Maneet FF...NOT A FAIRY TALE pt39-pg86(Mar 31) - Page 13

Hi Buddies,

Thank you so much for your lovely comments and likes. Sorry for the delayed update.

I am planing to give you all one more update today, in a couple of hours. Till then, enjoy this update.

Sorry guys, I don't know how the update got edited and more than half of it got deleted, please, read it again if you had missed the whole update.

Part 17

It was a six hour drive and Maan preferred to drive himself, since he never trusted any driver around the twisted, hilly roads. They hoped to reach Delhi by midnight.

Initially Geet was silent, and was just stealing occasional glances at Maan gauging his mood. She was hesitant to speak anything, not knowing if Maan was still angry at her due to the last night's events. But at the same time she was super excited about them getting the deal, and happy that she had made a significant contribution in it. She was glad to have performed good at something, which is not directly related to her immediate work profile, but there was one more thing, the happiness on Maan's face, when they had got the contract. The first time they had meet in her office, he had questined her efficiency. Since then there was this hidden desire in her to impress him with her skills at work, to get his approval and appreciation. For that she used to work very hard in the office. But she was never able to get his appreciation, and somehow it affected her. So she hoped to gain his attention, after getting this project, but so far, she didn't see any such thing. He hadn't spoken to her much since morning.

Maan was looking straight and driving. He was trying his best to avoid her. However much he wanted to keep her away from her, circumstances always played against him.

So far he was able to control himself and did not let her talk to him. But till when could they not talk, given the long journey and them being alone, especially Geet could never be silent for so long. She might already have created a record of some sort, of not have spoken since this long. He saw her glancing towards him periodically.

"Koi itna saadu kaise ho sakta hai. Itna bada contract mila hai, aur yeh hain ki, thoda khush hon, celebrate karein. Aur mujhe.. meri taraf to inhone subhe se ek baar dekha tak nhi hai, thank you yaa appreciate karna to bhut door ki baat hai. Aur abhi bhi, ekk ghanta ho gaya hai hume nikale hue, aur inhone to jaise maun vrath dharan kar rakha ho. Yeh bhi nhi, ki inke saht koi aur bhi hai, jo ho sakta hai boor ho rha ho, to thodi baat hi karlein. But yeh kyun kabhi kisi aur ki sochange. Babaji, vaise aap bhi na kabhi kabhi kaamal karte ho. Itna chaanga munda banaya, body shody bhi masti di, dimag bhi diya, bas ekk smile dena bhul gaye aap inhe. Daanavon jaise bas yaa to sabko aapni badi badi aakhon se darate rahenge yaa to chillate rehenge. Khud to itne fit hain, ki inhe to kuch hone se raha, par woh log, jo itnke sath kaam karte hai, bechare khama kha heart patient ho jate hain" her eyes darted towards him once more, but this time, looking at him more closely. "Hmm.. vaise ekk baat to hai, ladkiyion ko to yeh bina kuch bole hi heart patient bana dete hoge. Inka to bass ekk look hi kafi hai" but then suddenly Maan's eyes caught her checking him out, and she instantly averted her graze from him, going red in her face.

When Geet was on with her cribbing program, she didn't realize that in the silence of the car, Maan could clearly hear her selftalk. Actually Maan was enjoying her non stop complains about him to her Babaji, but even he was surprised when she made that comment about girls, and could not stop himself from looking at her face once, but then saw her turning her face the other side instantly, blushing.

"Hmm.. so Miss Geet Handa thinks that I can effect any girl, just by a look. To abhi dekhte hain ki isspe kitna asar hota hai mera" Maan thought with a smirk on his face. He generally never did any thing like that, even when girls were always too eager to gain his attention. But there was this strange urge in him to find out if he could affect Geet or not.

He cleared his throat and said "Geet tum kuch bol rhi tho abhi??"

"OMG, kahi inhone sun to nhi liyia main jo bol rhi thi. Par main to itni dheere bol rhi thi. Aab main kya karungi. Kaise inhe face karungi" she thought, but then gained some courage said, still not looking in his direction "Main...Abhi..Nahi to sir, maine kuch bhi to nhi kaha abhi"

"Nahi Geet maine suna tha, tum kuch lakdi ke bare me bol rhi"

"Geet beta, tu to gayi!!"

"Vooo...wo..haan sir. Main na uss ladki ke bare me soch rhi thi, jo ki hamara contract sigh kara rhi thi. Kitna impressed thin na woh humse" (hmm specially aapse..Geet added in her mind).

"Aur presentation ki bhi kitni tareef ho rhi thi na vahan" unlike yahan..Geet again added softly.

But Maan was in no mood to give up "Haan woh Adi ne kafi acha kaam kiya hai.. After all KC ka employee hai. "

Geet fumed.. "Kya.. innhe lagta hai ki bas Adi sir ne kaam kiya hai isspe. Aur maine jo itni mehanat ki hai, usska kya? " she mumbled

Maan was enjoying the angry expressions on her face.

"Inke hisab se to bas jo yeh karte hain woh hi saki hai, yeh aur inke KC ke employees. Dusre to innhe dikhte bhi nhi hain. Aakru kahi ke" par Geet bhi itni jaldi haar maanne walo me se nhi thi.

"Haan sir, Adi sir ko accountancy ki bhut achi knowledge hai. Unhone sacchi me kitna acha business plan banaya. Par sir, clients ko hamari presentation ki designs bhi to kitni pasand aayi. Issiliyia to hum uss dusari company se yeh contract jeet gaye. Haina sir"

Now Maan could not escape. She had finally trapped him.

