Chapter 30: Aadha Ishq…
Geet skipped down the stairs and was going to head towards the kitchen when she heard loud noises from the adjacent hall. Curious of what was going on, she turned her heels towards the noise only to find people cheering loudly while two known figures stood in the center. She walked closer to hear the crowd chanting Maan and that chudail's name. She scrunched her eyebrows, frowning at the onset of the events and made her way through the crowd to where both were standing with a long white cloth apart.
"Now jilakara bellam!" Anu squeaked handing something to Maan.
"Jila what?" people asked looking curiously at the thing in Maan's hand.
"It means," Anu began only to cut it short, "ah forget it mundas. It's just this thing that bride and groom smear each other on their head. It signifies that their relationship is unbreakable."
"Oooh," the crowd cooed while Maan shifted awkwardly.
Geet's eyes widened, her orbs obtaining the shape of a navel orange. What the hell was going on? Maan was on one side of the curtain while that chudail stood shamelessly grinning ear to ear and Anushka was talking about some unbreakable relationship.
"Yeh ho kya raha hai?" she asked a nearby girl engrossed in the proceedings.
"Trail shaadi," the girl replied hurriedly before looking back at the proceedings as though she would miss something important.
"Kya! Trail shaadi? Only over my dead body!" she fumed, her labored breaths reflecting her anger. Wanting to put an end to all this nonsense, she raised her voice. "Mr. Maan Singh Khurana!" her voice boomed throughout the hall and out into hallway. The hall instantly quietened down to pin-drop silence, turning to see the source of such authoritative voice. "I think you may have forgotten something. Let me remind you," she began, folding her hands on her chest and staring at Maan. "Aap shaadi shuda ho aur aapki patni ke saamne aur koi ladki ka haath thaamna accha nahi lagta!" she finished shaking her head dangerously.
Except for Anu and Arjun's, everyone's eyes widened at her sudden announcement, especially Charan's. Scratching their heads at the sudden turn of events they looked at each other whispering their doubts. Moreover, why was Geet bothered about his personal life when she had never been seen with him?
But Maan on the other hand wasn't bothered about her sudden arrival. He was now seriously worried about the consequences of him being caught like this. She couldn't even take him dancing with Sonia and now a mock wedding with that same girl, all hell would break lose! Seeing her shake in anger, he gulped, hoping to come up with a proper excuse that would cool her down. "Voh… main…" he began struggling to find the right words.
"Oh main samajh gayi, aap bhool gaye honge na? Too bad you seemed to have developed selective amnesia, especially in circumstances like these," she sneered dauntingly. "So why don't I help you remembering your wife's name, hmm?" "Voh kya tha," she paused as though she was thinking deeply before continuing, "haan, Mrs. Geet Maan Singh Khurana!" she roared stunning the whole crowd before stomping out of the hall with Maan closely following her.
"Geet meri baat suno!" he called, desperately trying to catch up with her, as she was storming through the empty hallways of the haveli. "Geet!" he called once again only for her to disappear around the corner. He held his temple in defeat, thinking hard how he could convince her it was just a favor requested by the bride and the groom. Sighing in defeat he rushed turning around the corner where she had just disappeared a few seconds ago. The small hallway led to the garden through a small door. He stepped out, hoping to find and appease his angry wife.
This part of the garden seemed a bit unkempt with thorny bushes growing randomly along with various sizes of twigs strewn throughout the path. He tried his best to walk around the thorny bushes yet a few scratches possessed his feet and arms. He was least bothered about them while he tried to locate Geet. "Geet kahaan ho? I can explain, its nothing like it looked!" His voice boomed through what seemed like an empty garden. Not hearing her respond, he fastened his pace fearing the worst. "Geet ek baar let me explain, then you can do whatever you want!" He tried to reason. He reached a dead end with an abandoned well on the corner. He was about to turn around when he heard slight whimpering. He instantly rushed around the well to find her back resting on the well while she tucked her legs close to her chest with her head bent down. "Oh Geet!" he rushed forward to kneel in front of her. "Ek baar meri baat sun lo Geet," he said trying to hold her hand.
Geet instantly jerked away his hand, "Don't touch me! Aapki Soniya intezaar kar rahi hogi," she taunted in the midst of her sobs.
"Until you hear what I have to say, I am going nowhere!" he declared obstinately.
