Shackles of Love#13#MG Chapter 47-48 - Page 22

CHAPTER 47:

"Who are you trying to convince Maan? Me or yourself? Dono me se kisi ko bhi tumhare is jhooth par vishwas nahi hai!"

"Mai koi jhooth nahi bol raha!"

"Seriously Maan?" Dev laughed. "Then I should congratulate you. You have become a very fine actor. Tum TV me kyu nahi try karte? I am sure you will be accepted for one of those star one serials in which all the hero does is give the heroine dewy eyes looks!"

"Jo kehna hai saaf saaf kaho!"

"Mere ya tumhare kehna na kehna se kya hoga? Sach badal to nahi jayega na?" Maan tried protesting but Dev held him off, "Sab ko chup karwane wala Maan Singh Khurrana, aaj khud chup hai. Kyu? Kyuke wo darta hai, hai na?"

"Maan Singh Khurrana kisi se nahi darta!" Came the defensive reply.

"Darta hai! Apne ateet se! Apne aap se! Apne saaye se! You are afraid, afraid of yourself, afraid of the new emotions you feel for Geet. Afraid of your heart beating for someone else. Afraid that history might repeat itself. Afraid that Geet might leave you and you will once again be left alone."

"Just shut up Dev! Mai chup hu, iska matlab ye nahi ke tum kuch bhi bole jao!" Maan whispered hoarsely. But Dev was not one to be daunted, he had seen the pain on Geet's face on Maan's distrust, and he would not let Maan ruin this.

"Yehi hai na tumhara sabse bada darr Maan? The fear of loneliness. You are afraid that you will be left alone like Anjali aunty. After Sameera, you walled up your emotions and became aloof from all of us. Your fear is so intense, that you embraced the very thing which scares u. Tumhe kya lagta hai Maan? Ke is akelepann ko apna ke tum usse jeet rahe ho? Nahi Maan! You are losing! You are giving up without even trying!"

Having had enough, Maan turned on Dev fiercely, "What do you know about it Dev? Have you ever experienced it? Tum jaante bhi ho kaisa hota hai jab tumhara sab kuch, tumhare aakhon ke saamne raakh ho jaata hai? Jis cheez ka tumhe ilm bhi nahi hai, uske bare ma baat mat karo!"

"Maan, I may not have personally gone through it, lekin kya tumhe lagta hai ke tumhari takleef ko hum sabne mehsoos nahi kiya? Believe me, if you felt even quarter of the pain which we all went through after Sameera left you……" Dev wiped his face, unable to articulate his thoughts. Those painful days were still etched in all their minds, in stark clarity. He turned back, not willing to dwell on the past.

"Lekin ek baat to hai, Maan! Abhi tak jo bhi hua usme tumhari galti ho ya na ho, aaj jo bhi hua, usme sirf aur sirf tumhari galti hai!"

"Accha? Jhooth Geet ne bola. Vishwasghat usne kiya aur galti meri hai?"

"Kaunsa Jhooth? I am sure you are just imagining things. Trust Geet Maan, she is your wife. Trust her with yourself. She would never disappoint you."

 "You want me to trust Geet? After she lied to me and kept such a big thing from me? Use Sameera ke bare me pata tha na? Tumhi ne to use bataya tha." Maan mocked.

"Maan, kya is puri duniya me sirf ek hi Sameera hai? What are the chances that her boss and the woman she just heard about in passing are the same? Use kuch nahi pata hai. She only knows Sameera's name. I thought it would be best if you yourself tell her about it."

"Aur Rahul?" He asked skeptically.

Dev actually blushed at that, he was in quandary how to reply, but then he decided that honesty was the best policy. Maybe he could knock some sense into Maan that way too.

"I told Geet to let you assume that she was working for Rahul." He stated bluntly.

"What? But why?" Maan was confused

"To make you realize your feelings for her."

"Kya?"

