Hellowww People,
Thank you for the wonderful wishes. It took me five days to type out one update, slowly. LOL. But I finally am able to give you a long one. đđđđ
Here it is!
Hey, please ignore the chapter numbers- I seem to have got them wrong somewhere, like some of you have mentioned in your comments. But the story is in continuation. I'll see if I can correct them now. Else I will do it later. I've typed quite a bit for the day!
Chapter 23
After a long day of work in Hyderabad- Geet got back to her hotel room. She quickly took a hot water shower and dressed into a pair of shorts and T-shirt. She walked into the balcony of her room- situated on the tenth floor. There was a slight drizzle outside. She made herself some coffee and sat to look out.
Her connection with Hyderabad had begun with a project that Maan had decided to assign to her- all of a sudden. She was shocked, scared and unsure if she would handle it- since it was the Khurana's personal project. She wasn't sure why she was chosen- instead of Sasha for the project- when Sasha's designs were far more superior to hers. She hadn't even present her ideas clearly since Maan decided to walk in right on time for her presentation.
Geet thought back while reclining on the chair in the balcony while Maan, in Delhi, did the same too, sitting by the pool in his mansion.
NAinatara was taken aback by Maan's sudden decision, "Surprising, isn't it?", she asked Dev.
"Everything is a surprise in Maan Khurana's world", said Dev, as he sat on the bed, while Naintara got his clothes ready for work next day.
"But Dev, Veerji never makes decisions in haste and how come such a big project ..." and Dev interrupted, "Naintara, he must have thought of it, so lets hope for the best!"
Naintara nodded andswitched off the lights. She had left the glass doors of the balcony open and cool breeze blew onto her face.
Though she believed that Maan would have thought of it from all perspectives- she somewhere had some fear that she couldn't express. Having known her Veerji for a few years now she also knew his wrath. If Geet can pull-off the project well- then no problem at all.But if the contrary were to happen and if, for some reason Geet couldn't handle it well, then her future will be at stake, because Maan Singh Khurana will never forgive and never forget.
Geet had no idea how she got the Khurana's farmhouse project. As far as she remembered, she was nervous- and had not answered the questions properly too. Maan had called her to his chamber to point out the same- then how did she get selected? She turned and tossed in bed that night. Dev had called her and congratulated her that same evening- telling her that she would be handling the most prestigious project- Khurana's personal venture, designing their farmhouse in Hyderabad.
"You must be joking", she told him
"Not at all, Miss Express", he said, "I don't joke in such serious stuff you know", he said.
"That in itself is a big joke, Mr. D", said Geet.
"Arey nahin baba. Tumhein yakin nahin hain? Theek hain, Naintara se baath karo", he said, handing over the phone to Naintara.
"Arey nahin nahin yakin hain", said Geet, and Naintara smiled and said, "Hello Geet, kaise hain aap?"
"Ji Main theek thi, ab aage ka pata nahin", she blabbered.
"Ji aap aage bhi theek rahenge", she said, "Congratulations Geet!"
"Mujhe yakin nahin hota. I still don't get it- how did I get this project?", said Geet.
"Well, maybe its just your perception that you haven't given a good enough idea. Maybe your idea was the best! ", she said.
Geet did not answer anything. Naintara continued, "Geet, you'll do well- just be confident"
"Thank you!", said Geet, in a slow and a not-so-convinced tone.
"Ok, I'll give the phone to Dev now", she said and gave the phone to Dev.
"Alright Geet, see you in office tomorrow. You'll get an official confirmation letter and you will have to sign some papers. Anyways, don't worry about it now- we'll take care of all that tomorrow. Bye!", he said and hung up.
Geet still thought a big prank was being played on her by Dev. But why would Naintara join in?
"NAhin nahin Geet- Naintara ji wont do such things", she assured herself.
"Babaji, sab theek ho jayega na?", she prayed, looking upwards at the roof- hoping her babaji would answer her immediately.
Her phone rang and she answered it, her family wanted to congratulate her. "Yeh lo bhai, aur karlo baath. Yahan main tension ke mare mar rahin hoon aur inhe khushi hain ki main yeh project karungi", she thought, while her brother and father constantly told her how commendable it is for her to take up such a venture.
She was getting irritated so she hungup telling them that she had to cook dinner. The whole evening went away with phone calls and congratulation messages from family and colleagues.
