I said our meeting would be at 4pm but I don't know if I will be actually able to go through this without messing up. Somewhere, deep inside me, I know there is still old Geet that still likes Maan. That will still mess up in front of him no matter what. I know how I controlled myself when he barged into my office unannounced. I actually wasn't expecting him to come find me at all. In fact, I thought Pari would handle the situation but like again I underestimated him like before. I should have known that Maan has always been the sneaky I-do-what-I-want type a person.
Anyway, I have two hours to prepare myself to meet him in person but I won't be alone that's for sure. I will have Pari or someone in the room with me but not Meera. If I know my friend, anything that Maan would say she would not hesitate to punch him and that is the last thing I would want. I took up this responsibility of his project and I will complete it no matter what. I just hope this project goes smoothly so after I don't have to see or hear his name anymore.
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Two hours till my meeting with Geet. I wonder how i will pass my two hours. No matter how busy I keep myself in my office, my eyes involuntary keep looking at each passing minute and second making me more impatience. I know I probably made a fool of myself and I am so glad my Dadima did not accompany me to this meeting or else something was going to cook in that brain of hers. I don't know why, why everyone seems so familiar to me especially Geet and that friend who gave me nothing but attitude what was her name again..ohh yeah Meera. I feel like I have seen them before anyway who cares about Meera or whoever she might be. Geet is my main person of interest.
"Sir, someone is here to see you"
I looked at the intercom with annoyance as I was disturbed from my thoughts. I told my secretary to let whoever was here to see me which might have been my worst mistake ever since it was none other than Sameera. She gave me her usual am so happy to see you smile as she hugged me. This time I was hesitant to hug her back, I did not like her touch at all.
Sameera was a top model now just as she had dreamed of since college of course she would not have been at the top without my help and her name attached with mine considering I am the most popular and influential business man in India and worldwide. I tried to pay attention to what she was saying but all I saw was her lips moving. My eyes kept looking at the time only 1.5 hours left till my meeting with Geet.
"Sameera why don't you tell me why you are really here?"
"Ohh Maan come on I am your girlfriend. Do I really need any excuse to come meet you?"
"Correction, Sameera. You are my ex-girlfriend. I broke up with you last night. Now, if you don't mind, please leave my office. Anyway, I have to go for another meeting."
"Are you still on that ex-girlfriend thing? Come on Maan, we broke up and got back together so many times. I gave you a whole night to cool down. I admit I shouldn't have kept calling you and bothering you knowing you are busy with work and all but I couldn't help it. You see I hear people, especially girls, talk about you all the time and my anger and jealousy gets the best of me." (She walks toward Maan and sits on his lap wrapping her arms around his neck pulling herself closer to him. Maan just looks at her with anger. She leans forward pecking him on his lips while slowly grinding herself on top of him.)
"Besides are you really going to forget the past we shared and the wonderful moments of us together at night be bygones? Are you really going to forget the screams, moans and the marks on your body I gave you? The pleasure I gave you that by the way no one is capable of?" (She smirks while looking at him. Maan places his hands on her waist. She closes her eyes bringing her face towards him expecting a kiss when the next thing she knew she was on the floor yelling in pain. Maan stands up looking at her with a smirk.)
"TASHA, SASHA COME HERE RIGHT NOW"
Sameera yells as her two colleagues from work comes running in and stopped in their tracks when they saw her on the floor. Soon the whole room was filled with their annoying laughter. Maan had to cover his hands on his ear to block out their laughter and Sameera's screams.
"ENOUGH" (Maan yells looking at all three of them and at the employees standing in the doorway looking inside as if he was hosting a circus party here. Everyone soon dispersed toward their respective work stations. Sasha and Tasha looked down scared of his anger afraid to move to help their friend. Sameera gets up from the floor marching toward Maan while he folds his arms across his chest waiting for her to leave.)
"We are officially done. You will regret breaking up with me and I will ruin whoever is making you this."
"Don't forget your purse lying on the floor"
"Tasha get my purse now"
"Tasha don't forget you work for me and not for your friend. If you get her purse or help her in anyway than I will fire you right at this moment and make sure you don't get a job anywhere else. Now, both of you leave my office and next time knock before entering"
"Yes, sir"
Maan goes toward the door opening up for Sameera. She looks at him with anger before leaving the building. Maan sighs and sits back down on his desk holding his head. I made a big mistake in hiring her two friends to work for me. I can't even let go of them without a valid reason. At least, for now I got rid of Sameera. Dadima was right, I don't know why I kept her around for so long. Maan waited for 10 minutes to cool himself down before leaving for the meeting. He was going there early yet again but he couldn't help it. Something about her attracted him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Geet he is here to see you for the 4pm meeting"
"Alright, thanks Pinky. Tell him I will be there in few minutes."
