" he remarked incredulously. Realizing waking her normally would do no good, he walked to the bathroom, got a mug filled with cold water and came sat on the bed. He dipped his fingers and sprinkled a few drops on her face to jerk her awake only to find her sleeping peacefully. He once again dipped his hand and this time scooped some water and splashed it on her face, confident this would wake her. To his amusement, she stirred but went back to sleeping. "Aaha," he sighed at his failed attempts. He eyed the mug in his hand, "Yehi sahi hoga," he smirked and poured the contents of the glass on her head.
Geet's blissful dream was shattered with the sudden contact of ice-cold water on her skin, startling her. She opened her eyes instantly in shock and gasped as the cold liquid made its way down her body.
"Thank you Muruga!" Maan thanked sarcastically before looking to smirk at her.
"Maan!" Geet screamed seeing him enjoy her plight and lunged to attack him.
"Oi easy there sweetheart, I had no other option," he said dodging her.
"And this was it, pouring ice cold water on me!" she growled angrily. "Could you get any worse?"
"Oh definitely yes, shoving ice cubes down your back," he paused wink.
She stood completely shocked at his idea with her mouth wide open. "You jellyfish get down right here before I tear you apart," she warned with her hands on her hips. He chuckled at her childish warning and stood folding his hands on his chest. She ran to him and started beating him with her tiny hands.
"Geet!" he yelled trying to pry off her hands off him and dodging her beating. His yells made no difference while she continued to punch him with her tiny fists. Finally he managed to catch hold of her hands and roughly shove them behind her back while pulling her close to him. Her wet hair stuck on her cheek, blocking her view of his Grecian face, allowing only the view of his deep dark obs. His face was inches away from hers, his hot breath falling rapidly on her flushed face. She stared wide-eyed at his deep chocolate eyes, drowning in them while he looked intently at her. Time seemed to freeze while her heart seemed to race against time with his close proximity.
Maan slowly brought his slender fingers, brushing away the few locks of hair covering her face causing her to curl her fingers as a shiver ran through her body. She involuntarily closed her eyes letting the moment savor in her memory forever. He tucked her hair behind her ear as he began to speak, his voice deep and husky, "Geet, I have a better idea, go and get ready, we are running really late, else it would be me tearing you apart." Seeing her stare back in trance once she heard him utter the words.
Suddenly the passion of the moment was broken with Mrs. Desikan's voice calling for morning breakfast from downstairs. Immediately Geet looked away while Maan moved away a bit. Her face was flushed, avoiding his eye contact.
"Geet!" he called her to make her face him. "Jao!" he commanded wondering why she was flushed and looked embarrassed. Without another word she ran into the bathroom. Maan left her to get ready shaking his head at her weird behavior.
***
"Mmm," Geet sighed contentedly as the hot liquid seeped through her esophagus. "Filter kaapi, filter kaapi than maami (filter coffee is the best aunty)," she said enjoying her early morning dose of coffee.
"Madhiyanathukku ethavathu katti tharatuma? (For the afternoon do you want me to pack lunch?)" Desikan's wife asked.
"Ayyo venda maami (Oh no aunty you don't have to take the pains), thank you so much for all this," she said gratefully.
"Geet, you ready?" she heard Maan scream as he rushed down with his laptop bag.
"Varen maami (I'll take off aunty)," she said hurrying to his side before he brings the whole town down.
"Maan, I'm right behind you!" she yelled running to catch up with him only to run into his rock-solid back near the main door. She rebounded back a few inches, her eyes wide in fear. "Sssorry," she stammered as she saw him stare her down with his angry gaze.
"Geet," he began, gritting his teeth. "Can you even walk properly without banging into something?"
She stuck her tongue out before she walked out of the house and went to sit in the car without a word. He shook his head at her childishness and went to sit beside her and signaled the driver to start with Mr. Desikan sitting in the front beside the driver.
They reached the site within an hour that was situated a little outskirts of the main town. The vast dry land randomly filled with thick prickly shrubs. A large signboard stood at the beginning of the compound wall reading, "Khurana Constructions". He scanned the site trying to mentally note a few points and changes needed in his plan. Few laborers stood in the scorching sun digging the land. Maan looked around to find the site engineer only to see none. One of the people working saw him and Geet pass through the gate and walked upto him removing the towel tied to their head and tucking it under the armpit.
"Geet, use poocho site engineer kahaan hai aur yahaan kya kya kaam chal raha hai," Maan said, calling Geet to attention.
"Site manager illa engineer enge? Enna velai nadakuthu? (Where is the site manager or engineer and what work is going on?)," she asked turning to ask the men standing before them.
"Amma, engineer ippo vanthiruvaaru, (Ma'am the engineer will arrive in just a bit)," a man spoke up.
"Maan voh abhi athe heen honge," she said looking at Maan when another man came walking towards them.
The man looked in his late fifties, wearing a beige safari, and his forehead adorned with three horizontal lines drawn from the sacred ash. His left cheek looked a bit bulged and a closer look at his red tainted lips revealed his habitual betel leaf practice. His tall figure was weighed down by the years of hard work and his sunken eye sockets reveal a deep pain yet as Geet watched him walk towards them there was streak of similarity. As soon as he came to stand in front of her, she automatically folded her arms as a sign of respect, as though in trance. He smiled in return but his smile never reached his eyes.
"Namaskaram (hello)," the man said, "Aap Khurana office se hain?" he began to ask looking at Maan and Geet.
Geet was surprised the man spoke Hindi while Maan forwarded his hand, "Maan Singh Khurana, nice to meet you," he said while the other man received to shake his hand.
"Hello sir, Mr. Raman told me you were coming. I am Seshagopalan, engineer for this project. We just started the works from what your office staff sent," he said.
"Please, aap umr me bade hai, call me Maan," he smiled.
"No, you are my boss, I'll call you Mr. Khurana," he insisted.
"Okay Mr. Gopalan," he said and turned to introduce Geet only to see her stare at the man in trance. "Geet," he whispered, nudging her slightly.
"Huh?" she responded blinking rapidly, trying to come out of her daze. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"This is Geet, my secretary and associate," he said looking back at Mr. Gopalan. Geet managed to smile back but still was curious that he spoke Hindi yet looked very traditionally South Indian. Before further questions arose in her mind, Maan pulled her to discuss the site and happenings. Her involvement in the work, she forgot the impending issue at hand and forgot about it as the day passed.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Debate Mansion
Parineeti
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