"Fine, then I'll leave," she declared looking up directly at him. She got up and was about to leave when she felt him hold her wrist. She tried to wiggle her hands away from his firm grip only for him to tug her causing her to fall on him. Not wanting her to slip away from his grasp, he tightened his grip around her waist, locking her in his embrace as she sat cocooned on his lap. "Chodo mujhe!" she shouted hitting him with her tiny fists while tears streamed down freely. "Chodo, jab voh tumhare saamne thi tabhi main yaad nahi aayi, abhi kyun mujhe pakad ke rakhe ho!" He bit his lip, not knowing whether he should laugh or bang his head at her childishness. In spite of her squirming and hitting, he caught hold of her hands with his left hand and tightly tucked it down while his right hand went to wipe away her tears. She instinctively moved her face away yet he stretched his hands to wipe them away.
"Geet, ek baar mere aankhon me dekho and if you see even an iota of dishonesty, I'll walk away from here," he said genuinely.
But Geet was not ready to listen to him. "Kyun dekhoon? When you don't see I am trying my best to give this marriage a chance, give us a chance, I am not going to listen to you," she blurted. "I even tolerated seeing you dance with that chudail for heaven sake! Magar nahi aapko yeh sab nahi dikta!"
To say that he was astounded by Geet's sudden revelation would be an understatement for Maan. He looked baffled at her open confession, trying to digest her words. Of course she hadn't confessed her feelings but her trying to give them a chance was no less for him. Few weeks ago she was talking of their divorce and now she was ready to give their relationship a chance. Well, they had to start somewhere with all his efforts to win her and her taking this huge of a step had him completely speechless.
Unaware of Maan's shock she continued to ramble, "Aapko humesha mujhe tang karne ka ilawa aur kuch nahi soojta. If I challenged we should not reveal our relationship here, that doesn't mean you go on acting like a bachelor ready to take that chudial for a wife. Main ab tak mari nahi hoon samjhe!"
"Geet," he whispered in the midst of her complaints, looking deeply into her eyes. "Ek baar phirse kaho."
Angered and hurt he had not listened to a word of her, she disinterestedly repeated, "Main ab tak mari nahi hoon."
"Nahi usse pehle," he requested still staring at her eyes.
"If I challenged we should not reveal our relationship here, that doesn't mean you go on acting like a bachelor ready to take that chudial for a wife," she said, now confused at where he was taking their conversation.
"Nahi Geet," he shook his head, "usse pehle."
Geet was now really confused at his insistent of repeating what she had said earlier. She furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled and tried to recollect all the things she had just blabbered on. "Usse pehle kya Maan? Ki I am trying to give this relationship a chance!" she repeated frustrated at his continuous nagging.
"Haan," he said nodding like a little child. "Ek baar aur kaho na," he said longingly still not believing his ears.
That's when Geet realized the depth of her declaration. She had just blurted out something she had decided to keep it for herself. Pink hue crept through her cheeks while she shut her eyes tightly and bit her lip letting her own words sunk in. Of course, she had decided to give them a chance but she didn't want to go announcing it around, especially to the guy to whom she wanted to give a chance!
Seeing her mum, he probed once again, "Geet please ek aur baar kaho na."
"Main… nnahi," she stammered shaking her head vehemently and looking away in embarrassment. He pouted like a child not getting another piece of his favorite candy while she composed herself a bit. She cleared her throat and turned to look at him, "Vaise golden words are never repeated," she declared looking a bit sternly.
"Mere liye bhi nahi?" he asked like a little kid.
His longing and yearning in his voice struck her. Realizing he was still emotionally high strung on her words, she softened a bit. "I, I want to give our relationship a chance, I want to give us a chance. I don't want to promise anything right away magar I reall—" she tried to complete only for her to be engulfed by his hug.
He didn't care to hear anything more than her saying she would give them a chance. Overwhelmed by the turn of events, he instantly jerked her forward and hugged her. "Thank you Geet," he managed to say in spite of being overtaken by varied emotions. "Bas, thank you."