"Hmm alright"
Damn he is more than half hour early. I am not even fully prepared to meet with him. I guess it is better to rip the bandage completely off like Raj would say. There goes nothing. I sighed as I took the presentation files with me towards the conference room. My heart starts to beat fast as I approached the closed doors. I took a deep breath before opening the doors to be met by his presence.
I took small steps toward the table trying to ignore him. Thank god Pari was already inside waiting for me. I sat down on the table looking at my files trying to organize them even though they were already. I could feel his eyes on me and that is what made me so nervous. My hands started to shake and I could feel the old Geet dying to come out of me. Waiting for me to make a fool of myself. i suppressed all the feelings as I raised my eyes to look at him as nonchalantly as I could.
"Shall we start?"
I said as I looked at Maan for answer and waited for his reply but all he could really do was blink his eyes and slightly nod his head. I looked at Pari with confusion but she just shrugged her shoulders signaling me to continue. Having no other option and also wanting to end this meeting as soon as possible I began my presentation. I slid his copy of the designs towards him hoping to get a reaction from him. Pari coughs a little bringing Maan from his thoughts.
"Mr. Khurana ma'am is asking if you are ready for the presentation?"
"Ohh yes. Ahem sorry about that. Let's begin"
"Mr. Khurana, Pari has designed the party according to your wishes. I can assure you the party will be designed as per our discussions. Please take a look at the designs and inform Pari if you don't like anything."
"Hmm." (Maan looked at the designs carefully looking at each and every signal details. He slides the papers back toward Geet.) "Could you explain me what these are?"
Geet gets up from her chair sitting right next to Maan without having much option. She looks at the area he was pointing at while Pari focused her eyes on the notepad writing down any main points she hears.
"hmm those are high standing tables located in the middle of the room while around each corner of the room we will have tables decorated with just candles illuminating the whole event. This is a black and white theme party as you wanted so we decided to put only white flower bouquets around the room as the only decorative piece."
"hmm interesting."
"We also came up with an idea to show your recognition to the people present at the party. We were thinking of having a central area with your reward showcased and give an opportunity for the people to write few words about you. This will be a great way for you to read their comments in case if you don't have enough time to thank each person personally present there."
"I don't know if this will work"
"sir, if you don't mind me interfering." (Pari states) "We have used these ideas before and not once did we get any negative comments from our customers. Am sure you will be elated to read your guests comments."
"hmm alright I guess I will go with it. Now, what about the food. Keep in mind, there will be old people present at the party. I don't have any of my guests however their age is to be disappointed My reputation and my name means a lot to me."
"We will have waiters around the clock serving guests light finger food and wine. Our finger food will very from vegetarian to non-vegetarian. As well as have a fondu section with strawberries and cheese. Guests will love it"
"hmm alright Miss. Handa I trust you and your company. I sure hope am not disappointed."
I did not pay attention to what she was saying. The minute she walked in the room, dressed in light pink and white suit I just couldn't think anything else. Even though she is covered up from head to toe, she still looked beautiful. I hated that we were not alone and there was nothing I could but go along with this so called meeting. I was already aware of each and every details but I just decided to play along and find some faults and question Geet so she comes closer to me.
I picked the most random spot on the designs and decided to question her hoping she would sit next to me to answer it. I had slid the paper just little bit so it would be hard for her to see from where she sat. I inwardly smiled as she leaned closer to me to show me what that area was. The way she spoke and behaved was so professional. I could tell she took pride in her work and her clients. There was nothing scheming about her, she was honest and willing to work with the clients as their wishes.
I almost hated myself as the meeting came to an end. I had to stall this meeting or use another opportunity some way or another. Everything about her attracted me, some feelings inside me creep up that I didn't know ever existed. I forwarded my hand for a handshake. I looked at her face attentively as she hesitantly looked at my hand and then at my face before bringing her hand closer to mine. Why was she nervous? I have noticed ever since she stepped into the room she tried to ignore my presence as much as could. Even when she came to sit close to me, she was nervous. I could see it in her eyes. Why? Does she know me from before? This is only our second meeting than she should have no reason to avoid me.
"Pari will take you to the receptionist where you can submit your down payment for the party."
"Actually, I do not bring any cash or my check with me. Is it okay if I drop it by sometime later? What time do you guys close?"
