The bright and sunny morning brought many pleasantries with it including the melodious chirping of cuckoos. The early spring season added colorful blooming of various flowers in the huge garden spanning behind the haveli along with exquisite butterflies and bumble bees adding to its flavor.
Maan awoke with a huge smile on his face as the sunlight streamed through the windows. The turn of last night's events gave him a new and hopeful morning. He flushed lightly remembering her eager response. Even though she was intoxicated her eyes spoke volumes of truth. Myriad of emotions were displayed through her expressive eyes yet love seemed to overshadow everything else. He turned around to find her snuggled under the huge quilt. Her brows were slightly scrunched up as though something was bothering her while her teeth had tightly encaged her bottom lip. He wondered what she was dreaming about making her frown. He got off the couch and walked to kneel beside her bed. He peered to see if any strands of hair had nonchalantly fallen across her face causing her discomfort but her hair was nicely pushed back. Then he looked around to see if any other object was poking or disturbing her peaceful slumber but nothing of that sort was present. He was about to wake her up to ask if everything was alright when he heard her mumble something angrily under her breath.
"Chodo use!" she ordered sternly. Maan blinked his eyes to see if she was already awake but she had her eyes closed and seemed like she was talking in her sleep. "Chodo use, chudail kahin ki!" she continued to curse scrunching her eyebrows further. "Mujhe gussa mat dilwao, chodo use, patichor kahin ki!" Maan looked amused at her continuous bantering and wondered whom she was so colorfully praising. "Kutti, kamini, dekh abhi main kya karti hoon," she warned her arms flaying in the air. And before he could guess her next move, he saw her punching in the air. Since he was positioned really close to her a hard punch landed on his right jaw. Boy did that hurt! She was about to give him another when he tactfully caught her arm, saving himself from a black eye.
"Geet utho!" He tried shaking her awake with one hand while he tightly held her hands with the other fearing she would punch him again. After repeated attempts of patting and shaking her he was finally able to shake her off her sleep.
Geet fluttered her eye open, feeling disoriented. She blinked her eyes trying to understand where did that chudail suddenly disappear and instead Maan stood looking anxiously at her.
"Geet dekho main Maan hoon. Aur mere ilawa yahaan aur koi nahi hai," he stated urgently.
"Main… voh…" she tried to concoct the right words when suddenly a sharp jab of pain pierced her head. "Arghh!" she screamed clutching her head while her head throbbed as though a train hit her.
"Geet!" he shouted alarmed at her sudden scream. "Kya hua?"
"My head is killing me. Pata nahi kyun!" she tried to say in the midst of burying her head between her legs.
"Yeh toh hona hi tha. Tumne kal raat sharab pee li thi," he stated stoically.
"No I didn't I just had three glasses of water since I had severe hiccups," she said blinking in confusion. "I saw you practically touch that chikni chudail all over the place, chi chi Babaji," she paused shaking her head, "aur phir I went away to change. When I came back to the stage I badly needed water because I was hiccupping and found three glasses of water nearby," she finished shrugging her shoulders, completely forgetting the pain as events from last night flashed in front of her.
Maan's eyes grew large hearing her fess up that he wouldn't even have her say in his dreams. Well the green-eyed monster hadn't seemed to only capture him it did have her well under his control. He was completely lost in his own thoughts when he heard her scream again.
"Maan are you going to stand still and watch your wife suffer in pain, chaliye get me some nimbu paani and an aspirin!" she commanded authoritatively before burying herself under her blanket.
"Arre haan, sorry," he replied still dazed and thus not really catching on to her words. He dashed downstairs to make her limejuice as well as get her some medicines for her headache. He rushed back with the necessary items to find her groaning and clutching her head while rolling on the bed. "Yeh lo, jaldi pee lo, you'll feel better," he said extending a glass of limejuice. Mumbling thanks, she grabbed the drink and gulped it down in one go. "Yeh lo asprin." He gave her the medicine along with a glass of water he had brought along with him. "Ab kuch der aur so ja, I'll come and get you later. Vaise aaj shaam ko hi mehendi hai so you won't miss much," he said tucking her neatly under the blanket while she nodded in reply and shut her eyes hoping sleep would erase her foul pain away. He was about to walk out of the door when he heard her again.
"Maan," she called softly. He turned to see if she needed anything. "Thank you," she said managing to smile in spite of her throbbing pain.
Maan gave her an assuring smile before turning around to leave the room.
