Hey all,
Here is the update as promised. Hopefully it has plugged some of the gaps highlighted by some of my more enthusiastic readers!!!😉
Comments please...all of them accepted with gratitude. 😃
Ange
His phone rang again. He let go of Geet's hands and fished his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the number and turning to Geet, he said, "I better answer this. Why don't you freshen up, and we can continue our conversation over breakfast"
Part 31
Geet gathered up some clothes and left for the washroom as Maan answered his phone.
"Yes Adi, bol"
"Sssir, we seem to have an urgent problem with the workers at our site in HP." Adi said nervously. He had worked with Maan long enough to know the jwala could blow at any moment.
"And...?"
"Wwwell, wwwould it be possible fffor you to look into the issue since you are there?" Adi continued.
"I am in the middle of something at the moment. I will call Munshi to see whether he can deal with it" Maan said before he put the phone down.
"Am I ever going to get to talk to Geet?" Maan thought, before dialling Munshi's number. Unfortunately the problem couldn't be solved by Munshi, and it looked as if Maan would need to go to see the head of the workers. "Damn" he thought. "I better make it quick so I can be back in time to speak to Geet. I better ring Adi, to let him know that I will deal with the issue"
"Adi I will..." Maan stopped mid-sentence as he saw the door of the bathroom opening. Geet emerged looking like a mermaid, with her long flowing wavy wet hair.
Poor Maan was mesmerised and forgot about Adi on the end of the phone. "MMMaan sir, are you there?" came a voice from the end of the line repeatedly. Adi suddenly became worried about his boss. He thought his boss had either been kidnapped or worse, since he always answered his phone. Geet heard the voice on the phone, which seemed familiar and then saw Maan staring at her with desire. Geet blushed and came towards Maan, who was still as a statue. She tapped him on the shoulder to gain his attention and used her eyes to remind him about the phone in his hand. He suddenly gained consciousness and responded to Adi.
"Yes...I am listening" Maan said with as much dignity he could muster up in front of Geet, who had caught him ogling her a few minutes earlier.
"No sssir. I was not talking...you rang me, remember sssir?" Adi continued.
"Oh yes...ha...vo..." Maan was trying hard to remember why he called Adi. It wasn't helping that Geet was distracting him by just being in the room. Finally he remembered "Ah yes... I have talked to Munshi and it is best if I deal with the situation. I will ring you later with an update".
Adi looked at the phone as Maan cut the call. "What has happened to Maan sir? He seemed very distracted...so unlike Maan sir"
Geet wasn't looking at Maan, but had settled on the seat in front of the mirror, applying her make-up. "Does she know what she is doing to me? Is she deliberately trying to seduce me?" Maan thought looking at her again. "Maan yeh ladki tujhe ek din pagal kar degi!!"
His thoughts were broken when is phone went off again."Now what!" Maan thought frustratedly.
"YES" he answered the phone angrily. "If not Daadi, or Adi, it is Ms Roy! Uff, someone save me!" Maan thought exasperatedly.
"Vo, vo...Maan, I mean Mr Khurana" Ms Roy answered a bit unnerved by the harsh tone in Maan's voice. She had never been on the receiving end of this before.
Silence.
"Mr Khurana, are you there?" Ms Roy continued hesitantly
"Yes. What is it? Make it quick" Maan continued
"Ha...Mr Khurana. Did you leave HP last night?"
"Yes. So what?" Maan snapped.
"Well, you actually broke the terms of your bail. You were not supposed to leave HP until the case was closed against you...but don't worry, I cleared everything with Mr Pandey, so no need to worry"
"I wasn't worried" Maan said disinterestedly.
"Oh, oh, good...As we anticipated the case is now closed. You are free to leave HP. I will come and meet you to hand over the papers..."
He interrupted her by saying, "Come to Handa Haveli. I may not be here when you arrive, so leave them with Geet", and finished by cutting the call.
"Geet?" Ms Roy thought. "Why is Maan giving this girl so much importance? Because of her, he has been stuck in this backward place! And me with him...though I don't mind that...I need to do something about that girl...I didn't think she would be able to influence Maan, so much, that he would give her so much prominence in his life...she is only his wife in name..."
Maan looked at his phone and wished he could smash it into little pieces. But no, he needed his phone. It was his line of communication with so many people, so he needed to keep it intact.