Dev smacked his head, for a smart man, Maan could be surprisingly dumb at times. "I saw the way you reacted to Rahul in my office that day. I wanted to make you jealous so that you would recognize the feelings you hold for Geet." he spelt out.

"Tumhara dimaag kharab ho gaya hai! I am not jealous of him!"

Dev wanted to laugh at Maan's words. The complaining tone of Maan's voice reminded him of a toddler caught with his hands in the cookie jar.

"Haan! Wo to maine aaj party me dekh hi liya hai!" He taunted, reminding Maan of his earlier actions. Maan controlled the urge to blush and tried changing the topic, "Was Geet in on your plan?"

"Tum har cheez ke liye Geet ko zimmedar kyu maante ho? Why are you comparing Geet to that manipulative b****! Geet ko kuch pata nahi tha. She just followed what I told her. Wo bechari to itni nadaan hai ke usne mujhse wajah bhi nahi poochi. Bas mujhpe andha vishwas kiya, ke mai jo bhi kahoonga, uski bhalai ke liye kahoonga."

Maan looked away at the pointed look Dev gave him, but it seemed Dev hadn't finished his sermon, "Maan, you should know this better than anyone, trust is the basic requirement in any relationship. Without trust, it's just an empty shell."

Looking at Maan's gloomy face, he decided to change the topic. "Waise did you talk to Sameera? Kuch kaha usne? Why is she here?"

"Haan! She is here to get me back! It was all her plan." He laughed dryly at the thought.

Dev kept his hand on Maan's shoulder, "Maan please, let go of the past. Sameera ne jo kiya, tumne jo kiya, use bhool jao. Till you let the past go, you can never do justice to the future. Maan, listen to your heart for once. Don't do this to yourself or to Geet. She doesn't deserve this. You don't deserve this"

Maan's thoughts went back to Geet. She claimed to love him. Maan remembered how that felt.  His whole body had reacted to the love in her eyes. It had been difficult to not respond to her feelings. He remembered wanting to devour her on the spot.  He had to convince himself that she did not mean it. It was probably one of those teenager things like her Batman craze. Her spouting on about that muscled a****** so much had made him want to punch that guys face in, or at least go and break the TV in which she was drooling over some other man!

 She probably had dreams about her own superhero who would come and solve all her problems in a sweep. He laughed ironically at that fact.  He was the opposite of that costumed clown. He was the reason that she had all the problems to begin with. He was no one's hero.

But he wished to be. Like Dev had said, he wished for a happily ever after with her, so bad it hurt to even imagine anything to the contrary.

But what about Geet? He was afraid, not for him for her. Would the shadows of his past ever let him live in peace?

He had made the decision of moving forward so many times, but had always ended up moving two steps back. His inability to trust anyone was eating away into the foundations which Geet had so meticulously built. Was it right on his part to expect her to keep giving him chances while he kept crushing them beneath his foot?

"I don't know Dev, do I deserve her? I don't want to drag her down to this deep emotionless pit where i have been surviving in case I fail to live up to her expectations." Maan murmured.

Yes, that was his greatest fear. Not him, but her. He would never want her to go through what he had been through. He wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy, and this was Geet! The woman he loved.

"Maan, tell me one thing, do you think that if you let go of Geet now, she wouldn't be pushed into that pit? Don't you get it? It's already too late for second thoughts. You have long back crossed that line."

"To mai kya karu Dev?" he whispered, not seeing any way out of his quandary.

"I can't help you there Maan. I can guide you, but I can't make your decisions for u. You will have to take them yourself. Do what you feel is right. Do what you want to do, not what your brain tells you, you should be doing!"

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Blinded by tears, Geet made her way to the washroom, to get her bearings where another unpleasant surprise awaited her.

Sameera had followed her and by the look on her face Geet could say that she meant business. Not wanting to get into anything at that moment, Geet ignored her but Sameera was not one to be deterred. "One minute, Ms. Geet."