***
Hot rays of the sun pierced through the windows, revealing it was past midday. She casually removed the blanket allowing some air to pass through and turned sideways, shielding her eyes off the bright light. She stretched her legs that had stiffened causing blood to freely rush while she blinked her eyes open, adjusting to the bright sunlight. She stifled a yawn, partially closing her hand over her mouth and stretched her other hand groping for her phone to see the time. She brought her phone in front of her face and squinted her eyes only to jerk up and sit. It was past noon and she was still sleeping. She slapped her forehead cursing what people would think of her unruly habits. She was about to slide out of the bed when she turned to see remaining aspirin tablets and a glass of water on the side table. Then the events came rushing back to her. She had got up with a severe headache and Maan had given her limejuice along with medicines before asking her to take rest. Darn it, what had gotten in her yesterday that she had drunk alcohol! She was in need of water and had rushed to grab the nearest glass of water that smelt slightly funky. Could have been alcohol? Well she seemed to have knocked out so probably it was alcohol. She shook her head ruefully, promising herself never to drown in those good-for-nothing drinks. Not only did it give her a terrible headache, it also caused her to lose her control. She certainly had no clue what had happened after continuously gulping down many glasses of tequila and vodka. Yet she hoped she didn't do anything to embarrass Maan or herself. She got off the bed and grabbed her towel on the way before heading to the bathroom to get a nice shower before she headed out to talk to Maan about last night.
Geet rushed out of the bathroom in bright red anarkali suit, looking like a newly blossomed red rose. Her wet hair added to her dewy look as she came to stand in front of the mirror. She dried her hair using the towel and neatly clipped some of it letting her long hair loose. Satisfied with a dash of khol in her eyes and some pink lip-gloss on her lips, she got up from the dressing table but she stopped to turn around and look at herself again as if she had forgotten something. Her eyes darted to her forehead where there was no sindhoor. She hit her head slightly for forgetting to bring a bottle of sindhoor. She made a mental note get some from the pooja room after she goes down. Then she dashed out of the room to meet him.
Meanwhile, somewhere outside haveli, a certain person named Chaitu was blushing profusely clutching a small chit of a sheet while skipping towards the front porch. Giggling on her own accord, she bit her lip, thinking of the consequences tonight after this paper reaches him. She saw him stand outside in the open area engrossed in instructing a worker with the things that had to be completed and instantly she hid behind a pillar hoping people didn't see her. Slowly she stepped out of the pillar and hissed wanting to gain his attention before hiding behind the pillar.
Arun was engrossed in instructing the servant when he heard some hissing sound. He looked up in the direction of the sound only to see nobody. He shrugged his shoulders thinking it could have been his imagination and went back to instructing the servant.
Chaitu once again crept out of the shadow and hissed to gain his attention before hiding back, shying and giggling with the note in hand. She then kissed the note and threw it towards him with her back facing him. And as soon as she threw it she started to walk away, slyly looking back.
Arun finally got the servant to go do his job when he heard the hissing sound again. Confirmed that he wasn't imagining things, he started to walk towards the source of the sound when he saw a paper fly towards him. He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion and looked down at the chit before looking up to see Chaitu walking away, shying and giggling. He looked around to see nobody except her and thinking she would have thrown it towards him, he bent down to grab the note. He opened and was surprised to read the contents of it. It clearly read:
Meet me tonight at 11 near the fountain, akele mein. There is a special toufa waiting for you ;)
'A special toufa? Hmm… interesting,' he thought amusedly, eagerly waiting to meet her alone. They had become quite busy with marriage preparations that they never found time for each other. Tomorrow they would be married but he surely didn't want to miss out a romantic surprise before their marriage. He was so engrossed thinking about the things for tonight that he failed to hear Maan calling him.
Maan saw him standing with a silly grin on his face. Seeing nobody around he wondered what had gotten into Arun's mind and called him while walking towards. After a few failed attempts, he could finally see him jerk out of his reverie and look around confused.
"Haan, kkaun, I mean kya?" Arun stuttered instantly crumpling the note in his hand and throwing it away.
"Arun, main Maan, is everything alright?" he asked worried that something maybe bothering him.
"Nahi, mmera matlab hai haan. Haan, sab kuch teekh hai," Arun blabbered with a nervous laugh as blood rushed to his face.
"Okay," Maan scrunched his eyebrows, unsure of Arun's stammering. "Anyways, your father was searching for you," he informed.
"Abhi ke liye daddy, raat ke liye darling," he gushed confusing Maan more.
Maan was about to ask Arun about his weird behavior when his eyes fell on her.