"hmmm" Maan tried to play safe.

She keep looking at him to hear more, but he got quite. Now she couldn't control and blurted out loudly

"Baas..????"

"Kya??"

"Baas itna hi kehana hai aapko. Maine kitni mehanat ki inn designs pe kaam kiya aur aap hai ki, thank you to door, mujhe ekk baar praise bhi nhi kiya. Aapko to kabhi mera kaam pasand hi nhi aata hai" she said, making all sorts of baby faces.

"Nahi Geet aisi baat nhi hai. Mujhe tumahara kaam pasand aaya tha. Main tumhe praise karne hi wala tha..paar" He was a little taken a back at her sudden outburst.

"Achan.. pasand aaya tha to bola kyun nhi. Maine sirf aapke liyie hi itni mehanat kiyi thi, aur aap.." Geet was still complaining, but Maan's attention got caught up somewhere.

He noticed that there was this one truck, which had been following them for a while now, and was shadowing their car. He could see that they were soon approaching a bridge, which was a narrow one, and would allow only one vehicle at a time. His senses warned him about something fishy. He concentrated more on the forest beyond the bridge and it was then, that he noticed a big yellow truck, hidden behind the bushes an the road side. It seemed as if it was waiting for someone's approach on the bridge. Maan's quick senses accessed the situation and the intentions of both the trucks. He quickly formulated their best escape strategy.

"Geet" he interrupted her blabbering abruptly. He tried to keep his voice clam, not wanting to scare her. "Jaldi se aapni belt pehano, aur darwaze ke handle ko kass ke pakadlo" he said, rolling up all the windows of the car.

Geet was taken aback by his sudden interruption. "Kyun sir??" she asked innocently.

"Geet please, for once do as I say. Hamare paas jada time nahi hai" the urgency in his voice scared her a little and she immediately did as he said without questioning him further.

Maan paddled up the accelerator, increasing the speed of the car. The truck behind him also increased its speed in response and he could see the other truck also coming out from its hiding place. He was fast approaching the bridge. He held the steering so tight that his knuckles got white. He looked towards Geet, who had a horrified expression on her face, seeing the approaching truck.

"Geet.. Geet meri taraf dekho" he urged her to look at him.

She unwillingly tore her eyes from the approaching truck and looked at him. His eyes were starting at her very intensely and he leaned towards her.

"Geet, tumahe kuch nhi hoga. Main tumhe kuch nhi hone dunga" the intensity of his eyes was so high that Geet felt a sense of security settling inside her instantaneously. "Geet tum bas aapni aakhein kas kar band karlo aur us handle ko zoor se pakadlo" she nodded her head and closed her eyes tightly. Maan looked at her one more time and then straightened to look at the road again. He himself closed his eyes once, to gain composure "I promise you Geet, I won't let anything happen to us" He exhaled his breath and opened his eyes. He then brought his car to the maximum speed, looking straight at the approaching truck. The second he reached the bridge, he turned the wheel in the right direction to the maximum possible extent. Their car flew off the bridge, and splashed in the river. Both the trucks stopped in their tracks. The drivers got out of the truck to watch the car hitting the surface of the water and slowly submerging into the lake.

On the impact, Maan had grabbed Geet and held her tightly. The impact had jostled them badly, but they did not have any injuries. Maan had purposefully rolled up the windows to give them a little time to escape.

"Geet, tum theek to ho na?" he asked her, holding her shoulders to straighten her. She immediately opened her eyes and nodded her head. "Hamare paas jada time nhi hai" and he hurriedly opened both of their seat belts. He opened the glove box and took out a plastic bag and which he kept his cell and wallet and pushed it into his pocket and got rid of his jacket. While doing all this he was telling Geet that since the car was bullet proof, they had some time in their hand. They have to get out of the car as soon as possible and they will swim to the shore, underwater. Geet was just looking at him dumbfounded. On not getting any response from her, Maan looked at her, still shocked, face.. "Geet" he said shaking her shoulders," Please meri baat suno Geet, hume vahan bahar tair kar jana hoga.. abhi"

"Par Maan mujhe tairna nhi aata hai" she whispered softly, helplessness and fear clearly evident in her voice.

"Geet uski tum chinta mat karo, tumhe bas mujhe kaske pakadna hoga. Baki main sab sambhal lunga"

Maan looked directly into Geet's eyes and held her face tightly in his palms and said..."Trust me Geet, I wont let anything happen to you"...she was shocked to her core, but somewhere in his eyes she could see that he will not let any harm come to her. So she nodded her head, closed her eyes tightly, wrapped her arms around his neck, prayed to her Babaji and drew in a deep breath and held it... He placed his palm on her hands, assuring her, closed his eyes and opened the door of the car. Water forcefully swept in the car and within fraction of seconds filled the whole car and dragged it further down in the pond, but by that time they were out of the car and he was swimming, swimming hard with all his strength while she was clinging tightly to his back trying to hold in her breath praying hard that they survive this.

Suddenly they felt gun shots around them in the water. One of the drivers had started firing at the submerging car and water around it, to ensure no body could escape alive from the car.

Maan had predicted this and hence he had already taken the least expected direction, against the river's forceful current.

While the shots were still being fired, he made his way, underwater, towards the shore with Geet clinging to his back.

Next Part : Part 18