Maneet FF-Love finds its way!Ch18-P147-22/07*updtd - Page 28

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Chapter 7

"Haan. Ghar pe koi nahin hain?", he asked.

"Ji nahin saab. Sab HP gaye hain"

"What?", he said, turning back surprised. He quickly recalled his conversation with Daadima over phone when he was stuck in traffic- she was telling him she would go out of town for a few days but also told him- she would not tell him when, where and with whom.

"Dev aur Naintara?", he asked.

"Who bhi gaye hain saab"

"Ok, dinner ready karo", he said and walked to the bedroom. "Ridiculous. So, my daadima refused to actually tell me also", he thought, kicking the door of his bedroom open.

Maan sat by the pool with a glass of wine and looked at the waters of the pool. He started at the reflection of the facade of the mansion in the clear blue waters. The dim lights by the pool and the zephyr relaxed Maan. While he took a sip of his wine, his phone vibrated. He quickly moved forward in his chair to grab his phone.

It was an email from Sasha with the subject- "CV of Aayush R. Singhal" and Maan rolled his eyes and put the phone back- wondering why Sasha would forward such useless email to him.

"How should I be bothered about someone's CV? I'm not the HR head for the Khurana Group- I own the entire group. Shouldn't she be sending this to the HR?", he thought.

He pushed himself back in the recliner by the pool and closed his eyes for a few seconds- only to jump forward almost immediately to grab his phone- wondering if he read the name right- "Aayush R. Singhal", repeated a small voice in his head and he checked the phone again. He had read it right.

"So, is your design ready Ms. Shergill?", asked Naintara with a slight smirk and pride on her face. The Khuranas and Sasha had gathered the next day in the conference room- to see Sasha's design of the living room for their farmhouse in Hyderabad.

"Yea", she said, tired. She hadn't slept the previous night- brainstorming to grab this contract at any cost.

"Great", said Naintara moving forward to look at the design. "Will you present it or should we just keep it with us for now and wait for the other designs?", she asked Sasha.

Sasha thought for a while and said, "I'll present it now. You can keep it with you and later review it again"

Dev was surprised at how courteous these two women were being to each other and suppressed his smile. "this planet's awaiting a great catastrophe", he thought.

Sasha presented her idea and Maan did not react as always. Dev and Naintara looked at each other but did not say anything. At the end of the presentation Naintara thanked Sasha. She took the designs from her so that Sasha would not be given any opportunities to make any further changes to the design.

A week passed and it was time for the others to present their designs to Naintara. Maan was caught up in another meeting so he could not make it to this meeting. Dev, Naintara and Sasha were present along with the other architects who were given an opportunity to submit their designs for the farmhouse in Hyderabad.

Geet wanted to go last as she wanted to see what the others had thought of. She knew she would not be able to make any further alterations- but the fact that there would be so many new ideas fascinated her. She believed that every architect in the conference room was talented in his or her own way including Sasha. Geet really liked some of the models Sasha had prepared for Khurana Constructions clients- Geet always liked how Sasha was a thorough professional in all her designs but never liked her attitude personally. Geet usually never bothered as she interacted very less with Sasha on a personal front.

After an hour of presentations- it was finally Geet's turn. Naintara invited Geet to present and Dev looked at Geet and smiled. She smiled back nervously and slowly got up. Though she remained confident of her ideas- somewhere some sort of fear lingered. She walked slowly and to the front of the room and turned to face the others. She was sweating though the AC in the room was at full blast.

She took a deep breath and looked at Naintara. She smiled back saying, "Whenever you are ready Miss Handa, you can start". Geet smiled weakly.

"Yeh nervous hain?", whispered Dev to Naintara.

"Hmmm", said Naintara.

Geet had made a powerpoint presentation of her ideas with a few glimpses of her drawings to give a complete idea of how the living room would ideally look. She prayed silently to her babaji and suddenly heard the door of the conference room open.

Everyone, turned to look in the direction of the noise and found Maan standing at the door- giving Geet more time and reasons to be worried.

"Oh no", she thought, looking at Maan. "Gosh why did he have to come now?", she cursed her fate beneath her breath and nervously turned to look at the screen of her laptop.

"Did I disturb?", he asked, walking in.

