MG-FF What does she want? Thread 2 Chapter54 pg134 - Page 30

Chapter 44

"Damn, Damn, Damn" he shouted as he ran down the steps of Khurana Constructions towards the front gate of the building looking at his watch.  He was late...10 minutes late to be precise. "Why did Dev decide to ring me now? He really picks his timing doesn't he? And as usual, he had nothing to say for himself or his behaviour. Just checking in on you bro, isn't that what he said? Bro, what bro? Did he not kill the relationship of brother by sleeping with Sameera? Why do I even talk to him? Talking to him, opens all the old wounds. Why do I do it then? Because of Dadi of course."  Maan said to himself scolding himself for taking the call.

He ran to the gates and scanned the area outside the wall of Khurana Constructions for any sign of Geet. "Where are you Geet, Dammit" he shouted frustratedly to no-one in particular.

He ran his finger through his hair, thinking of where she would have gone. She couldn't be gone that long, but what direction did she go, he wondered. He turned around to see the security guard grinning at him. Soon his grin turned to a look of worry, seeing the scowl on Maan's face.

"Cccan I help you with anything Sssir?" the security guard asked hesitantly.

"No" Maan growled as he walked back into the yard of Khurana Constructions, causing the guard to take a sigh of relief "Bach gay" he muttered to himself. However, his relief was short lived when he saw Maan skulking back towards him.

"Actually, you may be able to help me" Maan said to the security guard who was now looking at Maan with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"Hhhow?" the security guard managed to stutter.

"Have you been on duty for the last half an hour or so?" Maan asked

"Yyyes Sssir. I hhhave Sssir...I hhhaven't moved an inch Sssir" the security guard replied worriedly. Apparently Adi was not the only one affected by Maan's presence.

"Did you see a young girl with long curly hair wearing a skirt and blouse, standing out here waiting for someone?" Maan asked

"You mean Geet baby?" the guard asked with a smile on his face.

"Geet baby?" Maan thought as he looked at the man before him with shock. "How does he know her name?" he wondered.

"Yes" Maan responded curtly.

"Geet baby was waiting for someone, but after 10 minutes, she decided that the person was not coming, so she went home" the security guard continued.

"How do you know? I mean that she decided to go home" Maan asked slightly puzzled.

"Well Geet baby, got bored waiting so started talking to me to pass the time. She is a sweet girl. Reminds me of my daughter, always talking!" he said jokingly.

Maan smiled at the guard's description of Geet, then said hesitantly, "Wo, actually, I ...em...was supposed to ...em  ...meet her for some...eh, um...work...and I ...a...got late." The guard looked at Maan unblinkingly. He wondered why Maan seemed a bit nervous, but thought nothing more of it as he heard Maan continue speaking, "I thought she would come back into the office, but she didn't. Do you know which direction she went?"

"Yes, Sssir. She went in that direction" the guard said pointing to the right. "She asked me where she could get a taxi, and I told her that there was a taxi rank just a few hundred yards away"

"How long ago?" Maan asked hurriedly.

"About 5 minutes ago" the guard said after looking at his watch

"So did you talk to VeerJi then?" Naintara asked Dev when he disconnected the call.

"Yes I did" Dev said slightly perplexed staring at his phone . "And he seemed to be his normal self..."

"What? How do you mean?" Naintara asked now curious.

"I mean, he was normal...I mean normal for Maan, considering what has happened between us" Dev continued.

"Oh?" Naintara probed further.

"When I asked how he was, he told me he was well and that Dadi and Annie were well too." Dev continued.

Naintara looked at Dev with a shocked expression "Where was he? Did you ask?" 

"Delhi. He is definitely in Delhi" Dev replied

"Geet, why did you even agree to meet Maan? Look, see it is dark and late? And here you are standing at a taxi rank all alone, and there is not a single taxi in sight. What now Babaji?" Geet muttered to herself.

Suddenly she heard the roaring of motorbikes followed by rowdy voices. She saw 3 motorbikes approaching, each with a male rider and passenger, all who looked drunk. The motor cycles rode around her making her nervous and scared. She hugged herself protectively and prayed to Babaji.

"Hey Baby, come let's show you a good time" one of the passengers shouted at her. The other men were howling, whistling and leering at her passing rude comments and remarks.

Finally, one of the men got off his motor bike and walked towards her. Geet was frozen with fear and couldn't run. She stood rooted to the spot as the man leaned forward to grab her arm. Suddenly there was a loud screech of tyres braking abruptly and a car door opening and closing with a bang. All eyes went towards the sound.

"MAAN" Geet shouted on seeing who had alighted from the car. Dodging her would-be-attackers, she ran towards Maan as fast as she could, straight into his chest hugging him tightly closing her eyes. Maan's arms went around Geet automatically and held her protectively.

"Oi, she's ours...we saw her first" the drunken man who had tried to grab Geet shouted at Maan. He lunged towards Maan, to try and grab her again, only to be thrown on the ground by a forceful kick in the stomach from Maan. The man lay on the ground winded, unable to get up. He clutched his stomach as he shouted "Maar sale ko" to his friends.

Maan pushed Geet out of the way, instructing her to get into the car and lock all the doors. The 5 remaining men rushed towards Maan. Once Maan was reassured that Geet was safe, he tackled his assailants. Maan was sober and had years of martial arts training on his side, whereas his attackers only had the bravado that came with alcohol. A few well placed kicks and punches later, all attackers lay helpless on the ground and Maan was still standing, albeit with a few bruises and minor cuts to his face and knuckles. He fished his phone out of his pocket and rang his security guards who came within minutes to apprehend the attackers. His security would ensure that these men were dealt with by the police.