She just ate in a hurry and went to bed. But couldn't sleep. She sat and watched tv, got fed up of that too. She simply got out of her bedroom and walked into the backyard. She stood there for sometime and stared at the dark black sky. These days that was the best thing to do- to ease any stress in her life.
She had no idea how long she stood outside- staring at the sky, but she was relieved. She slowly walked back and told herself, "Nothing to worry! Whatever happens will happen and will happen for the best". she smiled and closed her eyes, "acche se kaam karo aur apne kaam se matlab rakho- Maan Singh Khurana kha nahin jayenge tumhein Geet, bewakoof! Chal so jaa ab", she scolded herself and went to sleep.
Sasha fumed into office the next day.
"Good morning Ma'am", greeted Pinky, but her wishes went unanswered, instead she yelled back saying, "Just do your work Pinky, don't irritate me!"
Pinky rolled her eyes and went back to eating the apple that she had hidden under her bag when Sasha walked in.
"Kya hua, Pinky?", came Adi, "Tum Sasha Ma'am ko irritate kyun kar rahin ho?", he asked, sarcastically.
"Main kahan uss dayan ko irritate karti hoon", she said, angrily.
Adi smiled, "Arey chodo. Gussa Khurana's pe hain aur yahan nikaalna chahti hain", he said.
"Kyun? Khurana's pe gussa?", she asked.
"Hyderabad Farmhouse project Geet ko mili na", he said.
"Oh tabhi to, madam bahut gusse mein thi"
"Thi nahin, hain Pinky", corrected Adi.
"Arey nahin nahin baba phone pe bhi baat nahin ki"
"Accha phone pe baath bhi nahin ki", he said and paused, "Kya, tum Sasha ko phone kyun karti ho?" he laughed hysterically. "YAar Pinky, you have too much time at your disposal. Time itna zyaada hain to tv dekho, jogging jao, khaana banao aur uske baad bhi time hain to shaadi karo yaar- Sasha ko phone kyun karna?"
"Oho Adi, shut up!", she said. "Mere paas itna time bhi nahin hain ki main Sasha ko office ke baad yaad karu. Main Geet ke bare mein baat kar rahin thi. Woh kal gusse mein thi"
"Ab Geet kyun gusse mein thi?"
"Kyunki Sasha ko project nahin mili", said Shreyasi, walking in, smiling and winking.
"Hello Ms. Secretary", said Adi and Pinky. "long time , no see", said Pinky.
"Well, you will see me every day now. Even if you don't see me, I will come and greet you and go!", she said.
"Kya baat hain bhai, badi khush lag rahe hain aap", said Adi.
"Obviously main khush hoon. Iss office mein kuch interesting changes jo ho ne waale hain"
"Kya changes? Sab kuch waise ki waise hain. Cafeteria mein menu bhi change nahin hui. Kitne dino se main complain kar rahin hoon"
Adi interrupted, "Pinky, we are talking about changes in the office- you know- like structural changes, functional changes- not food changes Pinky"
"How boring", Pinky cribbed.
"Anyways what change are you talking about?", he asked Shreyasi.
"Wahin jiski wajah se Sasha ne aaj thoda kam make-up ki hogi. Uski favorite project jo haath se nikal gayi", said Shreyasi, with a wicked smile.
"Hmmm", said Adi, smiling too.
"Mujhe to uss din ka intezaar hain, jis din uski job bhi uski haath se nikal jayegi", said Shreyasi, rudely.
"Nahin nahin, kisi ke bare mein aise nahin sochte", said Pinky.
"Oh pinky c'mon. Main kisi ke bare mein aise nahin sochti. Sirf aur sirf Sasha ke bare kuch bhi sochne ka haq hain mujhe. Aakhir mohabbat jo karti hoon usse- meri Sasha Ma'am hain", said Shreyasi sarcastically.
Adi and Pinky laughed. They knew Sasha and Shreyasi hated each other in office. They were only civil to each other because of Maan. In Maan's absence, Shreyasi never cared a damn for Sasha and Sasha always taunted her.
"Anyways, main chalti hoon. Kafi interesting day hain aaj. Jab Maan Khurana khud Geet ko farmhouse ke agreement Geet ko denge who bhi Sasha ke saamne", she said.
"Chalo yaar main bhi chalti hoon. Dev Sir ko reports dene hain", said Adi.
"Yep", said Pinky and Shreyasi walked away to her desk, while Adi did the same too.
"Hi Shreyasi, what are my appointments. You haven't briefed me today", said Maan as he called Shreyasi on her extension.