"Not at all ", said Dev, getting up to pull a chair for Maan. "We are in the last presentation though- just left with Geet's", he said. Maan nodded and pulled the chair to a corner so as not to disturb the others. He sat down while looking at Geet and could make out from her expressions that she looked extremely nervous. Her skin had turned pink out of fear and her hands shivered as they moved on the mouse pad.

She cleared her throat and looked at Dev. Maan looked at Dev- and saw him smile back gesturing that she should relax and start. Geet started her presentation and did not even look at Maan once. Maan noticed that she had absolutely made no eye-contact with him. He too had kept getting messages so did not look at her- but keenly listened to what she was saying. Her voice shivered and the same speed and excitement that he had heard- a few times that he heard her speak to Dev- no longer existed.

"Since this farmhouse is going to be situated in Hyderabad- famously known as the City of Nizams- I thought the living room- should reflect a glimpse of the Nizam architecture and style- keeping it simple yet charismatic", she said.

"Oh boy", thought Sasha, "How did I not think of this- I just thought of this from MK's style and tastes point of view", she banged her head with her hand.

Maan looked up from his phone as soon as he heard the word "Simple". "She wants to keep Maan Singh Khurana's farmhouse, simple?", ran a thought in his head.

He put his phone aside on the table closeby and looked at her. She was dressed in a simple green chudidar with some embroidery on it. Her hair was tied in a bun and few curls fell to the sides of her cheeks that she occasionally pushed back- so that they wouldn't fall on her eyes. Despite shivering and being nervous- Maan noticed a slight smile on her cheeks with a cute little dimple every time she looked at Dev. Maan's vision immediately moved to Dev- who smiled back too- trying to relax her and encourage her. Maan somehow smiled at the encouragement Dev gave Geet.

Maan had obviously missed the flow of Geet's presentation while she went deeper into the ideas of her design- as he keenly observed her gestures, her voice modulations while she spoke and her beautiful eyes and smile. "She's beautiful", he thought for a few seconds and came back to senses as he heard everyone clap.

He wondered what he was thinking and brushed aside all his thoughts. "Any questions?", asked Geet, hoping there would be no questions raised.

"Yes", said Dev and Geet looked at him terribly disappointed. She had not expected him of all people to ask her a question.

"GO ahead please", she said, not sounding happy at the thought of having to speak for some more time about the design. For the first time, she just wanted to finish it off, run out of the room, go somewhere, and relax.

"Why do you want to keep this design simple- you know the Khurana's affordability?", said Dev.

Maan nodded his head, acknowledging the question. That was exactly his thoughts.

"Yes Sir. I know what the Khurana's can afford. Undoubtedly, all the mansions, farmhouses, and properties personally owned by the Khurana's would be manifestations of grandeur, aristocracy and enchantingly beautiful to keep up with the present day trends and life styles. But I thought keeping it simple would be a little "hatke" from the usual opulence of the Khuranas".

"Hatke", thought Maan, "Ahaan!", he raised his eye-brow while he looked impressed at her explanation.

She continued, "I've always believed that true beauty lies in simplicity- so thought of keeping this simple, regal and tranquil- afterall it is something that should be unique".

"Okay" said Dev. "Thank you Geet"

Naintara then spoke up while sitting in her chair. "Alright then, thanks everyone. We'll look through your ideas once again and let you know in about 48 hours as to who would go ahead and sign the contract with the Khuranas for the farmhouse".

Everyone nodded. "We'll call it a day", said Dev. Everyone smiled at being left out of office an hour early that day. Geet left the room too and Maan called for a cup of coffee while he saw Geet run past the huge glass partitions that separated the conference room from the corridor and the atrium.

"So what do you think Veerji?", asked Naintara.

"I dunno. I was hardly here for the other ideas", said Maan.

"Yea", said Naintara. "Ok, what plans now Dev? Shall we head home?"

"Yes", he said. "What about you Veerji?"

"I have some work. I'll start in a hour or so. You carry on. I'll see for dinner", said Maan.

"Okay!", he said. Maan left the room, after telling the office assistant to send his coffee to his chamber.

As he walked towards the elevator, he realized he should take the stairs instead. He quickly ran up the stairs to his chamber. He went in and found his coffee waiting for him.

"Excellent", he said and sat down to sip it- while it was still hot. He looked through the newspaper kept to the right of his laptop on the table. He found an ad of a jewellery shop that read, "Simply magnificent and enchanting". He was quickly reminded of Geet's answer.