"At 6 sir"
"Alright than I will come back before you guys close. See you guys soon"
I looked at him as he went toward the exit. My heart stopped when he turned around to look at me with a smile. It was not a normal smile, his smile seemed sneaky. Oh god he is going to be back again. I don't know if I should say this is my good or bad day. I looked at Pari with anger while she played innocently. She knows I am the last one to leave at 6. I couldn't handle myself in this meeting with even her around than how will I be able to handle myself when am all alone and that too with him.
"Couldn't you have told him to come tomorrow to submit his payment?"
"Sorry, Geet. I didn't want to loose this client besides from his looks he has money. He will be really good for us when our future clients know we served Maan Singh Khruana. Can you imagine the business we will have after? He is not easy to please and I am so happy to know he loves our ideas"
"Pari, I have told you before it does not matter to me if we have one client or 20. As long as they are happy we should be happy. Besides, I don't like using someone else's name for our business. Only our current clients have the right to decide if our business will bloom or fail."
"Am sorry, Geet. If you want I will call and inform him to come tomorrow for the payment."
"No, Pari. Its okay. We already gave our words so its better we get it over with tonight. Now, you go and tell Meera to finish with the budget so I can let him know tonight."
"Alright, am sorry again."
"You can make it up by cleaning the kitchen and the main lobby. Make sure everything is up to date and order whatever supplies we need. That is your punishment."
I smiled at her before leaving her shocked behind inside the conference room. I guess after tonight, I won't see him anymore. I will let Pari and my team handle this project. Besides, I had promised Pari to give her a chance to host a party without me micro-managing, this will be a great opportunity for me and her to see if she can handle this or not.
Only half hour was left for him to come and I made sure to prepare all the papers before hand since he has a habit of coming in early. Everyone had left by 5pm since it really has been a long way and all though Meera wanted to stay and give me company, i told her otherwise. Last thing I needed was for her to do something this late at night and frankly speaking I don't think I can handle anymore drama for the night. I just want to go home as soon as possible and sleep to forget this day.
The buzzer rang from the front door. He was here. At the end of the day, if anyone comes after hours there is a little doorbell, so to speak, that customer press for any question. I sighed as I saw him standing at the door with his hands in his pocket as he stared at me waiting for me to open the door. I shot a silent prayer and opened the door quickly. I led him in and walked toward the reception area where the papers were kept. This meeting should take two minutes, he just has to sign and go. Of course, nothing goes as planned. The minute I turned around to give him the papers to sign, I found out he was standing way to close for my comfort. I could feel his breath on my face, that's how close he was. I leaned against the counter to give some space between us as I looked here and there feeling awkward. Thank god he got the hint and backed up a little.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were going to...uhh"
"Its okay." (I quickly interpreted him wanting this to be over with.) "You just have to sign on the highlighted area after you look at the budget and the contract. Please read through it before signing"
"hmm." (Maan scanned and read each line very carefully while Geet stood couple of feet away from him.) "So "Bright Start" when did you start this company? Must say the company name is apt for what you guys do." (Maan says as he scans the papers while looking at Geet in between)
"Thanks. We take pride in what we do. Are you all finished looking through the documents? I hope everything is exactly how you wanted to be"
Not much a talker as I had expected most girls to be. I knew she wanted me to leave as soon as possible and of course I will leave when I feel like it. One thing is for sure, she does get nervous seeing me around. I saw it again when she hesitated to open the door, her actions didn't reflect it but her eyes did. They were like open book and filled with innocence which is hard to find in girls these days.
"Everything is good. Where should I sign again?"
Geet comes closer towards him grabbing the papers. She flips through them pointing toward the highlighted areas. Maan smiles and begins singing.
"Ohh shoot the pen is not working."
Maan looks at Geet. She sighs and walks toward her office to grab a new one. In fact, she came back with three or four in case if new one didn't work. Looks like the universe and her Babaji was plotting against her again. They love to see her getting humiliated and embarrassed in front of him. It was dead silent in the office, Geet just held on to her purse as she waited for Maan to finish up. He was taking his time much to her annoyance. Finally, with what seemed like an eternity he hands her the papers along with down payment check.
"Alright thanks. We will begin the preparation tomorrow"
"I look forward to it."
Geet leads him toward the door as she turns off the lights. It was a long day and she couldn't wait to go home and wash it off. She really needed enough energy to get through this client and hopefully it will be over soon.
"Do you want me to drop you home? Its quiet late."
"huh ohh umm its okay. I don't take any rides from strangers."
"Stranger? I hardly believe that. We know each other quiet well now don't you think."
"Well, thanks Mr. Khruana but its fine. I will manage"
"nonsense"
Next thing Geet knew she was being dragged toward his car. She tried to unclasp her wrist from his hand but he only held it tighter until she felt pain. He opens the door pushing her in without any further notice and beings driving.