Shreyasi bit her tongue, "Yes Sir, I'll be there in two minutes", she said and hung up. She was too excited to see Sasha's face color change that she had forgotten that Maan these days preferred Shreyasi brief him every morning about his work schedule for the day. Lately he seemed to have too many changes in his schedule that he was able to put up with. So he had left it all for Shreyasi to plan it out for him.
She stormed into Maan's chamber all beeming and smiling.
"Ah nice to see people smiling", he said.
"Yes Sir ! Is that why you never smile?", she said and smirked. She did not bother about taunting him early in the morning. She knew he would not take it to heart. Plus it was fact. When did Maan Khurana smile? If she had to think back at the number of times he had smiled, she could count all those instances in less than 60 seconds time and on her fingers. Instances like that rarely came and hardly forgotten.
"Yes Shreyasi. I don't like to make people smile, I like taking their smiles away", he said, with a lopsided smile.
"True", she said and chuckled. "You've taken Sasha's smile away", she thought. "But that not's a crime, so that's completely fine"
"Shreyasi, you look too happy. Any special reason. You seem to be forgetting your routine", he reminded her.
Oh I m happy today. But I have'nt forgotten my routine", she told him.
"Go on then", he said.
"Your first meeting for the day is at 11am with Dev Khurana, Geet Handa, Sasha Shergill and Adi- You will be handing over the agreement to Geet officially. Your next meeting is at 1:45pm with Mr. Malhotra, is coming down from our Pune office- to discuss on some financial issues", she said and paused.
Maan looked at the time in his wrist watch, it read 9:20 am
"And for the remaining day- you have no meetings as such. So, its up to you, whether you want to work in office or go on site", she said.
"Okay, but what about the meeting with Mr. Srinivasan of L&T?", he asked.
"Oh he's travelling the whole of this week and next week- so he told me he'd meet you after that", she said.
"Ok", he said.
"Alright. Have a wonderful day ahead and let me know if you need anything", she said, walking out of the chamber.
Maan still had an hour and a half for his first meeting. He asked for a cup of green tea and got to review some paper work for a board meeting.
He was about to call Dev for some clarification but realized that Dev was coming in late to the office- right on time for the meeting at 11.
"Ok this will have to wait till them", he thought and made a mark of it.
Dev had to take Daadima and Naintara to a mandir nearby that morning so he had told Maan that he could come late.
"Dev, when is Geet getting her agreement?", asked Naintara, on their way back from the mandir.
"Today", he answered, while driving.
"What agreement?", asked Daadima.
"Hyderabad farmhouse project Daadiji", said Naintara.
What? The decision is already made? Just a few days back the presentations were done with right?", she asked.
"Ji few days back nahin- just day before yesterday", said Dev.
"Then how did the decision happen so fast? You guys seem to be working at the light of speed", said Daadima, Good Good. I'm impressed".
"Not me Daadiji- your Maan's working at the speed of light", said Dev, "Unhone decision usi din suna diya tha".
Daadiji simply said. "Okay", and kept quiet. But she knew that it was unlike Maan to do so. "Business decisions should never be made in haste", he would always say. So what motivated him to act so fast? Was it the project or something else, she wondered.
Well, the answer was simple- it was something else that made him make such a decision. When life wants you to embark on a journey called love- thousand ways come up and a zillion decisions are all made with utmost ease. Now such decisions are never regretted- because it touches your heart and makes you, smile.
"Hume Maan se baat karni hogi", said Daadiji, after a long pause.
"About what?", asked Dev.
"This project", she answered.
"Not required. He knows what he's doing Daadiji", he said.
"But Dev I somehow feel he's made it in haste"
"Daadiji, Veerji chahe haste mein decisions le yaa soch samjh ke, dono hamesha sahi hote hain", said Naintara.
"Woh unka kismet hain Naintara. Lekin hamesha kismet saath nahin deti- sirf soch saath deti hain", said Daadima.
"Daadiji, you're unnecesaarily getting worried. C'mon neither Maan Veerji's decision is wrong nor is Geet incompetent. So just relax and let's see how it unfolds. And if for any reason Geet can't handle certain things- what am I there for? I will handle it and Maan Veerji will not even come to know of the trivial problems", assured Dev.
"Ok, as you wish", she said.