HE picked up the receiver and called up Shreyasi.

"Yes Sir", he heard her say.

"What is Geet's extension?", he asked.

"472", she said.

"K", he said and hung-up and dialed her extension. He wondered for a second if she had left. But heard a voice answer with a lot of noise in the background.

"Hello", she said, her voice back to normal and all nervousness gone.

"Maan Khurana", he said. Geet dropped the receiver and jumped up in her chair.

"Yes Sir", she said, again sounding nervous.

"Come to my chamber for a few minutes", he said and hung- up. No further statements made or said. It was not a request- it was demand.

Geet quickly ran up the stairs to the floor Maan's chamber was located in. She did not even realize that she could take the elevator in the anxiety of being called to his chamber.

"Come in", he said, as she knocked.

She entered the chamber. It was a beautiful and a spacious room unlike their cubicles.

"Sit down", he said.

"That's okay Sir", she said, trying not to look at him.

"Sit down", he repeated.

She sat down not wanting to irritate him.

"You did not take the elevator is it?", he asked, as he saw her gasp for breath and a few drops of sweat on her forehead.

"Ah, no!", she said, softly. "It dint even strike me that such an invention existed on the planet", she said even softly.

Maan smiled slightly. "You seem to be nervous Miss Handa"

"Oh not at all", she lied.

Maan stared at her intently and she turned her gaze away from him to avoid his stare.

"Miss Handa", said Maan softly, "True talent lies in getting your ideas across confidently without showcasing your fears and overcoming your nervousness much like how true beauty lies in simplicity".

Geet looked at him surprised. He looked back at her plainly.

"I don't und'" and he cut her, "You don't understand what I'm saying and why I'm saying this is it?"

She nodded.

"Miss Handa", he said and she cut him, "I prefer being called by my first name Sir, if you don't mind please" and regretted having said that. She was talking to Maan Singh Khurana not Dev Singh Khurana. She ought to think a trillion times before she opened her mouth. "Babaji", she thought, scolding herself.

He ignored it and continued, "I noticed a sort of nervousness in you- Not that I know how you speak the other times when you talk to your colleagues or your others bosses (referring to Dev). Your ideas fell short of the confidence they deserved because of the shiver in your voice and gestures".

"gayi contract haath se", thought Geet. "Geet, you idiot, last minute mein sab gadbad ho gayi".

"Overcome that first", he said and she nodded sincerely. "You have a long way to go- powerful ideas shouldn't be overshadowed by glimpses of anxiety and apprehension. You should be presenting ideas as though it was the best idea ever and take pride in the fact that such idea could only come to you and no one else".

She nodded again.

"You can leave now. That's all I wanted to say", he said. She got up, while he picked up his coffee cup to take a sip of it. She turned and walked to the door and turned back to look at him as she heard him speak. "Will you take the elevator now or the stairs?"

She was confused. "I'll take the elevator", she said.

He got up and walked to the door, opening it for her, "Ahaan", he said, nodding in a "No".

"Take the stairs", he said.

She nodded, completely flabbergasted. "What is with this man?"

He shut the door and said, "You know why the stairs?", he asked.

"No", she said, looking the carpet.

"Look at me and answer", he said.

She slowly looked up at him and said, "No", very softly.

"SO that you can de-stress all the stress you underwent while sitting here- in front of me for the last few minutes", he said and smirked.

She turned towards the door and he said, "When you are talking to someone or someone's talking to you, ensure you make an eye-contact with them. If you don't- usually people like me, take it as an offense and make you pay for it later"

Geet looked at him- realizing the fact that she had made no eye contact with him while she presented.

"I'm sorry- I was nervous then- so did not look at you, while I presented", she said.

"I did not ask for an explanation", he said.

"Sir but'" and he said, "See you later" and opened the door for her again. She quickly walked out of the room.

Maan closed the door and walked towards his table but stopped and looked back. He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and called Dev.

"Yes Veerji", answered Dev, in one ring.

"Give the farmhouse project to Miss Geet Handa", he said.

"But Veerji, you haven't looked through the other designs", said Dev, surprised, how Maan had concluded so quickly.

"Dev, I think before making a decision, not after making it", he said and hung-up.

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