"It's Mrs. Geet Khurrana!" Geet corrected irately, Maan's words still smarting.

"You want me to call you Mrs. Maan Singh Khurana, what a bloody joke!" she laughed.

"Isme joke kya hai 'Sameera'? I am his wife." Geet tried to be firm, but the words she had just haunted made her voice tremble and lack conviction.

"Boss se seedha Sameera? Not bad Geet. Kuch ho ya na ho, akad kafi hai tumme." She sniped. "Kya tumne apne aap ko kabhi dekha hai? Na akal hai, na shakaal, typical gaonwali ho. Education kya hai tumhari? Business ke baare mein kuch jaanti ho?" She sneered.

"Kya bakwaas kar rahi ho? Mai abhi bhi wohi Geet hu jiski kal tum tareef kar rahi thi." Geet reminded her, surprised that the woman she had spent the past week with was so spiteful. She had seen Sameera be strict in the office, but she had never been evil. In fact, she had kind of admired her too. The way she handled herself, she had a kind of sophistication and strength that was present in few woman. No wonder Maan had loved, the word squeezed her heart painfully, Sameera. She was the perfect package.

"Mai tumhari nahi, meri office me filing karne wali ladki ki tareef kar rahi thi. Aur tumhe dekho, apne aapko the great tycoon Maan Singh Khurrana ki biwi kehti ho! Kaise socha ki tum Maan ke liye kissi tarah se bhi kabil ho?"

She hit out at Geet's weakness; making Geet realize her inadequacies, which till today she had never felt. Seeing Geet's face, Sameera plunged the dagger deeper, "Meri baton pe yakeen nahi hota tumhe? Apne aap se pooch lo!"

 "Tum ek aisi biwi ho jiske bare me Maan kisi ko khul ke batata tak nahi. He must be feeling so ashamed to have someone like you for a wife. Apne colleagues ko kya bolke introduce karwaega? My wife who is not even a graduate?" Venom dripped off her tongue, scalding Geet. Her studies was always a touch topic and Sameera pointing it out to her was making her all the more unsure of herself.

"Maan aise nahi hai! Unki soch tumhari tarah choti nahi hai!" she tried convincing herself.

"Accha? To tumhi mujhe batao, maine to kabhi nahi dekha ya padha ki usne shaadi ki hai! Iska matlab janti ho na Geet? I don't know why he married you, maybe it was temporary lust, or are you pregnant?" She ventured, only to be stopped by a furious Geet. "Sameera, kya anap shanap bak rahi ho!"

"Kyu Geet? Sach kadwa hota hai . Maan tumse pyaar to definitely nahi karta hai, to is shaadi ke peeche wajah jo bhi ho, temporary hi hogi. Aur jab wo poori ho jayegi, tab wo is rishtey se chootna chahega. Zaroor usne kisi majboori mein tumse shaadi ki hogi. Warna you are definitely not worth it." her eyes noted the color draining from Geet's face as her words hit home. There was something definitely about this marriage. Geet's reaction had just confirmed it for her.

"Aaj Sameera ki baat sun lo Geet. Maan humesha se sirf mujhse hi pyaar karta tha, karta hai aur humesha karega. Woh bas thoda mujhse naraaz hai par woh aaj tak na kisi aur ka hua hai na kabhi hoga. Aur abh mai wapas aa gayee hu, to tumhara chance hi nahi hai!" Sameera vowed, drilling the final nails in Geet's dreams.

Sameera had just pointed out all the inadequacies in their so-called relationship. Seeing Geet's faltering stance and trembling lips, she rammed the point home. "Tumme agar thodi si bhi khuddari hai to Maan ko chod do, door chali jao humari zindagi se. Ya fir tumhe us din ka intezaar hai jab wo khud tumhe apni zindagi se nikal de? Kuch to self respect rakho, Geet. Wapas chali jao jahan se bhi tum aayi ho. Don't build castles in the sky Geet. Tumhari aukat nahi hai."

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