Chapter 49
Geet opened her eyes slowly after hearing her name called several tmes. To her surprise, she saw Adi, Pinky, Sasha and Tasha standing a few feet away with gaping looks of shock on their faces. It took a second for Geet to realize where she was, her mind still fuzzy with sleep. Looking down, Geet saw that she was covered with a white shirt, and when she looked to her left, she saw Maan's head resting only a few centimeters away.
Geet sprang up as if she had been sleeping next to a real lion that she wanted to get away from. While other office staff poured into the room, and Maan woke up, Geet tried to figure out what had happened. The last thing she remembered was sitting on the couch, complaining about not wanting to go to sleep in such a place. Now it was morning, and she was standing very awkwardly in front of everyone while Maan put his shirt back on. He also displayed his best dusht danaav tendencies by yelling at the staff to get back to their desks instead of gaping at him.
"S..s..sir," stammered Adi nervously, drawing everyone's attention. "Mr. Chopra's aid called to say that he will be here in half an hour to see the final blueprints, but h..how can we sh..sh..show the blueprints when they are complete?"
"Blueprints are complete," replied Geet quietly, moving to the table to pick up the files and hand them to Adi. "We worked late last night to finish them."
"Oh...V..very good. Gr..great," said Adi unnecessarily.
Geet gave Maan a glance that he couldn't quite interpret, before quietly leaving the room. Maan told Pinky to have Mr. Chopra shown to the conference room when he arrived, before telling them all to get back to work. Adi and Pinky, as well as Tasha left, but not Sasha. She continued to stand silently, unmoving.
"Sasha, what are you looking at, standing over there?" Maan asked. "Do you need to talk to me?"
Sasha seemed to come back to herself as she blinked quickly, before saying, "No, MK."
"Then go back to your work."
Sasha walked out of the conference room in a state of angry shock. It was one thing to know that MK was married to Geet. It was another thing to see them snuggled up so closely together the way she had today. When Tasha sidled up next to her, to show off the picture she had taken with her phone, Sasha acted purely our of instinct. her intention to harm her rival as much as possible, Sasha grabbed the phone, determined to make Geet pay. When she had completed her work, she handed the phone back to Tasha, telling her exactly what she wanted done now.
Folding her arms with a smirk, she watched as Geet walked back into the conference room, saying, "Miss Hoshiarpur, just she what I've got in store for you now!"
Geet was unaware of Sasha's scrutiny, her attention instead on the arriving client and his aids. Mr. Chopra was his jovial self, passing some remark about how great Maan and Geet's jodi was, before asking them to start by showing him the blueprints. They spent about half and hour discussing various facets of the design when Geet had to leave to retrieve some missing files from her office.
When she exited the conference room and began to make her way down to the fourth floor, she noticed some odd behavior by the rest of the staff. They were all looking at their phones or computers, speaking in hushed tones to each other. When they saw her looking at them, they reacted very guiltily, observing her with wide eyes. Geet couldn't understand what their problem was, but she needed to get those files, so she try to pay them no attention. That was not so easy to do, when she happened to overhear a conversation on the way back to the meeting.
"MK and Geet...in the office...I mean they actually did 'it' in the office? That's completely scandalous!"
"They must have done 'it', otherwise, why would he have been undressed?"
"I know they are married, but in the office? Chi!"
"Looking at Geet, you would never think she could do something like that. She just doesn't seem the type."
"I know, but it's the quiet, simple ones you have to watch out for. Once their passion is unleashed..."
"Do you think they did 'it' on the table or on the couch?"
"Maybe both."
Even to Geet's innocent mind, there was no mistaking the meaning of the hushed conversation. Her cheeks burned with shame as she realized what all the employees thought had happened between her and Maan the previous night. It was all Maan's fault, of course. If he hadn't covered her with his shirt and slept next to her, no one would have gotten any wrong idea. Making an excuse of other work, Geet left the conference room after dropping off the files, intending to go back to her cabin and think what to do.