Geet who had finished applying her make-up, stood up to look at Maan, who was still staring at his phone. She had overheard his conversation with Ms Roy and realised he was annoyed. She approached him with caution, not knowing whether he would also be annoyed with her.
"Maan" she called softly. He stopped looking at the phone and looked into Geet's eyes. She looked anxious.
"Geet...are you okay?" Maan asked sensing her nervousness.
"Yes, Maan. I was about to ask you the same thing. Are you okay? You seem a bit tense"
"Geet, we really need to talk...but my work is getting in the way, and I feel so frustrated about it" he said helplessly.
"Don't worry Maan. We have our whole lives ahead to get to know each other. And every time I talk to you, I gain some more insight into you...and so far so good" she said winking at him.
"Is that so, Mrs Khurana?" he said raising his eyebrow, coming very close to her, holding her by her waist and kissing her on her cheek. He gazed at her perfect face... expressive eyes, perfect nose, kissable lips, long neck...prominent love bite...
"Geet, does it hurt?" Maan asked with concern
"Does what hurt?" Geet asked puzzledly.
"This", pointing to the love bite on her neck.
Geet went to the mirror to see what Maan was talking about. She saw it and blushed as she thought "It must have happened earlier when we fell on the floor!" Maan approached Geet to kiss the bite, when his phone rang.
Maan tried not to curse, but he was in the presence of a lady, so he held his tongue. He answered the phone "Yes Daadi" in a tone that was not quite polite.
"Kya hua Maan. It sounds as if you are not happy to hear from your Daadi...I don't know. I thought I brought you up to respect your elders, but..."
"Sorry Daadi. I was in the middle of something" Maan said softly, which caused Geet to giggle.
Luckily for Maan, Daadi hadn't heard Geet. "Oh. Sorry to disturb the busy young Mr Khurana...then I will cut the call and let you get back to business" Daadi said causing Maan to cough at the thought.
"No...No...No Daadi. Sorry. You know that I am busy for everyone except my Daadi. All other business can wait" he said looking at Geet. "Please, tell me why you called."
"Well, actually, I wanted to confirm whether you were indeed coming tomorrow"
"Yes, Daadi, I am...unless you don't want me to come" Maan said cheekily. "Maybe you have a kittly party or hot date??"
"Maan, I am not going to dignify that with a response!"
Silence
Silence
Maan knew he had crossed the lined and said "Sorry Daadi. I am holding my ears here..really I am"
"Okay, Okay apology accepted. You know you are very lucky to have an understanding Daadi like me, who is very modern thinking."
"Yes, Daadi, I am very lucky" Maan said genuinely
Then to Maan's surprise, Daadi asked "For dinner tomorrow, do you want Italian or Indian?"
Maan looked at the phone "Has everyone gone mad today?" he thought. "This is why Daadi rang, to find out tomorrow's menu? I better just answer her, rather than questioning her on why she feels she needs to ask me about food! Otherwise I will be on the phone for the next hour!! "
"It...Indian" Maan said changing his mind rapidly from Italian after glancing at Geet.
"Indian? Are you sure? Are you coming down with a fever?" Daadi asked for confirmation
"Yes Indian" Maan chuckled.
"Looks as if HP has had an effect on you" Daadi said jokingly
"Yes it has, Daadi" Maan said seriously.
After saying goodbye, Maan cut the call.
"Your Daadi again?" Geet asked smiling at him.
"Yes. Just finalising tomorrow's menu" Maan responded much to Geet's surprise. "She likes to plan ahead!"
After some time, Maan said "Geet you may be wondering why I did not invite Daadi to our wedding"
"No, actually I wasn't. Our marriage was conducted in such haste, that it never occurred to me" Geet said honestly.
"Well my Daadi, although she likes to act like a teenager most of the time, is in her 70s now. She has had 2 heart attacks and has been told to avoid stress and long journeys. So I felt that under the circumstances of our marriage it was not appropriate to call her here. I haven't told her about you or our marriage either...I am not hiding you or our marriage. It's just that I want to surprise her in person. Are you okay with that?"
Geet held Maan's hands and smiled at him."Yes Maan. I am okay with that" finishing by kissing him on the cheek. "Now,let's go down for breakfast, before they send a search party" Geet said, looking at the time on the clock.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
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