Geet was startled at his reaction. She should be the one thanking him for allowing her to have a chance with him. She was certain after all the events that had transpired between them, he wouldn't think twice to give her the divorce she had asked for, yet here he was thanking her for her decision she should have rightfully made on day one. In instances where woman would certainly be made to take the role of a wife even if it's against her wishes, here was a man thanking her for merely giving their relationship a chance. Boy had she utterly misjudged him and his character! She certainly had a lot of cleaning up and salvaging to do. She slowly broke away from his hug and cupped his cheek lovingly. "Nahi Maan, thank you," she said trying to blink back her tears. "I was never good with words but let me try this once again. If you had chosen to make me your wife, there really would have been no stopping in spite my resistance. Yet you decided to play according to my tunes and acceded to everything I said. All these days I had been fighting with myself and didn't realize you did everything the way I wanted you to, without questioning anything. Magar ab aur nahi Maan, it is unfair on my part to brush away this relationship without even giving it a try. Of course, it is too early to promise anything but I am willing to give it my best before I can say marriage doesn't work for me. I know its too much for me to ask this but I promise this is the last thing I'll ask, will you be able to give me a chance, give us a chance?" she asked biting her lip and looking deeply into his chocolate brown eyes.
"It is all I yearn for every moment of my life, a chance." His voice sounded gruff and choking with emotion.
"Oh Maan!" she gasped letting her tears roll down. It was her turn to hug him tightly.
They stayed in that position for quite long before Maan took the initiative to break the hug. He cupped her cheeks and brought her face forward before gently placing a kiss on her forehead. He then moved back a bit to admire her.
Unable to face him after her confession, Geet still kept her head down while they stayed in the same position with her sitting on his lap. She had never imagined she would openly tell him these things. But seeing her with him even for a mock wedding had triggered her emotions causing her to blurt everything out. Well, he certainly did need to know what she had decided. What if they had gone ahead and tied him up with that chudail in the name of mock wedding, nahi nahi Babaji! She then suddenly remembered that the chudail was the reason behind all this crying on her part. Annoyed that Maan had played along she looked up to face him. "Aur haan, I am warning you Mr. Maan Singh Khurana, agar ek aur baar I see that chudail even near you, I swear humare beech bahut bada jagda ho jayega!" she warned poking his chest.
"Kabhi nahi Mrs. Geet Maan Singh Khurana," he chuckled at her sudden mood change. God, she truly was an enigma; she was just crying and getting all emotional a few moments ago and now she was back to her sherni mode!
"Teekhai, teekhai magar sorry bolo." She pretended to be still angry. "Kaan pakadke," she added.
"Please mujhe maaf kariye Mrs. Geet Khuranaji," he said holding his ears.
"Maaf kiya," she said as though she was doing him a favor making him giggle. She instantly turned to glare at him causing him to shut up.
"Vaise Geet, it really wasn't my fault," he began to recollect the actual events that had led to her misunderstanding.
After giving some lemon juice to Geet and tucking her in once again, Maan had gone to take some calls from office. He finished them and was walking into the haveli to take a shower before he could wake her. But, Anushka pulled him into the huge hall with people crowding around them. Wondering why people so many people had gathered, Maan turned around to Anushka for answers only for her to sush him. Apparently Arun had requested Chaitu for a typical Punjabi custom wedding but Chaitu had coolly brushed it off saying telugu weddings are more fun. Not satisfied with Chaitu's answer, Arun opposed to her say only for it to end up in a major tiff. Fearing the marriage wouldn't take place with the groom and the bride fighting, Anushka had taken it upon herself to solve by showing them both customs through mock weddings so they could choose which would be better. Soniya had conveniently volunteered to become the bride for the telugu custom while Maan was pulled by Anushka, even before he knew what was happening. Geet just had come to see them acting at the wrong time and got all the wrong ideas.
"Toh ab batao, isme meri galti kya hai?" he asked blinking innocently.
Although Geet realized Maan wasn't to be blamed, her ego refused to accept defeat. "Whatever, voh sab mujhe nahi pata. The fact is, it was your fault. Jab aap voh sab rasmein shuru kar rahein the uss chudail ke saath in spite of being shaadi shuda, mock wedding ya real, farak nahi pehnda."
Realizing there was no way he could win his wife, he accepted defeat. "Teekhai srimatiji, main galat hoon and I promise never to repeat it. Ab hum chalein, mujhe bahut bhook lag rahi hai," he pouted.
"Ji, mujhe bhi." She got off him and brushed away remnants of dust and mud off her dress while Maan too got up and dusted his pants. Having cleaned themselves up, they both headed towards the haveli, hand in hand, in hope of a new and better future. 
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
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