"You know, Geet," came the falsely sweet strains of Sasha's voice as Geet waited for the elevator, "I find you to be such an amazing person. There aren't a lot of girls who could go through two humiliating experiences in less than a week, and still hold their head high. I mean, if the office staff where saying the things about me that they are saying about you, I know I would have a hard time feeling comfortable working in KC. But, I suppose you think that as long as MK is by your side, you can do anything that you want. Yes, you really are very lucky. I just wonder if you are prepared to face people without MK as your shield."
"Excuse me, Ma'am," Geet responded coldly, "but I have some work to do."
"Oh, of course. I'm sure none of us wants to keep Mrs. Geet Khurana from completing her 'work'. After all, if Mrs. Geet Khurana doesn't do her 'work', then how will Mr. Khurana stay happy?"
Geet didn't bother to answer Sasha. The elevator had arrived, so she got on and hurried back to her office. Still, she couldn't ignore the looks and whispers that the other staff sent her way. She knew it was all Sasha's doing, but she didn't know how to stop it. She realized that if she tried to deny anything, that would only make people sure that their suspicions on her behavior were correct. There was only one way she could think of to make the talk die down, but Maan's phone call, telling her to come back up to the conference room, did not help her plan.
"Geet, what was that?" Maan demanded when she re-entered the room.
"What was what?"
"Why did you make excuses to leave the meeting before we were finished with Mr. Chopra? He waited an extra then minutes hoping to speak with you again, before he had to go." Frowning as he observed her behavior, he asked, "Why are you standing next to the door like a frightened rabbit?"
"Why did you insist that we come to work last night, and if you did, why did you pick a room with a faulty lock?"
Maan closed his eyes in frustration, before stating, "Geet, stop harping on that. What happened, happened. We finished the work for the client, and he likes it. That's all that matters."
"That's not all that matters," countered Geet. "Do you know what the whole office is saying about us? They are saying that we...that last night you and I were...that us, alone, we must have been...Chi! I can't even repeat it! It's all your fault! What was the need to put your shirt on me? And...And...You were sleeping in that chair, so why did you have to come sit on the sofa?"
"Geet, Maan Singh Khurana does not have to justify his actions to anyone. Wasn't it you who complained about being cold last night? So, if I covered you up, you should be thanking me, instead of heaping accusations. I suppose, that you wanted to fall off the sofa and hit your head, like you were about to do before I sat next to you?"
"That's all very well for you to say now, but it doesn't keep Sasha Ma'am and the rest of the staff from thinking wrong about us."
"Geet, don't try to put your own stupid thinking onto Sasha. Do you know who she is?"
"Yes, she's your head architect."
"She is also Munshiji's daughter. Munshiji has worked for our family for over twenty years."
"Just because she's Munshiji's daughter, does that mean that she never does or thinks anything wrong?"
Maan grimaced, before asking, "So, suppose Sasha, or the whole world says anything about you, does that mean you are going to pay it any attention?"
"That's easy for you to say. It doesn't matter what they say about you, because you're a man, but it's different for me. A girl's reputation is important."
"Geet, people will talk and say what ever they want, and there is nothing that you can do about it. Do you think you can force people to change what they think? No, right, so there is no point in giving any importance to what they say."
"Maybe I can't change what people say, but I can keep from doing anything that will make talk more," she declared, not convinced by Maan's reasoning.
"Fine, whatever. I don't want to hear any more about it. This isn't even why I called you back here and we've wasted so much time on this nonsense. I wanted to let you know that Mr. Chopra sent us an invitation to attend the opening of his new restaurant next Thursday. I'm letting you know now, so that you can be prepared. It's a five star hotel, so it will be different than places you are used to. Ask Dadima, if you need any help preparing for the party."
"I'm not going with you to any party!" Geet exclaimed, much to Maan's shock. "Today's incident happened because we didn't keep to our professional relationship. From now on, we are just boss and secretary. I will do my work in my office, and you do your work. That's it."
Precap
"Geet may not want us to speak to Maan Sir, but that doesn't mean that I can't do something."
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