Geet was walking skipping down the stairs when some old lady came up to her, stopping her. "Oye puttar, kal raat toh tu kinna sona naach rahi thi. Nazar na lage," she praised, lovingly holding Geet's chin.
"Ji shukriya auntyji," Geet replied smiling politely.
"Khush rakh puttar, Babaji tujhe sab de. Rab raakha," the lady blessed before moving away.
Geet was reminded about her reason for rushing down with the lady's mention of last night's events. She once again went to search for Maan. She stepped out of the main door and into the front porch when she saw something fall at her feet. Curious to know what it was, she bent down to pick it up. She unfolded the crumpled paper ball only to read a neatly written message. "Meet me tonight at 11 near the fountain, akele mein. There is a special toufa waiting for you," she read the contents, confused at who would have thrown it to her. She looked up from the paper to see Maan standing in the front garden. His eyes instantly met hers. She gaped at the message and then back at him, wondering if he could have really sent such a message to her. As if on cue, he blinked back assuredly at her, slightly nodding his head. Blood rushed to her cheeks, shocked and surprised at his sudden act. Of course, the thought of meeting him alone at night made her toes curl in anxiety, yet somewhere she loved it. She had certainly decided to give this relationship a chance and they had to start somewhere. Maybe this lone time would give her the courage to open her mind to him and start afresh. Shy and nervous, she bit her lips and lowered her eyes while he intently stared at her. "Chi," she shied remembering his mention of some 'special toufa' and shook her head admonishing her own racy thoughts. Instinctively she once again crumpled the paper and threw it in his direction before running away.
Maan tactfully caught the flying piece as it slightly hit his chest wondering about Geet's behavior. First it was Arun now Geet had joined the group with her weird behavior. He had noticed her stand near the front porch like a freshly blossomed rose in her red anarkali suit. Air had naturally dried her lovely locks curling them softly in the process. He openly drooled watching her display a myriad of emotions while she held something in her hand. He wondered if he loved her doe shaped hazels that were mirrors of her soul or her red tinged cheeks that heightened her already glowing face. He was brought back from his own lala land as he felt a paper hit him and saw her run away giggling for no apparent reason he could perceive. Hoping the paper chit would answer him, he slowly unraveled it only to be shocked the next second. He forcefully blinked his eyes and hurriedly rubbed. He looked up to see if she was still standing around but seeing her nowhere, he once again read the message, this time aloud hoping he wasn't dreaming, "Meet me tonight at 11 near the fountain, akele mein. There is a special toufa waiting for you." He pinched his hand once again to make sure this wasn't one of his secret fantasies. "Ouch!" he yelped in pain making him realize it indeed wasn't a dream. As reality sunk in he screamed in sheer joy at his own luck. Geet had asked him to meet her for a special toufa! Whoever said reality tasted bitter? It was anything but bitter! He turned to look at his watch that read two in the afternoon and he still had nine hours before it would read eleven. Darn, time couldn't have chosen a better time to go slow and torture him, he thought shaking his head at the irony.
"Veerji, is everything alright?"
Maan heard his little brother's concerned voice. He instantly straightened, tucking his hands behind trying to mask his current state of mind as well as the paper. He obviously didn't want his kid brother even getting a whiff of secret meeting tonight. It sounded as though he was in high school trying to secretly meet his girlfriend without anybody from his family knowing but it definitely did sound exciting. "Haan, kyun?" he asked, hoping his serious tone wouldn't arise any suspicions.
"What are you hiding from me veerji?" Arjun asked pointing to Maan's hands that were neatly tucked behind.
"Err… hiding, nahi toh," Maan shrugged trying to sound casual.
Arjun took a step forward as though he was going to peek to make sure Maan wasn't hiding anything. Panicking that Arjun would walk around to see the paper, Maan instantly threw it before sighing in relief.
"Nahi veerji, kuch toh hai. Maan Singh Khurana never stutters aur aaj aap stammer kar rahe toh kuch toh hai," he teased, grinning widely. "Bhabhi ki love letter thi kya? Ya phir unhone aapko kuch diya kya?"
Assured that the main piece of evidence was out of the picture, Maan straightened himself. "Arjun," he said folding his hands on his chest and putting up his Maan Singh Khurana attitude by quirking his eyebrow at his kid brother. "My dear little nosy kid brother, let me ask you something." He paused eyeing Arjun with a smirk.
"Ji, ji veerji, poochiye. Aapke sab savalon ka answer bank hoon main," Arjun replied undaunted by his brother's sarcastic remark while pulling his imaginary collar up.