Once the attackers had been removed, Maan made his way to his car. He saw Geet sitting in the passenger seat hugging her knees in fear. As she saw him approach the car, she opened the door and ran towards him, hugging him almost knocking him off his feet. She didn't want to let go. She felt safe in his arms. He had rescued her once again. "Thank you" she whispered against his neck.

He hugged her back with equal force. He too didn't want to let go. This was where Geet was meant to be in his arms. "You're welcome" he replied, hugging her tighter.

Finally after some time, Geet said "Maan, please let go...I can hardly breathe"

"Oh, um...yes of course...sorry" Maan said reluctantly letting her go.

Maan looked at Geet who looked pale and visibly shaken by the ordeal. He cupped her face and made her look at him. "Geet, are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Maan, I am fine" Geet said unconvincingly removing his hand from her face to avoid eye contact. She held his hand and gave it a squeeze to reassure him that she was fine. "I should be asking you that question. Are you okay?"she asked looking at him, not letting go of his hand.

"Me? Yes, of course I'm okay" Maan said with bravado.

"Don't lie, Maan" Geet said worriedly. She had seen the cuts on his face and hands and said "You have some nasty cuts, Maan and I am sure you must have some bruises too" Geet continued.

"It's nothing Geet..don't worry, I'm fine" Maan said trying to reassure Geet who wasn't convinced. Maan saw that Geet was upset, not only because of those men, but seeing Maan hurt. On one hand he was happy to see Geet's concern for him, but on the other, he needed to distract her from thinking about what had just happened. He also realised that speaking to her about Hoshiarpur and her reasons for leaving him would have to wait.

"Geet, look it's late. Let me drive you home...and before you ask, I am fine to drive...look, my hands, arms, legs and feet are all in working order" Maan said, trying to prove his point by demonstrating all limb and joint movements to Geet.

Geet smiled at his antics and nodded. She got into the passenger seat while Maan sat into the driver's seat. He winced in pain as he tried to put on his seatbelt. His grimace was not missed by Geet, who leaned over to help him. "Do you always have to act like the hero?" Geet asked. "I won't think any less of you, if you tell me you are in pain, you know" she continued as she fixed his seatbelt.

He looked at her as if to deny that he was in pain, but before he could say anything, she cut him off by saying "It's okay Maan, I won't force you"

After some silence, Geet said, "So why are we not moving?"

Trying to lighten the mood, Maan said "Well madam has still not told me where she wants to go." Then looking her in the eye with some mischief he continued "I mean are you coming home with me?"

Geet glared at him and shouted "NO"

"No?" Maan asked slightly hurt at her response but trying not to demonstrate it.

"No, I am not going home with you" Geet replied adamantly.

"Why not? We are married...and a wife's place is with her husband" Maan said with mock seriousness

Geet narrowed her eyes at Maan and said "What a chauvinistic thing to say...typical man!" crossing her arms in front of her.

"No. Correction. Typical Maan" Maan chuckled looking at Geet winking at her.

"If you weren't already hurt, I would hit you" Geet replied

"Now that's my Sherni" Maan muttered to himself starting the car.

"So where to Mrs Khurana?" Maan asked putting emphasis on the Mrs Khurana, trying to keep a straight face looking straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with Geet.

Geet looked at him. "Did he just call me Mrs Khurana?" she wondered. "No he wouldn't dare" she thought narrowing her eyes on Maan again. "My ears must be playing tricks on me, or else he is teasing me. Geet, ignore him...he wants you to react".

Finally after composing herself, Geet told Maan, that she lived with her friend Pinky as a paying guest and gave him her address. "Ah the elusive Pinky" Maan thought as he drove towards her house.

Geet sat in silence looking out the window as Maan drove. He didn't like her being silent, so tried to engage her in conversation, by saying "Geet, so tell me about your job. Today was your first day was it not?"

Geet turned towards Maan on hearing the question and smiled. She became animated and started talking non-stop about her 1^st day and about Meera, so much so, that they didn't realise when they reached Pinky's house. Maan listened attentively to every word coming from Geet's mouth. Her voice sounded so musical, and he had missed her voice he realised.

Maan stopped the car in front of Pinky's house and both got out of the car. As they went towards the front door together, Geet's mobile started to ring. Maan looked at Geet and thought "Oh, so she has a mobile. I need to get her number"

Geet pulled out her phone from her bag and looked at the caller ID and smiled.

"Hello Pinky" Geet said 

"Oi Geet, where were you? I waited for you but you didn't come. Is everything okay?" Pinky asked

Geet looked at Maan momentarily before answering "Yes, I am fine. I just left work a little later than planned, but everything is fine. I have just arrived home. You will see for yourself in a few moments" Geet replied.

"No I won't" Pinky responded

"Why?" asked Geet

"Well because I am not home" Pinky teased

"So where are you then?" Geet asked

"At the movies with Adi" Pinky giggled.

"Late night movie?" Geet teased

"Arre yaar, not with Adi...he is such a darpoke...he is too embarassed to see one of those movies with me...maybe after marriage though" Pinky laughed unashamedly.

"Don't say anything about my Adi bhai, Okay?" Geet said defensively

"Bhai ki chamchi" Pinky replied to which they both laughed.

"So you will be late then?" Geet asked

"Yes, probably midnight. Don't wait up" Pinky replied

"I won't. Bye" Geet said almost ending the call when Pinky said "Oh Geet, by the way, Papa is also out for the evening, remember? He had his army reunion. He will be late too. Are you okay with that?"

Geet paused before answering. Would she be okay? How could she ask Pinky to come back? No she couldn't spoil her evening, so she said "Yes, of course. Enjoy yourself...don't tease Adi bhai too much. Bye" ending the call.

She turned to Maan and both stood outside the front door in awkward silence. Maan didn't want to leave and Geet didn't want him to leave