"Stop the car right now. I want to get out"
"I will drop you off at home and that's it"
"Excuse me who are you to decide that? You are my client and that does not mean it gives you the right to drop me home."
"I know but am just doing a favor as a human being. It is not in my nature to let a girl go home alone especially if that person is going to be of some use to me. There is no point in arguing with me Geet. Now, your address again?"
What should I do? I know he is stubborn and I have seen it first hand during college. Damn it why couldn't Raj pick me up from his work? He is always busy and its my fault too. I should've drove my own car instead of having me drop me off. Now, am stuck with Maan and no matter what he will drop me home.
"Your address Geet"
"Ohh uhh its at xyz place"
"thanks. So how long has it been since you started your company?"
"uhh its been two years."
Geet looks out the window again not wanting to start a conversation which she knew would end up no where. It was better that she stays away and end this project as soon as possible. Being this close to him again was not good for her senses at all and she could feel anxiousness building up inside her. Maan looked at her from time to time as he drove to the address. She was quiet and he could tell she did not want anything to do with him. For once a girl is not crazy about him. There is something very familiar about her knew and he could feel it in his guts but still can't pin point it exactly. He frowns when the car stops in front of her house. He looks out it was an apartment complex.
Geet quickly got out saying thank you as she walked toward the apartment building. Maan looks at her one last time before leaving. Geet sighs in relief as she rings Meera's apartment buzzer. Yes, she didn't give him her full address, she couldn't take that chance. It pained her heart to know that he doesn't remember her but than again what was there to remeber her of? Her body fat? Her average looks? Or her clumsiness? She sighs as Meera buzzes Geet up to her apartment.
Maan was driving home when something ringing caught his attention. He stops the car on the side as he looks at the phone on the floor where Geet was sitting. The caller ID displayed "Raj". Something pained him inside to see this name flashing again and again. Without thinking, he picked up the phone.
"Hey sweetheart. Where are you? Mom and dad are so worried about you." (Maan listened to him confused. Why would her parents be worried when he just dropped her home.)
"Hello, this is not Geet."
"Who is this? Where is Geet?"
"This is Maan Singh Khruana. I am her client."
"Maan wait a minute are you the same guy I met the other day at Mr. Malhotra's party? My name is Armaan. We sat at the bar together. Remember?"
It dawned on Maan who he was. Yes, he does remember meeting him at the end of the party.
"Ohh hey. Yeah, I remember you."
"So you are her new client. Am sure you won't be disapointed with her. Anyway, where is Geet? Her parents are worried. I was suppose to pick her up but was held up at work. She will surely kill me tomorow."
"ohh I just dropped her home."
"Really? Well am at her home right now and she is not here."
"How can that be. I dropped her at xyz place five minutes ago"
"That is her friends apatment buidling. Thanks for the information. Maybe she is staying there."
"Ohh her friend. You know what I will just drop her phone there right now. What is her friend's name?"
"Meera."
"Got it. Thanks."
Maan hangs up the phone throwing it on the seat. It wasn't her home that he dropped her at. Why would she lie to me about that. If there is one thing that I hate is being lied to. Maan turns are the car around driving toward the building.
Geet sat on the sofa just thinking about her day today especially the car ride here. She was just glad that it was over and also glad Meera didn't question her about anything. One thing that she loved about Meera was that she is always there for her no matter what. Her doors are always open for Geet and plus it gives them enough time to hang out and talk about boys.
"Geet can you get the doorbell. I am in the shower"
Geet comes out of her thoughts after hearing her friend's voice and the doorbell she spoke of. Straightening herself, she opened the door without looking. Maan. He stood there looking at her with anger as he steps inside the living room. Geet stands in front of him stopping him from coming any further.
"Excuse me Mr. Khruana what are you doing here?"
"I came to drop your phone off. Coincidentally, someone from your home called and said they were worried about you."
"Ohh well thank you. You may leave now"
"Isn't this your home? May I have a glass of water please?"
"No, you may not. Now, please leave."
"You know Geet since we are going to be working together"
"Correction we will.." (she was interuptted with a phone call. Raj. She sighs and picks up the phone moving slightly away from Maan. He looked around the apartment while paying little bit of attention to her conversation)
"Yeah, Raj. I will be sleeping over here tonight. hmm am okay. Can you please tell mom and dad that I am at Meera's for tonight. Alright, bye. Thanks" (she smiles and hangs up the phone)
"Please Mr. Khurana leave. Am tired and we will talk tomorrow about the project"
"Alright, tomorrow it is."
Geet quickly closes the door dreading about tomorrow.
Preacap; Maaneet moments?😉😆
Ishaani
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