"Can you keep a secret?" Maan whispered craning his neck forward.
"Of course veerji, not even a dead soul will know," Arjun replied nodding head.
"Well, so can I!" Maan declared grinning. "Now run along bacchu," he added ruffling Arjun's hair fondly.
"Veerji!" Arjun screamed, "maine abhi abhi hair set kiya hai. It took me nearly an hour aur aap ek hi minute mein usko bura haal kar diye."
"Oh stop complaing aur jao, vahaan dekho Sweety is calling," Maan slightly pushed Arjun away before he could pester him further.
Sulking all his efforts had gone down the drain, Arjun hurried away to see why that devil needed him now. Maan on the other hand sighed out in relief seeing his brother walk away and turned around only to see Soniya foolishly grinning at him.
Soniya hadn't seen Maan since morning and had been asking every passerby. But to her luck nobody has seemed to know where he was. She badly wanted to speak to him last night after sangeet but he had disappeared away with that chit of a girl. She was dying to catch attention of just one man and there was that girl having every guy's eyes on her along with Charan and Maan's attention. She certainly wasn't going to give up and was walking out of the haveli to check if Maan was around when she saw a ball of paper fall at her feet. She looked around to see who might have thrown in only to be surprised. Maan stood few hundred meters away with his back towards her. Excited he might have thrown it she hurriedly opened the paper to read it. She giggled like a monkey given a banana to eat thinking about tonight alone with Maan. This was the signal she was waiting for ages and here it was. She would definitely make sure she wouldn't let this golden opportunity slip out of her hands and grinned showing all her teeth while she saw him turn around to face her. Unsure of her gesture Maan smiled nervously and rushed away before that lady clung to him.
"Soniya!" somebody called out to her breaking her reverie. She turned around to see her grandmother gesturing her to hurry up from upstairs balcony of the haveli.
Not wanting to be questioned continuously by her grandmother, she turned back and forth to hide the paper. Unfortunately for her servants were passing by and would notice she threw the paper. She once again heard her grandmother calling, this time her voice reaching to the high octave. "Ha vastunna!" (Yes, I am coming) she replied tensely, walking towards her grandmother while trying to find a way to get rid of the paper. As she was slowly taking steps inside the haveli, she saw Geet holding a plate of articles in the opposite direction. Without thinking twice she threw it towards her causing the paper to land in the midst of all the articles.
Geet who was still dazed and thinking about Maan's message failed to notice Soniya throwing the paper ball towards her. She was walking into the haveli blushing at her own thoughts when Chaitu's mother came to her and handed her a plate full of items that had to be given to the groom tomorrow as part of shagun from the bride's brother. Since Chaitu didn't have any siblings of her own, she always treated Charan as her own and looked up to him like her elder brother. Chaitu's mother asked Geet to take the plate and give it to Charan so he wouldn't forget to get it during the actual ceremony that was going to be held tonight. Chaitu's mother apologized for sending Geet to do such menial job but it was very important that the articles reach on time and safely. All of her close relatives were busy and so she was requesting Geet. Geet quickly brushed away her mother's apologies saying she too was part of their family would certainly give it to Charan. She was then informed that Charan was in his room upstairs. She crossed the main hall and took the staircase towards Charan's room.
Geet stood outside Charan's room, knocked on the door, and entered with her head bent low. Lost in thoughts about Maan, she placed the articles on the coffee table nearby to see Charan walking into the room from his balcony. "Yeh sab kya hai Geet?" she heard him ask confusedly.
"Aaj ke raat ke liye," she gushed, "bhooliyega mat!" She ran out of the room not wanting to be caught turning beet red while her thoughts still lingered around Maan.
Seeing her rush out in a hurry, he came around to check what those were and noticed a ball of paper in the midst of it. He reached out to see what it was. He uncurled the paper only to be pleasantly shocked at the contents. A wide grin adorned his lips as he yelled jumping up and down, "Wohoo!" He flayed his arms in the air causing the paper to slip away and fly out through the balcony. But he hardly noticed it while he was excitedly dancing around the room that finally Geet had assented to his pleadings and advances.
The paper flew out of the balcony and due to the gusty wind it changed the course of its direction and traveled to the opposite side falling right into someone's hands. Confused at the sudden appearance of the paper, he scrunched his eyebrows. Soon the frown was replaced with anger as he read the contents of the letter. Apparently a lot of things had been going under his nose and he would take care of it tonight. 
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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