"Aap hume aaj kal kuch nahin bata rahe hain Maan. Bhool mat jaeye ki hum bale hi company ke responsibility aap pe chode hain, lekin aaj bhi hume uss company pe haq hain", she texted him.
"Mujhe yeh baath yaad hain ki main apna company nahin, aapke company chala raha hoon, Mrs. Savitri Singh Khurana", he replied and smiled.
She smiled too. There was something about their relationship and she could never remain angry for too long on Maan and he could never stop talking to his grandmom. They fought, argues, taunted each other but, spoke sarcastically but they smiled and laughed it off at the end. Afterall he was her favorite grandchild.
"Can I go and meet Maan Sir?", asked Geet, as she walked up to Shreyasi. It was five minutes to 11.
"Sure", she said. "I'll keep him informed. You go ahead"
Geet nodded and turned to leave when Shreyasi told her, "Comgratulations"
"Thank you!", said Geet humbly.
Shreyasi smiled and informed Maan. Geet walked into Maan's chamber and he did not look up from his laptop.
Sit down. We'll have to wait for Dev and Sasha to come over", he said.
"Ok Sir", she said and took a seat opposite to him.
"You look less nervous today", he said.
"Yes", she said. "But I still don't understand why I was given this project"
He looked up from his laptop, "Shouldn't you be thanking me, instead of asking me why I gave you the project?"
"Well, if I had done my best at the presentation that's what would have happened. But I think there like other designs that were much better than mine"
"Yahin soch badalni hain tumhein. Aur isi liye yeh project appko di gayi hain", he said.
"Soch badalne ke liye project de di aapne? Aapko lecture de ni chahiye"
"Tum bhool rahen ho ki tum Maan Singh Khurana se saath kar rahen ho. Aur yeh mat bhoolna ki mere decisions ko koi sawal nahin karta", he warned her. She realized it was time to shut up and wait for the others to come.
In about two minutes, Dev walked in followed by Sasha.
"Hi MK", she said, weakly.
"Breakfast nahin kiya kya?", asked Dev, softly as he took a seat beside her. She threw him an angry look and he smirked.
"Here are the papers", she said, handing over the papers to him.
"Alright", he said, as he quickly looked through some of the key clauses. He signed the papers and handed them over to Geet. She was about to sign it when Sasha stopped her, "Ahaan!"
Geet looked at her. "Read and sign Geet", she reminded Geet.
Geet read through quickly and then signed it. Dev smiled and congratulated her, while Sasha looked like she would cry. Maan was reactionless as always. He did not say anything.
"Alright then , since we're done with this, Geet come along with me- we need to finish some other formalities. I need to quickly brief you on the financials", said Dev.
"Sure", she said.
"Bro, you have anything to say?", he asked Maan.
Maan simply nodded in a "no".
"Okay see you later", he said and walked off. Geet got up, picked up the agreement, and looked at Maan. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second and Geet walked away.
Sasha still sat in the chair, looking blank. She always wanted to work on Maan's personal ventures. But it never happened. She told her herself that this was just one such venture she had lost. But hadn't realized that this was just the beginning.
"You will have to fly to Hyderabad Geet, day after tomorrow" , said Dev, after finishing on the financials.
"Ok", she said.
"Here are your tickets", and he handed them over to her.
"Thanks!", she said.
"Veerji will have his tickets, so that should be fine!", he said.
"Kya? Woh bhi aa rahen hain?", asked Geet.
"Haan! Why are you so shocked?"
"Nothing ! It would be nice if you could come or Naintara could come", said Geet.
"well, we might come eventually. But Veerji will come first"
"ok!", she said, "Mujhe aapni zubaan bandh rakhni hogi", she murmured.
"Kya?", asked Dev.
"Kuch nahin. Hyderabad se aane ke baad mein shayad bolna bhool jau, please yaad dilana", she said, winking.
"Baath karte hain mere Veerji", said Dev, laughing and Geet was waiting for him to finish, "kabhi kabhi", he added, after looking at Geet's expression.
"Yahin to", she said, holding her forehead.
"Oh c'mon Geet! Now cheer up and have fun in Hyderabad. It's a beautiful city"
"Yeah yeah ofcourse. Naintara usi shehar se hain na, toh beautiful hain hi"
"Geet, you never know! Maybe you might find your love in that city too or someone might fall for you in that very city", he said, smiling broadly.
"Yeah right", she said, blushing a bit.
Soumya đđđđ
Edited by pickle6586 - 11 years ago
Arjun
Cricket
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